Through my travels to different worlds, I have found that the most effective way to fit in and be accepted in foreign places is to eat their food.   Eat lots of it.

It is impossible to express your appreciation of one’s country and culture through words when you can’t speak the language.  However, the language of sharing a meal together at a table transcends all cultures and breaks all language barriers.  There is no better way to show that you love being in the presence of your host than by asking for seconds.   

I admit I am a strong subscriber to this strategy because it always works, and also because I love food. But what do you do when you encounter countries with hygiene issues and you risk dealing with some very unpleasant health consequences?  Thankfully, we have avoided this question in our previous travels due to the nature of our hosts or by eating at reputable restaurants for meals. 

While in Cambodia we have been enjoying some blow-our-minds home-cooked meals by Orm, Family of Hope’s chef and the principal Nai’s mother.   While in Sihanoukville (our beach trip with the kids), she also oversaw each meal.  However, cooking in a kitchen and cooking at the beach are two very different things.  For your reference, the beaches of Sihanoukville, albeit beautiful, are not quite as pristine or developed as the beaches of the Caribbean or Hawaii.  Food preparation and cleaning practices at the beach were unconventional by our western standard.  Meals included communal dishes using our hands with the kids who had been playing around and in everything all day.  As we surveyed our situation, every travel advice we had ever heard was echoing in our head. 

“Your wimpy little stomachs cannot take this….”

But how could we not?  This was the one time everyone congregated in one place, under the tin roofs, full of chaos and excitement.  So we prayed really hard and then partook in all the bread broken.  As a result, we were awarded with the most spectacular food each night: sweet prawns, whole calamari stuffed with minced pork in a beef tomato lemongrass broth, fresh crabs and huge clams, sautéed beef with sweet and chili pickles, and an assortment of exotic fruits.  And every time we cleared our plates, Orm and the kids would push the food dishes in front of our faces saying “eat more!”

While not without some issues, we emerged relatively healthy by the end of the week by God’s grace, and also with some unforgettable memories around the table.

- joyce