A Cambodian Wedding...

A CAMBODIAN WEDDING—MARCH 6, 09Children, tonight we went to our first Cambodian wedding and it was a distinct cultural experience. Typically, weddings here are held in the streets in front of the bride’s home. A wedding decorator is chosen from the many available, a large decorated canopy is erected right in the street. Chairs, tables, napkins, chair covers, table cloths all come in the package. A gasoline powered generator is set up for lighting, a wedding band is hired to play and sing during the 2 day event and food is available during the entire time. It is a very costly event and the guests are expected to pay $20-$30.00 a couple to participate and hopefully that will cover most of the cost of the wedding. For those with more money the event takes place in a Hotel lobby designed for marriages. This particular reception was one of those. We went to a part of Phnom Penh we had never seen before and there were 6 hotels side by side and across the street from each other all with weddings going on. Our tuk tuk driver helped us determine which hotel was sponsoring our wedding and he left. We were now on our own. As we walked up to the entrance where the bride and groom were standing we realized we recognized no one. But, fortunately the bride (she was LDS) saw our name tags and called out, “Hello Elda and Sista”. Relief! At least we were at the right wedding. The bride and all her maids were lined up on one side of the canopy entrance and the groom and all his brothers, best men etc. were lined up on the other side. We had our money appropriately placed in the envelop provided with our name on it so we were welcomed in. There was a live band and about 5 different vocalists that sang one right after the other all night but the music was so loud it hurt our ears and we couldn’t, simply couldn’t carry on a conversation without yelling in each others’ ears. We were over an hour late yet were some of the first ones there. We were invited because the bride’s father is the Chairman of the PEF Committee and I am the Vice Chair. Well, he sat us down at a large round table where we were the only ones at the table. There were four or five cans of pop sitting around so I started drinking pop. Mom said I shouldn’t drink more than one can but I reminded her that we just paid $25.00 to get in. I kept drinking. At the table next to us there were two older couples and one young man—all Caucasian so I got up and introduced myself to them. The one couple was the father of the groom, the other his brother and wife and the younger man a friend of the groom. The music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other so we stepped outside and had a delightful conversation. We found out the groom was from the Netherlands and his dad (the one we were talking to) was a retired Mechanical Engineer and had worked for a company that developed food processing machinery. He had traveled quite a bit for his company and spoke fluent English, German, Dutch, French and Italian. I tried my German but quickly switched to English. He had been very successful as an engineer and was quite well to do. He and his wife were wonderful, down-to-earth type people and after we had talked for a time they invited Mom and me to sit with them at their table. I thought there might be some advantage food-wise if we sat at the same table as the groom’s parents so I readily accepted. Sure enough, a few minutes after we sat down here came the food. There was a “lazy Susan” in the middle of the table and the waiters put down 6 plates of different appetizers. There were egg rolls, slices of wurst, sushi, a plate of spicy jerky, pickled onions, thin slices of a meat I had never eaten before, and a plate of roasted cashews. The cashews were the best. Twenty minutes later here came the Salad. It was a tossed salad and very good but it had things in it I had never eaten before. For example, there were baby squid in this salad! You could see their little arms with the suction cups on them. I ate one and it was a little chewy but squishy in the middle. It reminded me of when Bear Grills ate that big grub. I only ate one. A few minutes after the salad they brought out the pre-entre course featuring large breaded fried shrimp and another type of pressed meat loaf that, again, had a strange taste I had never tasted before. I mainly ate shrimp and rolls. Because of the loud music we couldn’t carry on a conversation with our guests and that was probably good because they were really drinking a lot of beer. I was running low on soda so I got a waiter to bring another six pack. They thought we were part of the groom’s family so we got whatever we wanted. The waiter asked if I wanted alcohol or beer but I told him I was the “designated driver” and that Fanta would be fine. The next course was lobster tails marinated in a curry sauce. They were actually quite good. Mom didn’t want one because she said it reminded her of the time Joseph brought home a live lobster from Dillons and threw it in a pot of boiling water in our kitchen when we lived in Manhattan. I told her to take one anyway and I would eat it. She did and I did. After everyone seemed to have their fill there was one left so I ate it too. I believe that was the first time in my life I had eaten lobster tails. I remember on a Boy Scout campout once we boiled some craw fish and ate the tails but this lobster tasted much better. After the lobster they brought out a large plate of food that turned out to be lentils vegetables and mushrooms covering a whole chicken. It had all been prepared with various spices and juices and was very tasty. The chicken just fell apart when we pulled at it a little. There were seven of us around this table and each platter of food was ample for all to get nice helpings. Oh, along with the chicken hash there was a large bowl of soup. Now, all this food was authentic Cambodian food so my taste buds were going bonkers. The soup had cabbage and other veggies in it along with boiled shrimp. I got a bowl full but it was quite spicy. I set it aside hoping something else would come along that needed a little flavoring. Sure enough, next came fried rice with generous amounts of pork stirred in. I took a good helping and put it in with my spicy soup. It was delicious! I looked at my watch and it was 8:00 PM. We had been eating and drinking for 2 hours! I was getting quite full and Mom had quit eating quite a while back. I was wondering, “Where is the dessert”? About that time Mom told me she wanted some more of the pretty little “welcome packets” they gave us when we came in so she would have one for each of her little granddaughters when we went home. So, I went out one door and pretended that I was just coming in for the first time and got a couple more. No one asked any questions so I took another one in case we have another granddaughter before we get home. Another missionary couple at an adjoining table asked us if we would like a ride home. I reluctantly accepted because if we went now it meant we would miss dessert but Mom hurt her foot a few days back and couldn’t walk so we left the party and got a ride home. As I think back on it I think we probably got our $25.00 worth in food not counting the fun it was just to have this cultural experience. Mom just loved it. I’ll tell you, the Cambodian women there were really dolled up. They wore major amounts of make-up, piled up fake hair, silk and satin dresses (mostly immodest), huge black long eyelashes and jewelry hanging all over. The men, on the other hand were just in regular pants and a polo-type shirt. When we got home we had some real good ice cream and called it a day—another successful missionary day. We love you all—Love DadPS I just remembered, tomorrow night we have another wedding but this one will be at one of the meeting houses here in PP. We’ll see how it compares.