At Home in Cambodia

Hello, blog. It’s been a while. The streets of Pursat and stone halls of Angkor have stolen my attention; please forgive me, I am here now and ready to divulge.

The city of Pursat is a pleasant middle-ground somewhere between the chaotic monstrosities of tourist town Ayutthaya, DISGUSTINGLY URBAN, unorganized Bangkok, “tuk-tuk, lady?” Phnom Penh and the many humble villages spread out along the national highway which we passed through to get here. More bicycles than previous cities, but motorbikes are still the popular mode of transportation. “You want to walk?” I’ve been questioned many times.  Yes. The entire long, straight, day-lit kilometer. I must challenge myself to conquer! It’s as if I told them "I want to eat bugs." Oh, wait …

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This monster grasshopper was quite delicious




Walking seems unheard of here, even in the small city setting. Pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way.

But I’ve really begun to feel at home here. My host family is wonderful. I’m house stay number 27! They speak little English but we make do without, especially when we come together to eat because talk turns to “Eat, eat!” But my host mother, Sychhen, is an excellent cook. Rice still sounds good to me even after eating it 2-3 times a day for 3.5 weeks now. This weekend I will take a trip to the market with her to pick out ingredients and help cook.

Everywhere in town shuts down between 12-2 for lunch. Siesta is great! Just to be away from your place of stress and at home for a couple of hours is revitalizing. Problem is, if you lay down for a nap you never want to go back to work. And if you can’t get anything done in town because everywhere is open at the exact same times; housewives must be great! (Kidding!) But 20 minutes was enough for a lightning fast REM, maybe enough to keep me awake past 9:00 tonight.

Pauli, the house baby, is starting to like me. He is for real the cutest little guy I have ever seen. And maybe the first baby I’ve felt a connection with. Surrounded by non- English speakers, I’m learning to communicate without words. It’s nice to find a deeper, non-verbal connection. So a non-speaking child seems not so far from the folks I’ve been surrounded by and his intuitive responses and non-verbal cues seem to make much more sense to me now.

PS I need a grammar lesson and tutoring on semi-colons. (Ahem, Chelsea Rose)

I do need to keep in mind, however, that not speaking English does not deem one illiterate. I should speak slowly and reiterate but not as if I am speaking to a child. Patience is a virtue and tolerance is key.

Spoke too Soon? ... Nah

So, last night arriving from the airport through backroads in the late evening, I was fooled into thinking Phnom Penh was a bit less hectic than Thailand. WRONG! The street my temporary hostel is on is quiet and quaint and the hosts are the kindest people I think I have ever met. But, the city overall is super busy and crowded. I can officially support the stereotype that Asians CANNOT drive. Yeesh. But, I am told that I will love Pursat, which is much more rural, remote, and quiet. Phew. I can't handle city-living for long. It has really put the notion of overpopulation in my face, impossible to ignore ... scarey.

There is a seemingly more distinct culture here and more modesty so far. Buddhism is more prominent I think. It has been getting dark around 6pm and then everything sort of shuts down and people go into evening relaxation mode ... I dig. I also very much dig the insistance upon shoelessness everywhere. Plus, delicious fruits! I had a paw-paw-esk commodity called 'milkfruit' today and tried jackfruit for the first time. It's like a banana/pineapple combo.

Riels are wierd to get accustomed to; $1 = $4,000 riels ... not used to paying 15,000 of anything for lunch. They do accept American dollars ... way easier on my brain, good knowledge for the future.

I have a welcome dinner tomorrow then one more night in Phnom Penh before heading to my permanent home-stay accomodation in Pursat. I will be living with a family of 6 women and three other interns will be living with the family as well; Nadia from Switzerland, Katherine from Australia (95% of the 15+ish volunteers at orientation today were Aussies) and some guy we have yet to meet.

Tomorrow should be good. Oh! And I just had the most amazing fish curry!! I am going to come home with lots of recipie ideas so, look out; My taste has taken a drastic turn of preference towards spicey.

Last Hours in Thailand (for now)

So I am back at Khauson Road at good old Coffee World preparing for my short flight over the pond to Cambodia. Eek! I'm very excited and looking forward to a bit of a change. I am hoping for less commotion and a more rural setting.



The coming of dawn from my beach bed



Friday night, I spontaneously decided to hit the beach. So I packed up all of my belongings and took an hour-long bus ride to Bangkok, 2 hour long ride to SriRacha, and a short ferry trip to Co Sichang Island. It was dark when I got in and all I saw was fishing boats galore. I was worried that in the daylight I would be thoroughly disappointed by brown brackish waters polluted by such heavy activity. So I slept in the sand (and interesting experience I will elaborate on later) and when I woke, daybreak lit the ocean and it could not have been more beautiful. I was very much craving some salty swimming and got my fix!



Not quite justice served



Then, I got the brilliant idea to hike to the top of a nearby mountain! I could see a protruding rock lookout and wanted nothing but to be there. After a short while of intense bushwhacking and fire ants and snake skins ... I have never wanted to be out of the woods more in my life.

I was still determined to get the the lookout even if I couldn't hike to the top of the mountain so I swam there. Through the waves and deep I realized that tide was just barely too low for my to hoist myself out onto any of the rocks. A bit depressing but, hey, at least I tried. It was an adventure for sure and that's really all I wanted.

Oh yeah, and to all of you old, fat, white tourists our there ... why insist on SPEEDOS!! I guess it's the "I don't give a damn" vacation attitude and, you know, they deserve some sunned thighs too. Go for it, Tiger. More power to ya.