Voice from Cambodia: Khmer Traditional Wedding
S. Sophan
Voice from Cambodia: Khmer Traditional Wedding
Dear All,
I am back from India and adjusting to being back at work…..trying to think about how to present Bernoulli’s Principle to an English as Second Language class, when my own grasp of the concept is tenuous at best….should be an interesting week.
Loung is back from his “honeymoon” and although he is dead tired, he can only be described as looking smug…..he has been looking forward to being married for quite a while. He had asked me to come along on the honeymoon and I was not quick enough to control the look of dismay on my face at this invitation. Thankfully I was off in India so could decline the invitation. He didn’t understand my reticence, because as is the custom here, Khmer generally travel in crowds.
But back to the beginning…
I was quite proud of myself braving the market to buy the fabric for my outfit for Loung’s wedding. Row upon row of silk and lace made the choices somewhat difficult,(Photo 775) and I found it difficult not to be distracted by the ranks of gleaming white plastic pubises on which the ready-made blouses were displayed (Photo 776) but I finally settled on some lace and then had the lady at the stall model fabric for the skirt. She had an excellent eye for colour as the first length she chose was in fact the best match.