To Market To Market

What Do You Eat that Makes You so Tall?

Mud

Busted Bicycle Parts

From a letter dated 28 November 2008. I have dealt with more bike problems on my mission than anyone should have to in a lifetime, beating up on the cute little Khmer-style things with all the proselyting and traveling; I never really knew what sorts of problems bikes could have other than busted chains or flat tires, and I never knew how may parts bikes really have. When you break every one of those parts, however, you figure out there's a lot, and I know the Khmer names for most of them now due to the frequency of said breaking. I keep all those bike fixer guys along the road in business, anyway.

Lotus Man

We are looking forward to meeting this gentleman. Ben refers to him as "Lotus Man" because he makes his living by growing and selling lotus flowers. Here are some excerpts from e-mails. --mep

26 August 2008 i've been having lots of mixtures of emotions recently, especially being who i am from where i am in a place like i am. from stories too many to recall or recount, i've seen the issue of poverty and what people do to remedy or cope. sometimes it swells into problems of alcoholism, smoking, or abuse. sometimes people give in and find ways to get by day by day, eating 2 kilos of rice in a week often without so much as salt for savor. i can't even bring myself to say "such is life". it makes me think about what i've had, and what i've thought about having in the future, and it makes me think about wasted and whimsically spent money, this amidst a plethora of other thoughts that come and go all mixed together like a vat of various oils that never become completely solute. i dunno. it's just weird for me to think that one of my account balance inquiries of 5.00 could support a 77-year-old man for 3 weeks.

9 September 2008. i've a bit of a cold and a headache right now, but despite that, things are going well. i made the lotus man a really tasty lunch the other day and went to his house to eat it with him; it was a meal he said was his favorite, and he hadn't had it in a long time i don't think. it just turns out i'm really good at making it, as i am with most khmer foods now, as even elder sok says. he likes my stuff.

14 October 2008. i've been thinking about the old man i teach a lot recently. his property is all flooded right now, and he says it's never been this bad before. he cried for an hour last time i went to see him; he has no food, no rice, and he can't pick his lotus flowers to sell due to the depth of the floodwater. he had just gotten home upon my arrival from the house of the village leader who had given him some food to eat and, unfortunately, some alcohol to drink. he was a little glazed, and he apologized; he hasn't had any alcohol in a long time he said, but he's feeling a bit helpless at the moment on his bed, the only part of his place still above water, and as bad as it may sound, i'm sure forgetting would be a nice thing temporarily. i very nearly gave him the 20 dollars in my wallet, but for the rule directly against such doings. i called the senior couple in charge of lds charities, and they're bringing some noodles...a box i think. i hope the poor guy makes it...i mean really, just MAKES it...in the real, mortal sense. not good.

9 December 2008. tis the season around him i'm sure...seasons here don't change much, but my scenery did last friday. i got transferred to phnom penh 8th branch. i kind of enjoy being in the city for the first time after being a country boy for the last year and a half. it's a change. the house feels like a villa compared to what i just came from in sen sok. lotus man cried when i told him i'd be leaving, though he liked the idea of my going to see him with you guys in eight months.