Chicken Stories

This is too rich not to share. Here at the FHCambodia Phnom Penh office, the lead accountant is a Burmese lady (from Myanmar) named Theingi (pronounced "teeng-gee"). She lives here in the city with her brother. Last Friday, most of the staff here, including Thiengi and her bother, went to a wedding: one of the other accounting staff members has an adopted son, and he is the one who got married. In Cambodia, you invite pretty much anyone you know to your wedding, so as co-workers we were all invited to the wedding.
The wedding was held in the countryside. Phnom Penh is a little bit like Washington, D.C.; it is it's own independent municipality but not a "state" or province. However, it is surrounded by a province called Kandal Province--this is where the wedding was held. Getting there involved maybe a 45-minute drive, and a little trip across a river on a ferry. The ferry consisted of two big rowboat-type things. A deck of long planks was laid across the boats, providing room for one car and maybe a dozen motorcycles to drive on. With a car engine for a motor, the ferry took a smooth, five-minute ride across the river, and everyone was free to go their way on the opposite bank. It was a little disconcerting to drive onto some wood laid over a rowboat, but the ferry proved quite seaworthy and held us all up very well.
But I digress: back to Theingi. After the wedding, we made a quick stop at the groom's family home, where we were given fresh sweet corn (very tasty!). Theingi and her brother also picked out a nice, teenaged country chicken to bring home. And so, less than a week later, we have been hearing daily chicken stories about how the bird is settling into his new home. Chickens are not a usual house pet here (are they anywhere??), so these stories are quite amusing to the Cambodian staff--and Theingi laughs at herself, as well.
I wish you could hear the stories as Theingi would tell them. They go something like this:
"My chicken, oh--he is very clever! He is a clever chicken! He is very strong. At night, I put him here, like this..." (pats her lap) "...and then, I should do like this..." (strokes her head) "...and then he is going to sleep. Yes. And now, he is wearing the panties!" (a chicken diaper, perhaps???)
So far, the chicken cries if it is put to bed without having it's head petted. It also enjoys watching evening tv, and so it stays up past the normal chicken bedtime of 6 or 7 pm to catch a few shows before being petted to sleep at 9 or 10. Theingi carries him to bed once he's sleeping ("He is like the child!"), and tucks him in to sleep in his basket under his very own mosquito net. Staying up late makes it hard for the chicken to wake up in the mornings--he can't be roused until 7am, long past the normal chicken waking hour of 4 or 5.
And as Theingi says: "Maybe, every two or three days, the chicken--we should take the bath to him. Maybe right now, my brother is taking the bath to him!" Once he's clean, he has his feathers blow dried--which apparently makes him as sleepy as when he has his head stroked. Last but not least, for his poultry enjoyment, Theingi's brother helps the chicken call her several times a day because he likes to cluck to her over the phone (you thought it was bad when your kid wanted a cell phone, wait until your chicken asks for one!).
So there you have it--the latest chicken stories, hopefully with more to come later!

Things I've Learned in Cambodia

1. The best thing about using a motorcycle is driving fast past all the little white tourists.

2. If you want to make ramen noodles even more nutritious than they are in their natural state, fry them in oil and add some sugar and soy sauce. Veggies and meat are optional.

3. Merging is preferable to stopping and looking. Unless, of course, it would have been better for your health to have stopped and looked.

4.There really are a lot of edible parts on an animal.

5. Nothing says "masculinity" like cruising around town on your hot pink motor bike and matching helmet.

6. If you drive a Lexus, make sure people are aware of this fact by having the word "Lexus" painted in foot-high letters along each side of your vehicle.

7. Saturday mornings were made for waking up early and cleaning the house.

8. If the dog pees on your bed, your electric lights quit working, and your wall is covered with ants, it's nothing to worry about--just keep watching tv.

And a few random pictures for you viewing pleasure: