Leaving Cambodia

My final days in Phnom Penh were really...really... fun. My good friend Jeanette signed us up for a Fun Rally on Sunday, where you travel all around the city by tuk-tuk hunting for the answers to scavenger hunt clues. Here are my teammates with Joe, our tuk-tuk driver:

From Cambodia

Then on Tuesday night, my students threw me an awesome going-away party. Living with such warm ladies and staying in Phnom Penh for nearly three months, it was really starting to feel like a home.

From Harpswell

Before the party preparations. Limheang, along with her assistants Channy and Leaphea, did my hurr up very pretty and fancy-like.

Here is one of many photos from the party itself. There are plenty more to come.

From Harpswell

But then on Wednesday morning, I actually had to pack and leave. I didn't emotionally prepare myself at all for leaving my girls. I didn't want to waste precious time thinking about it. I didn't get any photos of Jeanette and Martin together or print out the ones that I wanted to give her, with all the hubbub and activity. And I got some troubling news just as I left. My fellow teacher and friend Yuta has a badly mangled knee, and when the doctor changed his bandage on Wednesday, his knee was worse instead of better. Add to this the 3 hours of sleep that I gave myself and you can imagine why I wasn't in the greatest mood.

For the first time in my life, I was unenthusiastic about getting on an airplane. I didn't even think to check out my new passport stamp until several hours later. But I was in Bangkok all the same. It was something else coming here from Cambodia-- underpasses and overpasses and skyscrapers (oh my). I realized that the familiar has now become unfamiliar.

As in other times in my life, good food was the way forward. I had some beef noodle soup with fresh basil and perfect chili sauce. It healed my jangled insides. By the light of day, after some good rest, I realized I needed a whole new perspective. So I'm not at home anymore. I can keep in touch with people the same way I've been doing since June. I'm a tourist/traveler on the move all over again. After a cup of strong coffee and a croissant with butter and honey, I set out on foot to see the city. Wandering around and exploring a new place is one of my Top 5 favorite pastimes. There's an academic vocab word for this mode that is snooty and New-York-Timesy, but it fits. I really enjoy becoming a flâneur. (Thank you, Dr. Rothman.) Bangkok is a great city for it. Only this time, I'm not really just wandering. I'm scouting the place out for what Margaret has aptly named The JAMP Tour 2009 -- Babes in Thailand.* I know that Bangkok is going to transform for me again once some of the women I love most are in it.




* Jesse, Anna, Margaret and Patti

I ♥ PP

I think sometimes you fall in love with a city in the same way you'd fall in love with a person. That definitely happened for me with Phnom Penh. You just have this instant chemistry. Everything good about them is amazing, and everything bad is so interesting that you have to know more. I started proclaiming my love for Phnom Penh on the very first day. After about another two, I realized that I had to spend some more time in Cambodia. So, as I ask my students in writing class, How and Why did I develop this crush? Crap, good question. I'm working on the answer.

My #1 favorite thing in Cambodia is definitely my students, which is why I mentioned them below. But before I knew them, I got a small sense of Cambodian (or Khmer) people in general. Men can be skeevy, women can be conniving, and children can be so desperate that they'll rob you blind. But for the most part, Cambodian people are incredibly warm, resilient, and somehow or another always interesting. And while my tourist budget is definitely in demand, you can't just relate my experiences here to the dollars in my bag. My experiences with Khmer people are distinct from my interactions with locals anywhere else, rich and poor.

By far the best ambassadors for any country are its children. They are quick to yell "Hello!" and are not too polite to laugh at you when you do something dumb. Adults may eye you quietly, but not kids. This was taken in Kampot, on the southeast coast of Cambodia. It's not a prize winner in terms of composition, but this kid leaned out in front of the lens just as I took the photo, and I like looking at that moment.

From Cambodia

I sit in on another English class at the dorm, and the teacher was recently explaining the idiom "A picture is worth a thousand words." My gals taught us an old Khmer saying, which roughly translates as this: If you read about something 100 times, it is not equal to seeing it once. If you see something 100 times, it is not equal to doing it once. I can't really make you understand why I love Cambodia. Just trust that I do.

This is Just to Say

No updates for two months makes me a pretty crap blogger. Forgive me-- that should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me!

For anybody who doesn't already know, I developed a huge crush on Cambodia as soon as I arrived in Phnom Penh. I decided to stick around for awhile and applied to be a Leadership Resident here: The Harpswell Foundation Dormitory and Leadership Center for Women

Lucky for me, the directors were convinced that I could do a good job and I was accepted! I initially signed on for a one-month residency, but thankfully I've been able to extend my visa and I'll be teaching here until October 20th. The students who live at this dorm are really incredible young women. They were warm and welcoming to me from the first day. They are all very intelligent, quick to make me laugh, and very committed to their education. Everything that I do centers around strengthening their English language skills, whether I'm helping with homework, teaching classes, or just engaging students in conversation. I'm teaching a creative writing class and tutoring students for the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), a test that some of my students will take in a just a few weeks. I'm also organizing a few cultural events and showing a movie once a week. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I honestly feel blessed to be here.

Now that I'm settled in, I am starting to go through my Cambodia photos. My students had a holiday last week, so I traveled out of the city and stayed with a couple of my students' families. Pictured here is Leaphea Yang (or as Cambodians would put it, Yang Leaphea). Her family is of Chinese descent, so their cooking style mixes Khmer (Cambodian) and Chinese traditions. This lunch was absolutely amazing and hands-down one of the best meals I've had on my trip.

From Harpswell

Sweet and sour pork, mashed pumpkin mixed with green onion and pork, and vegetable soup. As you can see, Cambodians usually place a mat down in the room for everyone to eat on. Each person gets their own bowl of rice, and you take a spoonful of this, a spoonful of that at a time until you are full. Parents here are like many others around the world-- they will offer guests far more food than one can possibly eat. Much was leftover after I was happily stuffed.

P.S.

Malaysia is now up too!

From Malaysia

I'm headed to Cambodia tomorrow, where the internet is apparently painfully slow. I'm really looking forward to being there, despite this fact.

Singapore

I was quite pleasantly surprised by Singapore. I really loved it. The food, the architecture, and the large number of free entertainments. Photos are up on Picasa.

From Singapore

From Singapore

From Singapore

Adios, Indonesia

From Bali and Java

I've fleshed out my Bali and Java album, and i think I'm done with it for now. At 232 photos, let's hope it's complete.

From Bali and Java

Java didn't immediately charm me the way that Bali did, but over the course of a few days I grew to appreciate the Javanese people and the things that draw people to visit them. We saw Bromo volcano and Borobudur. We heard a great deal of live music. And by the end of it I was a little sad to leave Indonesia. However, landing in Singapore was a breath of fresh and clean air. I'm really having a ball being in a modern city with great museums, viewing decks on the 70th floor, and drinkable tap water. Robyn very astutely calls it a vacation from our vacation. Ms. Sarah Reed Neal arrives on the 8th. Life is good!