Hi guys.
Because Vietnam's internet is amazing (ie - not dial up speed), I've taken advantage of that fact and uploaded all of my other millions of pictures. I'm also going to start putting my favorites on Facebook, so unless those who have an fb account are really bored, you don't really have to look at both. I'm mostly just putting the stuff on photobucket in case I lose my camera or my computer gets stolen or whatnot (knock on wood....) and so my parents and family can see them. Overkill? Probably. Get over it.
The elections went well, and there's no war. So far. Going back tomorrow! Stay tuned! :)
PS - I shot an AK-47 today. Ten times. Let's just say, they are very loud and have quite a kick.. O_o. I was a good shot though, so look out! ;)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Good Morning Vietnam
Short post, but I wanted to make sure everyone wasn't freaking out. If anyone has been reading the newspaper or watching the news, some may have noticed that many are claiming that Cambodia and Thailand are in an "imminent state of war." This is due to the tensions between the two countries that resulted over the Preah Vihear temple, and this has resulted in both countries massing troops at the border. Personally, I think it's only government show-boating, and that Thailand will have a coup before a conflict occurs because the government is so unstable. All the ruckus is also due to the fact that Cambodia is about to have its elections tomorrow, and the reigning party is using it to push the nationalistic vote..
That being said, if a war breaks out or shots are fired, I'll probably be in Vietnam for a little bit longer. Since Siem Reap is right next to the Preah Vihear province, it would be bad news bears to be hanging out there.. I realized that I never put up a map of Cambodia to give you an idea of geography, so here it is:
That being said, if a war breaks out or shots are fired, I'll probably be in Vietnam for a little bit longer. Since Siem Reap is right next to the Preah Vihear province, it would be bad news bears to be hanging out there.. I realized that I never put up a map of Cambodia to give you an idea of geography, so here it is:
Siem Reap is right above the Tonle Sap (the big lake) and the Preah Vihear province is east of it. I was in Phnom Penh the last two weeks, which is in the south. I've also been to Battambang (west of Siem Reap) and Sihanoukeville (on the coast in the south).
Anyways, in my professional opinion, nothing will happen, but you never know. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.
We visited the ECCC, which was neat to see, but wasn't exactly that informative. They're still in the pre-trial stage, so nothing much was going on. I think I'll discuss it in a later blog.
The last night I was in Phnom Penh, my professor, Trudy, took our group on a tour of the sex districts in the city. Cambodia is one of the most popular places for sex tourism in southeast Asia, and though I have already seen a lot of it going on, it was really interesting to hear information from someone who is doing extensive research in the area. We all started at her apartment, where she gave us a mini-lecturette and *four bottles of wine* (guess what we were the most excited about? :). It's interesting to see what the different perceptions of "feminism" are between the U.S. and Cambodia. In Cambodia, the women (or, at least the women who work in the sex trade) consider that the opportunity to dress more revealing and have sex with many men as "liberating," even though they are essentially selling their bodies. In this country, the women are expected to be docile and meek, which our professor said is a large pull for the sex tourism community.
Then, we piled into tuk-tuks and headed to the Golden Boss, one of the "massage bars" in town. There, the girls are not exactly prostitutes, but they are expected to be "nice" to the men, sitting with them and rubbing their shoulders and legs, etc. It was a little awkward when our group walked into the place, because it was just full of couched booths and it was very very dark. I'm sure everyone could tell that we were there to just stare.. After that, we performed a "gender experiment." We drove to a street with a lot of bars of ill-repute, and the girls all went into one bar while all the guys went into another. Of course, we both got different reactions for our groups. Ours was extremely awkward because the men were cat-calling us, but the girls were really nice and talked to us. The one I was talking to was only about 20, and she had been working for about two months. We asked if she liked her job, and she grimaced and said "Well, I'm not very good at it yet..," meaning that she wasn't as good at being as flirty as her coworkers. The owner was a deaf and dumb woman who was her aunt and had invited her to come work there. What was interesting was that the son of one of the prince's daughters was there..whoa, scandal!
The boys had a very different experience, as you might imagine. They were all kind of shaken up when we got back in the tuk-tuks, haha..
Next, we traveled to a very run-down street where our professor said the cheaper sex worker walk, the ones who go with the non-foreigners. We weren't allowed to leave our tuk-tuks.
We drove by a couple of other seedy bars frequented by tourists. It is extremely sad and horrible what these girls go through.
In the end, we all went to Heart of Darkness, a dance club on the same street as many of these bars. You aren't "allowed" to go on one side of the club because that's where the government officials kids sit, but it was still a fun place to dance (and they played a little better music than the last club I went to!)
Despite the fact that Vietnam actually has decent internet, that's all I'm going to write for now. Everyone on the trip now has the same cold, and we're all just chilling out in our beds so that we don't get worse..We've eaten Vietnamese food, which is delicious, and seen the War Renmants Museum. It used to be called the "Museum of American War Atrocities" but they've milked it down for the tourists. It's full of pictures of war victims and napalm and other chemical weapons effects. They even had some babies in jars that had birth defects due to Agent Orange, which I found both wrong and disturbing.
Tomorrow, we're going to the Cu Chi tunnels, and I might even get the chance to fire an AK-47 and other guns - only a $1 a bullet. I figure it's good research, since I want to go into arms control..hhmm..
More to come. Make sure you watch the news! :)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Perspective
The longer I've been in Cambodia, the more I've learned the importance of recognizing and understanding different perspectives. I suppose that now I'm a little over the whole culture shock stage, and it's easier to process what is really going on around me.
This past week, we went to Tuol Slang (S-21) and the Killing Fields. Tuol Slang used to be a school for children, and it is very eerie to walk off the bustling street onto the compound. Of the over 17,000 men, women, and children who were imprisoned there, only 12 survived. Like the Nazis during the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge kept very careful records of their proceedings, taking pictures of the inmates and detailed notes. It is thought that this was a crude way to prove the legitimacy of their actions; if it could be documented, their actions must be justified.
The bottom floors of the prison are lined with rows after rows of what are essentially mugshots of those brought to the prison, accused of being enemies of Angkar (the supreme ruling body) through espionage, treason, or having been affiliated with opposition political groups or the educated. Affiliation was what brought the rows of infants, toddlers, and young children that were pictured on the walls that never made it out.
Other rooms held tiny, brick individual cells, whereas other rooms had held over 200 people shackled together and forbidden to move, speak, or even use the bathroom without permission. Adjacent rooms held the torture devices, including electric shocks, barrels of water that the prisoners are dunked into upside-down until they drowned, various knives and other crude instruments to extract what were often desperate false confessions that would send the victim straight to their death, or at least death 15 kilometers away in the killing fields. Though they've "cleaned up" the displays for the new influx of tourists that the new peace has brought, some blood stains on the floors and walls were still present. The Cambodian map that had been made of the skulls and bones found in the mass graves that were used by the prison (until the Khmer Rouge ran out of burial space and moved out to Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields) is gone, but it is now replaced by a large cabinet holding the remains.
After visiting Tuol Sleng, we took a short bus ride out to the killing fields, or Choeung Ek. Like when I visted Dachau in Germany, it was a little disconcerting visiting a place on a pleasant, sunny day where so much death took place. About 9,000 bodies were found buried here in shallow graves. Although the graves have been recently exhumed and are only grass covered pits, there are still bits and pieces of clothing sticking out from the pathway. The scene was actually very peaceful, but my stomach kept turning every time I saw one of the sun-bleached shreds in the ground.
An almost three-story stuppa holds the thousands of skulls found at the site. Many are shattered and cracked because, in an effort to save bullets, most of the victims were bludgeoned or macheted to death.
The memorial site is actually very controversial. When the Vietnamese invaded and discovered these sites, they erected the memorial with help from the Russians (it is obvious from the wording that the Vietnamese did not contribute). Many wish to give the victims' remains a proper Buddhist burial, but the leaders of the government want to keep the stuppa intact during the ECCC tribunals which are starting up again. Controversy is also surrounding how the grounds-keeping has been leased to a foreign company. Yet another chapter in the rampant government corruption here...
I had learned about the Khmer Rouge before considering coming to Cambodia, but it has a greater impact seeing the people and their environment and the effects that have taken root since then. The older generation has a definite aura of numbness; it seems like their eyes are heavy with all that they witnessed. The younger generation holds the burden also, as they have had the trauma passed on to them in some degree. Despite this, there is a definite gap between the young and the old here. Over fifty percent of the Cambodian population is under 25 years old, a situation that offers the opportunity for energetic development and optimism, but also the volatility of a frustrated and dangerous mass trapped in what seems a stagnant economy and civil society.
Speaking of perspective, a conversation that I had with my friends here really revealed how being an American in a developing country really puts things in a different light. We were listing the things that we missed about home (warm showers, the guarantee of toilet paper in restrooms, not being wary of the food we were eating...) when on of my friends sighed and said, "You know what I miss more than double-stuff oreos? Infrastructure." It's sad how we can take for granted the simple every day luxuries such as clean water, dependable electric connections, a free media, transparency (or at least, some degree of it) in our government, etc. Most people here are living day to day, meal to meal, and don't have the opportunities that we do to really develop their human potential and bring themselves out of their situation. It's an endless cycle. A Cambodian journalist for an opposition newspaper was also killed recently in Olympic Stadium (a popular exercise area) in broad daylight. The killers have not been jailed, and newspapers around the city have obviously been exercising a degree of censorship as the elections get closer.
Talking to the Cambodian students in our program, it's a little comforting to see that small changes are taking place. Though the CPP is guaranteed to win the elections, their margin of victory and number of seats they control will continue to shrink. The older generation have a low point of reference to compare the future to, and the fear of renewed violence brings them to accept the corruption and lack of successful infrastructure implementation with the attitude that "anything is better than what we had then." The younger generation, with the increased amount of technology and the fact they are removed historically from the Khmer Rouge era, have a greater need for change. The danger comes when that need for change is not realized, and they seek to use other means to obtain it...
Sorry to go poli sci on everyone, but it's important that I'm not just like "Ohmygod, I'm in Cambodia and this is all the funny stuff that happened to me!" That's also why I included the links (inspired by Jenny Nance :) so you an read about the stuff I didn't go into detail as much.
Well, off the heavy topics, I went to Sihanoukeville this weekend and got to snorkel around coral and visit some islands. It was a nice break from all of the heavy stuff that we had last week.. :\. Our group managed to find a guesthouse that was only $5 a night, so we took it even though it didn't have air conditioning or a tv. The beaches were lovely, the water was warm, and the weather was nice. We even took a moto ride out to see the waterfalls nearby, which was very pretty. It was very relaxing because it was easy to get around, and the beaches were so beautiful. The only downside to the trip was that it was obviously the height of "sex tourism" season, so the place was crawling with sketchy, middle-aged men toting around some poor Cambodian girl. It makes me sick to see it. Most of the girls have no choice, and I can't believe that someone would stoop so low as to exploit someone's situation. I even almost got into a fight in a bar when I saw some guys my age asking one of the girls for sex, and I rather loudly said "Seriously? You should be ashamed of youselves!" Needless to say, they were not very happy with me and we had to get out in a hurry..
I also attempted to drive a moto, which ended in complete failure. I made a fool of myself in front of the French because, being the "typical American," I couldn't drive anything non-automatic..
Oh, and here's a funny story. I wasn't feeling well during class, and ended up having to run into the hallway towards the bathroom because I could feeling the impending doom in my stomach. Yeah, didn't make it, and threw up what appeared as only rice on the floor. A Cambodian student walked into the hall, and I was like "Where's the office? Where's the nurse?" and he just ran away..I finally found the nurse and told her what happened. Or at least, TRIED to tell her what happened. I must have gone through every single synonym for "Throwing up" because she couldn't understand me or my mimes. Needless to say, I started bawling in the nurse's office because a) I felt like complete shit and b) she couldn't understand me and c) I was still covered in puke. Thankfully, Bryan our director came and found me, I took a cipro, and passed out for the rest of the day. I guess I got it out of my system, because I've felt fantastic ever since..
But this episode has made me want to avoid rice even more than I have before. I don't know how the asians eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner..
This weekend, I'm going to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Should be a good time! Keep an eye on the news for Cambodia and its elections, and it's conflict with Thailand over Preah Vihear! :) Oh yes, I am in a political science mood right now..
PS - How is everyone? I have no idea what's going on back home...Facebook stalking only tells you so much!
This past week, we went to Tuol Slang (S-21) and the Killing Fields. Tuol Slang used to be a school for children, and it is very eerie to walk off the bustling street onto the compound. Of the over 17,000 men, women, and children who were imprisoned there, only 12 survived. Like the Nazis during the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge kept very careful records of their proceedings, taking pictures of the inmates and detailed notes. It is thought that this was a crude way to prove the legitimacy of their actions; if it could be documented, their actions must be justified.
The bottom floors of the prison are lined with rows after rows of what are essentially mugshots of those brought to the prison, accused of being enemies of Angkar (the supreme ruling body) through espionage, treason, or having been affiliated with opposition political groups or the educated. Affiliation was what brought the rows of infants, toddlers, and young children that were pictured on the walls that never made it out.
Other rooms held tiny, brick individual cells, whereas other rooms had held over 200 people shackled together and forbidden to move, speak, or even use the bathroom without permission. Adjacent rooms held the torture devices, including electric shocks, barrels of water that the prisoners are dunked into upside-down until they drowned, various knives and other crude instruments to extract what were often desperate false confessions that would send the victim straight to their death, or at least death 15 kilometers away in the killing fields. Though they've "cleaned up" the displays for the new influx of tourists that the new peace has brought, some blood stains on the floors and walls were still present. The Cambodian map that had been made of the skulls and bones found in the mass graves that were used by the prison (until the Khmer Rouge ran out of burial space and moved out to Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields) is gone, but it is now replaced by a large cabinet holding the remains.
After visiting Tuol Sleng, we took a short bus ride out to the killing fields, or Choeung Ek. Like when I visted Dachau in Germany, it was a little disconcerting visiting a place on a pleasant, sunny day where so much death took place. About 9,000 bodies were found buried here in shallow graves. Although the graves have been recently exhumed and are only grass covered pits, there are still bits and pieces of clothing sticking out from the pathway. The scene was actually very peaceful, but my stomach kept turning every time I saw one of the sun-bleached shreds in the ground.
An almost three-story stuppa holds the thousands of skulls found at the site. Many are shattered and cracked because, in an effort to save bullets, most of the victims were bludgeoned or macheted to death.
The memorial site is actually very controversial. When the Vietnamese invaded and discovered these sites, they erected the memorial with help from the Russians (it is obvious from the wording that the Vietnamese did not contribute). Many wish to give the victims' remains a proper Buddhist burial, but the leaders of the government want to keep the stuppa intact during the ECCC tribunals which are starting up again. Controversy is also surrounding how the grounds-keeping has been leased to a foreign company. Yet another chapter in the rampant government corruption here...
I had learned about the Khmer Rouge before considering coming to Cambodia, but it has a greater impact seeing the people and their environment and the effects that have taken root since then. The older generation has a definite aura of numbness; it seems like their eyes are heavy with all that they witnessed. The younger generation holds the burden also, as they have had the trauma passed on to them in some degree. Despite this, there is a definite gap between the young and the old here. Over fifty percent of the Cambodian population is under 25 years old, a situation that offers the opportunity for energetic development and optimism, but also the volatility of a frustrated and dangerous mass trapped in what seems a stagnant economy and civil society.
Speaking of perspective, a conversation that I had with my friends here really revealed how being an American in a developing country really puts things in a different light. We were listing the things that we missed about home (warm showers, the guarantee of toilet paper in restrooms, not being wary of the food we were eating...) when on of my friends sighed and said, "You know what I miss more than double-stuff oreos? Infrastructure." It's sad how we can take for granted the simple every day luxuries such as clean water, dependable electric connections, a free media, transparency (or at least, some degree of it) in our government, etc. Most people here are living day to day, meal to meal, and don't have the opportunities that we do to really develop their human potential and bring themselves out of their situation. It's an endless cycle. A Cambodian journalist for an opposition newspaper was also killed recently in Olympic Stadium (a popular exercise area) in broad daylight. The killers have not been jailed, and newspapers around the city have obviously been exercising a degree of censorship as the elections get closer.
Talking to the Cambodian students in our program, it's a little comforting to see that small changes are taking place. Though the CPP is guaranteed to win the elections, their margin of victory and number of seats they control will continue to shrink. The older generation have a low point of reference to compare the future to, and the fear of renewed violence brings them to accept the corruption and lack of successful infrastructure implementation with the attitude that "anything is better than what we had then." The younger generation, with the increased amount of technology and the fact they are removed historically from the Khmer Rouge era, have a greater need for change. The danger comes when that need for change is not realized, and they seek to use other means to obtain it...
Sorry to go poli sci on everyone, but it's important that I'm not just like "Ohmygod, I'm in Cambodia and this is all the funny stuff that happened to me!" That's also why I included the links (inspired by Jenny Nance :) so you an read about the stuff I didn't go into detail as much.
Well, off the heavy topics, I went to Sihanoukeville this weekend and got to snorkel around coral and visit some islands. It was a nice break from all of the heavy stuff that we had last week.. :\. Our group managed to find a guesthouse that was only $5 a night, so we took it even though it didn't have air conditioning or a tv. The beaches were lovely, the water was warm, and the weather was nice. We even took a moto ride out to see the waterfalls nearby, which was very pretty. It was very relaxing because it was easy to get around, and the beaches were so beautiful. The only downside to the trip was that it was obviously the height of "sex tourism" season, so the place was crawling with sketchy, middle-aged men toting around some poor Cambodian girl. It makes me sick to see it. Most of the girls have no choice, and I can't believe that someone would stoop so low as to exploit someone's situation. I even almost got into a fight in a bar when I saw some guys my age asking one of the girls for sex, and I rather loudly said "Seriously? You should be ashamed of youselves!" Needless to say, they were not very happy with me and we had to get out in a hurry..
I also attempted to drive a moto, which ended in complete failure. I made a fool of myself in front of the French because, being the "typical American," I couldn't drive anything non-automatic..
Oh, and here's a funny story. I wasn't feeling well during class, and ended up having to run into the hallway towards the bathroom because I could feeling the impending doom in my stomach. Yeah, didn't make it, and threw up what appeared as only rice on the floor. A Cambodian student walked into the hall, and I was like "Where's the office? Where's the nurse?" and he just ran away..I finally found the nurse and told her what happened. Or at least, TRIED to tell her what happened. I must have gone through every single synonym for "Throwing up" because she couldn't understand me or my mimes. Needless to say, I started bawling in the nurse's office because a) I felt like complete shit and b) she couldn't understand me and c) I was still covered in puke. Thankfully, Bryan our director came and found me, I took a cipro, and passed out for the rest of the day. I guess I got it out of my system, because I've felt fantastic ever since..
But this episode has made me want to avoid rice even more than I have before. I don't know how the asians eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner..
This weekend, I'm going to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Should be a good time! Keep an eye on the news for Cambodia and its elections, and it's conflict with Thailand over Preah Vihear! :) Oh yes, I am in a political science mood right now..
PS - How is everyone? I have no idea what's going on back home...Facebook stalking only tells you so much!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Phnom Penh Paraphenalia -or- Falling off a moto
I've only been in Phnom Penh for about two days, and I've already had lots of adventures..
After a night of merriment with the French, all of us trudged onto the bus at 8 in the morning on friday...hoping that we wouldn't throw up on the bumpy, six hour ride to Phnom Penh :). The roads are so horrible here because of the civil war and basic lack of interest by the stupid government that a two hour trip will most definitely take you six hours. Thankfully, I had a box of Cocoa Pebbles that I miraculously found in a supermarket and paid out the nose for (2.80 for cereal! That's a ripoff in Cambodia!!). On the way, we passed even MORE political rallies. We've gotten really good at identifying the different parties by the colors of their shirts...FUNCINPEC is bright yellow...the CPP has white polos..Since we don't have any volkswagons in Cambodia, we've had to make due with political protestors..("Ha! Sam Rainsay party! *punch*) I also played the exciting game with my seat mates of "Count the Rice Fields."
Bruised and battered with extremely sore butts, we finally crossed the Japanese-Cambodia Friendship bridge into the psychotic chaos that is Phnom Penh traffic. We had a bit of free time until our host families showed up, so we had a chance to walk around. The streets here are named by numbers, yet whoever decided which streets were which must have fallen off and been run over by a moto (who does that? oh wait. stay tuned.) You'll be going along and pass 385..then 364..then 388...Needless to say, the only way we've been able to get around Cambodia is to call the person we're trying to meet, have them find the nearest Cambodian while you do the same, and have those two figure out the logistics for you.
After a couple hours, my host sister came to pick me up on her moto. At this point, it was night time...and let me tell you, nothing will empty your bladder faster than riding on the back of a moto at night in Phnom Penh. There's actual markings on the streets and stoplights, but they're more decoration than anything else. People drive against traffic, bicyles and motos weave in and out of cars..I've gotten used to it by now because it appears that everyone knows what they're doing, but I am so glad that I don't have to drive in this city or else I would just sit in an intersection and cry because I would be too scared to turn left.
My family, however, is very nice! My host sister just lives with her mom, and her brothers pop in every once in a while. She's a little older than most of the other hosts (she's 24) and she just graduated with a degree in biology, so she has a job. I get my own room and bathroom, which is like staying in the hilton in cambodia :). Their apartment's at the top of a big building, so you can look out on the roof at all of the city. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.
Well, in an attempt to not be a typical American student and sleep until noon, I rolled out of bed the next morning at 7:00...to an empty house. A little awkward, because I had no idea where I was in the city so I couldn't go out. The mom came home at 10:00, and even more awkwardness ensued because she doesn't speak any english...and I only know about 4 sentences in Khmer and a couple of letters. We've gotten used to just nodding and smiling at each other. I think I might have accidently asked her to make a dress for me because I pointed at a pile of cloth and pins on the floor and asked "Do you make dresses?" and she got all excited and brought some magazines in, flipping through and pointing at me..eh. We might have to clear that one up, haha.
In the afternoon, I hopped on the back of my sister's moto to go to see my Cambodian friend, Sokly, at his house. On the way, I was talking on the phone to try and figure out where he was when we hit a bump on the road, my flip flop got tangled somewhere, and I promptly fell off the moto onto the road with it falling on top of me. The locals got a good laugh, especially when I got up and my flip flop was ripped in half. Thank goodness that was the only thing broken, haha! It was fun to tell me director that I fell of a moto when he called because he was like "You did WHAT? Please tell me you weren't driving. Just tell me you weren't driving.." I like to keep the poor guy on his toes :).
After a fun afternoon of playing with Sokly's six year old nephew, the French boys and I decided to go find some Chinese food. Eric's host brother came and picked him up, and Brice and I followed on a moto. Needless to say, three people on a moto (the driver, me, and Brice) made for an uncomfortable ride and many misunderstandings. Brice's english is pretty good, but sometimes he gets things a little confused..
Sample Conversation on the road:
Me: "Hey, be careful with the pipe on the side because it might burn you!"
Brice (insert thick french accent): "The pee-ipe? You mean my penis?" (Apparently, that's what pipe means in France...?)
"GAH, NO! The pipe on the side! It's going to burn you if you touch it!"
"Bone you?"
"NO, burn! B-u-r-n!"
"What?"
Another funny conversation was trying to teach him that "breeze" and "breasts" do not have the same pronunciation. Having 3 different languages going on (Cambodian, French, and English) in our group has been extremely amusing :).
After that mayhem, my host sister and her god brother picked me up to go to a dance club, "Rock." On the stage were singers and what I could only describe as go-go dancers doing really watered down cheerleading moves. Finally, the dj started playing a hilarious mix of Cambodian music, what I think was Japanese pop, and classics such as "I'm blue, da-ba-dee-da-ba-die," the numa numa song, Milkshake, and Hips Don't Lie. Since I was about a head taller than most of the crowd and the only white kid in the place, I was feeling a little conspicuous while I was dancing because I felt like everyone was watching me to see my, uh, american dance moves. Those who know me will attest that I am not the best example of good dancing skills, haha. It was really fun though. They wanted to go out for karaoke, but I was beat by then and went home and crashed.
Classes start up again today, and we have a busy two weeks coming up! We're going to go see the S-21 prison, the Killing Fields, the ECCC Tribunal trying the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, and hear from a lot of interesting guest speakers such as one of the UN attorneys. This coming weekend, we're also taking a big trip down to Sihanoukeville to lounge out on the sandy beaches (our director, Bryan, was able to get cultural reimbursement for us, haha..I don't know how he did it!). Since the election is in two weeks, CIEE decided to take us out of the country as a safety precaution for that weekend, so we're taking a trip to Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam, which is super exciting! Apparently, they heard some rumour that the Cambodian government is going to shut off the cell phone networks for 72 hours during that time. I'm not complaining, because it gives me a free trip to Vietnam! :)
Alright kids, new update later. Have a great week! :) Miss you guys!
After a night of merriment with the French, all of us trudged onto the bus at 8 in the morning on friday...hoping that we wouldn't throw up on the bumpy, six hour ride to Phnom Penh :). The roads are so horrible here because of the civil war and basic lack of interest by the stupid government that a two hour trip will most definitely take you six hours. Thankfully, I had a box of Cocoa Pebbles that I miraculously found in a supermarket and paid out the nose for (2.80 for cereal! That's a ripoff in Cambodia!!). On the way, we passed even MORE political rallies. We've gotten really good at identifying the different parties by the colors of their shirts...FUNCINPEC is bright yellow...the CPP has white polos..Since we don't have any volkswagons in Cambodia, we've had to make due with political protestors..("Ha! Sam Rainsay party! *punch*) I also played the exciting game with my seat mates of "Count the Rice Fields."
Bruised and battered with extremely sore butts, we finally crossed the Japanese-Cambodia Friendship bridge into the psychotic chaos that is Phnom Penh traffic. We had a bit of free time until our host families showed up, so we had a chance to walk around. The streets here are named by numbers, yet whoever decided which streets were which must have fallen off and been run over by a moto (who does that? oh wait. stay tuned.) You'll be going along and pass 385..then 364..then 388...Needless to say, the only way we've been able to get around Cambodia is to call the person we're trying to meet, have them find the nearest Cambodian while you do the same, and have those two figure out the logistics for you.
After a couple hours, my host sister came to pick me up on her moto. At this point, it was night time...and let me tell you, nothing will empty your bladder faster than riding on the back of a moto at night in Phnom Penh. There's actual markings on the streets and stoplights, but they're more decoration than anything else. People drive against traffic, bicyles and motos weave in and out of cars..I've gotten used to it by now because it appears that everyone knows what they're doing, but I am so glad that I don't have to drive in this city or else I would just sit in an intersection and cry because I would be too scared to turn left.
My family, however, is very nice! My host sister just lives with her mom, and her brothers pop in every once in a while. She's a little older than most of the other hosts (she's 24) and she just graduated with a degree in biology, so she has a job. I get my own room and bathroom, which is like staying in the hilton in cambodia :). Their apartment's at the top of a big building, so you can look out on the roof at all of the city. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.
Well, in an attempt to not be a typical American student and sleep until noon, I rolled out of bed the next morning at 7:00...to an empty house. A little awkward, because I had no idea where I was in the city so I couldn't go out. The mom came home at 10:00, and even more awkwardness ensued because she doesn't speak any english...and I only know about 4 sentences in Khmer and a couple of letters. We've gotten used to just nodding and smiling at each other. I think I might have accidently asked her to make a dress for me because I pointed at a pile of cloth and pins on the floor and asked "Do you make dresses?" and she got all excited and brought some magazines in, flipping through and pointing at me..eh. We might have to clear that one up, haha.
In the afternoon, I hopped on the back of my sister's moto to go to see my Cambodian friend, Sokly, at his house. On the way, I was talking on the phone to try and figure out where he was when we hit a bump on the road, my flip flop got tangled somewhere, and I promptly fell off the moto onto the road with it falling on top of me. The locals got a good laugh, especially when I got up and my flip flop was ripped in half. Thank goodness that was the only thing broken, haha! It was fun to tell me director that I fell of a moto when he called because he was like "You did WHAT? Please tell me you weren't driving. Just tell me you weren't driving.." I like to keep the poor guy on his toes :).
After a fun afternoon of playing with Sokly's six year old nephew, the French boys and I decided to go find some Chinese food. Eric's host brother came and picked him up, and Brice and I followed on a moto. Needless to say, three people on a moto (the driver, me, and Brice) made for an uncomfortable ride and many misunderstandings. Brice's english is pretty good, but sometimes he gets things a little confused..
Sample Conversation on the road:
Me: "Hey, be careful with the pipe on the side because it might burn you!"
Brice (insert thick french accent): "The pee-ipe? You mean my penis?" (Apparently, that's what pipe means in France...?)
"GAH, NO! The pipe on the side! It's going to burn you if you touch it!"
"Bone you?"
"NO, burn! B-u-r-n!"
"What?"
Another funny conversation was trying to teach him that "breeze" and "breasts" do not have the same pronunciation. Having 3 different languages going on (Cambodian, French, and English) in our group has been extremely amusing :).
After that mayhem, my host sister and her god brother picked me up to go to a dance club, "Rock." On the stage were singers and what I could only describe as go-go dancers doing really watered down cheerleading moves. Finally, the dj started playing a hilarious mix of Cambodian music, what I think was Japanese pop, and classics such as "I'm blue, da-ba-dee-da-ba-die," the numa numa song, Milkshake, and Hips Don't Lie. Since I was about a head taller than most of the crowd and the only white kid in the place, I was feeling a little conspicuous while I was dancing because I felt like everyone was watching me to see my, uh, american dance moves. Those who know me will attest that I am not the best example of good dancing skills, haha. It was really fun though. They wanted to go out for karaoke, but I was beat by then and went home and crashed.
Classes start up again today, and we have a busy two weeks coming up! We're going to go see the S-21 prison, the Killing Fields, the ECCC Tribunal trying the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, and hear from a lot of interesting guest speakers such as one of the UN attorneys. This coming weekend, we're also taking a big trip down to Sihanoukeville to lounge out on the sandy beaches (our director, Bryan, was able to get cultural reimbursement for us, haha..I don't know how he did it!). Since the election is in two weeks, CIEE decided to take us out of the country as a safety precaution for that weekend, so we're taking a trip to Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam, which is super exciting! Apparently, they heard some rumour that the Cambodian government is going to shut off the cell phone networks for 72 hours during that time. I'm not complaining, because it gives me a free trip to Vietnam! :)
Alright kids, new update later. Have a great week! :) Miss you guys!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Those crazy Cambodians!
Lots to talk about in a short amount of time! Here we go!
Last week, instead of sitting in a classroom to learn about early Cambodian history, we spent three days trekking around the temples of Angkor, from the earliest stages to the final ones. If you've had time to look at my over-abundance of pictures, you can see how absolutely amazing they were.
The first day, we took a bus out to a village on the outskirts of Angkor which lives today in a style similar to those who had built the temples centuries ago. In other words: the Cambodian Amish. I had always felt like people stared at you here in Cambodia, but it was nothing like what we experienced when we went there! A group of children and monks ran up to our bus as soon as we got off, and as we walked around the village looking at the way of life, holy center, etc, the crowd just kept getting bigger. Finally, we went to a field and saw what our guide, Dameon, said was the earliest, prehistoric evidence foreshadowing the beginning of Angkor. As we stood gazing upon the ruins, the silence whispering through the field was quite rudely interrupted by a large, obviously agitated cow standing next to us. The crowd of kids then proceeded to make cow sounds themselves...haha...
Next, we traveled to the Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lo Lei temples. Even though they were smaller than what we would see later, they were still really beautiful with their intricate carving all over them. It was fun having Dameon with us, because he is the deputy director for the "Greater Angkor" project which is seeking to pick up the archaeological process that was interrupted by the Khmer Rouge.
Ooook, the NEXT day we took an amazingly long and bumpy bus ride out to the middle of nowhere. Dameon showed us an archaeological dig that has uncovered a section of the intensive, hydraulic system that late Angkor had developed. Their findings are supporting their theory that the fall of Angkor was due to a break in the water system (which would suck for them because rice needs water, their religious ceremonies needed water, and..uh...the people would need water..). No one really knows why Angkor collapsed, so it was cool to see archaeologists hard at work trying to figure it out. They weren't no Indiana Jones (more like middle-aged Australians with potbellies :), but it was still super interesting.
After that, we traveled to To Prohm, which is where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed..if any of you have seen it. I know I haven't! Anyway, after Angkor Wat, it is the most famous temple in the Angkor complex because it has been completely overgrown with giant trees. It would have been very peaceful, but it was crawling with tourists (not that I'm not one also, but I kind of put myself in the category of student :). Next, we took another long bus trip out to a large baray, which is a big, man-made, ceremonial lake. We were going to take a boat out, but all of a sudden, a storm blew in and we had to run for cover. There were these little girls who pretty much attacked us with bracelets saying over and over "Seven for one dollar, seven for one dollar.." As annoying as it was, we tried to talk to them with our limited Cambodian, and we even played a hand game with them (Down by the banks with the hanky-panky...anyone remember that one?? ). FINALLY, it stopped pouring, we (and the girls, haha) jumped in the boat and headed out to a little island in the middle called West Mebon. There we saw more ruins and an inverted linga.
** Side note: A linga is a phallic symbol (I can hear all of you giggling right now, stop it!). Pretty much all of Angkor is covered in lingas...At our favorite restaurant in Siem Reap, the Blue Pumpkin, they even sell Chocolate Lingas...uh, yeah. Anyways..
Ok, last day! We finally made our way to the famous Angkor Wat, the biggest temple made by the last great king of Angkor. My favorite part was that it was covered in Apsara, which are like angels. After that, we made another archaeological pit stop to see the ruins of a bridge made of parts of a temple. Finally, after that, we took a smaller bus to Bayon to see the Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of the Elephants. Inside the gate we toured around Angkor Thom, which has the four faces, if any of you are familiar with that. At this point, as you can imagine, we were a little sick of temples and old looking rocks and headed back home to catch up the hundreds of pages of reading that we had neglected to do that last couple of days...O_o. We even got our Cambodian tour guide to sing a little karaoke for us, haha ;). All in all, it was really amazing, and if any of you ever have a chance to come to Southeast Asia, you must come see the Angkor temples.
This past weekend, I went with eight friends to Battambang. Trying to be wily tourists, we booked tickets to take a boat along the river which boasted a lovely three hour ride past the most beautiful scenery in Cambodia.
Yeah.
Five hours and a whole loaf of bread and jar of Nutella later, we still hadn't gotten to Battambang. The boat was crowded with an odd mix of Australians, Cambodians, Germans, and of course, us Americans. We would be chugging along when suddenly we would stop at a random floating hut in the middle of nowhere to let a Cambodian off. Apparently, we were riding the "bus of Cambodia". All of us were pretty grumpy at this point because our butts were getting sore from sitting on the wooden benches when suddenly the engine sputters to a stop. We had run out of gas. In the middle of Cambodia. Thankfully, a bit down current, there was another floating apparatus that had a tank of gas that got us along for another two hours until we could stop again for some more.
After a lovely scenic EIGHT HOUR BOAT TRIP, we made it to Battambang relatively unscathed. I say relatively because I had fallen asleep with my legs hanging out the boat for a couple hours, and my knees (and only my knees) were completely fried. Very cute. O_o Needless to say, as soon as we got to the hotel, we crashed.
Well, at least we crashed for a little bit. At about 3 in the morning, we were woken up by Cambodian music and what we found out later was a monk praying in a microphone blaring outside our window. When we rolled out of bed at 9, it was still going. Those crazy Cambodians.
Sarim and I tried to go to the museum, but it was closed on the weekend, so we ended up just exploring. After looking at two Wats, we found a restaurant that served FRIED CHICKEN AND FRENCH FRIES! And it was the most amazing meal I have ever had in my life! Just like home :).
After meeting up with everyone else at the hotel, we spent a good twenty minutes arguing amongst ourselves whether we were going to take a moto or a tuk-tuk to Phnom Sampeou (Mt. Sailing Boat :)...we finally convinced everyone to grow a pair and get on a moto, and I'm glad we did! Our moto drivers were very nice and careful to go slow for us wimpy Americans, and mine pointed out all of the interesting things in the countryside as we passed. After paying the "Tourist Police", we hiked up the mountain to see the Killing Caves. On the mountain, the Khmer Rouge had a prison and an interrogation complex, and after they killed their prisoners, they threw them down into a cave. When the Vietnamese finally arrived, they found a large pile of bones and black and red rags. Since then, a stuppa has been erected to house the remains, but it was made clear so that people can see the amount of death that occurred on this mountain.
On the way up, our tour guide ("Harry") shared his story about his father during the Khmer Rouge. Because his father was from a family of educated parents, they had to hide their identities when they were taken out of the city to work in the fields because the KR sought to kill anyone with education or economic standing. One night, Khmer Rouge soldiers came to the hut and began yelling at our Harry's father's parents, telling them that they knew who they were and to come with them. Everyone was crying, and when the mother turned to to Harry's father to ask him to take care of the family, a soldier began hitting her in the face. Moments later, the children heard gun shots from the woods.
After that, Harry's father's two older brothers were taken to work on the dam project, and he never saw them again. His sister later died from starvation. The only reason Harry's father survived was because he still thought there was a chance that his two brothers were alive.
Harry, who is 24, had only heard this story from his father this year when he asked him about it. The people who went through this time do not talk about what happened and prefer to forget it happened. Those who tell the stories are mostly the children, like Harry. It is forbidden to teach that period of history in Cambodian schools.
Sorry for the sad story, but it was really moving while we were sitting there on the mountain as it was raining.
That night, we were sitting outside eating when suddenly a long train of buses, trucks, motos, and people rushed by us with flashing lights and red, white, and yellow flags. It was a political demonstration for the Cambodian People's Party, the ruling party which has been dominating the elections. It wasn't the last one we saw, but it was definitely the biggest. Those crazy Cambodians.
Having learned from our past mistakes, we took a bus home. And it only took four hours :).
Two nights ago, Emily (my room mate) and I were peacefully slumbering when all of a sudden at 3:30 a.m., our room started shaking from these loud booms and explosions. We looked out our window trying to see what was going on. Was there bombing?? Election violence??
No no. We wrapped up in our blankets and stepped outside on the balcony. There were fireworks going off. The big kind. And also the loud kind. And we had no idea why they were going off at three in the morning, much less for a whole hour! The loud noise proceeded to freak out the hundreds of dogs in the city, as well as the damn rooster that crows for hours in the morning. Those crazy Cambodians!
We found out later that all the madness was due to the fact that it was ruled that Preah Vihear Temple belonged to Cambodia. This had been a contested issue for a long time between the Thai and the Cambodians, because it lies right on the border. Now, the Cambodians can petition to make it a World Heritage site. So, I suppose the fireworks were ok. Just badly timed.
Ok, you bored yet? If so, no worries. I'm finished, because I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitos, and I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of malaria.
I'm leaving to go to Phnom Penh this Friday to stay with a host family for two weeks..woo hooooo! One of our professors is even going to take us on a tour of the sex district. The boys are really excited, haha..We're even going to Heart of Darkness with the same professor, the shady night club owned by the grandsons of some important dude.
Miss you guys! Hope you are doing well! Muah! :)
Last week, instead of sitting in a classroom to learn about early Cambodian history, we spent three days trekking around the temples of Angkor, from the earliest stages to the final ones. If you've had time to look at my over-abundance of pictures, you can see how absolutely amazing they were.
The first day, we took a bus out to a village on the outskirts of Angkor which lives today in a style similar to those who had built the temples centuries ago. In other words: the Cambodian Amish. I had always felt like people stared at you here in Cambodia, but it was nothing like what we experienced when we went there! A group of children and monks ran up to our bus as soon as we got off, and as we walked around the village looking at the way of life, holy center, etc, the crowd just kept getting bigger. Finally, we went to a field and saw what our guide, Dameon, said was the earliest, prehistoric evidence foreshadowing the beginning of Angkor. As we stood gazing upon the ruins, the silence whispering through the field was quite rudely interrupted by a large, obviously agitated cow standing next to us. The crowd of kids then proceeded to make cow sounds themselves...haha...
Next, we traveled to the Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lo Lei temples. Even though they were smaller than what we would see later, they were still really beautiful with their intricate carving all over them. It was fun having Dameon with us, because he is the deputy director for the "Greater Angkor" project which is seeking to pick up the archaeological process that was interrupted by the Khmer Rouge.
Ooook, the NEXT day we took an amazingly long and bumpy bus ride out to the middle of nowhere. Dameon showed us an archaeological dig that has uncovered a section of the intensive, hydraulic system that late Angkor had developed. Their findings are supporting their theory that the fall of Angkor was due to a break in the water system (which would suck for them because rice needs water, their religious ceremonies needed water, and..uh...the people would need water..). No one really knows why Angkor collapsed, so it was cool to see archaeologists hard at work trying to figure it out. They weren't no Indiana Jones (more like middle-aged Australians with potbellies :), but it was still super interesting.
After that, we traveled to To Prohm, which is where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed..if any of you have seen it. I know I haven't! Anyway, after Angkor Wat, it is the most famous temple in the Angkor complex because it has been completely overgrown with giant trees. It would have been very peaceful, but it was crawling with tourists (not that I'm not one also, but I kind of put myself in the category of student :). Next, we took another long bus trip out to a large baray, which is a big, man-made, ceremonial lake. We were going to take a boat out, but all of a sudden, a storm blew in and we had to run for cover. There were these little girls who pretty much attacked us with bracelets saying over and over "Seven for one dollar, seven for one dollar.." As annoying as it was, we tried to talk to them with our limited Cambodian, and we even played a hand game with them (Down by the banks with the hanky-panky...anyone remember that one?? ). FINALLY, it stopped pouring, we (and the girls, haha) jumped in the boat and headed out to a little island in the middle called West Mebon. There we saw more ruins and an inverted linga.
** Side note: A linga is a phallic symbol (I can hear all of you giggling right now, stop it!). Pretty much all of Angkor is covered in lingas...At our favorite restaurant in Siem Reap, the Blue Pumpkin, they even sell Chocolate Lingas...uh, yeah. Anyways..
Ok, last day! We finally made our way to the famous Angkor Wat, the biggest temple made by the last great king of Angkor. My favorite part was that it was covered in Apsara, which are like angels. After that, we made another archaeological pit stop to see the ruins of a bridge made of parts of a temple. Finally, after that, we took a smaller bus to Bayon to see the Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of the Elephants. Inside the gate we toured around Angkor Thom, which has the four faces, if any of you are familiar with that. At this point, as you can imagine, we were a little sick of temples and old looking rocks and headed back home to catch up the hundreds of pages of reading that we had neglected to do that last couple of days...O_o. We even got our Cambodian tour guide to sing a little karaoke for us, haha ;). All in all, it was really amazing, and if any of you ever have a chance to come to Southeast Asia, you must come see the Angkor temples.
This past weekend, I went with eight friends to Battambang. Trying to be wily tourists, we booked tickets to take a boat along the river which boasted a lovely three hour ride past the most beautiful scenery in Cambodia.
Yeah.
Five hours and a whole loaf of bread and jar of Nutella later, we still hadn't gotten to Battambang. The boat was crowded with an odd mix of Australians, Cambodians, Germans, and of course, us Americans. We would be chugging along when suddenly we would stop at a random floating hut in the middle of nowhere to let a Cambodian off. Apparently, we were riding the "bus of Cambodia". All of us were pretty grumpy at this point because our butts were getting sore from sitting on the wooden benches when suddenly the engine sputters to a stop. We had run out of gas. In the middle of Cambodia. Thankfully, a bit down current, there was another floating apparatus that had a tank of gas that got us along for another two hours until we could stop again for some more.
After a lovely scenic EIGHT HOUR BOAT TRIP, we made it to Battambang relatively unscathed. I say relatively because I had fallen asleep with my legs hanging out the boat for a couple hours, and my knees (and only my knees) were completely fried. Very cute. O_o Needless to say, as soon as we got to the hotel, we crashed.
Well, at least we crashed for a little bit. At about 3 in the morning, we were woken up by Cambodian music and what we found out later was a monk praying in a microphone blaring outside our window. When we rolled out of bed at 9, it was still going. Those crazy Cambodians.
Sarim and I tried to go to the museum, but it was closed on the weekend, so we ended up just exploring. After looking at two Wats, we found a restaurant that served FRIED CHICKEN AND FRENCH FRIES! And it was the most amazing meal I have ever had in my life! Just like home :).
After meeting up with everyone else at the hotel, we spent a good twenty minutes arguing amongst ourselves whether we were going to take a moto or a tuk-tuk to Phnom Sampeou (Mt. Sailing Boat :)...we finally convinced everyone to grow a pair and get on a moto, and I'm glad we did! Our moto drivers were very nice and careful to go slow for us wimpy Americans, and mine pointed out all of the interesting things in the countryside as we passed. After paying the "Tourist Police", we hiked up the mountain to see the Killing Caves. On the mountain, the Khmer Rouge had a prison and an interrogation complex, and after they killed their prisoners, they threw them down into a cave. When the Vietnamese finally arrived, they found a large pile of bones and black and red rags. Since then, a stuppa has been erected to house the remains, but it was made clear so that people can see the amount of death that occurred on this mountain.
On the way up, our tour guide ("Harry") shared his story about his father during the Khmer Rouge. Because his father was from a family of educated parents, they had to hide their identities when they were taken out of the city to work in the fields because the KR sought to kill anyone with education or economic standing. One night, Khmer Rouge soldiers came to the hut and began yelling at our Harry's father's parents, telling them that they knew who they were and to come with them. Everyone was crying, and when the mother turned to to Harry's father to ask him to take care of the family, a soldier began hitting her in the face. Moments later, the children heard gun shots from the woods.
After that, Harry's father's two older brothers were taken to work on the dam project, and he never saw them again. His sister later died from starvation. The only reason Harry's father survived was because he still thought there was a chance that his two brothers were alive.
Harry, who is 24, had only heard this story from his father this year when he asked him about it. The people who went through this time do not talk about what happened and prefer to forget it happened. Those who tell the stories are mostly the children, like Harry. It is forbidden to teach that period of history in Cambodian schools.
Sorry for the sad story, but it was really moving while we were sitting there on the mountain as it was raining.
That night, we were sitting outside eating when suddenly a long train of buses, trucks, motos, and people rushed by us with flashing lights and red, white, and yellow flags. It was a political demonstration for the Cambodian People's Party, the ruling party which has been dominating the elections. It wasn't the last one we saw, but it was definitely the biggest. Those crazy Cambodians.
Having learned from our past mistakes, we took a bus home. And it only took four hours :).
Two nights ago, Emily (my room mate) and I were peacefully slumbering when all of a sudden at 3:30 a.m., our room started shaking from these loud booms and explosions. We looked out our window trying to see what was going on. Was there bombing?? Election violence??
No no. We wrapped up in our blankets and stepped outside on the balcony. There were fireworks going off. The big kind. And also the loud kind. And we had no idea why they were going off at three in the morning, much less for a whole hour! The loud noise proceeded to freak out the hundreds of dogs in the city, as well as the damn rooster that crows for hours in the morning. Those crazy Cambodians!
We found out later that all the madness was due to the fact that it was ruled that Preah Vihear Temple belonged to Cambodia. This had been a contested issue for a long time between the Thai and the Cambodians, because it lies right on the border. Now, the Cambodians can petition to make it a World Heritage site. So, I suppose the fireworks were ok. Just badly timed.
Ok, you bored yet? If so, no worries. I'm finished, because I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitos, and I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of malaria.
I'm leaving to go to Phnom Penh this Friday to stay with a host family for two weeks..woo hooooo! One of our professors is even going to take us on a tour of the sex district. The boys are really excited, haha..We're even going to Heart of Darkness with the same professor, the shady night club owned by the grandsons of some important dude.
Miss you guys! Hope you are doing well! Muah! :)
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Pictures from Cambodia
Alright kids, I spent two and a half hours uploading pictures at an internet cafe that's connection kept going off and on. Because it took so long, I don't have comments on them or any descriptions....I'll do that next week (promise!).
But since my mom wanted to see what I was up to, the photo albums are above ;). I can't figure out how to make it not so ridiculously large, but I will later. Seeing as I have to get on a boat in 7 hours, I think I'd rather sleep than wrestle with the computer..
I'm going to Battambang for the weekend, so I won't have any internet..get ready for a long post next week about how amazing the Angkor temples were..hopefully you can get the idea from my pictures!
Coming soon!
Angkor Wat! Battambang! Abby finds peanut butter!
What will she do next?
Obviously, I'm really tired right now. Apologies to everyone.
But since my mom wanted to see what I was up to, the photo albums are above ;). I can't figure out how to make it not so ridiculously large, but I will later. Seeing as I have to get on a boat in 7 hours, I think I'd rather sleep than wrestle with the computer..
I'm going to Battambang for the weekend, so I won't have any internet..get ready for a long post next week about how amazing the Angkor temples were..hopefully you can get the idea from my pictures!
Coming soon!
Angkor Wat! Battambang! Abby finds peanut butter!
What will she do next?
Obviously, I'm really tired right now. Apologies to everyone.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuk-Tuk of Doom -or- Paying off the police
Alright you crazy cats, get ready for the longest post you've ever read in your life. Well, probably not, but settle in because I have lots to say!
Right after I wrote the post on not having any stories to tell, I definitely was involved in a couple adventures. The first entails the often hilarious repercussions of the obvious language barrier between us and the tuk-tuk drivers.
The weather has been particularly brutal these past few days. It cools down about 20 degrees when it rains, but unfortunately, it's only managed to do that once. So, being the typically environmentally friendly Americans that we are, we pretty much decide to take a tuk-tuk rather than endure the grueling 15 minute walk back to our hotel from town. On one such occasion, my friend Emily and I hop on a tuk-tuk and ask to be taken to our guesthouse, the GOLDEN village. 10 minutes into our ride, the landscape has drastically changed. All of a sudden, we were most definitely the only white people around as we rode by run-down houses built with banana leaves and branches chilling on sticks by the river. We had entered the "non-touristy area of Siem Reap." Well, Emily and I decided to wait about 10 more minutes before finally yelling at the tuk-tuk driver, "Sir, excuse me, do you know where Golden Village is?"
The driver screeches to a halt and turns around. "Golden Village?? I take you to Floating Village!"
Yeah, the floating village is about 45 minutes away. No wonder he wanted us to pay him so much up front! Good thing we finally got the guts to say something.. He found it pretty funny, and kept turning around to go "Hahaha! Golden village! Hohoho!"
Something tells me that's not going to be the last of stories like that....!
Yesterday, a group of us traveled to Phnom Krom, a mountain about 20 minutes away from Siem Reap. Our group was pretty diverse as we not only had American students, but also Khmer (Cambodian) and French students as well.
**Side note - To explain, I am in the CIEE group, which has 11 American students. There is another group that is studying with us that is on a Fellowship from the Center for Khmer studies. They have 5 Americans, 5 Khmer, and 5 French. Needless to say, our conversations have been pretty hilarious :). Alright, back to the story!**
On the way, we were stopped by some government officials. The Khmer students jumped out and had to bargain with them to let us keep going. Apparently, they charge tourists $30 to continue on, but since we were only going to the mountain, they let us pass free of charge. Being the poli sci nerd that I am, it was kind of exciting to see my first example of government corruption, haha..it wasn't the last, because once we finally got to the mountain, they wouldn't let us go past a certain point until 5:30, and even then we had to collectively pay $10. I'm glad we had our Khmer friends with us that could negotiate for us!
Because we couldn't pass a certain point for about an hour and a half, we had a lot of free time on our hands...Dave and I tried to teach the French baseball with big rocks for bases and an umbrella for a bat, people were singing...it was really fun. We finally got to the Wat (temple) at the top of the mountain, and the view was absolutely amazing. As far as you could see were bright green rice paddies, dense forests, and the tiny houses on stilts below. It was very calm and peaceful. Past the more modern Wat on a trail, we came upon some very old ruins dating back to the Angkor period. A very old man told us that the Khmer Rouge had used this as a stronghold during the 1990's, which added to the already historical aura of the place. The carvings on the temple were very beautiful, and I am extremely excited to visit Angkor Wat tomorrow to see everything on a larger scale.
On the way down the mountain, we were surrounded by local children who had probably seen us heading up. One of my favorite things so far in Cambodia is that the children are always so excited to see you and practice their English "Hello!" It's really cute when you can see them practicing under their breath before they reach you :). Well, these kids were no exception, and they were really giggly and fun. They were especially excited when we took a picture and showed it to them, and right away, they started posing and making funny faces so that they could see themselves. I started asking what their names were in Cambodian, and when I told them my name, they all started shouting "Abby! Abby!" Oh man, so cute.
My favorite moment was when I tried to say "Hi" in Cambodian to show that I could say it in their language too, but when I messed up and said "Soos-day", one of the girls sighed, shook her head, and corrected me: "Tay (no)!, soos-DEI!"
Ah, it was hilarious.
Today, we took a boat tour on lake Tonle Sap, the biggest lake in Cambodia. We first had to take a small boat through the river past the floating village. The day before, a construction dam a couple miles away had broken, and the surge of water had flooded and destroyed a lot of the boats. Most of the actual houses, though, appeared ok. In the floating village, all of the houses are built on boats or logs and bob along with the waves. The people travel around by canoe, and some even sell produce and other things from small boats around the village. We eventually made it to Tonle Sap, which is so huge we couldn't even see the other side. We saw a crocodile farm, went to a bigger boat to eat some food (I got fish and chips..not very Cambodian..-_-), and saw a Wat on stilts...We actually got jipped because we were supposed to see the bird sanctuary, but they waited till we go there to say that it wasn't included. Those Australians...haha.
All in all, I've been doing pretty well being so far from home, but there is one thing that I am missing hard core: the food. I'm not to keen on Cambodian food, and I'm already getting sick of eating rice and noodles. Right now, I would kill for just some peanut butter and jelly...oh man.
Anyways, I love the guesthouse we are staying in. The family is so nice, and I've gotten to really know the people who work here. My favorites are the daughters of the owner, Lahng and Ing. They are so sweet, and we're sat together and studied for our respective subjects at night on the porch :).
Speaking of studying, the curriculum is ridiculous!! 60-100 pages of reading a night, projects, two 10-page research papers.....what the hell! None of us are very happy about that..so we may split up the readings between ourselves, shhhh...;). Because of that, I don't know when I can fit in volunteering..hopefully, I can at least teach some english at the Wat down the street. (If you haven't noticed, there are a ton of Wats around!)
We did get to watch the Killing Fields in class, which is about the Khmer Rouge takeover between 1975 and 1979 where over 2 million people were killed. If you haven't seen it, please do yourself a favor and watch it right now. It's a big reason why I wanted to come.
Alright, that's enough writing for one night. Don't hesitate to e-mail me and tell me how you are doing!
Abby, out.
Right after I wrote the post on not having any stories to tell, I definitely was involved in a couple adventures. The first entails the often hilarious repercussions of the obvious language barrier between us and the tuk-tuk drivers.
The weather has been particularly brutal these past few days. It cools down about 20 degrees when it rains, but unfortunately, it's only managed to do that once. So, being the typically environmentally friendly Americans that we are, we pretty much decide to take a tuk-tuk rather than endure the grueling 15 minute walk back to our hotel from town. On one such occasion, my friend Emily and I hop on a tuk-tuk and ask to be taken to our guesthouse, the GOLDEN village. 10 minutes into our ride, the landscape has drastically changed. All of a sudden, we were most definitely the only white people around as we rode by run-down houses built with banana leaves and branches chilling on sticks by the river. We had entered the "non-touristy area of Siem Reap." Well, Emily and I decided to wait about 10 more minutes before finally yelling at the tuk-tuk driver, "Sir, excuse me, do you know where Golden Village is?"
The driver screeches to a halt and turns around. "Golden Village?? I take you to Floating Village!"
Yeah, the floating village is about 45 minutes away. No wonder he wanted us to pay him so much up front! Good thing we finally got the guts to say something.. He found it pretty funny, and kept turning around to go "Hahaha! Golden village! Hohoho!"
Something tells me that's not going to be the last of stories like that....!
Yesterday, a group of us traveled to Phnom Krom, a mountain about 20 minutes away from Siem Reap. Our group was pretty diverse as we not only had American students, but also Khmer (Cambodian) and French students as well.
**Side note - To explain, I am in the CIEE group, which has 11 American students. There is another group that is studying with us that is on a Fellowship from the Center for Khmer studies. They have 5 Americans, 5 Khmer, and 5 French. Needless to say, our conversations have been pretty hilarious :). Alright, back to the story!**
On the way, we were stopped by some government officials. The Khmer students jumped out and had to bargain with them to let us keep going. Apparently, they charge tourists $30 to continue on, but since we were only going to the mountain, they let us pass free of charge. Being the poli sci nerd that I am, it was kind of exciting to see my first example of government corruption, haha..it wasn't the last, because once we finally got to the mountain, they wouldn't let us go past a certain point until 5:30, and even then we had to collectively pay $10. I'm glad we had our Khmer friends with us that could negotiate for us!
Because we couldn't pass a certain point for about an hour and a half, we had a lot of free time on our hands...Dave and I tried to teach the French baseball with big rocks for bases and an umbrella for a bat, people were singing...it was really fun. We finally got to the Wat (temple) at the top of the mountain, and the view was absolutely amazing. As far as you could see were bright green rice paddies, dense forests, and the tiny houses on stilts below. It was very calm and peaceful. Past the more modern Wat on a trail, we came upon some very old ruins dating back to the Angkor period. A very old man told us that the Khmer Rouge had used this as a stronghold during the 1990's, which added to the already historical aura of the place. The carvings on the temple were very beautiful, and I am extremely excited to visit Angkor Wat tomorrow to see everything on a larger scale.
On the way down the mountain, we were surrounded by local children who had probably seen us heading up. One of my favorite things so far in Cambodia is that the children are always so excited to see you and practice their English "Hello!" It's really cute when you can see them practicing under their breath before they reach you :). Well, these kids were no exception, and they were really giggly and fun. They were especially excited when we took a picture and showed it to them, and right away, they started posing and making funny faces so that they could see themselves. I started asking what their names were in Cambodian, and when I told them my name, they all started shouting "Abby! Abby!" Oh man, so cute.
My favorite moment was when I tried to say "Hi" in Cambodian to show that I could say it in their language too, but when I messed up and said "Soos-day", one of the girls sighed, shook her head, and corrected me: "Tay (no)!, soos-DEI!"
Ah, it was hilarious.
Today, we took a boat tour on lake Tonle Sap, the biggest lake in Cambodia. We first had to take a small boat through the river past the floating village. The day before, a construction dam a couple miles away had broken, and the surge of water had flooded and destroyed a lot of the boats. Most of the actual houses, though, appeared ok. In the floating village, all of the houses are built on boats or logs and bob along with the waves. The people travel around by canoe, and some even sell produce and other things from small boats around the village. We eventually made it to Tonle Sap, which is so huge we couldn't even see the other side. We saw a crocodile farm, went to a bigger boat to eat some food (I got fish and chips..not very Cambodian..-_-), and saw a Wat on stilts...We actually got jipped because we were supposed to see the bird sanctuary, but they waited till we go there to say that it wasn't included. Those Australians...haha.
All in all, I've been doing pretty well being so far from home, but there is one thing that I am missing hard core: the food. I'm not to keen on Cambodian food, and I'm already getting sick of eating rice and noodles. Right now, I would kill for just some peanut butter and jelly...oh man.
Anyways, I love the guesthouse we are staying in. The family is so nice, and I've gotten to really know the people who work here. My favorites are the daughters of the owner, Lahng and Ing. They are so sweet, and we're sat together and studied for our respective subjects at night on the porch :).
Speaking of studying, the curriculum is ridiculous!! 60-100 pages of reading a night, projects, two 10-page research papers.....what the hell! None of us are very happy about that..so we may split up the readings between ourselves, shhhh...;). Because of that, I don't know when I can fit in volunteering..hopefully, I can at least teach some english at the Wat down the street. (If you haven't noticed, there are a ton of Wats around!)
We did get to watch the Killing Fields in class, which is about the Khmer Rouge takeover between 1975 and 1979 where over 2 million people were killed. If you haven't seen it, please do yourself a favor and watch it right now. It's a big reason why I wanted to come.
Alright, that's enough writing for one night. Don't hesitate to e-mail me and tell me how you are doing!
Abby, out.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
First Impressions
Jeem riap sua!
After a long day of flying, I finally made it safe and sound! Spending over 24 hours in airports and up in the air was a little grueling, but it ended up a lot better than I thought it would.
Highlights of being en route to Cambodia:
1. Chatting with a sailor and impressing him with my knowledge of the symbols on his uniform (all thanks to matt peden)
2. Making friends with the two 4 and 6 year old Korean kids in front of me on the 17 hour flight from LA to Singapore. I always knew that my origami skills would come in handy some day! :)
3. After watching Charlie Wilson's War and Singing in the Rain, I freaked out the Malaysian guy next to me by starting to cry during the romatic yet horribly sad Japanese film I randomly decided to watch.
4. Meeting a nice Cambodian guy in the Singapore airport. He had moved to New Zealand seven years ago, and this was the first opportunity he's had to make it back to see his family. It was so awesome to get a good introduction to the Cambodian people. He taught me how to write my name in Khmer, and he even gave me his sister's number so that I could call in Phnom Penh in case I needed anything.
Whoa, I've only been here two days and I feel like I could write pages and pages of what I've seen and experienced. I can't post any pictures yet, so I'll just have to describe everything.
There is so much going on at once in Siem Reap that your senses are completely overloaded as soon as you get off the tuk-tuk (pronounced took-took, it's a covered cart pulled by a motorbike..and the main way to get around in the city!). Since I was still in extreme jet lag mode, the first thing that really made me realize that I was actually in Cambodia was the smells. There's the smell of incense as you walk past the Wats (temples), the sweet smell of fruit, and the very very poignant smell of the market where you walk past dangling intestines and still gasping, 2 foot long fish. Since the air so thick here with humidity, all of these are mixed and multiplied by ten.
Even though it is obviously a very touristy town, the whole atmosphere is still very different from anything I've been around. The walk itself to the main part of town is an experience in itself. Part of the road on the way is being "redone"...which basically means they dumped large chunks of stone over it and a man in a steam roller just drives back and forth all day crunching it down. Not only is it really hilarious to try to walk down, driving over it in a tuk-tuk is an adventure! On the way, there are all these stands with adults and their children selling small trinkets or fruit or touristy items. The best part is that there is a school on the way, and you can see the children who are lucky enough to attend running around in their navy pants and white button up shirts. The main town is covered in shops, massage parlors, and bars, and the funniest part is seeing restaurants that are "Mexican" or "Irish". And at night, everything looks completely different because everything is lit up with neon...a totally different feel and mood.
The best part of all so far is the people. I have never met such a gentle and friendly culture!! Everyone is always smiling. The people at our guesthouse are so amazingly friendly and helpful. Today, for our orientation, we were split up into groups to research different topics in the city, and my group''s topic was fashion. Yeah, you can all quit laughing now.. :). Anyways, we walked around the market and asked the shopkeepers questions, and they were so eager to talk to us and tell us about their the styles of clothing and traditions that they have.
The only thing that is worrisome about this place is the traffic. Oh my goodness. There are motos and tuk-tuks and cars and bikes and carts just zooming around everywhere..crossing the street is really stressful, and there aren't a lot of sidewalks. I guess walking around the city is a bit of an acquired skill..
It's also horrible to see how bad the poverty is here. There are constantly kids coming up to you and asking you to buy things, and you can see the older children or their parents watching them around the corner. The worst was when a little boy said "Hey lady, you buy something, I leave you alone." Well, those who know me, I love kids...it is so hard for me. I've also seen a couple landmine victims without hands or legs or their faces are disfigured..
The thing I'm looking forward to the most is learning some Khmer. So far, I can only say "hello","no, I'm sorry", and "my name is". There's a girl in our group whose parents are Cambodian and she can speak it a little, and when she speaks to someone, their faces light up. Everyone here pretty much knows enough english that I would be able to get by, but I think I would be missing out on a lot by not at least trying to communicate in their language..The Wat where we're having our classes is so beautiful, and today we talked about the syllabus and class schedule..I AM SO PUMPED TO START CLASSES. I really want to volunteer, but it sounds like the workload is going to be monsterous. I hope that our teacher is exaggerating, because there are a couple centers around here that do things with music and children that I think would be realy awesome to get involved in. :)
No funny stories yet (well, I have funny moments, but they're more of "You had to be there" moments..). Knowing me, that probably won't be the case for long...Well, we were told that women should stay away from the monks because if you accidently touch one, they have to fast for a week or something. Well, they''re pretty common on the sidewalks by the river, so I've been awkwardly trying to stay out of the way..
Wow, this post is really dry and kind of boring, sorry! I am extremely worn out..it is so hot here, and everyone in the group is really bushed. I think I've drank 3 times my body weight in water today..and this place is so amazing and I have so much to say that I have no idea where to start. Hopefully, my other posts will be more detailed and uh..entertaining.. :P
Hope all of you are doing well! :)
After a long day of flying, I finally made it safe and sound! Spending over 24 hours in airports and up in the air was a little grueling, but it ended up a lot better than I thought it would.
Highlights of being en route to Cambodia:
1. Chatting with a sailor and impressing him with my knowledge of the symbols on his uniform (all thanks to matt peden)
2. Making friends with the two 4 and 6 year old Korean kids in front of me on the 17 hour flight from LA to Singapore. I always knew that my origami skills would come in handy some day! :)
3. After watching Charlie Wilson's War and Singing in the Rain, I freaked out the Malaysian guy next to me by starting to cry during the romatic yet horribly sad Japanese film I randomly decided to watch.
4. Meeting a nice Cambodian guy in the Singapore airport. He had moved to New Zealand seven years ago, and this was the first opportunity he's had to make it back to see his family. It was so awesome to get a good introduction to the Cambodian people. He taught me how to write my name in Khmer, and he even gave me his sister's number so that I could call in Phnom Penh in case I needed anything.
Whoa, I've only been here two days and I feel like I could write pages and pages of what I've seen and experienced. I can't post any pictures yet, so I'll just have to describe everything.
There is so much going on at once in Siem Reap that your senses are completely overloaded as soon as you get off the tuk-tuk (pronounced took-took, it's a covered cart pulled by a motorbike..and the main way to get around in the city!). Since I was still in extreme jet lag mode, the first thing that really made me realize that I was actually in Cambodia was the smells. There's the smell of incense as you walk past the Wats (temples), the sweet smell of fruit, and the very very poignant smell of the market where you walk past dangling intestines and still gasping, 2 foot long fish. Since the air so thick here with humidity, all of these are mixed and multiplied by ten.
Even though it is obviously a very touristy town, the whole atmosphere is still very different from anything I've been around. The walk itself to the main part of town is an experience in itself. Part of the road on the way is being "redone"...which basically means they dumped large chunks of stone over it and a man in a steam roller just drives back and forth all day crunching it down. Not only is it really hilarious to try to walk down, driving over it in a tuk-tuk is an adventure! On the way, there are all these stands with adults and their children selling small trinkets or fruit or touristy items. The best part is that there is a school on the way, and you can see the children who are lucky enough to attend running around in their navy pants and white button up shirts. The main town is covered in shops, massage parlors, and bars, and the funniest part is seeing restaurants that are "Mexican" or "Irish". And at night, everything looks completely different because everything is lit up with neon...a totally different feel and mood.
The best part of all so far is the people. I have never met such a gentle and friendly culture!! Everyone is always smiling. The people at our guesthouse are so amazingly friendly and helpful. Today, for our orientation, we were split up into groups to research different topics in the city, and my group''s topic was fashion. Yeah, you can all quit laughing now.. :). Anyways, we walked around the market and asked the shopkeepers questions, and they were so eager to talk to us and tell us about their the styles of clothing and traditions that they have.
The only thing that is worrisome about this place is the traffic. Oh my goodness. There are motos and tuk-tuks and cars and bikes and carts just zooming around everywhere..crossing the street is really stressful, and there aren't a lot of sidewalks. I guess walking around the city is a bit of an acquired skill..
It's also horrible to see how bad the poverty is here. There are constantly kids coming up to you and asking you to buy things, and you can see the older children or their parents watching them around the corner. The worst was when a little boy said "Hey lady, you buy something, I leave you alone." Well, those who know me, I love kids...it is so hard for me. I've also seen a couple landmine victims without hands or legs or their faces are disfigured..
The thing I'm looking forward to the most is learning some Khmer. So far, I can only say "hello","no, I'm sorry", and "my name is". There's a girl in our group whose parents are Cambodian and she can speak it a little, and when she speaks to someone, their faces light up. Everyone here pretty much knows enough english that I would be able to get by, but I think I would be missing out on a lot by not at least trying to communicate in their language..The Wat where we're having our classes is so beautiful, and today we talked about the syllabus and class schedule..I AM SO PUMPED TO START CLASSES. I really want to volunteer, but it sounds like the workload is going to be monsterous. I hope that our teacher is exaggerating, because there are a couple centers around here that do things with music and children that I think would be realy awesome to get involved in. :)
No funny stories yet (well, I have funny moments, but they're more of "You had to be there" moments..). Knowing me, that probably won't be the case for long...Well, we were told that women should stay away from the monks because if you accidently touch one, they have to fast for a week or something. Well, they''re pretty common on the sidewalks by the river, so I've been awkwardly trying to stay out of the way..
Wow, this post is really dry and kind of boring, sorry! I am extremely worn out..it is so hot here, and everyone in the group is really bushed. I think I've drank 3 times my body weight in water today..and this place is so amazing and I have so much to say that I have no idea where to start. Hopefully, my other posts will be more detailed and uh..entertaining.. :P
Hope all of you are doing well! :)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
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