Yesterday (June 6) was our P-day (preparation day) and a blockbuster learning day. We learned how to use our Thai oven. It's really an oversized easy-bake oven. Nothing fancy - just a temperature gauge (in Celsius) with indicators at 100, 150, 200, 250. I googled the conversion calculation and made a spreadsheet in Fahrenheit to match most of our baking recipes. You kinda guess where things are - so it will take some experimentation. We "experimented" with oatmeal raisin walnut cookies. We had no shortening, so had to use butter (dang!). No brown sugar - so substituted with white (not as good). But the result was delicious. We also learned how to use our Thai microwave so we could reset the clock, type in seconds for cooking and choose power settings. It sounds so simple, but when instructions and icons are written in a language you don't know, it's kinda hard. Even when we found an English translation, many of the instructions just didn't make sense. I have a MUCH greater appreciation for Joseph Smith and the device the Lord provided to him (urim and thummum) to translate the Book of Mormon. There is NO way anyone could have come up with a translation as articulate and understandable as was his.

Market Vegetables

We also went to the market to buy meat and produce. Spoiler Alert! If you are squeamish at all, don't read the next section on the meat. We requested a kilo of pork from a meat lady. All the meat is lying around on tables, flies all over them. She picks up a hunk (bare hands), whacks off a chunk and drops it on a bloody scale with a plunk (hehehe). She then grabs a bloody calculator with her bloody hands and tells us it will be $3.30. We say OK and she bags it up and gives it to us. We were told to go early in the morning because that is when meat is the most fresh (the pig was probably butchered that morning). We didn't dare try more than that on our first experiment. We went home cleaned the meat as best we could, plopped it in the crockpot with salt, pepper, onion powder and some Italian seasoning and hoped for the best. (Spoiler alert is now over, it is safe to read the rest of the post).

Fruits and veggies were easier - but no more sanitary. We bought jack fruit (never heard of it before, but delicious), mangosteen, pommello, bananas, cucumbers, spinach, avacados, limes and mangoes. If you don't see any more posts, you'll know we didn't survive the "fresh market."


"If you don't give me a banana, I'll yank your shorts!"

6 of our 10 missionaries in Kampong Cham

Later we visited a Wat (temple) with the young missionaries. The Elders biked the full 3 miles, the Sisters begged for a ride. The temple was interesting - mostly because of the monkeys. But like so many of the sacred places, it was filthy. It isn't that the people don't value cleanliness, it's just cultural to throw your trash wherever you want (I'm old enough to remember when throwing trash out the window while driving down a US highway wasn't a crime). So the Wat hill was littered with trash, empty water bottles and other stuff that attracts flies. It was also HOT! We probably lost 10 pounds through sweat. We brought the cookies with us to share with the missionaries, and they were in heaven. Most haven't had home-made cookies since they left the USA (unless they were with the Spencers in Battambong - who TOTALLY spoil their missionaries).

After the Wat we found the "good" bakery and the only store in the province that carries foreign food stuffs. We bought coconut oreos, milk, sugar crackers and a sprite.

We arrived home to an amazing smell (good) and had pork, rice (first time using a rice cooker - instructions in Khmae rather than Thai) and cucumbers. Mmmmm. I think we'll live.



Killing Field Memorial

Market Fruit