Sunday Market

Just outside of town is a large market area that we like to call the "Sunday Market" {cause you go on Sunday}. I don't really have an interest to buy anything there, BUT it is a great place to people watch and explore. 

We took a "Mian Bao Che" {literally Bread Car} or small van to as far as we could get before the no-reason traffic jam was at a stand still. Then we walked the rest of the way. 

You can buy tons of stuff from clothes......

to food.....

to livestock......

both large....

and small.....

How sweet are the baby ducks? So cute. 

As I said before, the best part is definitely seeing the people. 

You can even stop for a quick check up at the "dentist" on the way out of town....

Yup. That's the "dentist" table. 

I love looking at pictures like these. I pass people like these multiple times every day, but don't stop to really see the beauty in them- in things like the deep wrinkles from years and years of toil and labor in the sun and in the uniqueness of the clothes that the minority women wear. The sometimes toothless, big smiles they give when I smile and say "Ni Hao!" to them.  Just a reminder of how blessed I am to live here. 

Joyfully Venturing Out,

Shopping at My Local "Farmer's Market"

When I lived in America, I didn't take advantage of shopping at Farmer's Markets. Lets be honest, zipping over to Kroger and grabbing what you need in a jiffy is more convenient. And as the consumers we are, we all know we pay for convenience. I have to say though, when we go back, I don't think I'll be going back to convenience... full time at least. 

Fortunately for me, convenience here is a market right behind my house. 

This is our "local" veggie market that I often swing by on my way home from class. 

This is the BIG veggie market. LONG rows of lots and lots and lots of veggies sold by farmers who have come into town from the villages. It's about a 10-15 min. walk from my house.

You know how some days you go into Kroger or Publix and there are like 7 heads of lettuce to choose from that are semi-wilty or 5 heads of cauliflower that are all starting to get those little black spots... and they still cost an arm and a leg? 

Not to worry here- you can find at least 30 people selling what you are looking for.... and did I mention for like 1/10 the price for something bigger and better? 

Hannah's mama & aunt brought me this cute shopping bag from the states and it is the PERFECT "going to the veggie market" bag. 

This was one quick run to the market behind my house....

And I got all of this- a HUGE stalk of celery, 2 tomatoes, an onion, 5 bulbs of garlic, 1 GIANT carrot, 1 green pepper, 1 head of broccoli, 1 head of cauliflower, 4 heads of lettuce, and 12 eggs for like $5... maybe even a little less (yes, US$). Believe it. The 4 heads of lettuce that would be... like a lot at the grocery at home, were just a little over .50. FIFTY CENTS. I laughed when she told me, "san kuai wu!" {3.5kuai... or about 55 cents}. I ran in last week to grab a couple of potatoes and a head of broccoli to make soup with, and ended up buying a head of cauliflower that seriously might have been almost the size of a small human head. I was amazed. 

One of the many, many things I love about living here. 

Joyfully Produced, 

Vacation Recap {5}- Cambodia Part 4

My last Cambodia update

So we took a little adventure to a...... I'm not real sure what you call it..... shooting range? 

It was slightly scary.....

and all that I could think is how mad my sweet dad would be that I was there  ; ) (don't worry dad, I survived!) 

Almost all of these are functioning weapons except the bazookas. 

Sweet Hannah has the hardest time making mean/intense scary faces.... I mean, it is totally out of her nature, so we'll let her stick with these. 

Sooooo, why did we take this excursion? These boys were DYING to go pay hundreds of dollars to go shoot things that they would never be able to in most other places. There original plan was to shoot RPG's- thankfully that wasn't an option that day. 

So instead they shot lots of different automatic guns and it was seriously one of the more scary things I have experienced. 

You just really don't expect to hear a machine gun in real life unless you are in the military.... at least I don't. 

I (of course) have lots and lots of videos.... that I can't get to upload in less than 6 hours. Seriously- still waiting for some advice out there...

Here she is again- no she really isn't sweetly trying to give the gun a kiss.... this is her intense face. 

Don't worry- the bazooka (that is what it is called right??) was empty. 

Other Cambodia highlights....

The food

It was really good! The local food was a lot like Thai food

Joseph ordered snake, kangaroo, alligator and grilled at the table. 

The before

There were also LOTS of really good western restaurants. I loved this one! 

......where they just wanted to let you know that a cosmopolitan was made famous by Carrie. So random! I don't know why I find it so amusing. 

I thought this chicken avocado sandwich looked wonderful.

I LOVE the markets there

They weren't very big, but they had really fun stuff. 

I'm a fan of SOME of the wood carvings..... the ones without faces or animals.

I really like the one with flowers in the middle of this picture. 

SCARVES galore! I think I bought at least 6 scarves on vacation. Ridiculous. 

I love these fun little ball lights. 

There were lots of bags and wallets made out of fish bags that were super fun. 

So that was Cambodia!

It was such an adventure. I seriously asked myself multiple times daily if this is really my life. Who gets to do this!? I am seriously so thankful that I do and so want to take advantage of any opportunity like this that I have. So fun. 

Up next- Koh Lanta. I'm not going to post too many pics, but I'll link to the facebook album I put up that you can look at (even if you aren't on facebook) with more pics. 

Joyfully adventurous,