Last week we celebrated Khmer New Year. Our neighbors across the street brought in a tradition dancing troupe to dance the របាំត្រុដិ in their courtyard/anteroom. This dance is supposed to remove and protect the home from evil spirits. We hung out with the troupe part of the time they were waiting around. Then like good Khmer, we stood in the road and watched through the big front (garage) door as they danced.

The dance troupe let our kids play with some of their gear. Becca ran inside and changed into a pretty dress and put on some chap-stick so she would fit in with the ladies. She really wanted to dance with them. Anna was not impressed.

After the dance was performed, our neighbor children came out and did some powdering in the street, another New Year tradition. Once they shared the powder our kids enjoyed participating too!

We were able to do some extra family things for Khmer New Years, since Josh had the week off from school. Three nights we had dinner guests, we went to a playground, went swimming, and I took the kids to a mall play area, where Josh joined us after his studying for some pizza. It was nice to have some extra family time without the pressures of school or regular tutoring. However we didn’t abandon language study. Josh studied with a tutor three days and continued with his self-study. I did several days of self-study during my normally scheduled tutor time.