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Cambodia

Bok l’hong (a photo recipe of papaya salad)

11 December 2020 by Nathalie Abejero 1 Comment

Khmer spicy green papaya salad. I miss so many things from Southeast Asia, and this is one of them. In Khmer it’s pronounced ɓok lhoŋ: បុកល្ហុង. You can order sôm tām, or ส้มตำ, in a Thai restaurant. In Laos it is tam maak hoong, or ຕໍາ ຫມາກ ຫຸ່ງ. And I didn’t realize they also have it in Vietnam, gỏi đu đủ (pronounced guy dodo). The premise is the same but each has its own distinct flavor.

Thankfully the ingredients are locally available. Here we visit a Khmer friend who just whips everything out of her pantry like it’s the simplest thing, and in 5 minutes she has some on a plate for me.

Besides the ingredients we used, you can add others: yardlong beans (cut in small pieces), grated carrots, crab meat, finely chopped lemongrass, palm sugar. If you add bean sprouts don’t smash it too much – add it at the end.

Garlic cloves, Thai chillies, sliced cherry tomatoes, baby eggplant, grated green papaya , sugar, prahok, fish sauce
You can get a bottle of prahok in any Thai grocery store (Chinese stores likely won’t have it)
She’s adding fish sauce.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Bok Lahong, Cambodia, fish sauce, food, green papaya salad, Khmer, Khmer cuisine, Khmer food, Laos food, prahok, som tam, spicy green papaya salad, Thai food

Mrenh Gongveal, Elves of the Khmer

19 April 2020 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

Whether on city streets or deep in the Cardamom Mountains, in a poor village or inside a gated Phnom Penh villa, you’ll invariably come across small makeshift houses hanging from prominent locations in businesses and homes. They are so universally present where Khmer people are, that they collectively fade into obscurity, mirroring its relative decline in recently documented Khmer history. Chasing the Elves of the Khmer delves into this Cambodian tradition; it’s a photo essay that captures the creativity that goes into these omnipresent “spirit houses” and celebrates the popular practice of erecting shrines dedicated to the Mrenh Gongveal (ម្រេញគង្វាល), or Elves of the Khmer.

Photos in this post are from “Mrenh Gongveal: Chasing the Elves of the Khmer”

Ask any Khmer about spirit houses and a common explanation is that they “bring luck.” Dig deeper than that, and you soon find that the origin story is elusive. The Khmer word Mrenh is explained by some to mean literally “tiny” while others might refer to the slang for “one who catches fish.” Gongveal means “keeper” or “herdsman” or “guardian”.

The spirit house range from a simple container to elaborately designed mini-mansions, reflecting the residents’ economic means. They contain toys and figures for the spirits, and offerings are regularly placed in them, such as small cups of water or food.

Researching it doesn’t clarify things. There’s no single accepted system of transliterating the Khmer script to the Roman alphabet, which complicates historical documentation and retrieval. For example, in addition to “Mrenh Gongveal”, variations include M’ring Kung Veal, Merang Kengveal, and Mrén Kongvial, etc. On Wikipedia it is spelled Mrenh Kongveal.

From the book:

“Mrenh Gongveal seem to be similar to the elves of western folklore. The author found they were originally perceived to be nomadic beings in the jungle, where they were the guardian herdsmen of wild animals, especially social animals that travel in herds, such as elephants. Hunters, farmers and mahouts (elephant trappers), would make baskets to leave offerings for Mrenh Gongveal, to bring luck in the hunt, to help them capture young elephants and buffalo, or to ward wild animals away from their crops. Today Mrenh Gongveal are thought of as akin to supernatural guardians, associated with a person, place, or institution. They protect or offer guidance to their benefactors, usually through telepathy (heard as whispers) or influencing dreams. They can’t be seen by adults but belief holds that they can make themselves appear to children between the ages of 6 and 14 who are “pure of heart”, and many Cambodians claim to have seen Mrenh Gongveal as children. By anecdotal accounts the roots of Mrenh Gongveal appear to be uniquely Khmer. Mrenh Gongveal are small in stature with bodies comparable in size to human children, and are fond of mischief. Offerings are often left to them when seeking their help.”

So for those similarly fascinated by this particular Khmer mythology, this book is an artistic endeavor, a journey of photos, anecdotal accounts and archived historical info. Read about it in Goodreads, or get it on Amazon. It was listed as a “2018 Summer Reads” selection in BookWorks Destination/Vacation category.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, elves, folklore, Mrenh Gongveal, Mrenh Kongveal, mythology

Late night hospital watch rambling

4 July 2018 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

The waning moon is still bright, and I think to the Kingdom’s geckos that are starting to tuck in on the other side of the planet. It’s the fifth night sleeping in a chair by my mom’s hospital bed. I look over at her and my next thought is whether it’s Hypnos or Morpheus who rules over the land of eternal darkness, beyond the gates of the rising sun…

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, elderly care, hospital

#KidLit for encouraging girls’ education

5 June 2016 by Nathalie Abejero 2 Comments

The challenge of educating girls (worldwide) is a complex topic, involving the myriad responsibilities placed on them by their households and communities. High opportunity costs make this a volatile issue for many poor rural families. With firsthand exposure to this important issue, it’s not a new conversation to our kids. This book makes it approachable.

Read around the world Running Shoes

It’s a particularly common problem in Cambodia. It’s capital, Phnom Penh, adapted quickly to the fast-paced world around it soon after emerging from decades of conflict.

But progress is slow to reach those less affluent and villages outside of the capital city and tourist towns like Siem Reap with Angkor Wat and Sihanoukville with its beaches. The gap between the educated and those still living out traditional agrarian cultures is vast, with girls and women bearing the brunt of poverty and its effects.

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Running Shoes, by Frederick Lipp, introduces this topic in a kid-friendly story about a girl whose one wish was to get running shoes. Her father died years ago because there was no health worker in her village. She spent her days helping out with farm chores and wasn’t able to attend the one school that was eight kilometers (5 miles) away on dirt roads. When a kind stranger finally granted her wish by sending her a new pair of running shoes, she was able to convince her mother to let her go to school. In the one-room schoolhouse of just boys, she was laughed at for telling the teacher she wanted to learn to read. “But you’re a girl!” they taunted her until she proved herself.

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The publisher is Open Book, an NGO that also maintains a library in Phnom Penh for children of all ages. It publishes a series of bilingual Khmer/English storybooks that gives readers a glimpse into the rural and city lives of aspiring young Khmer kids.

Travel and cultures are a large part of the homeschool curriculum for our kids. One of our lesson plans ties this theme in with research they do on causes that they wish to support. They’re just three and five, but their experience living, traveling and reading books like this one, helps them to appreciate their luck of birth.

The kids are old enough to get and manage an allowance, and a portion of it goes towards a cause they choose. One activity we’re exploring is supporting the education of girls. And possibilities for the next project include an effort called Proteep (ប្រទីប), meaning”light”, which was begun by our old Khmer tutor to educate girls in her village of Kampong Thom. See their story here, or check out their Facebook page.

Running Shoes is a short story that had our kids asking questions. Can’t anyone in her house teach her to read? Why does she have to go so far away? Why are there only boys in that school? Can she buy her own shoes now? I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it!

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, change the world, empowerment, girls' education, kidlit, kids books, learning to read, multicultural kid blogs, read around the world, Soun Neang

Reading: Beliefs about the Mrenh Gongveal: Chasing the Elves of the Khmer

11 August 2015 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

I’ve just had a chance to flip through this book. It’s a photo essay on the Khmer tradition of providing a home to beings (elves) believed to provide them protection, guidance and advice. Look around Phnom Penh and it is such a common sight on the streets outside of residences, that it barely registers in your peripheral vision. [Read more…] about Reading: Beliefs about the Mrenh Gongveal: Chasing the Elves of the Khmer

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: book, book review, Cambodia, culture, elves, Khmer, Khmer culture, Khmer tradition, luck, Mrenh Gongveal, tradition, traditional beliefs, ម្រេញគង្វាល, រេញគង្វាល

Project: Educate a girl and you educate a family

13 July 2015 by Nathalie Abejero 1 Comment

My old Khmer language tutor, Mdm Soun Neang, has a generous heart. In her youth during Cambodia’s darkest years under the Khmer Rouge regime, she taught languages secretly to children, at great personal risk. Today, she supports girls in her hometown in rural Kampong Thom go to school, where the opportunity costs of educating a girl is too high for poor families (who send their sons instead). This is despite significant evidence that educating a girl has a powerful impact on the future of her family. [Read more…] about Project: Educate a girl and you educate a family

Filed Under: Interests, Travels Tagged With: Cambodia, change the world, empowerment, girls, girls' education, Kampong Thom, Kg Thom, pen pal, Soun Neang

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Those little feet pitter-pattering about rule our lives lately. But on the occasional free moment I get to tap out scatterbrained bursts of consciousness about raising toddlers in Cambodia, traveling with them and working abroad. These posts are my personal updates to friends and family. But since you’re here, have a look around. Thanks for stopping by…

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