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.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
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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