Diana At the Crossroad: Little Town, It's a Quiet Village

Ever wonder what it's like for a Peace Corps volunteer to step outside their house into the midst of their village?

Then I suggest you watch the opening village scene from Beauty and the Beast. It's a lot like that. Except dustier and hotter. And mostly in Khmer.

Now, if I had more time, and a lot more energy, I would make an awesome youtube parody of the song. Instead, I’ll just put the lyrics here, with a few changes, and you can use your imaginations and sing the tune in your head. The real song is titled Belle. Appropriately, I changed it to Diana.

If you’d like to try to follow along, listen to this video while reading the blog:

Diana

Diana: Little town it's a quiet village.
                Every day like the one before.
                Little town full of little people, waking up to say.
Man #1: Nyam bai! (eat rice)
Man #2: Nyam bai!
Woman #1: Nyam bai!
Man #3: Nyam bai!
Man #4: Nyam bai!
Diana: There goes the seller with her tray like always.
                The same old bugs and snails to sell.
                Every morning just the same since the morning that I came,
                To this poor provincial town.
Seller: Hello Barang!
Diana: Hello Sir!
Seller: Where you go?
Diana: The school
                I just wrote the most wonderful lesson,
                About verbs and second conditional clauses...
Seller: That's nice. Wife! The baguettes! Hurry up!
Group of Market Ladies: Look there she goes that girl is strange no question.
                Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?
Woman #1: Never part of any crowd.
Man #3: Cuz her heads up on some cloud.
Villagers: No denying she's a funny girl that Diana.
Man #1: Bonjour!
Woman #1: Hello!
Man #1: Hello I love you!
Woman #1: Bonjour!
Man #4: Hello!
Woman #1: What is your name?
Woman #2: I need six eggs!
Man #2: That's too expensive.
Diana: There must be more than this provincial life.
Co-Teacher: Ah! Diana!
Diana: Good Morning! I've come to teach with you!
Co-Teacher: I’m finished already.
Diana: Class time just started. Have you taught anything new?
Co-Teacher: Not since yesterday!
Diana: That's alright. We'll teach...this class!
Co-Teacher: This one?! But you've taught it twice!
Diana: Well it's my favorite! Far off gazing, daring cheating, lazy students, with one good one in disguise
Book Shop Clerk: Well if you like it all that much, it's yours.
Diana: But sir!
Co-Teacher: I insist.
Diana: No really, that’s against Peace Corps policy…
Male Teachers: Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar. I wonder if she's feeling well.
Female Teachers: With a dreamy far off look.
Male Teachers: And her nose stuck in a book.
Villagers: What a puzzle to the rest of us, is Diana.
Diana: Oh! Isn't this amazing? It's my favorite part because you'll see.

                Here's where she does her homework. But she won't discover
                she learned something til I leave.
Woman #3: Now It's no wonder that the barong is a beauty, her nose has got no parallel.
Man #1: But behind that fair facade, I'm afraid she's rather odd.
                Very different from the rest of us.
Villagers: She's nothing like the rest of us. Yes different from the rest of us is Diana.