Ordinary Life

I have nothing extraordinary to report, (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) just some glimpses into everyday life of late.

We had a school holiday a while back, so Katherine and I worked on reclaiming the garden from the nutsedge.  If you have ever tried your hand at nutsedge removal, it is rather like one of those trick birthday candles that keeps relighting itself.  Though you huff and puff like the Big Bad Wolf, it WILL grow back.  Judging by the depth and ubiquity of their tubers, I believe I dealt with not just the same species, but the same specimen in my garden in Allen, making nutsedge the second largest organism in the world.

After applying our homemade compost, we planted green bean seeds and some flowers from Sophorn’s garden.  Unfortunately, now that vacation is over, I’ve hardly been out there since.  There is always—for the willing—something to learn in the garden, though.  For example, composted egg shells make a tasty, crunchy treat.  Katherine tried some, and offered them to me as well.  I was not willing.

Here is Bill (and his trusty sidekick, Leatherman) with the trellis he made for the blackberry bush.  We hope to soon have a blackberry-covered screen for the burn barrel.

  

Here is Katherine ready to take a walk.  Notice the “noom” in her pockets.  (Animal crackers.  Though here they’re shaped like shrimp.)

 

After my class time and her naptime, we made hand and foot prints.  Fun times!

On the teaching front, I’m really happy with the progress my English students are making, especially in pronunciation.  Khmer has almost no final consonant sounds.  The last letter is there basically so you’ll know how to shape your mouth to stop the last vowel sound.  So “six,” “sick,” “sit,” and “sip” all sound the same when issuing from a Khmer mouth.  Words like “thanked” (/nkt/) and “costs” (/sts/) are particularly tricky.  And you can just forget about plurals.  But not so any longer!  You’ll not find my students responsible for anything like, “Sin I wah a boy…”  Oh, no.  If you pass my classroom you’ll here things like, “Sinccce I wasss a boy…”  Ahh, the sweet sound of sssuccsssesss!

Jenn