The apartment we are renting provides daily maid service to the tenants. Every day I try to talk to the maid a little bit, just about daily things, to practice speaking. It usually doesn't result in much actual information being communicated since my Khmer skills are so poor, but the maid seems to enjoy trying with me, which I appreciate. She is a really sweet woman. I thinks she has the impression that I understand more of what she is saying than what I really do. When I say "I don't understand" in response to something she says to me (which is true for just about everything she says) she seems disappointed, so I don't have the heart to tell her that I have no idea what she is saying very often.
Yesterday I asked her if she had children and she told me she had 5, 3 girls and two boys. Finally, a conversation that was resulting in actual information being exchanged! She said she also had a husband. Then, continuing with the small talk, I heard her say the word for "hurt" or "sick". She pulled up her sleeves and her arms had huge bruises on them. She pulled down the front of her shirt a bit, and her chest had huge streaks of bruising as well. I immediately became very concerned. Since she had just mentioned having a husband, I asked if it was her husband who caused this. She said no, and kept making rubbing motions back and forth over her bruises.
Then I remembered something Matt had told me about treating illness in Cambodia and I immediately felt relieved. Cambodians and other southeast asians often treat illness by having someone rub their skin with a coin until welts form. Enough force is applied that it causes bruising. By showing me her bruises, she was letting me know that she was sick and had been treated. She said the illness was in her neck, and I heard her coughing a couple of days earlier, so I'm guessing it was a cold.
I was glad I knew about coin rubbing, otherwise I would have spent the whole day worrying that the maid had an abusive husband, a blood disease, or some other horrible thing. Phew!
3 comments:
What a terrible cure. Maybe you can share some modern medicine with her once you can start communicating better. LOL. Actually though, I loved this story. It will be fun to see how you will improve at understanding one another. So, do you close to anyone in your ward? Have you met any English speakers? I know you want to learn the language, but it's really nice to have someone you can communicate with a little bit as well along the way. Glad you have a great teacher and I know that you will learn fast.
Thanks for the vote of confidence Liesel! I have met some English speakers. The very first Sunday I was here we went to an international branch. I met a fellow American and a really cool girl from Equador that I exchanged phone numbers with. Also, Matt's coworkers are really great, and one of them has gone out of his way to be friends with us. He is American and his wife is Cambodian but speaks English well. Last Sunday I went to the Cambodian branch and I am definitely going to go to that branch to help me learn the language. I met girl from the Philippines who has been here for 5 years and speaks English. She goes to the Cambodian branch to help her language skills also.
Nothing like adding unnecessary pain to sickness! I'm glad you were looking out for her. Good job exchanging information. Sounds like you're making some progress. Also, why doesn't my residence come with a daily maid service?
Post a Comment