Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Fish Eyes

Good morning America, you all are just now waking up and I am climbing into bed.

*Although I won't get to post this until your Thursday is done*

Day four is gone with the wind.

Sarah slept last night. HOORAY! She has been in dire need of some z's and hasn't been getting them. At all. So I'm so happy she felt a little more rested today. 

This morning we discussed insects in class.

That was interesting. 

It was the same process we used when naming meats. You know, the whole:

Me: Do you know what a butterfly is?

Class: *blank stares*

Me: *Uses google and finds picture*

Class: Ahhh *Khmer word for butterfly*

This process was repeated. A lot. 

Then, for some strange reason, I decided that we could learn fruits.

Did you know that Cambodia has completely different fruits than America?

Duh, Cassie.

We had a list of shared fruits and then they began asking how to say Cambodian fruits in English... I had absolutely no idea how to find the American name for it. But luckily one of the students went and got Tolah's laptop and brought it back to look up the fruits and show me pictures. It was definitely a challenge trying to find the English words for all of these fruits. At one point *pre-laptop* they were trying to say milk fruit but it was coming out mill fruit. I, of course, had no idea what they were trying to describe to me. Then one boy took me outside and showed me a tree with all this fruit on it. I still had no idea. That's when the laptop was brought in. 

Thank you Lord for technology.

Srey Nam bought a pineapple and so we had a lot of sentences formed about the pineapple during our fruit session. Then she cut it for all of us and we ate it. One student *in Sarah's class* told us not to eat too much of it. We asked why and they all began speaking in Khmer trying to figure out how to answer us in English. Then one boy popped out from the other room and shouted:

"Diarrhea!"

We all had a good laugh over that one. 

But hey, at least he knows some English right?

Lunch was... interesting.

We had something called "Sour Soup"

I was excited, anticipating something like Hot and Sour Soup.

Oh no, not quite. 

It looked pretty normal. Waterlilies all piled at the top and broth surrounding them. There was some white fleshy stuff so I assumed that to be fish. No problem. I can do fish. So I scooped a heaping spoonful and put it on my plate... BAD IDEA. As I went to put the spoon back in the bowl, I saw something that made me turn pale. *Yes I'm being dramatic* There, staring back at me, was a huge fish eye. Upon further inspection I realized that the entire fish was nestled under those waterlilies. 

I couldn't breathe. 

What was I going to do?

I literally had just lost my appetite.

I looked at Sarah and mouthed "I can't do it"

*Side note: Sarah and I have this awesome thing going where we have opposite tastes. She will like (or at least tolerate) a dish while I can't even smell it and I can eat something that completely grosses her out. It's absolutely God-given and we are so grateful for it. This way, we can both eat enough of each dish so that it looks like we ate a lot of the food prepared for us. We would hate to be offensive.*

Okay so back to the story.

As soon as I mouthed those words to Sarah, she immediately came to my rescue. 

We were suddenly the only ones in the kitchen so I threw the stuff I had just put on my plate onto her plate and carried on eating the zucchini-type-vegetable that I had on my plate. She kept scooping up more and more of the soup and I continued eating the other non-fish-eyed dish. I didn't realize that she had no idea what she was eating; she couldn't see the eyes from her angle. I didn't tell her about the eyes until we got back to our hotel for our afternoon nap. 

She screamed. 

We were laughing so hard and tears were streaming down our faces.

Lesson learned?

Friends don't let friends eat fish eyes.

My bad Sarah.

As Sarah and I were sitting outside watching the boys play volleyball before the children came for class, I came to a conclusion. 

My Views on Homesickness:

I'm going to go home eventually. 

Yes, it won't be for 7 more weeks. 

But I am going home.

I'll get to be with the people I love.

It will be wonderful. 

Until then?

Why wouldn't I live in the moment?

Why wouldn't I learn Khmer?

Why wouldn't I experience a culture that it totally different from my own?

It's seems so simple, I just didn't figure it out until now. 

On a slightly different note:

I feel like I finally understand how I should look forward to Heaven.

I've always been extremely excited about it, but I've never fully longed for it because I'm content with my life here on earth. 

That's not how it should be at all. 

I need to long for it.

I need to feel absolutely homesick. 

I need to talk to God everyday and long to be home with him.

Yes I can make the most of my life here on earth and live it to the fullest. 

But I need to know I'm going home.

And I cannot wait.

"All I know is I'm not home yet, this is not where I belong. Take this world and give me Jesus. This is not where I belong." 

So on that note, I hope you all had a blessed Thursday. Mine was pretty great.

Love,

Cassie