Spaghetti Dinner (Part 1)

If I have not already said this, let me make it clear: Kate and I have an amazing Cambodian family that we live next to.  They are as generous and kind as they are respectful of our privacy as a married couple living in a foreign country.

We live in a pretty awesome home here in Cambodia that, by comparison to most homes in this country, is more than satisfactory.  Our family has also gone to great efforts to ensure that we have all the things we need to more than get by: furniture, appliances...even cushions to sit on (a BIG luxury in Cambodia)!

Our K'mai family consists of six members: a mom, her daughter and her husband, and their three children (including a set of twins).

With the twins and their grandma, who we call "Mai," Khmer for Mom.   Also, my
host nephew is making a really satanic/hilarious face here

One of many nights when the twins crashed our house because they were bored.  
Apparently I missed the memo on the funny face picture.  

Single PCVs typically live with host families in a more complete way - they eat most meals with them, usually live in a room in their house and while they tend to become much closer with their families then a married PCV couple may, they also tend to have more issues with privacy, food and the daily grind.  

Kate and I live in a detached home on our host family's property, only a few meters away from their own home.  We can lock our doors and maintain our privacy if we want to.  

We choose to try to integrate into our family, in some way, on a daily basis.  I think you could say that we are like adopted members of the family most days.  Our "mom" calls us her children, the kids call us Aunt and Uncle and we interact with them as such pretty regularly.  

The kids run out to us when we get home from teaching and either ask us to play to help us put our bikes away.  We help them study English and they come into our house from time to time to see what we are watching on our computer (if I want them to leave I just say I am watching a movie about ghosts...perhaps immoral, but it works really well).  

Even though its not in the official agreement our family made with PC, they invite us over for lunch or dinner once a week or so and bring us fresh fruit several times a week.  We really appreciate their generosity, but even more, the balance they have struck giving us our privacy and inviting us into their family.  

After eating with them this past week, Kate and I decided to turn the tables and make them dinner instead.  

I have made homemade spaghetti sauce here several times already and thought that was the safest choice to give them a taste of foreign cuisine.  Several other PCVs have already attempted dinners similar to this with mixed results.  Sometimes the families really dig it, sometimes they put the sauce over rice because the noodles must just be too weird and other times I have heard of families eating only small amounts to say that they had tried it.  

I don't expect a home run, but I do hope that our family understands the gesture and tries the food.  

After another quick trip to the market tomorrow and a few hours in the kitchen, we will be serving dinner for the family.  Pictures and results to follow this weekend.