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Global Urban Trek 2008
Second FamilyJuly 3, 2008
Moving in with our host family has been great!
Of all of the aspects of our trip, I think I prepared the least for interacting with these strangers who have welcomed us into their home. We are guests and timid, grateful additions to the family, settling in for the month. Three generations live here together: grandparents, their three children (our host sister, her older sister and their brother) as well as the older sister's husband and their three daughters, who are aged eight, four and one. So it is always busy!
The way the house is designed is very open and inviting. All the neighbors seem welcome here at any time – usually in the afternoons they come over to watch Karaoke or Korean soap operas (I think our house supplies the TV time for a lot of our street). Neighborhood women come during the day with their children to nurse and play and talk. It is such a community!
The older kids run around with no one really worrying about them, and everyone gets to hold the baby – even me! I am learning a new way of hospitality while watching this house function. People are just here. It isn't showy when the family offers food and no one makes a big deal of watching each other's children. Being in community is a way of life rather than the heroic act I think it is to offer a chair to an uninvited guest.
Part of our trip is just learning to interact with and love this family. I'm still not allowed to wash the dishes here, but I am getting permission to do more and more around the house (like laundry and cooking) though I may not be very good at it.
Though our family is not rich, they are in a different economic situation than the people with whom we are working in the slums, so it is definitely interesting to compare the dynamics. Just as it seems in the U.S. – the kids in both communities really bring joy to everyone!
The four-year-old in our house finds humor in everything. She is especially fond of hitting the foreigners in the butt. So far, I have learned some Khmer hand-games and taught the kids how to high-five and blow kisses. They are happy to help me practice the Khmer that I know, which basically means counting from one to ten on our fingers. The family-oriented culture that we are surrounded by really makes me miss my own family.
During the day, we have begun to volunteer at an orphanage in addition to the slum visits with Children at Risk. Our admiration is growing for the Children at Risk staff. Most are the only Christians in their family (Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist) and are sacrificing a lot in order to work with "the least of these" in their own community.
At night, I'm tired but happy.
- Kimberly
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