Parties and nieces

I have recently been to two parties at the house of my colleague, Kaknika. She invited myself and other CoDeC staff to share a very sociable meal called ‘cow going up the mountain’, so called because strips of beef (cow) are cooked on a conical shaped barbecue (mountain). Delicious and good fun, although all those burning coals inside a wooden house were a bit of a hazard! There was plenty of topping up of glasses and raising them for toasts: ‘Sokapeap laore’ (Good health!)!

The other party was to celebrate the birthdays of her 6 month old daughter and her two year old niece. Kaknika and her husband are raising the niece as their own daughter because the child's own parents (Kaknika’s brother and wife) have moved to another province. There is a lot of sharing in the upbringing of children amongst family members in Cambodia. The 5 year old son of a woman I know died last week from encephalitis, so she was given a niece to bring up instead.

Thank goodness these extended family obligations aren’t the usual practice in England, or I may have ended up with a greater role in looking after my own nephews and nieces! (Only joking, Tom, Oliver, Ben 1, Rosalind, Jessica, Freddie, William and Ben 2!!!).