Khmer Kitchen Chemistry

Over the last couple if days, I have spent the last few mornings at Aranh High School practicing some chemistry experiments.  The chemistry teacher plunked the powdered metals in front of me (they really only have copper and zinc) and asked me what experiments they could do.  So we spent some time mixing them with the pink toilet bowl cleaner (HCl-containing) and watched the formation of hydrogen gas.  We tried to do the hydrogen gas test (the one where a burning splint pops) but that doesn't work for me reliably even under the best of conditions.

They only experiments that I can think of with the limited chemicals that they have are the single displacement of copper from copper sulphate or the displacement of hydrogen gas from acid.  I also showed them the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide using Manganese dioxide that they had - amazingly - scraped out of the inside of 1.5 V batteries.  I watched Chanda score a battery with knife, and then give it to a student to go and smash with a brick until it busted open.  The black powder worked like a charm though.  The problem with this reaction is that MnO2 is not the healthiest thing and should have a proper hazardous waste proposal.  I know that they reaction also works with yeast.  Chanda and I bought some yeast at the Old Market but it reacted so slowly that it wasn't really worth using.  Today we went to Psar Leu (a huge local market) and bought some more active yeast.  We will give it a try tomorrow.

 ***Update!*** the stronger yeast worked as well as the MnO2.  And when you put dish soap in it, it foams right out of the test tube.  Hooray for kitchen chemistry!  Now I don't have to worry about the kids handling heavy metals or the safe disposal of things after they are done.  Even the glowing splint test worked great!  The splint bursts into flames when it is lowed into the bubbling tube.  The older kids can absolutely do that.  The burning dollar demo was a huge hit, and tomorrow I will try to make soap using lye from a drain remover, coconut oil, and palm oil.  I guess we will just have to wait and see.  ***Update!*** To soap worked beautifully!  We heated the oils and the drain cleaner in test tubes in a water bath to 37 degrees (as measured by the new thermometers!), mixed them together, and then took turn stirring for about 20 or 25 minutes before pouring it into the mould.  The soap is now sitting in Chanda's office curing away slowly.  I am pretty impressed.  Chanda wrote down the instructions so I think that she can pass that along to the other teachers.

I went to see the graceful Apsara dancers again and they are as beautiful as ever.  I don't think that I will ever get tired of watching that.

Last night, I went back to Route 60 with a great German couple that I met here.  Johannes has been in Siem Reap for over a month working on some kind of film. Marion has joined him for a few days here before heading to Thailand for a  holiday.  We drove out there with Mr. Ouhok, and this time had much better weather.   He dropped us and went to chill out while we perused the restaurants (outdoor barbeques and and skillets with plastic tables an chairs) but settled on street vendors where you give your order, and choose from the wide array of fish, chicken, and other things piled high on grills.  We ordered some chicken pieces, and a banana leaf wrapped around something mysterious, and then sat on reed mats across the street.  A boy who looked to be about ten years old became our server and interpreter because his English was better than his parents.  He brought us over some rice, plates, spoons, a box of tissues, and sauces.  The food was delicious even though the skewers that Johannes had thought was liver turned out to be chicken hearts, but all the same...just a little bit chewy that's all.  We chatted with a friendly family next to us who were in town from Phnom Penh because their younger daughter had needed surgery when she was a baby and the Children's Hospitals in Siem Reap are free for Cambodians and the care is very good.  There is a family of children's hospitals in Siem Reap that are funded by donations.  It's pretty amazing actually.  But even more amazingly, those same people tracked us down fifteen minutes after we had left because Johannes had left a tiny key behind.  We thought that was an amazing feat until we realized that we were the only white people there.  Maybe all they had to do was ask which way the white people went, and then follow the trail.

There are many children on Route 60 who roam around without parents.  Their parents are probably nearby, and might send them out to ask for money.  It is difficult to be sure.  But we picked up a couple of boys who followed us around for a while so when we bought a round of air gun shots, we let him shoot a couple of them.  And when Johannes paid a dollar to give them a ride of the ferris wheel, they were so incredibly happy, and waving at us through the metal cage.  Marion and I stood nearby and took photos until the thing started up and started going shockingly fast.  When they got off they were so excited and after we got out high-fives, they ran off happy and laughing.  Johannes said that it was the best dollar that he ever spent in his life.  I have to agree.

This morning, I went on a bicycle tour of the Siem Reap countryside with Grasshopper Bicycle tours.  It was wonderful and I am so glad that I decided to do that one instead of the longer trek to the floating village.

 There were several other people on the tour and we all went out for lunch at the Peace Cafe after returning back to town.  We rode out of town using side streets and then turned off onto smaller country roads that can only be accessed by bike.  The earth is red like Prince Edward Island.  Our first stop was in front of the ONLY slaughterhouse in Siem Reap (we didn't go in or anything it was just a convenient place to stop).

 Every single animal that is butchered and sold in markets is first brought there, and they are slaughtered by hand.  Kind of shocking of course but really, we are so removed from our food sources back at home.  We stopped for a snack at a local restaurant and I had what might be the most delicious iced coffee that I have ever had in my life.  We continued on through the beautiful and peaceful landscape, getting a glimpse into a farmers home, and visiting a crocodile farm, before finally returning to Siem Reap.  It poured rain on us once or twice, and I came home completely soaked, but actually the day was quite cool by relative standards, and I am very grateful for that.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading!

Leslie