of s'mores and second goals

Last night, Topher and I were finally able to accomplish something we've been working towards for several months now.  Something we've been planning since we first asked my mother to send us chocolate, and marshmallows and graham cracker, which she obliged in a package around Christmastime.

Last night, we finally made s'mores with our host family.

It started as a craving when asked what we'd like in a package, and grew to a greater purpose when we realized this could be a truly fantastic, very "American" experience we could share with our beautiful Khmer family.

Although our original plan was to roast the marshmallows over our family's ceramic fire pit outside, we discovered (after weeks of tweaking to ensure it worked just right) that our gas stove worked just as well!

So we invited our nieces, nephew and sister into our home after dinner to partake in some fun of making a 'bong-aim America,' or American dessert.

It was a roaring success, I must say.


The best reflection of the enjoyment is seen in the imperfect lower right picture of the cluster below.

 After we had devoured our sugary snack, the kids played on our small whiteboard.  I took the opportunity to quickly help them visually see the name of the treat we'd just made.

In the Peace Corps world, we talk about our work within the framework of three goals.  

My primary work fulfills goal number one, but it's the daily joy I find in goals two and three that keep me excited to wake up each morning here in Cambodia.  A lot of my work relative to goal one often leaves me feeling impotent and out of control (thanks Cher!), mainly due to existing bureaucratic, systematic hurdles that exist in the education system here.  But all of my work relative to goals two and three feel meaningful, revelatory, and usually fun.

Which is exactly how I'd describe last night.  I explained to our sister that Americans typically make s'mores while camping and sleeping under the stars, which is why we like to roast marshmallows over the open fire, as we do when we camp.  They may have thought us a bit nuts, but the sweet, sugary end was a delight in and of itself!

What great American dessert would you feel compelled to share with another country?