Host Family

Hey all! So, I was able to catch a tuk tuk into town early before our all day training seminar (imagine motorcycle pulling a cart that seats 4-9 people...as in it seats 4 normally, but in Cambodia they cram as many people in as possible. This morning we had 9 of us!)
So, I thought I would describe my host family situation. I live in a store front house on the busy street. I live with my Bong Sereye (older sister), here 21 year old brother, and her two kids (7 and 4). My sister's husband lives (works???) in California. My sister does nails from her house and my brother works for an NGO (I think they do micofinance). The host family situation has gotten a lot better. My room doesn't have any windows, so after I got a fan it was much more comfortable.
On Sundays we go and visit my sister and brother's parents and two sisters. It is so much fun. They live next door to each other in the country near tons of rice patties. They also have more traditional Khmer houses. These houses are wood and built on stilts. The kitchen and bathroom are downstairs and usually not attached to the house. Under the house is a breeze way with hammocks! I love hammocks! My friend Meghan's family has hammocks and I'm making it a habit to go to her house and just lay in the hammock. IN fact, most Cambodians do this in the afternoon because it's so HOT! At my "parents" house we usually sit on this large table and they ask me tons of questions in Khmer. Normally, I respond "awt yul" or I don't understand or pretend I understand. This involves lots of smiling, nodding my head and laughing! ONe of my favorite things about sundays is that my parents have many coconut trees...so someone climbs the trees and gets the coconuts! I then drink its juice and then they chop it in half and we eat the fresh coconut with palm sugar (like brown sugar but more liquidy)! IT is AMAZING! They also had peanuts..however, they are not roasted so they are mushy. I did have them roasted the other day and they were good!
Overall, I''m enjoying my homestay. It has really helped me to understand Khmer better and to practice it. Here not many people have heard a foreigner speak Khmer so even if you say the words right they might not understand. That can be kind of frustrating, but understandable. One sort of awkward things is that my family is always telling me I should marry my host brother. That's VERY awkward. However, that will NEVER happen...so, next time I'm going to say I don''t want any brothers over 15! After my language training I will live with a family. I can understand why. It is a lot easier to get integrated into the community if you live with a family because you are part of their family. Their friends want to meet you, have you over for dinner, etc. I like that. The people across the street always feed me and let me play with their baby. It really makes you feel like a part of the community; which, is a huge reason I'm here! Okay...got to get to my seminar! Hope you all are doing well! I love hearing from your comments..keep them coming. Also, if there is anything you want me to post, let me know!