I remember people saying that Toby would be a real drawcard overseas, however, we didn’t realise how much so until we got here. The Khmers absolutely adore children. I am not exaggerating here… your average Joe and Jane on the street will smile broadly whenever they see the little blond head, and then proceed to come up, stroke his face or hand and even indicate that they would like to have a hold. The other day on returning from the markets, I met Michael downstairs. I enquired of him where Toby was, thinking that he may be asleep upstairs. The reply was “I don’t know where he is….they took him away… he’s somewhere out there” (broadly gesturing to the street). Aunty (the landlady’s sister from next door) will frequently come into the house, relieve us of Toby and then promptly whisks him off down the street for a show-and-tell session. The upshot of all this is that short-term babysitters are readily available – particularly at restaurants. On account of us not having a proper kitchen set up yet, we have been eating out a lot. In many cases, the waitress (and on odd occasions the waiter or even restaurant owner), will serve our meal and then take Toby away and entertain him while we eat. Likewise when we turn up at the institute where we are taking a Khmer language course, we get free babysitting for two hours while we study! I must point out that social etiquette in Cambodia stipulates that when you visit someone, it is polite to spend time entertaining their children.
Engrish of the week
Taken from a bottle of water:
“Pure water, testing through DEIONNIZED highly isolating substance and germ, keeps in high quality.”
Comments