Khmer Lessons, Part II

I've nearly finished the 5-book sequence by now.  (I am appalled that the books went up from 7 dollars apiece to 20 in the space of two short years, but then, the classes nearly doubled as well...).  I am hoping to finish the series by the time I take off.  At 20 dollars apiece, I better.

I've also finished the first writing book.  Amazing to think I learned dozens of letters in several months and now I can actually read them!

Again, I have to reiterate that it's an impossible fucking script.  There are 70+ letters, many more diacritic marks, old fashioned letters that look like more familiar letters but aren't pronounced that way, and I come across a new, inexplicable diacritic mark every single passage I read.  Add to that the fact that Khmer is about as phonetic as English, with all sorts of traps and tricks and silent -e's & other letters and non-sensical spellings...well, you've got a recipe for suffering.

So every day for 1-2 hours, my reading teacher and I struggle through yet another painful passage intended for Khmer 2nd graders.  I am hoping I can improve significantly over the next 6 weeks, that is for sure.  Cause this is something more akin to torture.

Heat

The heat in this country is something.  I used to tell myself it was my thyroid, but I'm starting to think it's just oppressive heat that causes you to sweat at the slightest movement.  You step outside of an air-conditioned room, and it's like you're in a sauna.  (I don't typically notice this, because I just live without aircon).

It's also possible that thyroid problems have just permanently ruined my body.  I remember I used to be pretty heat-resistant a decade ago.  Sigh.

It's so bad that I had to cancel my class at RUPP because it's too tortuous to ride my bike there and back every day.  It's so bad that I spend most of my days lying around prostrate inside, discoloring my bathrobe with my sweat.  It's so bad that it's over 100 degrees by 11 am.

I am told it never used to be this bad.  I am also told thunderstorms used to be rare, yet we're getting them nearly every day.  There's an official record for the number of people struck by lightening every year.  They report it in Cambodia Daily.

Hey guys, let's stop putting extra carbon in the air.