Spaghetti Dinner (Part 3)

Essentially, they loved it.  

By they of course, I mean my family, and by it of course, I mean the delicious spaghetti I made for them.  

While our host nephew decided against trying the food (he is really picky/spoiled), both the girls ate the pasta sans sauce (at least they tried it).  

Opting for rice over the (obviously) more delicious spaghetti
and homemade pasta sauce.  He did, however, guzzle
down several glasses of Coke that we had brought. 

Host nephew getting his come-uppins for being such a (cute) little snot. 

Our host mother, sister, brother and Khmer tutor ate numerous bowls of pasta and sauce - whether or not they were truly enjoying it or just being polite is something I will never know.  

However, the dinner was full of laughs, talking about how much we were thankful for each other and of course, how delicious the food was.  

Our host mom and host sister chowing down on some spaghetti. 

A family dinner, in every sense of the term. 

Kate and our Khmer tutor, Thany.  She is pretty freakin' awesome. 

An impromptu English study session during dinner.  The highlight of our host
niece's reading is when she recites the alphabet, "A - apple, B - bird, C - cat..."

My host brother had a wedding to attend while we ate, but he ended up making it home to try a bit of pasta and "ankoi lang" or literally translated, "sit-play." 

                     Host sister and host brother, husband and wife.  

I don't typically imbibe alcohol around the family - I don't want to give off a negative image that sometimes accompanies alcohol consumption in this country.  But in this case, it was a celebratory event, my tutor and host mom were also kicking a few back, so I felt that it was appropro to have a cold brew with them. 

Host niece and I goofin' around.  I promise, she was not drinking beer.  I was...

One more...

Happily, the evening was everything I had hoped for.  While I have always felt very close to this family, showing them how much they meant to Kate and I seemed only natural and well-recieved.  At one point during the dinner Kate and I needed to run out to grab a medical package that PC had sent Kate in a spur-of-the-moment decision.  Kate was going to go and get it herself until our mom shooed me away with a gesture that said, "go with her, you are her husband and you need to make sure she is safe!"  The feeling of love mixed with obligation and guilt that this gesture produced in me, solidified how she has become such an important figure in our lives.  

At one point during the meal, Kate and I were joking around with each other in Khmer.  Nothing out of the usual...but our family remarked how much they enjoy us being able to "loosen up" around them and be ourselves.  They also can clearly see that, while we try to be respectful of their cultural norms, the love we have for each other is very evident.  

As a quick aside, this contradicts much of what we were taught during training, that often, its much better to toe the line of propriety and act in accordance with K'mai standards.  In fact, many times, our family likes to see how we act "normally."  This is not a comment about the shortcomings of PC training, only to note that in reality, our cultures often do not differ by all that much. 

The night came to a great end as Kate and I insisted on doing all the dishes and giving the family a true night off.  Again, the gesture was taken well and it was hard to peel ourselves away from the family and go back to our own house. 

All this to say that we have a fantastic host family in Cambodia, and the Spaghetti dinner was a huge success.