Thanksgiving Thoughts...

Happy almost-Thanksgiving, everyone! I suppose that is the theme of this entry...

It’s been a bit of time since my last update; these things just aren’t coming as easily as they once did. It’s hard to write about what you cannot accurately explain, even to yourself. And that is my life in Cambodia… hard to explain even to myself. The best way I am able to understand it right now is… I love Phnom Penh, somehow. Somehow I am able to love everything about this place. There is just something about this city and I grow to love it more and more each day. Each second, actually. Each day here seems to be better than the last. So I guess I can write about that, but that just seems like some sort of sickening exploration of personal joy, and who the hells wants to read a long blog entry about someone’s happiness?! It’s so much more interesting when things go wrong, isn’t it? Well, as I sit here and write that, I have to realize that nearly EVERYTHING goes wrong all the time here! It’s difficult and hilarious to complete even the simplest tasks, like visiting an ATM or getting a cup of coffee. But the weirdest situations slowly become… normal. Life in Cambodia is just Life now. So that might be why it’s hard to write about it. I am reluctant to simply share my life via my blog when, to me, things are routine here.

That being said, I suppose I can update a little bit on the actual goings on around here. The Water Festival has come and passed. I didn’t catch much of it as I was sick with a nasty cold in bed most of the week, but what I did see was a scaled down version of what was once the second-most exciting time of the year in Cambodia (the first being Khmer New Year in April). Last year at the Water Festival (held every year in November), several hundred people died in a stampede. Add that element in with the highest waters Cambodia has seen in ten years, and the Prime Minister had due cause to cancel the boat races down the Mekong this year. So, because of the cancelation of the races, and because of the tragedy of last year, far less people descended unto Phnom Penh than in normal years.

School is going better, which I suppose is relative given how bad it really was in the beginning. My boss said, point-blank, she was “surprised I hadn’t quit yet,” given I am a new teacher and have the “worst class she’s ever seen in seven years teaching in Cambodia.” The principal of the school refers to my students as the “insane asylum children.” I wish I were making this up. But after a month of absolute hell, my kids are slowly realizing I am NOT someone to be messed with or ignored. They are coming around, beginning to listen in class, and are even… sort of… growing on me. ☺

My work with the theater group the Phnom Penh Players is going well. Our Christmas pantomime family show, which I co-directed, is going up at a local venue in a few weeks. It is weird to be a bit less involved in production, namely, working as solely co-director, not writer, director, producer, promoter, actor, etc, etc, of a work. I can’t complain too much, it is a fun show and I’m looking forward to the week of production. Hopefully I can get my own work up through the Phnom Penh Players later this year. We shall see where this road takes me!

I have mentioned before in this blog that I had been going out at least once a week to an orphanage in the city to volunteer. Well my roommate, Shae, who introduced me to SFODA (Sacrifice Families and Orphan Development Association), has been going out there to volunteer for over a year, and because of her long hours and our collective interest in the organization, the Chief of Child Care offered us last week a voluntary position of the board of directors for the orphanage! We are officially going to be helping the orphans find sponsors to provide medical care (many of the children are HIV positive), school supplies, and adequate food. We will also attend board meetings to make sure we feel SFODA’s (and the children’s) needs are met. I am so honored to be a part of this organization. I am so happy to be actively helping something, someone, a whole group of people! It isn’t often we can ACTUALLY be helping people directly, is it? Or maybe it is, or it should be, I’ve just never experienced it so directly before. The eight-year-old girl I’m closest with, Sabath, officially has a sponsor as of today… ME! She is an angel with the curliest hair I’ve ever seen on an Asian person! I am so humbled and excited to be able to help her on her journey… And, as I said earlier, who knows where this road can take me? I know that I will be involved with SFODA for the rest of my life now. It is a beautiful thing to commit to something like that. I realize I’ve never committed to something for essentially my whole life… WOW….

As I bask in this thought, I’ll sign off with thoughts and wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in America. I’ll be doing it Phnom Penh style. I pray I can find some decent pumpkin pie in this crazy city. I certainly have a great deal to be thankful for. I am thankful every time I dodge a near-moto accident. I am thankful every time I am able to play with the children at SFODA, and, although my students are in a completely different world than the orphans at SFODA, I am, in turn, thankful to spend time with them as well. I am thankful to have graduated from one of the best universities in the world. I am thankful to be American and to be a native English speaker. I am thankful for my family and friends, here and abroad. And I’m so thankful that I get to travel! And to do, right now, exactly, literally, completely what I want to be doing. Without doubt or hesitation.

I’ll be back with more, probably after another stint in Siem Reap for the annual Angkor Marathon. No, don’t worry, I will NOT be running, I’ll be cheering on the sidelines, sitting in the shade, with a cold beer in hand. And I’ll be avoiding the temples and the markets and simply basking in this glorious country I am so fortunate to live in. A few more weeks until Mom joins me! Really, seriously, so many things to be thankful for and to look forward to! Until then… ☺

Siem Reap

Hello everyone!

Latest update will be about my trip to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. I decided to do this entry in the form of a "Best Of" List. Hope you enjoy!

Best Of: Siem Reap/Angkor Wat Edition.

Best Market: Night Market!!! OMG! The markets there are sooo much nicer than the markets here in Phnom Penh. The aisles are wider, there are fans and ventilation, and the markets are way cleaner. Siem Reap is set up for tourists there in a way Phnom Penh has yet to figure out. The Old Market was fun but I really like the Night Market because it had a cool vibe--like it was a place to hang out or something (unlike the Russian Market here where you want to leave as soon as possible...) Needless to say, serious shopping was had!

Best Sunrise: Angkor Wat, duh! It was amazing. I am continually surprised by my ability to be continually surprised in this country. Things have happened here that make me think, "Well, now NOTHING will surprise me after that." But then, always, things STILL manage to make my jaw drop and take my breath away. Watching the sun peak behind the clouds over the largest religious monument in the entire world was for sure a take-your-breath-away type moment. Even though you go into something like that thinking you know it will be amazing, it is always even better than your mind can possibly imagine.

Best Wat: My favorite was Bantry Srei. It was way off the beaten path, but we made sure to get out to see the "Temple of Women." It is a super small temple that is known for it's detail. The entire wat, which is literally a miniature wat, was covered completely in scenes and stories, figures and gods. I have never seen something so complex and wonderful.

Best Tuk Tuk: Any tuk tuk that wasn't the one we were riding in around the temples! It was literally the smallest tuk tuk I have ever been in, and with four people who are large by Asian standards (read: Western), we were so cramped! Our knees were touching when we were all sitting.

Best Elephant: The one we rode up to the top of a mountain to watch the sunset over all the temples! What a ride! The beast was precariously close to the trail's edge and I was terrified the entire time, but it was sooo fun and surreal to be atop an elephant! One of the things on my list was to ride an elephant--another activity to cross of my list as accomplished! :)

Best Guesthouse: Angkor Friendship Inn was where we stayed and I highly recommend it. It was clean and friendly and even had a pool! It was cheap too for what it offered (breakfast included, internet, swimming pool).

Best Nightlife: Pub Street!!!!! So much fun. It was like Del Playa in IV or something like it... I wish 51 in Phnom Penh was even half of the scene in Siem Reap. But, it's just another excuse to visit I suppose! I was happy to see people dressed up on Pub Street for Halloween. Made me a little homesick for IV Halloween.....

Best Trip: This one of course! It feels amazing to go somewhere that you have only seen in pictures. To imagine what it will be like to go somewhere and then ACTUALLY GO THERE. To live one of your dreams. It's surreal and I feel so blessed to be able to have access to such beauty in the country I live. And to be living here. Things are changing in Angkor Wat; there are signs labeled "Do Not Touch," ropes, and even guard rails on some of the stairs. I can't even imagine how much this country will change in the next 5, 10, 15, 50 years. I am proud to be here on the cusp, in the middle, of change and modernization. I am just so happy to be here, even though America is always in the back of my mind.

Best Ending to a Trip: It was King Sihanouk's 90th birthday the day we got back into the city, and as we ate at one of my favorite restaurants, fireworks went off over the river. What a place to be, Cambodia.

I'll update soon. The Water Festival holiday is coming up, but I plan to stay in the Penh and actually have a holiday where I relax and explore this city a bit more. And the next holiday after that: Bangkok with Mom and Shae! I cannot even wait!!!!!!!