Offerings Should Be Eaten

One of my Om’s told me that all the prices at the market had gone up today. The reason is that this is a day when Buddhists are expected to place gifts on the “spirit houses” in their homes or at their place of business. Bananas, cakes, chicken, wine, soft drinks and flowers are some of the foods commonly offered. Om said that she tried to buy as little as possible because she hates the way that the prices go up when much of the food that is sold is offered on a shrine or at a temple and then thrown away. Why pay extra for food that isn’t going to be eaten?!

As we talked further, Om said she used to take offerings of food to the temple before she became a Christian. I asked whether there was any fear in stopping these offerings?

She looked at me and explained- “People offer food for different reasons. Some offer gifts because they have prosperous businesses and they do everything they can to make sure that they will accumulate even more wealth. Some offer food to their dead relatives because they think that they can provide for them. If we have food to give, we offer it to the poor. We do not give in order to get more for ourselves in the future. We do not expect people to give to us when we are dead. If we have enough to eat, we are happy. If we have extra, we give to the poor.”

Good answer! = )

Om Peap

In Cambodia people don't use names as much as in the West. Terms such as older brother/ sister, younger brother/sister, uncle/aunt etc. are used instead to show respect and reinforce relationships. Sometimes there are uncomfortable moments in initial conversations if one or both persons aren't sure of the proper title to use.

The other day I met a 7-year-old girl. She was visiting Phnom Penh with her mum and they stayed 5 nights in the house I'm living in. The 7-year-old knew to call me aunty but the question in her mind was: Is this person ming (an aunt younger than her mother) or om (an aunt older than her mother)?

We chatted for a while... she was trying to guess my age... I was trying to convince her I was 48...18...13... In the moment of play, the giggling girl called me "great grandmother"!! (This was quite cheeky but also hilarious!) Later her mum asked my age and from the second day onwards I've been om.

Om Peap. Older aunty. Respected. O.L.D. I'm really not used to being om.... I'm older sister to many and ming to many school-aged little friends. But I have not yet fully embraced this om-ness.

Dengue Killed My Blog

Sorry I've been out of touch. I am alive...but getting over dengue fever. It is probably one of those "when" rather than "if" illnesses....

What are the signs and symptoms of dengue fever?

Dengue fever usually starts suddenly with a high fever, rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and muscle and joint pain. The severity of the joint pain has given dengue the name "breakbone fever." Nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite are common. A rash usually appears 3 to 4 days after the start of the fever. The illness can last up to 10 days, but complete recovery can take as long as a month…

…and it isn’t fun!

4real

I heard a report about a couple in New Zealand who tried to register the name of their firstborn child as 4real. 4real? Yes! I'm not making this up! However, it wasn't allowed because names must be chosen from letters (not numbers and symbols). I think it is a good thing. I don't want to see a generation of kids called Matt2, N8alie or Ant1.

But what names could we expect to be popular in the future? Levitt & Dubner have answered this question by studying names in California.

They started by comparing names to the education levels of the mothers. (Philippa ranked at number 8 on the list of names given by "smart" mums.) They also compared names to parents' socioeconomic backgrounds. Levitt & Dubner then compiled these indicators into groups- "high end" names and "low end" names. By comparing names given over time, a pattern began to emerge. Former "high end names" ended up on the list of "low end" names a decade or two later. In other words, once a name catches on amongst high-income, highly educated parents, it starts working its way down the socioeconomic ladder. Therefore, if we want to predict which names will be popular in the future, we can look at the "high end" names of today. So, L&D's picks for 2015 are as follows:

Girls: Annika, Ansley, Ava, Avery, Aviva, Clementine, Eleanora, Ella, Emma, Fiona, Flannery, Grace, Isabel, Kate, Lara, Linden, Maeve, Marie-Claire, Maya, Philippa, Phoebe, Quinn, Sopie, Waverly.

Boys: Aidan, Aldo, Anderson, Ansel, Asher, Beckett, Bennett, Carter, Cooper, Finnegan, Harper, Jackson, Johan, Keyon, Liam, Maximilian, McGregor, Oliver, Raegan, Sander, Sumner, Will.

Any other names you think will be cool in 7.5 years?