Be Invited In For A Meal, Check!

One thing on my Wanderlist that I was really hoping to do on this trip was be invited in for a meal with locals. Well, this evening it happened! I was strolling along a dirt road not too far from my guesthouse and I passed a yard filled with a large family. "Hey", they shouted, "You like beer?" For anyone that doesn't know, I do like beer, so I went in with the intention of just saying hello. I ended up staying for about two hours drinking beer, eating chicken (it would have been rude to refuse!), rice, boiled banana peels, some kind of delicious lemon poppyseed sauce and chatting with some very lovely Cambodian people. I was told that this is a meal they only eat on Sundays and special occasions (it's a Buddhist holiday right now in Cambodia) so I felt pretty lucky that they welcomed me in!

Although the "setting" was pretty different (dirt floors, pieces of wood for seats and chickens meandering near my feet) it really didn't seem that different from a family gathering we would have at home. It was comforting somehow, knowing that people halfway around the world do the same thing we do back in Canada. I am falling more and more in love with this country everyday!