Travelling with Easy-e

Cambodia - Part 23

2008-07-13T03:59:00.001-07:00

Sunday 6th July 2008

I blog therefore I spam

It has been a strange and uncertain few months. It feels like my life has been in a state of constant flux. After my contract with IDP ended I decided to stay on in Cambodia and look for some more international work. So for the first time since I was 13, I found myself unemployed. At first it was kind of fun and liberating, but then it got boring and tedious as I spent days searching for jobs, writing applications and waiting, waiting, waiting for people to get back to me. Dull. So I to pack up my bag and hit the road for a while.

My first trip was to India. I had been wanting to visit India for a long time. I had very strong and exotic images of what I thought India would be like in my mind - inspired by the works of great Indian authors such as Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy. I imagined great crumbling cities filled with colour, aromas and bustle. And in many ways I was not disappointed – this India certainly existed, but there is so much more. It was so diverse and there was stunning natural beauty I was just not prepared for…

My trip started in Dehli where I met Emma, a good friend of mine from Sydney. We use to work together at the City of Sydney, but now Emma works full time as a Massage Therapist. She has her own business back home, but had been working in India massaging for 20-20 cricket teams.

I arrived late at night in the crumbling Dehli airport terminal with no plan or guide book (I had recently decided that I don’t like guide books any more – it is much more fun/interesting to talk to people and find your own way around AND you don’t get caught up in the whole paranoia that you might be getting ripped off because the guidebook says so – give yourself over to the experience I say – getting ripped off occasionally is part of that) and only a vague sense of how I was going to meet up with Emma. Thankfully India has telephones (that was a safe bet because I have spoken to numerous telemarketers on the subcontinent). So I called her and after a little confusion (mostly from me) I found myself in a van with an Aussie family heading to a swish hotel near the airport where I would rendezvous with Emma and her friend. After a quick hello and my first Indian lime soda (soon to be a staple) we jumped back into the van and headed to a beautiful old Maharaja fort cum hotel overlooking a small town outside of Dehli. Not bad for my first night in India…

Initially, I planned to stay in India for 3 weeks and return to Cambodia to hear about jobs, but while I was traveling it became apparent there was no need to rush back, and so I ended up extending my trip 6 weeks in India.

For the first 3 weeks I traveled with Emma. Our first stop was in Jaipur with it’s pink city and grand fort perched atop a big hill – across Agra to see the perhaps greatest tribute to love and in of the most iconic buildings in the world: the Taj Mahal (And it was an arranged marriage. Go figure.) – back to Dehli for a flight – up over the stunning Himalayas to the sublimely beautiful town of Leh and the surrounding Ladakh area in the far north – back down (past the disputed territory) to Kashmir Jammu which was unremarkable except for the wild hemp plants growing along the side of the road – across to Dharamshala/McLeod Ganj where the Dali Lama lives and hippies thrive in the green green foot hills of the Himalayas – down to Shimla woodlands a former British summer outpost – down the to modern grid-planned city of Chandigah to meet some friends of Emma and back to Dehli.

It was a lot of fun travelling with Emma. I often travel alone, so it was really nice to share the experience with someone. A lot of funny things happened to us. All the Indians assumed we were married and we played on this a lot. On one train ride we told these two young university students that we were in an open relationship. They were in awe - it was funny. Another time we pretended we were on the verge of getting divorced ‘this was a make or break trip and, to be quite frank, it broke’.

Emma had been telling me that she had some problems, as a young woman, with guys (both Indian and foreigners) in India and it was quite strange travelling with her – despite the fact she was dressed conservatively and was clearly travelling with me nearly all the guys would stare at her. Outside of the big cities or tourist areas, young women don’t get out much, they are still kept at home and marriages are still arranged. The women’s movement still has a long way to go in India, there is still a lot of discrimination against women, which I found a bit incongruous given how open minded people were towards religion. It was not uncommon to see people walking around with the Hindu dot on the forehead, the red string of the Buddhists slung around their wrist and a Christian cross dangling around their neck. I guess they were just covering all their bases.

I remember when I was at primary school, it was a big joke that in India people eat with right hand and go to the toilet with the left – so you never touch anyone with your left hand. Even so, it came to me as quite a surprise that this is still largely the case for ordinary Indians. I can’t say I got very good with either. Although I must say - eating with your fingers is fun, except when you are trying to eat rice with curry. Those juicy little buggers are had to scoop up! Having said that – the food in India was fantastic (better than Indian Home Dinner in Newtown!); curries, breads, pickles, fruits, sticky sweets…yuuuuuuummm…I don’t think I had a bad meal, nor did I get sick (I reckon I have had every bug imaginable in Cambodia – my immune system is so strong now). Which is probably a lucky thing because, due to the lack of toilet paper, I would have had to use my left hand to clean it up…

Anyhow, so Emma left after three weeks to return to Australia and I kicked on for a few more weeks solo. From Dehli I flew to Mumbai (aka Bombay) and the meandered down the west coast through Goa, Mangalore and Kerela.

Each state of India was so distinct and diverse. This really surprised me. Although most Indians speak Hindi and many speak English, most also speak a local dialect and maintain local customs. In the far north the people are much more Asiatic in appearance (sharing more in common with their Nepalese neighbours than the mainland of India), they eat lots of stews and noodle dishes (including a new favourite momos; similar to a Chinese dumpling, but maid with a more bread like outside), the landscape is mountainous, every little town has a beautiful old monastery perched above it and the religion is mostly Buddhist. While in the far south of Kerala, the men wear dhotis (like a sarong) instead of pants, the local breakfast is dosa (pancake stuffed with vegetable and meat), there is a lot more seafood, the people are much darker (distinctly Indian) and the landscape is tropical – large fresh water lakes wind around islands and peninsulas clumped with coconut trees. Strangely, despite their differences both of these areas (the far north and the far south) were my favorites in India.

But I had some good times in other places – in Mumbai I went to a 20-20 match where I was the only white guy in the crowd (Sachin Tendalker’s Mumbai team thrashed Warnie’s Rajistan team) and went through the slums which was interesting - much more vibrant and colourful than I thought it would be. Did a little yoga retreat on the beach in Goa and met some locals who took me to eat the best fish I ever ate in my life…

After six weeks though, I was bit over traveling, especially on my own. Although I met some lovely fellow travellers and locals, I also bumped into my fair share of hippies and morons. It’s funny that places like India (and Cambodia) seem to attract really diverse personality types. Personally, I could not imagine how one could be ‘traveling’ for ten years or why you would go all the way to India to learn about Buddhism without every having read about it…but that is what some people do.

So by the time I got back to Phnom Penh I was ready to follow up my job applications and to, hopefully, finalise something. Sadly, I was to be disappointed. Although I had a few prospects, none of them were moving particularly quickly, meanwhile my visa was running out and I was starting to run short of money. I had decided while I was in India that if nothing came up in within two weeks after me returning to Cambodia then I was going to go to Thailand and Laos before flying home (arriving home broke). The prodigal son returns. So, half packing my bags ready to go, I searched and waited for two weeks. And nothing. So I packed my bags, organised my visa’s, organised a bus ticket and then the phone rang…I had an interview for a job in Phnom Penh I hadn’t rated myself on getting – mostly because they advertised extensively on popular international development websites (and would have gotten hundreds of applications by my estimation).

I went to the interview and it went well. But I still had my doubts and continued with my departure plan (all the while sleeping on the floor at my friends houses). Three days before I intended to leave, I got a call back – they wanted me to come back for a second interview the next day. The second interview also went well and was considerably less formal than the first. I was starting to suspect they liked me. So I left that interview thinking that I still had to leave because my visa was due to expire. Later that day they called me back and asked me to come and meet the local staff. So, the day before I was due to leave I went in and met the staff. After which I started to feel more confident. They then told me that I should go to Laos, sort out your visa and come back ‘you can be pretty confident at this stage’. And so it was that I went to Laos (via Battambong and Bangkok) feeling confident that I would have a great new job when I got back. A job which I am happy to say, I will be starting tomorrow!

The new job is with an International NGO called Pact. I will be working as the (inhale deep breath) ‘Strengthening Governance and Accountability – Monitoring, Evaluating, Reporting and Learning Coordinator’ (why do I always get jobs with really, really long titles?!). What that means in layman terms is that I will be measuring the impact of to projects across Cambodia. The first being a project aimed at improving the effectiveness and accountability of local government and the second aimed at reducing corruption (there is a lot of room to move with this in Cambodia – it is consistently rated internationally as a poor performer in this area). I have a strong interest in both and am looking forward to working with Pact on these issues. And I am getting paid to do it! Another great thing is that it ties in directly with my Masters. So, I am happy and relieved at the moment. I was really worried about going back to a boring desk job in Australia.

And so it was that I also went to Thailand and Laos. After months of travelling on a budget, it was nice to let go a little bit. In Bangkok I went a little wild at the markets and bought heaps of new clothes. I also went to the cinema for the first time in at least a year and a half. Something I have really missed here. The cinema was great! But the movie itself was lame – saw ‘the happening’ with Mark Walberg. I am sorry but Marky Mark can not pull off being a science teacher.

After Bangkok I flew up to Luang Prabang in the north of Laos. In many ways Laos is similar to Cambodia, but at the same time there is definitely a stronger Thai and Vietnamese influence. It surprised me how developed and clean it seemed compared to Cambodia. I was under the impression that Laos was the poor cousin in SE Asia. But (the tourist areas at least) are much better maintained than in Cambodia. I guess the corruption in Cambodia really stops things from happening. Someone really should do something about that…

Luang Prabang is a picturesque town set in lush green hills. The fat brown waters of the Mekong sweep around a little town made up of neat wooden houses, restaurants, pagodas. I was there in the ‘off season’ but there were still plenty of tourists around. A lot of people go to Laos for the ‘adventure’ holiday. There are vast tracks of unspoiled forest (the Laos government is the only one in SE Asia to preserve their natural heritage before most of it was felled) containing lots of waterfalls and rivers where your adventure tourist can go swimming, caving, kayaking, abseiling, hiking…whatever turns them on really and there is a massive tourists industry taking advantage of this. I spent a few days in Luang Prabang taking boat rides, swimming and checking out some beautiful waterfalls before heading south to Vang Vieng (keeping on a well worn tourist track).

Vang Vieng is another town set in beautiful location. The Nam Song river cuts quickly through the town and a number of makeshift bamboo bridges perch over the river – offering easy access. Around the town there are several big caves hollowed out of the vast stark grey/green limestone cliff faces. But in the town itself, it is a bit like a big frat party. Along the main road backpackers hang about in small bars watching endless reruns of Friends and Hollywood movies…it’s a surreal place. It is like someone took a bit of Bangkok and whacked into the middle of this sleepy little town.

After Vang Vieng I headed down to the capital ‘city’ of Laos – Vientiane. Perched on the banks on the Mekong Vientiane would have to be the smallest and most relaxed city I have ever been to. The population is only about 300,000 – making it about a tenth the size of Phnom Penh which ain’t saying much…

The food in Laos was surprisingly good as well. They love to BBQ - especially fish and chicken. They have a great snack made from river weed (like sea weed) covered in sesame seed and deep fried. And the national dish Laab (minced meat and herbs served on rice) is also very tasty.

So I am back in Phnom Penh and have spent the week settling back in – looking for a new house, buying some clothes for work, etc, etc…looks like I will be here for another year at least.

Cambodia - Part 22

2008-03-19T00:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 19th March 2008

3 months in Phnom Penh

So I haven’t updated this in a while. Partly because I have been busy, partly because I have been lazy and partly because I just didn’t have much to say.

I have just finished a 3 month contract with IDP where I organised a massive conference for teachers of English in Cambodia. Held over two days, we had over 1000 participants and 170 sessions. So it was a pretty big deal. As my boss kept saying – it is a major logistical challenge in a resource poor country like Cambodia. To start with there are only two possible venues that could host such a big event and those two venues aren’t exactly the Taj Mahal, or even the outhouse of the Taj Mahal. There is no air-conditioning, a lack of toilets and no good seating. Plastic chairs, oh yeah.

Anyhow that is all over now, and I am looking for some more work. I have until the end of April until my visa runs out and if I don’t have a clear plan by then I plan on leaving Cambodia. Am thinking I might do some travelling before heading back to Sydney…I think India could be calling…

So, life in Phnom Penh is very different to the rest of Cambodia. It took me a long time to adjust and even now I still struggle with it, especially with the arrogance (of both Khmers and Expats). There is a clear pecking order and lots of small minded people happy to put others in their place. But it is not all bad – I have met some intelligent, creative and motivated people. And there are plenty of great eating places and bars.

It is possible to live here a better life than one could live at home on very little money. The international presence and influence here is dominating. In a lot of ways Phnom Penh is like living in bubble, it seems so removed from the rest of Cambodia. There is so much money floating around. There are thousands of 4WD Lexus’s driving about clogging up roads that were built for motorbikes.

In the provinces the poverty and hardship is apparent. In the city the inequality and corruption are most apparent.

Police regularly try to pull me over while I am driving about town on my moto. Not because I have done anything wrong, but just because they are looking to get a little cash from a ‘fine’. Friends of mine have been fined for driving with their lights on during the day. I still get flushed with guilt when I speed up to go past them, half expecting jump on their moto and chase me through traffic. But they don’t. That would require effort. It is quite funny a site seeing a whole row of motos dodging the cops trying to pull people over and speed off.

The traffic here is crazy. But somehow it seems to work. People just ride like there are no rules and if you don’t do the same, you get nowhere fast. I have had a few close calls and seen a few bad accidents. At night they turn the traffic lights out to save power which means everyone forces their way through intersections

The other day I saw a moto with three drunk guys, not wearing helmets, slam into the side of a van. Two were out for the count as the van sped off and crowd descended. Some guys went through their wallets and took out some cash. I thought they were stealing it, but then someone said they were taking the cash to pay for the ambulance when it arrived. Which did turn up, about an hour later.

On another day I was on my way to work and the traffic was heavier than usual. I saw a traffic cop and assumed that he was intently making the traffic go slower for no good reason or just looking for easy money. But then I saw the dead body sprawled at his feet, blood oozing from the head onto the dusty road. Road accidents are a growing market, as the streets improve and people have better cars and motos, they drive faster and take more risks.

The last few weeks I have been going to a lot of farewells. Phnom Penh is also a very transient city, especially for international workers. But of late, it has been all the guys that I came here leaving. It was sad to see them all go; I had grown quite close to many of them. But such is life. We are all off to new adventures and chapters in our lives. And there are a few hangers, so I don’t have to make a completely new set of friends.

A few weeks ago I also did my first modelling gig. A friend asked me to help out with a ‘child safe’ program which was aimed at raising awareness of child trafficking and child sex tourism. I played the role of the sexpat. They hard time finding a guy who would play the role – apparently everyone else was worried about their reputation. I am like – I don’t care. I’m not a sexpat. Anyhow, turns out I am natural – what’s my inspiration!!! They took pictures of me going into a picking up a young Khmer girl, taking her to hotel and then getting arrested and put in jail. It was kind of fun. Although it is going to be a real pain getting a tuk tuk in this town after the flyers are distributed.

I have also kept in contact with my friends in Kampong Thom. A few weeks ago my drinking buddy Mab got married and I went back for the wedding. It was a three day affair and I got to go to all the little ceremonies – the pre party, hair cutting ceremony, the outfit changing, the blessing, the main party and, of course, the after party. There was a lot of sitting around drink and talking, followed by singing and dancing. It was fun, although I think my liver is going to keel over though. Three days of solid drinking. Urgh.

So, as I mentioned, I finished up my contract last week and have been trying to enjoy Phnom Penh a bit. I have been going out and doing the tourist things around town which has also been cool. Tomorrow I am off to Ho Chi Minh City to meet my cousin Liz and her partner Paul. I am looking forward to it. I haven’t been to HCMC for a few years – it will be interesting to see how it has changed.

I hope all is well in the world with everyone.

Erin

Cambodia - Part 21

2007-12-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Friday, 21st December 2007

Leaving Kampong Thom

Ok - So today is my last day of work and for the first time in months I have nothing to do. Might as well update the old blog. I am feeling really sad to leave Kampong Thom. I have really enjoyed my time here and have made many friends. It has been a really great experience, although tough at times, I feel really lucky to have had it. And maybe, just maybe, I have grown a little…

Next week I start a new job in Phnom Penh with an international development company called IDP – their focus is on education and I will be working on some scholarship stuff, research and a big TESOL conference. Where one door closes another opens. It will be a big change going from a small NGO in rural Cambodia to an international company. For starters I will be getting paid. There there will be no chickens or dogs running around the office. There will be no little children, who know three words, calling me giant. People wear shoes and stuff. Computers can update virus scanners. I won’t have to sit in the chemist or the moto shop to use email – it will be at my desk! No more handing out rice or going to meetings down muddy bogs. And my office will be air-conditioned. I am a little anxious about it at the moment, but am sure I will be fine. Phnom Penh is really a world onto itself – it is so far removed from the rest of Cambodia.

Last weekend Shin and I hosted a big party (Shin will be leaving next month too). We decided to go completely Khmer style. We hired a big marquee, tables, chairs, glasses, plates, etc, etc…we even had a chef and wait staff. Just like a Khmer wedding. And we dressed up as Khmer Princes. Needless to say, our Khmer friends love it. Everyone wanted a photo with us and told us that we looked very beautiful. They also asked us if we were getting married – a little Khmer joke – to which I retorted that I was clearly the Groom and Shin the Bride. We had some massive speakers and blasted out the music for several hours just so there was no doubt that we were having a party. It was great to have all our friends there and they plied us with presents – I got several scarfs, sarongs, a few statues, a few gold rings, a portrait of me, an old Khmer knife, a pen with laser pointer, etc…It was just like Christmas! In fact I even got a Santa hat (Cambodians really love Christmas decorations – a few places have them up year round). The best bit about the party was that I did nothing. Except wait for people to show up and get drunk. A whole crew of people cleaned up, set up, cooked, packed up and cleaned up. Ahh…to be rich in Cambodia…

So the last few weeks have been very busy. Both with work and other stuff. At work I have taken the organisation through a strategic planning process, built a management database, trained staff how to use the database, wrote some more proposals, edited some reports, went to a few meetings and finished off a new training program in local governance. I feel like I have final made a contribution to my organisation which is good. That’s what I came to do and I did it. I only wish I had a bit more time to do some more stuff. But I guess - there is always something more that can be done, especially in a place like this.

Outside of work I have spent many weekends travelling about Cambodia.

Two weeks ago all the Australian volunteers went to a conference in Phnom Penh/Sihanoukville. While the conference was average, it did give us the opportunity to do some fun things. On one of the days (International Day of the Volunteer) we all made to go down to a local school to help paint it. We broke up into groups of five and were given a few buckets, some powdered paint and what can only be described as a bundle of small reeds tied together in the form of a paint brush. Our group was under the impression that we were meant to let the kids help – so when a few turned up, we let them get right into it. The result was devastating, to say the least. There was white paint everywhere – on table, chairs, the floor, on people – and we got into trouble off the organisers. Oh well, it was fun playing with the kids. And they were getting professionals in after anyhow…seems a strange logic to me that they should choose to pull volunteers off projects that they are qualified to undertake to do something none of us were qualified for. But that is the development industry – never miss a good photo op.

After the conference Lainie and I headed to Bokor mountain; a mountain on the south coast which has beautiful views looking out over the Gulf of Thailand. Up on the top of a mountain is an old Casino and town that was built in the 30’s and is now deserted. It is quite spooky. Unfortunately the road up there is really poor and took about 3 hours. I wasn’t feeling great, so I found it particularly painful on the back of the pick up. On the way back down the pickup broke down and we had to walk half the way back. Despite the illness, it was still a nice walk through thick forest.

A few weeks ago I also did the northern temple run with a few of my colleagues and Lainie. The highlights of which were Prah Vihear and Phnom Kulen.

Prah Vihear is right on the northern border with Thailand and the road out to it (from the Cambodian side) is the worst road I have ever been on. At one point the rut in the road came up past the window and a few time we had to get out, so the taxi (a jacked up Camry) could get through. It took us a day and half to get there (about 300km). Along the road there are very few villages or people, just lots and lots of thick scrappy bushland. We travelled half a day without seeing another car. Occasionally we would see army personnel lazing about, but that was about it.

The province of Prah Vihear has a lot of problems – there are a lot of land disputes and a heavy military presence. Not much international AID reaches this remote part of Cambodia. A week before we went up there, we heard a story of two backpackers who were taken hostage during a land dispute and which resulted a few villagers being shot (this story was denied though). But we were travelling with Khmer people and they knew the areas to avoid, so we decided to go anyhow. At one point we passed through a large village which had been burnt to the ground. My counterpart, Nary, told me that a corrupt official had sold the land to a middle man, despite it being part of a National Park, who then sold it to villagers. The Government intervened, moved the people out, imprisoned the official and razed the village.

So after a day and half of very bumpy travel, we got to the base of the mountain on top of which stood the temple of Prah Vihear. The road up the mountain was also an experience. It was a half hour ride up a very steep, rocky and poor road. The road was sealed in part, but some of the parts had been washed away and there were exposed metal form work. Working along the side of the road, there were no less than three mine clearing teams. The driver told us there were heaps of mines up there. The last part of the road was so steep that the driver of the moto sat on the front nub of the moto seat and I had to hold on tight. I would have been scared to walk up it. As we rounded the top though, we saw a beautiful old temple sitting on the top looking out over an immense landscape. And then we saw the pristine, perfectly sealed and marked highway coming from the Thailand right up to the foot of the stairs and flocks of tourists.

From the Thai side, it is only a short air-conditioned bus ride to the border and a walk up the stairs. The Thai authorities charge a decent entry fee – none of which goes to the upkeep of the temple. It was hard not to resent the fresh looking tourists walk about the temple. But the temple itself was cool and it had a great view, and because of our experience getting there, I think we valued it far more than other visitors.

On the way to and from Prah Vihear we visited a few smaller temples and other places. Most of which were desertd except for our group. Having the car meant we could dictate where we went. On one night we stayed in a small town that had no electricity or running water. The guest house (the only one) powered a few lights for a few hours off car batteries. But, despite the basic environs, there was definitely something charming about the town.

We also visited Phnom Kulen, which is a bit north of Siem Reap. It is a beautiful mountain covered in thick forest where heaps of butterflies flit away amongst the trees. It has a beautiful waterfall which Khmers love to visit and swim in. Legend has it that Budda stood on Cambodia – one foot on Phnom Kulen, the other on Phnom Santuk (near Kampong Thom) – so there is also a big pagoda and stone carvings on the mountain. I really enjoyed walking thorough the crisp clean water after such a long bumpy journey.

Back in Kampong Thom the weather is heating up again. The river is getting lower, the ground water has dried up and fields are turning yellow. It is starting to look like the place I remembered when we arrived. And like the seasons, it is time for me to start again. So, I take this special experience and I go on…wow, what a year!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years.

Take Care
e.

Cambodia - Part 20

2007-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Friday 16th November 2007

Blah, blah, blog…

It is hard work keeping this blog thing up. It takes much more energy than I had first thought.

The last few weeks have been pretty full. I have been trying to see things and get things done before I return. At work I have been a little frustrated trying to organise training for staff. I keep having to change times because there is something else on and I am worried I might run out of time.

A couple of weeks ago I hired a car took my counterpart, Nary, her daughters and another friend from work, Arun on a weekend visit to Kratie. We went primarily so I could visit a friend of mine and to see the fresh water dolphins that live in the Mekong river near Kratie. Don’t worry I didn’t try to eat them. They are funny little creatures – they have a fat round head and they slip up through the brown muddy waters of the river. According to Khmer folklore a snake ate a princess and they combined to become a dolphin. Still it doesn’t explain how there came to be more than one. Did the snake/princess mate with herself? Another snake? Another Princess? I was feeling a bit hairy after having had quite a few drinks the night before with my friend Larissa, so it was struggle to really enjoy the boat ride out to see the dolphins. But it was still good.

We also went to visit ‘the pagoda of one hundred poles’ which is, well, a pagoda with one hundred poles in and around it. There is another Princess buried at the pagoda. But this one was eaten by a crocodile. I tell you – it just ain’t safe being a princess in Cambodia – everything trying to eat you. But, unlike the folk lore this princess actually was eaten by a crocodile – she was bathing one day and it snapped her up. The Kings guards chased it across three provinces and caught it near Kratie where they cut it open and retrieved the princess. Too late though, she was well dead and I doubt that she looked quite as beautiful as she did in the pictures when she came out of the croc.

On the way back to town from the pagoda we went to visit a pagoda on top of a hill. The landscape around Kratie is very different to that around Kampong Thom. Where Kampong Thom is really flat, around Kratie it is quite hilly. It kind of sits at the start of the mountain range that spread up through eastern Cambodia and into Vietnam. So the view from the top of the mountain was quite beautiful.

On the way back from Kratie we visit a number of other places to break up the journey, including a temple in Kampong Cham and a dam in Kampong Thmor.

Oh, and last weekend I went to see a couple of other temple. I think they are pretty well known – they are called Angkor Watt or something. Actually Angkor Watt is only one temple, there are heaps of other sets of temples around it. Anyhow, it was a (another) long weekend last weekend, so I decided to pull my finger out and go up the road to see Angkor. I got up really early to see the sun rise and in vain hope of avoiding the crowds.

When I got to Angkor there were hundred of people just quietly standing about, facing the temple, watching for the sun rise. It was quite a surreal experience. As I cut through the crowd, in the early dawn light, heading into the temple I had the sense of leaving humanity. Because everyone was outside watching the sun rise, the temple itself was almost empty which was even spookier. At one point I found myself in a dark chamber and turned to see a huge figure in the doorway – it was a statue, but it was enough to send a shiver up my spine. It is amazing that the temples are so well preserved and you can walk all over them still. After Angkor I headed out to have breakfast and watch the sun come up of the Bayon Temple. Bayon was spires with four faces looking in each direction. I watched the shadows grow shorter across the faces as the sun went up. I spent the seven hours roaming about all the temples, and still did not see them all. It is huge, leafy and peaceful (away from the crowds). My favourite temple was Preah Kahn. It is pretty badly ruined in parts, with ancient trees growing up through the brick work (the temple with the tree growing out of it, from the movie ‘Tomb Raider’ is another temple and while more spectacular, it wasn’t my favourite), but the etchings are really well preserved.

After roaming around Angkor I met up with Lainie. We had planned do some other things around Siem Reap, but I got really sick and had to spend most of the weekend in the bathroom expelling fluids violently from every orifice in my body. Truly disgusting. Oh well, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger. It better.

And so the seasons change and so does the landscape. The rice fields are turning yellow as the rice matures for harvest. Much of the ground water has turned stagnant and is blanketed with algae. The dust from the road clouds the air as motos and cars rush by. Mangoes have started to appear in the tree branches and the climate is cool. The other day I thought it was quite cold on my way to work. When I got to the office I found that it was 28. Clearly, I am getting use to the heat.

Over the month of November people make donations to the monks and pagodas. There are lots of small festivals. I have been invited by my boss to go out to Sandan for the weekend to participate in a festival out there. I am lead to believe there will be partying and dancing. No doubt there will be loud speakers and bad music too. Sandan is pretty much the middle of no where – there is no electricity or running water and I am going to have to sleep under the stars in a hammock. Should be fun.

Take care
Erin

Cambodia - Part 19

2007-10-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

Monday 30th October 2007

From dust I have come and to dust I shall return…

A few weeks ago the Cambodians celebrated Pchum Ben, a time of year when most Khmers go back to their home town, to meet their family and pay respect the dead. For three days they go to the local pagoda, make offerings and remember their relatives who have passed on. In one of those strange coincidents that haunt life, my grandmother passed away and I returned to my home town to meet with my family to pay our final respects.

It is always strange to go home; to go from such an extremely poor and underprivileged area to such a rich and comfortable one. It is hard to hear people complain about, what seem to me, trivial problems. I have to keep reminding myself that people only have their own experience and everything is relevant to that. But on the flight home to Sydney I had the displeasure of sitting near a particularly arrogant buffoon, who kept complaining to the stewards. ’I need more Tabasco for my bloody mary.’ ‘My fish is too dry I can’t eat it. Get me another one.’ I could have clocked him the head. I wanted to shout at him ‘You are on a plane! You are in economy class! Get over yourself!’. But I kept it in and ravaged the best meal that I had had in months. Either airline food has come along way or I was desperate.

Although, I have been expecting it for sometime and I thought I was prepared for it, it was still difficult getting the news about my Nanna. No doubt this was further exacerbated by the fact that I was in the middle of nowhere with no one really close to talk to about it. Even though I have travel much further a field in my times, I don’t think I have ever felt so far from home. At first I didn’t know what to feel and what to do. I was in reeling wandering around the house. I guess that is shock for you. But I got it together and got back home fairly quickly in the end.

Back home, everyone was much happier, making jokes and being more upbeat then I had imagined they would be. We don’t get together much these days, with us all living in different parts of the world. My parents, sisters and I have not stayed under one roof in about 10 years, so in many ways it was a happy reunion. But as usual everyone tried to boss me around.

The funny thing about families they can be simultaneously the most critical and supportive people in you life. They know the right and wrong things to say and don’t care if they offend you. But it was really nice to see them and my friends, to go to the funeral and to say one last goodbye along side them. I am not sure how I would have coped if I had stayed in Cambodia.

After a week at home, I flew to Bankok where I met up with Lainie. Prior to the news of my grandmother we had planned a two week holiday that was cut down to one week.

In some ways it was even more challenging being in Thailand than going home. Thailand, especially Bangkok, is so much more developed than Cambodia. They are right next to each other, but they seem worlds apart. Thais have free education, a better medical support system than in Australia, roads, gutters, efficient transport, drinkable tap water, tourism and stacks of people. But there are heaps and heaps of sexpats lurking about.

From Bangkok we went to Chaing Mai where spent a few days looking at things around the moated city and a few more days trekking in the national park. Despite the fact it rained and, due to a pair of cheap Market bought shoes, I spent much of the trek sliding down muddy slopes on my arse, it was, by far, the highlight of Chaing Mai. We spent three days walking through the beautiful mountains staying with local Karen people (a minority hill group). We also went out to visit a Hmong village and to several pagodas.

The next few days we spent in Phuket, where the tourism and over development almost destroys the natural beauty of the beaches. The water was so clear and the sand so white. Paradise with people. Fortunately, we were staying a bit away from the busier beaches, so it wasn’t too bad. Lainie’s sister, her husbands (Lainie’s sisters husband that is) and their baby girl were staying in Phuket for a week, so we went to meet them. On one of the days we took a tour out to the islands, with about 500 other people, and saw the magnificent natural formations of Phi Phi Island, and went snorkelling on some beautiful reefs. Despite the people, it was still nice.

So I have been back at work this week and I have heaps to do. I only have two months left now and I wanted to make the most of it work and travel wise. This weekend has been another long week – Coronation Day. Long live the king! Today we went out to visit a friend of a friend of mine who is building a cultural village about an hour away from Kampong Thom. They are making a mini Angkor Watt, Prah Vihear, some mountains and islands with villas. It is in a nice spot and will be quite nice when it is finished – alas, that is about 3 years away.

On Saturday, Shin and I had a busy day back in Kampong Thom.

First, we went out to a farm with some of Shin’s colleagues where I had another run in with death as they slaughtered a goat. We got to watch as they cut it up. I have never watched an animal be slaughtered from start to spit, so it was all kind of gross to me. I am such a city boy. For some reason I was particularly put off by the splitting of the ribs and, because that is the way my life works and I had that thought, I got the ribs to eat. It was almost enough to make me want to be vegetarian. Cambodians, like most Asians, are not squeamish when it comes to meat. They eat the whole thing. It was a male goat, and perhaps predictably, Shin and I were also given the penis and balls to eat. I ate it, but I felt violated. So, if you are wondering what goat dick tastes like, you take a piece of string, wrap it in lamb fat and char grill it beyond recognition and it wouldn’t be far off. The balls, on the other hand, were far more diverse in flavour and texture. A very chewy outside or ‘sack meat’ that tasted similar to the penis, and stayed in my mouth far too long, with a softer tofu like consistency inner bit that had an odd egg white lamb-esk taste. I almost retched. But I got it down in the end – I swallow rather than spit - and we washed it down with copious amounts of beer. It is with a mixture of pride and gut churning illness that I re-count this event.

In the afternoon we headed out to watch the annual Kampong Thom boat races. We had been trying to angle our way onto one of the boats but, alas, had failed. So we contented ourselves by drinking beer with the locals and watching the races from the bank. It is a fairly big event on the Kampong Thom province social diary - heaps of the villagers came into town to watch. The crowd was 10 deep at the finish line and about 40 boats racing two by two. The boats are narrow long and brightly painted with, you guessed it - dragons! In the bigger boats about 50 stand and row with their whole bodies. It is amazing that they keep in time and don’t capsize. The bests boats go to Phnom Penh for the big races during the national water festival in November.

In the evening, I went along to another party. There is a new foreigner, Oskar, in town with his Khmer fiancé and they were having a house warming. The party was a typical Khmer affair. Men on one side of the room, women on the other. Great food, loads of beer and dancing around a table. But it was still fun. I realised while I was there just how much my Khmer has improved. I was having conversations right, left and centre.

On Sunday I followed up my hangover with another party. This one was for one of my drinking buddies’, Peng, kids birthdays. Another drinking friend, Taut, has just had a new born, so it was a bit of a double celebration of young life. It is a bit unusual for Khmers to celebrate birthdays, but the richer ones do. Again there was great food, beer and dancing around a table. The kids sprayed foam and silly string while the fathers threw cake at each other. I was enjoying dancing with the kids (sometimes I get the feeling I get invited to things for my entertainment value) but owing to the excitement of the previous day I made my excuses and left early to watch a ghost movie on TV.

Last week, when I got back from work I noticed that one of the staff (who lives with my boss out the back of the office – I am not sure how they are related) had two black eyes and appeared to be nursing his ribs. The other staff told me he had been in a bad traffic accident a few days before. It was too expensive for home to stay in the hospital so the family were looking after him. He had been on a moto with two of his friends when they crashed with another moto. One of his friends died and the rest were badly injured. Not wearing a helmet - he was lucky.

The other day I also had the miss-fortune of walking in on some staff watching a graphic Police video from a tourist bus crash in Vietnam. The video featured dead people missing all sorts of body parts, one especially terrible decapitation, lying contoured over the road. It was clearly a terrible accident and nearly the whole office was watching it together. I was both repulsed and intrigued by the video. I had never seen anything quiet so graphic before.

And so it is that I have been thinking about death a bit of late. I use to think that the Khmers had a certain nonchalance to death, that they did not value life as much as we did; that they had more children in order to compensate for their lack of life span. Certainly the way they flaunt safety on the roads and on building sights gives that impression. But the reaction of my Khmer friends from work when I told them that my grandmother had died was both tender and compassionate. To them, it was clear that I should go home and grieve with my family. For Khmer people, it is important to look after your family and to grieve with them. But I have come to realise that I was, yet again, brining my own cultural prejudice to the fore. I was judging their ways from my own experiences. Khmers don’t know how to do things more safely, or if they do, then the cost of doing things safer, exceeds the value of doing something. Like us, they take calculated risks. It is just that calculations in a developing world are lower than in the developed world. Death is more frequent, public and accepted - but it is still a time for grief and respect.

I hope everyone is well.

Good bye Nanna. I miss you.

Erin

Cambodia - Part 18

2007-09-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

20th September 2007

Blood lines

So I have now been here for six months. It seems like the time has flown by, but at the same time it feels like it has been so long since I left home. Things are going well though. I feel like I have really settled into things now – both at work and at home.

I do miss home though. I miss the familiarity and the ease of it all. I especially miss my friends and family and the ease of conversation that you can have with them. It is strange though. It comes in waves, often when I least expect it...

I am well known around Kampong Thom now. Out of a population of over 50,000 there are about 8 foreigners, and given my height and pale complexion I tend to stand out. At the local restaurants the staff often come up and talk to me, occasionally I get caught up in an importune English lesson or they teach me some Khmer words. Some of the younger guys like to hug me from behind and rub my belly (I think they thick it is good luck). It is kind off putting when you are trying to eat, but that is how they are here. It is a sign of affection and acceptance, so it is kind of nice. I still find it funny that guys can be so openly touchy and feely toward each other, but if they touched a girl there would be uproar.

A few weeks ago Shin’s NGO organised a HIV/AIDS workshop for local NGO workers dealing with HIV/AIDS. The workshop was run by a Nigerian girl who was an expert in HIV/AIDS. I decided to go along and learn a bit more about HIV/AIDS and to see what the Khmer people thought about it. There were definitely some naive and funny questions. But my favourite was “If a man puts on a condom and they sneezed wouldn’t it fly off?” Of course, we weren’t suppose to laugh about this, but it was hard not to. I learnt a bit myself though, I didn’t know much about the anti-viral treatments used to treat people living with HIV/AIDS and how they worked. It also put into my head what a really terrible disease it can be and how much people must suffer both physically and mentally after acquiring it. It is a death sentence - a slow and painful one. It is really quite scary.

As part of the workshop we went out to visit the local VCCT Clinic at the local hospital. The VCCT clinic offers free blood tests and counselling for people who want to get tested for HIV. The doctor there told us that about 6% of the people that come through the clinic are infected with HIV. That is a massive figure for any disease, but for a disease that is practically a death sentence, it is horrifying.

Throughout the course it became apparent that many of the participants were a bit shy about talking about some of the subjects, especially sex and were unsure of how the whole blood tests worked. So, after checking with the course convener that it was safe to do so, I volunteered to go through the blood test and counselling in front of the group.

Now there is a new experience. Sitting in a room with a doctor, translator and a group of Khmer NGO workers talking about my sex life – I could tell when the personal questions were coming because the room would giggle before I got the translation and then giggle again after I answered. The good news is that I don’t have HIV. Even though I was pretty sure I didn’t, it was still a nerve racking 15 minute wait (I can’t imagine how it would have been like to wait for weeks like in the bad old days) with the images I had been looking at over the past few days whirling though my mind. Made worse by the fact that everyone kept coming up to me and asking ‘aren’t you scared?’ - well, I wasn’t. But now you guys are making me nervous. When I went back in for the results my translator, Song, jumped in the air, cheered and high-fived me. I assumed all was good at that point – but checked the test results anyway.

After I demonstrated to the group how easy it was a few other of the participants also decided to get blood tests while we were there. And I suspect a few went back after. I think it was a great relief, especially for the women, to know they were negative (they just don’t know whether there husbands are playing safe of not and it is not cool for them to ask). So, I am happy that I choose to lead by example.

That night Shin (who also took the test after me) and I decided to celebrate the Khmer way by getting drunk and picking up some hookers at the local Karaoke Bar – I am joking. About the drinking. OK - And the hookers.

Aside from the training I have been quite busy at work. I am progressing on my ‘sustainable communities’ project – putting together concept notes, training plans and proposals. I have started to organise the start of a strategic planning for my NGO – we are going to go on a staff retreat in October to put it together. I have been doing background research on databases and monitoring the information flows throughout the organisation so I can build an effective database. It is good – I feel like things are progressing well and that I am going to achieve a few things before I wrap up. If I had left now I would not have been close to getting any of these near completion.

Aside from my work, I have also been to a few more community meetings after hours and I managed to organise a few days away to show Lainie’s NGO a little about databases and Access. In return, Lainie gave me some information on Quickbooks (a financial management program). I plan on integrating Quickbooks into a management database for my NGO, so all the information about the NGO is just at their finger tips. I hope. I am really learning on the run myself.

Aside from work and my visit to Poipet, not a lot has been happening. I have just been hanging around Kampong Thom a lot. It gets tedious travelling so much and sometimes it is nice just to kick around the house and hang out with my friends Kampong Thom. Although, I am usually bored out of my mind by the time Sunday night comes around. There are only so many times I can get drunk and sing Karaoke. Aside from travelling, drinking, reading or watch crap TV there ain’t a whole lot to do in rural Cambodia.

One thing that I did do the other day was drink snakes blood. We were at one of the guys houses drinking when they pulled it out. O had mentioned previously that I was keen to try the snake blood drink. Don’t get any romantic visions of them draining a snake into my drink. It was in a dirty old Johnny walker bottle. Apparently blood layers if you leave it for long enough – the congealed bits settle to the bottom. So you have to give it a good shake before you pour it. Just like a popper! I won’t lie – it looked and smelt foul. They poured the blood into my glass then topped it up with some whisky. I could feel the bile rising in the back of my throat as I looked at the glass, so I snatched it up and downed it in one go before my body stopped me. And the taste – well, surprisingly, it didn’t taste that bad. The whisky flavour dominated so I didn’t actually taste the blood. Apparently drinking snakes blood makes you more virile. So, look out ladies…

I also heard the other day that men here drink fermented baby deer antlers as a kind of natural viagra. I am not joking – it sells for about $100 for a little bottle and Khmer friends (educated men) swear it works. But they did warn me, if you take it and you are too young (i.e. not yet a man) then you will start bleeding from your eyes and ears. I might give that one a miss then…

On a completely different topic - I was reading a book the other day that mentioned that Pol Pot grew up in Kampong Thom. I was a bit spun out by this and started to make a few subtle enquiries, thinking that I might be able to go and check out his house. It turns out his childhood house is on the same street that I work on! It is a long street, but I must have gone past it a few times. Apparently his brother and sister still live there. I am still quite keen to check it out, but word on the street is – is that his brother is still quite pissed off about his brother being Pol Pot and is not exactly welcoming to the attention.

The brother only found out that Pol Pot was his brother after the Khmer Rouge’s brutal reign. He didn’t know Pol Pot was his brother because Pol Pot is not his real name – he changed from Salot Sor to Pol Pot after he returned to Cambodia from studying in Paris and hooked up with the Khmer Rouge. When the Khmer Rouge took over the country they destroyed television and news papers, so the family of Salot Sor had no idea that Pol Pot was there brother. The family of Salot Sor were treated the same as everyone else during the Khmer Rouge – they too were forced from their homes and into labour camps. Many of Salot Sor’s family died during the Khmer Rouge period, no doubt hoping that there brother was still in Paris and avoiding all the horror. So when the pictures of Pol Pot and his the story of his past came to light, after the regime had fallen, the remanets of Salot Sor’s family finally found out that their brother was the leader of a regime that brutally killed many of their family and friends. I can understand why he might be pissed off about that…it ain’t like your sister taking your CD without asking.

I hope my family and friends are well. Happy Birthday Helen!

Take care
e.

Cambodia - Part 17

2007-09-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

1st September 2007

Minefields or Mindfields?

So the past few weeks have been really busy – both with work and social life. I have had hardly any time to myself.

A few weeks ago Lainie and I went to visit some friends in Battambang for the weekend. It is a long way there, for me, because you have to go all the way around the lake. It is at least 7 hours. Last time I was there, I hardly saw anything, so this time we decided to go and see some stuff. We went out to a dam and irrigation system that was built by the Khmer Rouge. The system still works today and is the main reason that the Battambang Province is famous, well famous in Cambodia, for all its quality produce – particularly their oranges and rice (outside of Cambodia Battambang Province is more famous for being the Province where Angelina Jolie’s adopted child is from and their ‘millennium village’ project). Around Battambang, they harvest rice yields twice a year, rather than just once. However, the cost for building the dam was thousands of lives. One of the moto drivers, who took us on the long bumpy trek out to the dam, actually helped to construct it and told us that many people were buried in the foundations. Now, ironically, the dam is a bit of a tourist attraction, particularly for Cambodians. You can sit in a thatched shanty and eat fish caught fresh from the water. After we munched down some fish we hired some big black inner tubes went for a swim with some local kids. It was quite fun and the water was so cool and clean.

That night a few of us head out to ‘sky’ the local night club. There were only a few westerners there, so we attracted a bit of attention. A few guys tried their English out on me, even when I was at the urinal. At one point I had three guys, one massaging my back, talking to me while I was trying to go. It was the kind of place you can only buy drinks by the bottle (i.e. a bottle of vodka, scotch), so inevitably we were in for a big one. I don’t remember finishing the bottle of vodka, but I must have. It was a funny place. The air conditioning was pumping just as loud as the music and coloured lights flashed away. Down on the dance floor I impressed the locals with my repertoire of disco dance struts and found myself with a little friend holding onto the front of my shirt, copying my moves, for a good hour or so.

The next day I had to get up at 6am to catch the boat to Siem Reap. Thankfully, Lainie had set the alarm for me and I stumbled out of bed, probably still drunk, in time to catch the boat. The boat ride between Battambang and Siem Reap is a long but pretty one as it winds down the river through farm lands, mangroves, bird sanctuaries, small villages and across the Tonle Sap (the biggest lake in South East Asia). Unfortunately, I was in no state to enjoy it much. I was too busy nursing my hang over and trying not being sick over the side. The ‘fast boat’ took over 7 hours to make the journey (at worst it could be 11 hours) – the journey around the lake on a bumpy dirt road to Siem Reap takes about 4 hours. So, if you ask me there was nothing fast about the ‘fast boat’. For the first hour of the ride I kept wondering when we get to the ‘fast boat’, thinking that the boat we were on was only a taxi. The boat was packed with tourists and I must have looked a sight as I stumbled on last and collapsed into the seat at the front next to the driver. All I wanted to do was curl up on top of everyone’s bags and go back to sleep, but everyone was facing towards me and would have seen me - so that option was out. One old German tourist kept checking his GPS system the whole way. Nerd. After I got to Siem Reap it was still another 2 and a half hours to Kampong Thom. I was happy to get home by that stage – over 12 hours door to door with a throbbing hang over. I am not doing that again.

While we were in Battambang we also got a hair cut from Ana, one of our friends, who is an ex-hair dresser. I am now sporting a delightful little mullet. However, while she was cutting our hair she discovered some nit eggs in both Lainie and my hair. We have no idea where they came from. Most likely some of the children we have been in contact with. I didn’t have time to go to the chemist in Battambang and it turned out getting nit hair wash is no easy task in Kampong Thom. I had to ask around at the Chemists and then, when that failed, had to ask the guys from work. Naturally, they all thought it was hilarious. Turns out you can’t get nit hair wash in Kampong Thom. So then I had to ask my friend Tim, who was coming up to Kampong Thom for meeting, to bring some from Phnom Penh. Tim tells me when he asked for the hair wash at the chemist the girl at the counter slowly backed away and indicated he should go the other end of the store. ‘It’s not for me, it’s for my friend’ he pleaded, but still she stood back, with a look of disgust on her face, and pointed…

So the following weekend a group of our friends came up to visit from Phnom Penh. Shin and I had been thinking about hiring a boat and doing a day trip on the Stung Sen, the river which passes through Kampong Thom. The river starts off in the north of Cambodia, near Prah Vihear near the Thai border and winds its way down to the Tonle Sap. For some weeks the river has been high and fast moving, threatening to burst its banks near our house. In the north of the Province, in the areas around Sandan, they have seen the worst flooding in 20 years; some 30,000 people have been cut off from food and fresh water. Many of the new bridges and roads, built during the dry season, were swept away by the force of the water. At home, the Prime Minister would have flown out and declared it a natural disaster. There would have been a big relief effort; the army would have probably gone in to get people out. But this is Cambodia, the government did nothing. There was no relief effort. There is no insurance or medical assistance. There weren’t even any reports in the newspaper. People just dealt with it. It is not like they weren’t expecting the rain and flooding. It happens every year. Although, not always so bad. That’s why they build there houses on stilts. People will probably die from starvation and disease. But no one is really keeping figures. I only know about it because my colleagues and friends who work in the area and couldn’t get out to see their clients.

So anyhow, we decided to do a boat trip. After some fierce bargaining, which we lost, we hired a covered putt-putt boat from one of the locals. A couple of our friends from, work joined us too – including one of my colleagues, Arun, who is 24 but had never been on a boat or to Tonle Sap (mostly because she can’t swim and is scared of the water - we reassured, telling her that nearly all our friends are good swimmers, because we all learn to swim young). We packed on the BBQ, a couple of eskies brimming with beers, sun cream and a pack of cards and set off. It was beautiful sunny day and was really nice on the river. The boat was big enough for us to sprawl out on plastic mats. So we all just kicked back in took in the scenery – waving to all the little kids that waved to us from the shore.

Outside of town the river had burst its banks and we went had to negotiate the channels of a rice paddy before pushing on along the river to Tonle Sap. The further we got from town, the more and more run down the houses got. After a while all that lined the shores were small clusters of shabby little shanties where only the very poor live and survive solely from their fish catches in the river. The rights to fishing in the river were sold to companies by the government, so even this simply activity is fraught with danger, as the people ‘illegally’ catch enough fish to live on.

After about four hours we reached the floating village which sits at the mouth of the Stung Sen. There we got out and had lunch at the boat owner’s house/shop. Part of lunch was prohop, a fermented mushy brown fish dish which could quite possibly be the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten (it easily tasted worse than the ball-like membrane things I ate out of a snake the other day). After lunch we went for a swim in the muddy dull brown waters of the lake (and probably caught several yet to be identified parasites). But it was still nice to go swimming - the water was fresh and tasted like soil.

The trip back to Kampong Thom was a slow one as the boat pushed on against the fast moving current. The water eddying away at the side of the river gave an indication of just how fast the water was moving. But it wasn’t till we stopped and jumped in that we got the full impact. We would jump in at the front, swim as a hard as we could to stay in the one spot and then let ourselves be taken to the rear of the boat. Then repeat. It was quite fun. It took a good 7 hours to get back to Kampong Thom, but we were rewarded with a most spectacular sunset over the winding rivers. The last few hours of the boat ride passed with us singing songs by a little exposed electric light as we boat cut through the dark water.

The day after the boat trip our friends all headed back to Phnom Penh and I headed to Siem Reap to meet my friend Louise who was flying in from Australia. Lousie had been to Cambodia before but was interested to see ‘the other side’ of the country. She stayed with us for a few days and ventured out with both my NGO and Shin’s NGO for a couple of field visits to see some orphans, people living with HIV and peer training programs. She seemed quite happy to take it all in, but I think the highlight of her visit was riding on a moto, on a little boat, to cross water channels where the road had once been…

The following weekend I went with Louise back to Siem Reap to see her off and meet Lainie, who was on her way to visit me in Kampong Thom. Before we left Siem Reap Lainie and I went to meet a monk who Lainie had befriended and who is keen to build a new school in his home town of Kratie. Lainie has been helping him put together a funding proposal and in a few weeks we hope to go and check out the site.

On the Sunday I took Lainie out on my moto to visit the 9th century temples near Kampong Thom called Prasart Sambor Prey Kuk. The road there alone is worth the ride as it winds through the local villages and rice fields. The temples are considerably older than Angkor Watt and made from mud brick. Set among the forest, many of them have slowly been eroded by the weather over the years. We spent most of the day wondering around with an entourage of ten children who were keen to practice their English and sell some hand made scarfs.

On the way out we decided to check out a group of temples which were a few kilometres apart from the main group of temples at Prey Kuk. The road out to these temples was a little-used sandy track, perhaps a metre wide, which wound through the thick jungle. At times it hard work not letting the bike slip away in the sand and then we hit the mine field…

Now, it is quite possible I have gone through a few mine fields since I have been here and been completely oblivious. However, this one was clearly marked. There were little red signs all along the track and red tape from the edges of the road going back into the foliage. Needless to say, I stopped at this point, partly because the road forked, but mostly because of the mine signs. We could see a local working in a field a behind us, so I went back and asked her which way we should go to the temples (my Khmer is improving). She told us to go straight ahead. We hesitate and then decided to follow the tracks of another moto which had clearly been past recently. Nervously and slowly we went over the now rough track and rounded a bend just in time to see the owner of the moto flying back the other way. He turned out to be local teacher who wanted to practice his English and was putting together a class on the temples. He asked if he could take us around. Fearing more land mines, we gladly accepted the invitation and followed him through a few creaks and along the eroded dirt path up to the temples.

The temples, although small, were spectacular. The thick canopy gave them this magical green light. The trees and moss had overgrown many of the dark stones of the ruins. And it was quiet – so quiet it was eerie. All we could hear were the sounds of the jungle, our feet crunching on the thick undergrowth and squeals of pain when we were bitten by some massive blood thirsty ants. Tourists hardly ever came here, these temples sat as they had for centuries. I could imagine how the first Europeans who unearthed Angkor Watt must have felt…it was magical.

Aside from visitors, I have been really quite busy at work too - preparing funding proposals and working on a new management database for my NGO. I felt like I was burning the candle at both ends and I was glad this week to get some time to myself and completely chill out. This weekend I plan on doing nothing.

So that it all for now.

I hope everyone is well.

By-e.

Cambodia - Part 16

2007-08-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

24th August 2007

I wanna live like common people…

This week a friend of mine, Louise, from my high school days came to stay for a few days. She decided to visit on her way to London where she plans to set herself up for a year or so…It was nice to get a visitor from back home. For someone to make the trek here and see what I have been up to. But at the same time it was quite strange – sitting on the bus with her from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom I started thinking about how she might see this place and I started noticing how shabby and undeveloped everything was - how so few houses had toilets, how few had electricity cables or water pipes leading to them, how many of them were nothing more than a grass huts on stilts sitting in the middle of stagnant ponds. She didn’t say anything of course. It was all in my own mind. I was seeing things I knew and had learnt over time - things that no one new to country would notice or consider. The romance of travelling in a strange and exotic place blurs out the lives of those that live behind those greying palm frond walls. You don’t think about the poverty, the hunger, the violence, the alcohol abuse until it confronts you in the street in the form of a terribly deformed beggar. But after a while, you even come to accept this.

Strange thing was, when we were growing up I use to think of Louise’s family as rich – they had a nice house that stood on the high ground of Bankstown with a clear view all the way to the city. It is stupid now I reflect on it. We both grew up in the same area. The disparity between the wealthy and poor of our area is nothing compared to the disparity of wealth between poor areas and rich or rich countries and poor countries.

So I have been thinking a lot about the rich and the poor - the haves and the have nots - of late. And I have been thinking about my own life and the good fortune that I have had.

I wonder if HECS was not an option if I would have ever gone to university and I wonder how I might have ended up if I had not. In many ways the university experience was good to me. It opened my mind and sated a desperate need in me to understand the world and my place in it. I relished in the studies of politics, history, philosophy and sociology. All the subjects that are bad for job prospects, but which are like fuel to the fire of a curious mind. I gradually grew and developed my own world view, started determining my own future and building the confidence to follow it. I think that ability. The ability to choice and determine your own future is such a powerful gift. A gift that, I hope, I can somehow share with others. With people who really need it.

I suspect if I hadn’t gone to university, if I hadn’t had those experiences I would have had a very different life. I would probably have ended up working in a manual job that I despised. Instead of turning my mind to learning and understanding, instead of opening my mind, I would probably have become angry and frustrated with the world - like so many other people who have intelligence but have no opportunity or no way of exploring their potential or determining their own lives. But worse still, I would probably have closed my mind. Who knows I may have turned to drugs or alcohol or even crime to try and feel that void, try to divert myself from myself. So many people I use to know held onto that anger and are still angry and did many of those things. They let it stifle their personal development and ended up life ruts. Sometimes I think - they chose that life, that it is their problem. But sometimes I also think that the world can be unfair and cruel. It can kick you hard when you are down, and that, for many people leads them to making poor choices.

Every person has the ability to be good or bad. Every person has the capacity to take a life and to give a life and to save a life (metaphorically and literally). We make small choices everyday to determine which side of the line we fall. Where we stand is determined by these actions. We can talk for hours about doing something or changing something, but that counts for nothing unless you act upon this. And these actions are what leads us through life and are the basis for how we deal with the challenges that life presents. Do we let it swallow us in a dark hour or do we fight on and make the most of the good when it comes to us? Do we let our insecurities let us become brittle and cruel, or do we learn from our mistakes, take it on the chin, and treat people with kindness and respect? Do we look for the good in people or the bad? Do we see the glass as half full or half empty? Do we hate or love?

For many Khmers it would be easy to hate. It would be real easy. But so many of them are positive and friendly - It is truly inspiring. In many ways, as many poor and oppressed people have done throughout history, they have accepted their lot. This is their life and they will make the most of it. They will laugh, smile, create and dream despite the hardship. Poverty, short life expectancy and corruption are merely a fact of life for them. Those that work to change this don’t expect massive things in a hurry, they realise that social change is a slow generational passage. They look to the future with hope.

For us this is unjust; this is unfair. But this is our perspective - we are bringing our ideals and expectations to the party. We know that there is a difference and we want to correct it. But to them this is just life. It is the life they know. It would seem then that justice is a luxury of the affluent.

In a strange way it reminds me a little of the left wing political movements that I was a involved with over the years. Many times I have been disillusioned by the many ‘socialists’ I have met who came from wealthy backgrounds, who would get on their high horse and berate about the rights of the workers and the poor. I would often think that it is very easy to fight the fight if daddy would come and bail you out after. Real poor people are too busy getting by. They have no security net. But that is the cynic in me - at least they were trying to do something good, to correct what they saw as wrong in the world.

I think that a lot of poor people have this nervous fear and insecurity in relation to money (duh!). An insecurity that sometimes inspires people to achieve great successes, but which often results in them turning on each other and seeking blame somewhere else. Too often it leads to anger and violence. I think this is as true at home as it is here. However, here there is not the same emphasis placed on material wealth. But I can see that slowly changing as the country gets richer and richer. But who could blame them? They see all these rich people with all these nice things flying into the country and visit a set of temples which represent a time when their peoples history where they were one of the richest and most powerful empires in the world while they scramble to make enough money in order to feed their families.

But the tables of turned. The grinding cycle of history pushed on and the empire crumbled. As all empires based on power and money eventually do. Power and money are not sustainable commodities. They inspire greed and envy. Two qualities nearly every religion in the world admonishes. Two qualities that destroy empires and people. They are often the ugly side of human nature. They are a bad choice for anyone to make – they stifle creativity, love and openness. But they are inherently human and we struggle with them every day.

They are also the reason why, I think, that communism movements failed – they tried to deny and ignore these qualities in people and ended up giving birth to, often repressive, dictatorships instead…it always struck me as strange how a political movement that sought to flatten power could so easily give itself to being abused by dictators, effectively recreating the oppressive hierarchy that they tried to dismantle Mussolini, for example, was a leader in the communist party before he become a fascist dictator.

Perhaps there are only two ways (or perhaps more correctly, two extremes on a spectrum) that we can interact as people – we can either all get together or come to consensus (i.e. participatory democracy) or we can give up decision making to another person (i.e. a hierarchy). Both systems have their merits in different circumstances. One, however, is inherently fairer. It allows for people to explore their potential, to live with dignity, to have a role in determining their own future and affecting the world around them. If they choose not be involved that is their choice. But the choice, I think, must be offered. But then again, I clearly have a vested interested in this stuff.

So the table have turned for me too. I am now I am one of the affluent person who believes in justice and is upset by the disparity between rich and poor. Perhaps, I am a chardonnay socialist. Here - I am rich. I am educated. I can rant about what I think. I can go home at the end of this. I get sick, they fly me to Bangkok. It is not really my fight. I feel an odd detachment sometimes. It is strange feeling. Don’t get me wrong – it gets me angry and it I am passionate about making a change. But I always have this at the back of my mind. In the long run change must come from the people themselves. I am just here to give them some ideas. And hopefully soon, there will be an opening, a point of access, like there was for me and their lives will change for the better, as they become more empowered and take control of their destiny.

sorry - I started ranting again. Will post something more travel like soon...

By-e.

Cambodia - Part 15

2007-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 10th August 2007

Meanderings and other crap

Last week we had some people visit us from the Asian Health Institute. They are a Japanese based organisation who deals with, surprisingly, health issues across Asia. They primarily came to see the work that MODE was undertaking with Village Health Volunteer, People Living with HIV/AIDS and the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs.

Last Friday we took them out to San Dan, which is a bumpy 2 hours ride in the back tray of a 4WD north of Kampong Thom. It is fairly remote and the town only recently acquired a bridge so that it can accessed by road. It use to take a whole day in a slow putt-putt boat to get to San Dan from Kampong Thom. This week the river has risen, so the bridge is out of service (lucky we went when we did). Apparently, we can expect the river in Kampong Thom to do the same in the next few days – rumour has it that we are in some big floods this year, particularly for communities around Tonle Sap (the massive lake in the middle of Cambodia). The locals are worried that the floods will ruin the rice harvest…

But I digress.

On the way out to San Dan we went stopped at a place where the Japanese UN worker, Atsu Nagada, was killed by the Khmer Rouge during the first national elections in 1992. My counterpart, Nary, had worked for him and knew him quite well. She told me that when she first saw Shin she was quite taken back because he looks a lot like him. I got a cold shiver down my spine when we stopped at the place he was murdered. It is just a dirt road in the middle of a leafy little village, like so many others. Since his death they renamed the village ‘Atsu’ in his memory and there is a little monument. His son lives there now and carries on humanitarian aid work.

In San Dan, we went to a meeting of the village representatives, who were discussing the issues affecting the community, and visited one of the Village Health Volunteers post-natal classes. The class in a little wooden house and was packed with young women and children, and they showed them rather graphic cartoons of women giving birth and stuff on big laminated posters.

After that, we headed another hour out of San Dan to a forest community, in well, a forest. The village consisted of only about a dozen wooden huts and they met us in a school that the community had built. It was a really poor and bizarre. They told us that in order to build the school house that the whole village had to cut back on food, but they were clearly very proud of their achievements.

The single room school house had bare dirt floors and three rows of benches facing the front. It was dimly lit by the sun shining through the gaps in the wooden panels and the door. As usual, I had to sit up front, and the whole village, of about forty people, just stared at me. I think they thought I was a ghost. Outside the curious kids stuck there heads in the doorway to stare. Unnerved as I was by the staring, it struck me that something else was rather odd about this village. First, I realised that there were three distinct features that were repeated in every face (inbreeding me thinks) and, secondly, that there was no one in the room between the age of about 20 and 40.

Many of the people from poor rural areas migrate to the cities or the Thai border in search of better jobs and prospects. Some do well, but some end up being exploited as labourers in Thailand, many of the young girls get caught up in the sex trade…As we were leaving one of the few young women in the village came up and started screaming stuff (I assume it was directed mostly at me because it started after my boss asked if anyone had any questions for me). Everyone was laughing in an unsteady kind of way. And I backed away to the car. My counterpart said she couldn’t explain what she was saying, but not to worry cause she was just a bit crazy.

On a positive note, the forest was beautiful and it was fun going through it in a 4WD. We went through some deep rivers and across a number of muddy tracks. The forest was so thick with green trees and tendrils it was hard to see more than a few metres into it. There where a number of big clearing where timber thieves had been at work or where farmers had cleared land. I also got covered in dirt and mud. My white shirt was brown/orange by the time we got back.

On Saturday morning I went down to the ‘Happy Happy Children’ program at the local Watt. Katerina and Thomas, an Austrian couple working in Kampong Thom, have set a program to sponsor some of the children’s ongoing schooling and basic health, so they came along too. This time the kids learnt about the importance of exercise and keeping hydrated before they played for a bit and were given some food. It is always fun to play with the kids.

So it rained most of the weekend and I spent most of it curled up on my bed reading. Our fishing trip got cancelled because the guy’s boat had broken down and there was not other way of getting to the farm. So on the Saturday night Shin and I went to a 100 day funeral for the father of the friend of my friend Mab. The Buddhists (if they have money) have a funeral on the day of the death, 7 days later, 100 days later and 3 years later. Apparently this gives the soul to find a new mother who then falls pregnant shortly after. The funeral was pretty much like Christian ones, except there was no body. There are prays and then the men get drunk.

On Monday I headed out to Stoang, which is about half way between Kampong Thom and Siem Reap along the highway. It had been raining all weekend and on Monday it drizzled all day so the road and the piles of cow dung that littered the highway were moist. Some of the piles were massive – like someone had been making poo castles along the road. Anyhow, I discovered a useful, but disgusting fact about moist cow dung – if you hit it on your moto it will end up on your feet. Gross. Why didn’t I wear my boots? I am such a city boy.

Forgive me if the poo comments are a little crass. It is different over here – people are pretty open about such things. Most villagers don’t have a toilet. When I get together with the other volunteers we often talk stools. We have all been sick and had to manage embarrassing situations. But I must say I have become a major convert to the ‘bum hose’ (only western places have toilet paper). It is great for cleaning yourself and cleaning up afore said embarrassing situations.

On the topic of toilets – no one ever tells you how to use a squat toilet and it is not an easy subject to broach with a stranger. So here is a few pointers – first they are usually designed for you to face the back wall (not the door). Secondly, you have to commit fully to the squat – no half or three-quarter squats – if you don’t squat all the way otherwise you risk missing the toilet or, worse still, getting it on your clothes. Thirdly, after you finish your business you have to stay in afore mentioned squat position for a few well directed squirts from the bum hose – most of the water will drain quickly and, again, you won’t get it on your clothes. Lets call this – making gravy the easy way.

Again, I digress…

Out at Stoang I went to visited a centre where local women were making ‘kraamers’ – a traditional checked tea towel/scarf that Khmer people wear (especially it the villages). They are quite useful because they are quite light and can be used as a hat, sweat band, towel, scarf, mask, pants or even strapless dress. Much to my distress, Shin has been adopting the local custom of using one as a skirt on hot days around the house. I have made it clear, unlike the locals, he better be wearing underwear under it. I don’t want any little surprise peeks.

After that we went out to watch some villagers receive training on decentralisation and local governance. My Khmer must be improving because I understood quite a bit of what was happening. Then we headed out to a village where they weaved baskets. On the way there I had a moment when I thought I saw an elephant in the wild. I almost squealed in excitement. But when I got closer I realised it was just two fat grey buffalo and an ant hill. I was rather disappointed. The village where they made the baskets was quite far off the main road, and they were really poor. Even the head of the village wore rags, but they still insisted that I take a basket as a gift. I had to take it as to not offended them, but I felt guilty.

On the way back from the village we hit some really muddy roads. Usually in places like this there is little path that snakes between pot holes, thick orange mud and puddles, along the dry part of the road, compressed by other moto drivers. When someone comes the other way, you pull over and wait. But this road was so bad in parts that we had to get off and walk. The mud was at least ankle deep and for the second time that day I wished I had wore my boots.

Aside from my tours, my project is also coming together slowly. I had a few meetings this week and have revised my plan. It is going well so far.

I hope all is well back home.

Take care
By-e.

Cambodia - Part 14

2007-08-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Wenesday 1st of August 2007

It is always darkest before the dawn.

I have had some sudden clarity of thought in the last week and I am feeling excited and motivated again. One might even say I was electrified. I was talking to Shin about the situation at work, about how bored and frustrated I had been feeling. He just said ‘Dude, you just have to make your own work.’ And all of a sudden that I realised a few things – That I already knew what I wanted to achieve while I was here; In focusing on achieving this I would alleviate the boredom and frustration I had been feeling; By attempting to achieve it I would bring a fresh focus and purpose for my time in Cambodia; I could leave a positive sustainable impact on the people in Kampong Thom; My goal was achievable – I have the skills and the ability to implement my idea.

Shin’s off the cuff comment had lifted the veil for me – I could see it all clearly. In my frustration and boredom I had lost sight of the purpose and vision I had when I arrived. Again, you worst enemy is yourself.

But first I would have to make a few big decisions in my own life - I would have to quit the job waiting for me back home and extend my stay in Cambodia.

Some of the first things that struck me about the NGO situation in Cambodia were the lack of sustainability in the programs and the lack of coordination amongst local NGOs. It was also an irritant to me that the big donors based outside Cambodia were dictating the terms of projects – what was deemed to be important and what would get funding.

I have decided to try and turn all this on its head with what I am calling a ‘sustainable communities’ project. I am going to try and empower the local communities to take ownership of the development process and drive change from the grass roots up. I am going to do this by providing them with the skills to create and achieve realistic community plans.

I have had this idea floating around in my head for some months. However, while I thought the concept was good and could make a significant impact, there was simply not enough time for me to understand the context, develop the idea, secure funding, develop training plans and ensure the capacity of the organisation was up to the task within six months. I was hoping that my organisation might have taken up the ball on this issue, but they don’t really have a thorough understanding of the subject. It needs someone like me to drive it, until it is off the ground. And so, I have decided to stick around and do just that.

I am really passionate about giving people an opportunity, ensuring access and social justice. So this project is right up my alley. I believe strongly in the role of community, have faith in their ability of people to make positive change for themselves and to hold their representatives accountable. To me, a healthy functioning community can work together to achieve great things. No political system, no matter how corrupt or inefficient, can stop the tide of change from an organised, active and dedicated community (I was always partial to revolutionary ideas). Sometimes they just need a bit of a helping hand to coordinate and organise.

I know I can achieve my goal and a really positive outcome from my assignment.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I got to Cambodia. I remember thinking that I should try and reserve judgement and just go with the flow. But I must have had some expectations, because I was quite taken back when I understood just how far behind they were in many ways. I was particularly concerned about the level of understanding of democratic processes (kinda dumb now – considering I had read about the statistics on the rates of illiteracy and poverty) and this threw me. I had no idea how I was meant to develop the capacity of a community who didn’t really understand voting, let alone concepts like ‘sustainable community planning’.

But over the last few months working with MODE, talking to people and going out into the field I have come to understand the Khmer culture much better and also the issues that they face. I think I can structure a program that is effective and builds on existing social networks.

I don’t want to come to Cambodia for six months, mess about a little bit, and then head home. This would be unfulfilling. I have the opportunity to make a change for the better in the world and I intend to pursue it. My dad always told me ‘never to leave a job half done’ and I am not going to (if I can help it).

So I have decided to stay on Cambodia for at least the next nine months (probably a year). This means I have to quit my job back home. My safety net is gone. For the first time since I was thirteen I am technically unemployed. It feels liberating. I have the whole world before me.

This has also got me thinking about my future. It is possible to do good while being paid well. There is stacks of development work out there - so many opportunities to do good things, live in different countries, be challenged by new experience and also get paid. I am starting to think this might be a new career possibility for me – well for the next few years…

But enough ranting about saving the world.

This week has been quite busy. I have been furiously putting together a project proposal to sell my idea to my boss and other local NGOs who I want to get on board with my project.

Last night was a strange night in Kampong Thom. Hillsong came to town. There was a big Christian concert at the ‘stadium’ (read soccer field with a fence). Shin and I went down to check it out. On our approach we saw a shaft of white light beaming down from the clouds which made it look like god himself was endorsing the performance, shining on the performers. But I knew better – smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors. As we got close it was clear that everyone in Kampong Thom had turned up for the event. It was like Pearl Jam was in town (am I showing my age with comments like that?). People were all over the road. The traffic had come to a stand still (the stadium is on the main road) and a clearly frustrated Police man on rammed the crowd back with his lurching motorbike. Thankfully he missed me, but he took down a couple of other people nearby us. Along the road side there were little festival games lining the outside of the stadium wall; young guys trying to win stuffed bears and bed linen for their girlfriends by throwing darts at balloons. Shin and I had a go and won three packets of biscuits. What a booty! But we felt guilty and gave them to some hungry looking kids. I managed to sneak a peek into the stadium (I could see clearly over the crowd) and saw a dark sea of people before a lit up stage. Just at that moment they stopped the Khmer music, which had been beating constantly since we arrived, and some guy with an acoustic guitar started singing about god in English. The sea turned and fled. I was pushed back by all the Khmers existing the stadium. We decided to make a break too. Grabbed the moto and carefully negotiated our way out of the crowd, both of us amused by the sudden turn in the crowd and idle trucks. You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

The whole Christian evangelic movement is big here. It is hard to go anywhere without bumping into some middle class white person trying to sell their god. I don’t particularly have a problem with religion; I was a practicing Catholic until my mid-twenties and I would still consider myself Catholic. I believe strongly in spirituality and my spirituality is closely tied to Christian concepts. Love of god and love of neighbour – love yourself and love each other. But I think it is a real personal journey and I hate it when anyone tries to force any opinion or view on another person. Since I have been here I have found the acts of many ‘Christian’ organisations quite challenging. I find it deplorable that some organisations target extremely poor, marginalised and desperate people and make them pray before they will provide them with help. Another group offers free English lessons, but the lessons are all centred on their gospel. Both, in my mind are most uncharitable and unchristian.

It makes me wonder what they hope to achieve. Are they just trying to up their numbers? A starving person is going to say what they have to so they can be fed.

About a month ago I had the further displeasure of hearing an American guy do a reading at church service. Lainie and I had gone to a mass held by her organisation in Poipet (they are a Christian organisation). This guy, an accountant who had been working in Thailand, got up in front of a congregation of almost all Khmer people and told them not to be ‘distracted by education’. It made me feel sick. I wanted to head butt him. Here was a middle class guy with a university education who wandered into Cambodia for a few days telling a group of people, most of whom probably didn’t finish primary school, probably didn't eat that day and who are either desperately poor or bordering on it, that education was bad for them. Grr.

That is not to say all Christians are bad. Some groups genuinely want to help other people and do really positive things for the poor and the needy – establishing homeless shelters, food security etc...

So right, I have been ranting a little. Apologies. I am a passionate little soul.

This weekend, I might be going to stay out on a farm with a couple of guys from work and tomorrow I am heading out to a remote village for a field visit. Am looking forward to both, but I will make sure I will take the mosquito repellent. Apparently there is a bit of malaria floating around…just what I need after dengue. I am also avoiding chicken at the moment – I heard that a large group of chickens died unexpectedly near town and the farmer just sold them. Of course I found this out the day I had eaten chicken for lunch. If I get any ‘flu-like’ symptoms I am scoffing the Tamiflu. To bird flu. Erin says no.

On ward and upward - to the stars...

By-e.

Cambodia - Part 13

2007-07-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 17th July 2007

Stir fried

So my last entry was a bit of a diatribe. Apologies – I may have misrepresented myself a little. I was just bored more than anything. I am ok. I am not going crazy. But I do miss home a little…

In the last few weeks the wet season has well and truly set in. It rains heavily most days and everything gets wet. The dirt roads to many of the villages become muddy bogs and are impassable. It is also school holidays at the moment. It is timed to coincide with the wet season. My Khmer teacher has been busy overseeing examinations and getting papers graded for the end of school year exams. As a result my Khmer has taken a bit of a back burner, but that is cool.

Lots of kids are out playing and wondering around. I have seen a few looking very Huckleberry Finn with their straw hats, bicycles and fishing rods down by the river. The kids aren’t put off by the rain; they just go out and play in it. It is still hot and muggy even when it rains. Apparently, when it floods you can catch fish swimming along the roads. Maybe I should have bought a boat instead of a moto…

Two weekends ago was a quite weekend for me. Shin went to Phnom Penh, but I had some work to do, so I stayed in Kampong Thom with the house to myself. On Saturday morning I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep. I decided I needed to do something and jumped on my moto in the direction of Phnom Santuk; a little ‘mountain’ about half an hours ride from Kampong Thom. The Khmers call this a mountain, but I am not so sure it really qualifies. It isn’t that tall. It is 810 uneven steps to be precise. Although, it does stand out in contrast to the flat plains around it – you can see it from miles away. On my way there I was thinking it would be so nice to do some exercise climbing the mountain and then relax peacefully with my thoughts, soaking up the view. But this is Cambodia, I should have realised - you are never alone. As soon as I got to the base of the mountain I was flooded with wannabe guides. One jumped on the back of my moto and pointed out the road that leads up the mountain. So off we went.

Climbing the mountain on a moto was actually quite scary. With two of us on the bike I had to keep slipping it into first to get up the step bits. I really gave the bike a thrashing. But it was nowhere near as scary as coming down the mountain. I let the guide drive down and just hung on for my life. Most of the way we didn’t even have to turn the bike on, we just rolled with the brakes on. Who needs roller coasters?

Up on top of the mountain was a pagoda, a series of Buddha’s carved into the rocks, a footprint from Buddha himself and a magnificent view – long flat stretches of green rice paddies dotted with wooden houses and clumps coconut trees as far as the eye could see.

After we got back down, I decided I still needed to do some exercise and that I should climb the stairs anyhow. I really am out of shape. I may have lost weight here, but I have also lost any semblance of fitness I had as well. I probably wouldn’t have felt so bad if my guide hadn’t looked so fresh and taken the liberty of fanning me down as we climbed…I was streaming with sweat by the time I reached the top and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. How far away is the nearest hospital?

On the way back from Santuk I decided to pull in and have a look at the stone cavers and a drum maker who maker who sell their goods along the main road. I found a little stone elephant which I bought for the house, but its ear fell off on the ride home.

Aside from that, that weekend was fairly dull and I was bored out of my mind by Sunday evening. Sometimes, it gets tedious speaking in broken English/Khmer and having to travel so far to do anything. The other day I was day dreaming about ordering in a pizza and chilling out on the couch watching a DVD. For some reason our TV channels have changed and we no longer get some of the English speaking channels (including my favourite – the Australia network). So my TV options are even more limited than before. Our only source of English speaking news is CNN which bites – talk about sensationalistic…and now we get the fashion channel (seriously – what is the point?).

Last weekend I went to Phnom Penh for a welcome dinner for the new batch of volunteers arriving from Australia on Friday night. There are 15 new volunteers and only one is male. We were joking that it would be really funny if he was gay. He wasn’t and the poor guy was clearly hanging for some male company after being stuck with the girls all week. Nearly everyone from my intake was there and it was nice catching up with them all.

So we took the new kids out on the town. I was hanging to dance off my stir craziness and we hit a few pubs around the town. The last one we went to was little place with a mix of Khmer and foreigners overlooking the river. We carved up on the dance floor into the wee hours, partly thanks to ‘the Mexican’ (A Khmer guy wearing a sombrero and poncho) who kept us well lubricated with tequila shots. One can’t help but wonder about ‘the Mexican’ – how serious does he take being ‘the Mexican’? Does he wear those clothes all the time? Does he have ‘la cucaracha’ as the horn on his moto? Do his kids have to call him ‘papa’? Does he have little cactuses out front of his house? So many questions…

The next day Lainie and I were feeling shady, but pulled it together enough to meet our friends Tim and Ags at the Hotel Continental for yum cha. The food was awesome. We ate so much I couldn’t move after. I think I am going to have to go to China and just eat for a few days. Kicks ass on Khmer cuisine.

After lunch Lainie and I did some shopping before heading down to the river front and took a sunset cruise along the Mekong/Tonle Sap rivers (Phnom Penh is built around where these two major rivers meet). We got a little boat to ourselves and just chilled with a couple of beers. It was so nice just to relax and take in the city from the water. There is a haze that descends over the city which gives it a romantic feel (alas it is probably just pollution and dust).

That night we had a quiet night. Just a little dinner and a few drinks. We were staying at a little guesthouse near the river front called the ‘Bogie and Becall’. It was a nice, clean and friendly little place. But Lainie noted that there were no other female guests staying there. When I noticed an ad for the place highlighting that they had ‘beautiful girls’ we started to get a little suspicious. Our suspicions were confirmed on Saturday night when we walked into the bar down stairs and it was full of older foreign men and young Khmer girls. You just can’t pick them sometimes. It turns out we were staying in an area where that sort of thing went on. I am not saying it was a brothel, but it was definitely not just a guesthouse either. Oh well, they did a good fry up breakfast…

So Pyjamas. People here love them here. Ladies wear them everywhere and kids wear the shorts around. I guess they are comfortable and light. They are often bright red, orange or yellow with little cartoon pictures dotted all over them. It is quite cute and funny at the same time. It’s like they are always ready for a nap. Sometimes when I am talking to store holders in the market I just want to say ‘Hey. Nice PJs’.

Work has been a bit like the weather lately. Sometimes there is stacks to do, sometimes there is nothing. I have decided to set myself a little project to improve the management of the organisation and develop a strategic plan. That should keep me occupied in the low times.

On a side note – my boss sold his fake Lexus. He didn’t tell me why.

Sorry I haven’t posted any pictures of late, but I haven’t taken any. I decided to make a claim for my camera and my glasses. But making an insurance claim in the middle of Cambodia isn’t quite straight forward. Anyways, I hope to get another one soon.

I hope everyone is well. I miss you all.
by-e.

Cambodia - Part 12

2007-07-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 18th July 2007

Midnight ramblings

It late on a Tuesday night. Or to be more precise Wednesday morning. I can’t sleep. Again. Despite the fact that I am exhausted and there is nothing more I want in the world right now. It has been happening quite regularly of late. My mind just starts racing with thoughts and I can’t relax. It starts off like and drip and then it’s like a flood of thoughts. Crazy and often disjointed thoughts - Thoughts about my friends and family, about my relationships, about people I haven’t seen in years. Thoughts about things I have done in the past, about the people I have met here and the things I have seen, about things that I have said and the things I am going to say, thoughts about my future, my childhood and my dreams. Thoughts and creations; weird day dreams, delusions and thoughts analysing my thoughts. Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts, so many thoughts. Why am I thinking so much? Can’t I stop thinking?

I know I am not the only one – Shin and Lainie have both complained about this too. Occasionally this sort of thing happens at home, but no where near as frequent as it has been happening here. I think it is a side effect of both being isolated and being in a place where I have limited interactions with people and where there is no escape from myself.

I have come to the realisation recently that the hardest part about this whole Cambodia gig is not living in different culture, eating exotic foods, not having hot water, or occasionally electricity, or learning another language. It is not dealing with endemic corruption or even dealing with severe poverty and all the associated problems with that. It is not trying to establish relationships with people who have a completely different outlook to you. It is dealing with your self; dealing with your own thoughts and preoccupations. Where ever you go - there you are.

Outside your comfort zone, away from all the usual distractions and routines, there is one thing left – you. And that becomes very apparent over time.

It isn’t that far to Phnom Penh, 3 hours on a bus, but sometimes even that feels like a lifetime away. Still, even though it has lots of cool western style restaurants with familiar food, friends who speak English as a first language and the hustle of a city – home it is not.

When I have travelled before I have revelled in my ability to rely on myself. To get by in a foreign place where I don’t speak the language and don’t fully understand the customs. It makes you feel independent and gives you faith in you’re ability. It is a great empowering feeling. Especially when you conquer your fears in doing it. I can do anything.

But this feeling is different. After you stop being consumed by the exotic and quirky aspects of a different country or the excitement of living somewhere totally new and different, something else starts to happen.

I have so much time by myself, with myself, in my own head. During the course of a day I am often find myself sitting in meetings not understanding what is going on, or sitting in a crowded restaurant not understanding a word that is being said around me. Sometimes, when Shin is not around, I go days without a normal conversation in English. And my mind starts to drift.

I am away from the comfort of my routine, of my culture, of my friends and family. I am away from the things I use to distract myself – TV, alcohol, music, eating. I am away from the people I talk to about things when I think I think too much. Away from all those things that I have in my life that stop me from facing those big and difficult questions about myself and away from the mechanisms I have incorporated in my life to deal with difficult problems. So I can’t help but wonder. Who am I? What am I about? What do I really value? What do I really believe? What is life all about? And I dissect and re-evaluate. Perhaps a little too much.

Now I often thought it was a bit self indulgent when people go places to try and ‘find themselves’. But I am coming to realise a bit more what people really mean by statements like that. I have moved outside the framework of my normal life in a way and can now look back in on it. I can see things from a new angle, a new perspective. It is all something rather strange and in many ways unexpected. I didn’t expect it to be this intense.

I have my moments where I feel like I am over Asia and I yearn for the simple things of home – pizza on the couch and a DVD or a few beers down the pub with my mates. For a while I thought it was Cambodia. But now I realise that it is more about me. I value the ease and comfort of being able to get takeaway and chill out on the couch watching movies. I value that for many reasons, but perhaps mostly because it is much easier than facing myself; facing my own demons and emotions. Facing those things I keep hidden from view – out the sight of others and out of sight from myself.

It strikes me that people in western culture put a lot of effort into distracting themselves, of avoiding all these tough questions and thoughts. Some people throw themselves into exercise or work – try to exhaust themselves so they don’t have to face them. Some people try to find meaning in religion, history or politics. Some people overindulge or seek pleasure in alcohol or drugs or TV or food or whatever just to avoid it. Some people try to deal with it or distract themselves through a medium like painting or writing. And some people flee from it all and travel. Or, perhaps more likely, everyone does a combination of all the above for a plethora of reasons. But mostly it comes back to the same thing. We find facing ourselves difficult.

But why is it so hard?

I guess that we are all scared. Scared that there might be no meaning, scared that there might be nothing else, scared that we are alone, scared of not being loved, scared of not being understood or accepted, scared that we can’t let ourselves be understood or accepted, scared that we might have got it all wrong, that life is not how we thought it was. Or perhaps this is just my fears.

Either way, without wanting to sound like some new age philosopher, I think it all comes down to love and respect. I think that everyone desires this. Simple. You give it and you receive it.

This is not a new revelation for me. It has been sitting in my mind for a long time. I have always had a strong faith in people and their ability to help each other. I still dream of a fairer more peaceful world where everyone can just get along. I hope I can contribute to this, even in some small way. I hope what I am doing now is a good thing and I hope that it really has some meaning, some impact. But I doubt it. It is but a drop in the ocean. The problems are so big and some convoluted it will take years and years to change. I must accept that I am only one person, and one person can make a difference…

Peace and Love
Erin

Cambodia - Part 11

2007-07-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 12th of July 2007

Hallelujah for hot water!!!

It’s official – I have hot water in my house!!! It only produces a little trickle and the lights dim when you switch the system on, but it is hot and it is glorious (after over 3 months of cold splashes in the bucket). The system is this little box that sits on the wall of the ‘bontoup tuk’ (water room) and basically acts like a really quick urn. The land lord fix it after we paid another 3 months rent in advance. And just in time. It has been getting cold. In the mornings it is dropping down to about 20 and I am really feeling it. Seriously – I find that cold these days. The water must be about 15. Freezing!!!

Despite the fact the wet season has started, it still gets up to the mid 30’s most days. We just have the 3 o’clock storm to cool things down now. And the mud. Mud everywhere. The landscape has completely changed since I first arrived. Gone are the wide dust bowls with limp trees and emaciated cows; replaced with lush green trees, vast sprouting rice paddies, pools of brown muddy water and fat cows…’water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink…’

Speaking of cows I had to shoo one out the gate the other day. It came in and grazed around for a bit while I was having my lunchtime nap. I was hoping she would eat up the lawn so we wouldn’t have to mow it with a whipper snipper again (it’s my turn – Shin did it last time). But then I had to go back to work and had to get her out before I locked the gate. Thankfully she was an agreeable little heifer and followed my lead (unlike some other little heifers I know). Don’t know what I would have done if she was stubborn. But, you know, I still have that BBQ…

I am also loving my motor bike. I thought it would be boring after a while. But no, it is still fun, especially on the dirt tracks or in the mud, although my feet get wet in the puddles. I am half thinking about doing a little trek to Thailand at the end of my assignment, maybe fanging it around Angkor Watt on my way there. Could be way fun.

As for work things are coming along well. I am finding myself busy these days. There is a lot to do in the way of proposals and working out new programs. I found out the other day that my first funding application was successful, so am pretty happy at the moment. That is a 100% success rate. It won’t last, so I am lapping it up at the moment. We are currently working out the logistics of the successful application (it is to assist HIV/AIDS affected people establish micro-businesses and earn enough of an income to support themselves and their families).

At the moment I am working on a new funding proposal to secure funds for an education and awareness campaign. The campaign will improve the understanding of people’s rights in relation to local governance, domestic violence and land rights. It will hopefully compliment and build on some other projects that we have going and have proposed.

On Thursday we will be doing the food security program again. I will be lending my muscle to move the hefty bags of rice. Should be a good work out and we get the satisfaction of feeding the poor. I feel like such a sloth these days – I haven’t exercised in weeks. But hey, I have still lost weight. Thankyou dengue.

Funny thing; my boss bought a Lexus 4WD a few weeks ago. It is white has ‘Lexus’ written down the side in big grey letters. It’s a fake. I know this mostly because my boss told me (I am no car expert). But there also some other give aways – like the Toyota badges…this place is so odd sometimes…

As you probably all know last Saturday was the 7/7/07. This date has particular relevance for the Cambodians. It is the 10 year anniversary since Hun Sen and some of the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) held a coup and took government from the ruling Funcinpec Party (who they were in a coalition with at the time), effectively ending the democratic system that the UN tried to implement in 1993 and yet, ironically, bringing some stability to a politically tumultuous situation. A loss of democracy for stability – seems to happen a lot to new democracies.

On the 7/7/97 there was fighting in the streets of Phnom Penh as troops loyal to the CPP fought troops loyal to Funcinpec. Motars were fired, there were skirmishes in the streets and about 70 people were killed. Two days later it was all over - Hun Sen was in power and the leader of Funcinpec was in exile and has been pretty much ever since. In the weeks that followed the coup there were a number of extra-judicial murders and a number of other people were killed. Hun Sen claims that he was protecting Cambodia from a coup from Funcinpec who had made some agreement with the Khmer Rouge. While there is some truth in this (the agreement), one has to wonder why a ruling party would hold a coup. What is left now is pretty much a single ruling party with a leader that intends to hold onto to power as long as possible, endemic corruption and superficial democracy. It is not likely this situation will change anytime soon…

The other day a land rights activist was killed with an AK47 in the west of the country. The murderer was caught a few days later in the south of the country. The Police chief said that they were lucky because the activist yelled out the name of his murderer in his dying moments. The activists wife, who was there, said he didn’t say anything like that. Then representatives from the company who he was fighting against turned up at the autopsy out of ‘curiosity’. Hmm….

Anyhow, I have also done some more travelling. I went to Siem Reap last weekend where I met up with Lainie. We headed out of town and onto Tonle Sap Lake to visit the ‘village on stilts’ (nothing like the ‘poo on sticks’ artwork in Kings Cross) and the flooded forest. It took an hour and half to get there but it was quite cool. It hadn’t rained enough for the village on stilts to flood, so you can still walk down the muddy main road. Underfoot it was littered with little shells and the houses that lined the street, well, they are on stilts. They are mostly traditional wooden houses that sit about 5 metres off ground level and many are decorated with plants from the forest. Quite nice. But the most striking thing was the lack of vehicles. To the point they have volley ball nets pulled tight across the road and you can walk the street with no worries of being hit by a moto. We had lunch on the balcony of one of the locals houses and looked out across the village and then headed of to the forest.

The forest was also nice, but would be better in the middle of the wet season when the boats can weave between the branches of the trees. As it was, the water was fairly low and we went along the side. It was strange to see so many trees clumped so thickly together. Over the years Cambodia has lost much of its forests. Most of it went over the border to Thailand where they built those lovely wooden resorts and souvenirs…

While we were in Siem Reap, by chance, we bumped into our other friends Tim and Ags. One Saturday we caught up with them at the laundry bar in Siem Reap – a funky little bar off the main tourist strip. Because it is low season for tourists, most of the bars are empty and the tuk tuk drivers are particularly keen for business. It also means there is a lot of building happening. The place changes so quickly. But I digress. Over a few shandies, Tim and I devised a dastardly mullet growing competition. Where else are we going to get away with it than in Cambodia?? We have three months to grow a mullet that will impress our friends and families. Despite warnings from the doctor that I might loose it, I still have a full and fertile head of hair post dengue. In fact, I could use a hair cut. Game on.

Ciao.
Erin

Cambodia - Part 10

2007-07-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday 1st July 2007

Study Tours and Dengue Fever

Dengue fever sucks. No two ways about it. It just bites. It is like having the flu really really badly – your body aches, cracking headaches, you burn up, get the shivers, you can’t eat, you eyes constantly burn, a metallic taste fills your mouth, an ugly rash appears and you feel nauseous. And then, just when you start to think you are getting better, you become overwhelmed by dizziness and exhaustion every time you stand up. You just have to lie around and get through it. But then comes the boredom. Apparently, I have hair loss to look forward to as well…

So, dengue - yeah, I’ve had it. I reckon that makes me hardcore now. It is also makes me the first amongst my intake to get dengue. We had a bet going to see who would get dengue or malaria first. I took line honours by two days when two of the other girls from Battambong showed up at the emergency clinic in Phnom Penh with distinctly similar symptoms. It turns out there is something of an epidemic in dengue through out Cambodia at the moment. Worst in 20 years. People are dropping like flies. Well, dropping like the little white and black day time mosquitos they carry the fever. Heaps of westerners came into the clinic while I was there. Everyone looked like crap.

When I first came down with it, I was in Sihanoukville. I had spent the night burning up, feeling awful, tossing and turning in a hotel bed. I had to go home via Phnom Penh anyhow, so decided to leave early and go see a doctor. I got to Phnom Penh after a four hour bus ride feeling worse – I had started turning blue and had the shivers really bad (due in part to the arctic air conditioning on the bus), despite the fact my temperature was almost 40. At the clinic they put me straight to bed and I had to spend 24 hours on a drip. Some of my mates in PP heard that I was sick and came down to visit. So, it wasn’t so bad in the clinic – I had my own nurse and they got me food from one of the nicest hotels in PP (not that I could eat it).

Eventually, my temperature came down and they released me from the clinic on the proviso that I didn’t ride any moto’s, I had someone to check up on me and I could come back every few days for a check up/blood test. The first few days I spent with Lainie in a hotel room – she bore the brunt of my moaning and generally whiney state, but was a complete angel about it. The next few days I spent at my friends Kate, Bek and Sophie’s house, in their spare room. By the end of the week I had watched so much crap TV (including all six episodes of star wars) and was sooo bored I was almost bouncing off the walls, but my white blood cells and platelet count had improved and I could go home.

So here I am - back at home in Kampong Thom, feeling good for the first time in a week and a half. Allegedly, I got off lightly. I was only knocked out for a little over a week. Dengue can be far worse and in some cases even fatal (mostly in children). But I got into the doctor pretty early and my body started making anti-bodies fairly quickly. On the up side I am l unlikely to get it again in Cambodia – there are several strands, but I have had the common one found in Cambodia. We will see. If I catch one of the other strands, it will be worse. Far worse.

While I was in the clinic I signed a waiver, so I could be flown to Bangkok hospital for medical treatment if necessary. Alas, it wasn’t necessary. Shame – I could have gone shopping…and I could have flown someone in to ‘look after me’.

So, it is nice to be back in Kampong Thom. I haven’t been here for over two weeks. It so peaceful here compared to the ‘big’ city of Phnom Penh.

Speaking of which I have a bit of bone to pick on the pronunciation of ‘Phnom Penh’. There are no silent ‘p’ in Khmer language. You pronounce the ‘p’ at the start of Phnom Penh. Somewhere, someone started saying ‘Nom Penh’ and now every traveller says it. It is infuriating. And it is wrong. Speak to some Khmer people – they pronounce the ‘p’ at the start. If anything they draw out the ‘e’ in penh more so it sounds more like p-eh-n. ‘Phnom’ it means mountain. If you want to anglicise surely you should say ‘fnom’ and be a real wanker. Sorry. It’s been bothering me.

And another thing – while I am dispelling myths about Cambodia – there are heaps of old people here. Admittedly a lot died during Pol Pot’s reign, but there are still heaps of them. I think that visitors might get the wrong impression, firstly, because Khmer people all look so young and, secondly, because the tourist areas attract young workers who have learnt to speak English. But there are heaps of older Khmers. Many of whom can speak French and attempt to speak it with people like me. Thankfully, I know how to say ‘I don’t speak French’ in both French and Khmer and English.

But I digress - back to my adventures.

As I mentioned, I was in Sihanoukville when I got sick. Sihanoukville is right down in the south of Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. There are beaches and hotels and bars and karaoke places and a massive problem with sex tourism (and the associated problems with that). Now to dispel another myth – the problem is both with Khmer people and foreigners. Although there are quite a few sleazy looking foreigners milling about, there are far more sleazy Khmer guys. They go down to the karaoke bars get drunk with the boys, singing and dancing, and then all the boys rock down the local brothel or hotel and sleep with their ‘girlfriends’ (girlfriend is often used as a euphemism for a sex worker). Inevitably, their girlfriends have contracted HIV and pass it onto their boyfriends who then pass it on to their wives and the rest of their family. A side effect of this is that there are increased numbers of orphans and vulnerable children, who then with a lack of support from their parents, are more open to being exploited by employees and child sex tourists. And the cycle goes on…

This is not to say Sihanoukville is ugly. Quite the contrary, it is the nicest part of Cambodia that I have been to. The long drive there winds through thick green tropical mountains. Absolutely beautiful. And the beach – well it’s a beach, with surf, islands, bungalows, bars and boats. Unfortunately we were there on a study tour rather than a holiday, so I got to see the ugly side as well.

It was great to go swimming though. I even tried to teach some of the guys from the office how to swim. But they refused to put their heads under the water properly, so I gave up. The first time we went swimming the guys from the office saw my hairy chest for the first time and I heard the words ‘oh my god, you are hairy like a monkey’. I told them that in Australia you are not considered a man unless you could grow hair on your chest. That shut them up. Well, for a little bit.

While we were on the beach we saw quite a few western women getting around in bikini’s. The Khmer girls go in pretty much fully clothed, so it really stands out when someone is wearing a bikini and they are white. It looked to me like they were practically naked. A point not missed by the guys from the office, who got very excited when a near naked women walked passed. One, to my dismay, even broke out some binoculars. I am not sure who was more in the wrong though – the guys for drooling so much over a little bit of flesh or the girls for not being culturally sensitive.

Study tour - another euphemism. When it was first mentioned that we were going on a ‘study tour’ I thought ‘cool, a couple of us will go down there, see what’s going on by day and chill out with a few beers in the evening’. I wasn’t entirely wrong. What I didn’t expect was that the whole office was going and that half of the office was also bringing their friends and family (including the kids). It was a bit more like a big family holiday than a study tour.

About 30 of us crammed into a little mini bus for the 7 hour drive to Sihanoukville (another 20 or so were crammed into the bosses four wheel drive). Thankfully the guys at work realised I was a little bigger and needed ‘two’ seats in the bus. ‘Two’ seats by Khmer standards is actually what I would consider to be ‘one’ seat. And a small seat at that – on the front seat next to the driver. I had the gear stick under one leg and the other pinned against the tape player (every time we hit a bump, my knee changed the direction of the tape). But still, it was better than being stuck in the back five to a bench seat.

We got to Sihanoukville, after about 200 snack and pee breaks. Anytime anyone was hungry, we all stopped, which meant it was really slow going. But we got there.

I think it seemed particularly long to me, because I had spent 7 hours getting back from Poipet the day before. I had gone to Poipet to visit Lainie for the long weekend. Lainie gets a bit more adventurous with me around and we took a long moto ride out amongst the surrounding villages which was quite nice, but almost ended in tragedy when we had to negotiate a small river to get back on the main road.

In Sihanoukville, most of us (there were too many of us to stay in one place) stayed in a little hotel opposite the beach. I said I didn’t mind sharing and ended up with four other guys in a twin bed room. I was actually sharing a bed. But it was with one of the other guys from the office (the beds were doubles) and everyone left their clothes on so it wasn’t too bad. I contemplated freaking them out and going nude, but decided against it.

Now, there are times where I really like aspects of Khmer culture and other times when it is completely frustrating. I like that they want to be inclusive and get everyone to go to do things together, but it is also annoying. Particularly when there is 50 of you and you spend hours waiting in the car park for one person to have a shower or something. I have been cramped in a van for hours. I can see the beach. I have my swimmers on. It’s hot. I am sweating. I want to go swimming. So why am I waiting in the car park!!! And so the pace for the week was set. There was a lot of waiting about, particularly in car parks, but I compensated by being slower at getting dressed.

The study tour itself was interesting though. We visited an organisation that was working on projects dealing mostly with sex tourism and HIV/AIDs projects. We went out to some of the villages (shanty towns in the shadows of massive hotels) where HIV was rife and visited a support group for ‘Men who have sex with other men’ (MSM).

The MSM group was basically a group of cross dressers and gay men - they meet once a month in a little hairdressing salon to swap stories and beauty ideas. Most of the MSM work in with sex tourists. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from my colleagues or the gay men themselves. But in a strange way, it seems to be quite acceptable to be gay in Cambodia. They have their own TV show. Not bad considering their low numbers. The guys from the office didn’t really seem to have much of a problem with it and asked lots of questions (in typical Khmer style – they are very curious people and not afraid to ask). We watched a ‘lady boy’ competition on video. It was really sad. I had to try and not to laugh. I could make a better woman than some of them and I certainly could dance better than the majority of them. Basically the ‘show’ consisted of them getting dressed and made up like a traditional Khmer princesses and walked slowly back and forth across a stage. I wanted to get copy and send it to my gay friends back home. They need some help - A bit of queer eye for the queer guys intervention is definitely in order. But you know, at least they are trying.

So after a day and a half of ‘study tour’ we had another day and a half ‘free time’ (while my boss went to meetings). We spent one afternoon driving around and seeing the sights of Sihanoukville. There is a beautiful old art deco hotel (the king’s former summer residence – a legacy of French colonialism) that is perched atop a cliff with lovely private beaches. There are some other really nice resorts too. After that some of the guys took one of the cars and headed to Kampot, but I have been to Kampot, so I decided to stay on in Sihanoukville and enjoy the beach.

After four days of constant contact with the guys from work (eating, drinking, swimming, playing soccer, study touring and sleeping), I decided it was in my interests of my mental health to do a runner and go for a walk on my own. So I snuck off to the more ‘western’ part of the beach to eat a hamburger. Alas, it was also then that I started feeling ill. It was possibly karma, but I doubt it. And so started my bout with dengue.

Tonight it is much cooler. It is raining and I can here the rain tapping against the metal awnings. I can be so peaceful here. I am going to sleep well tonight. Although, I am not looking forward to splashing myself with cold water tomorrow morning. I really must fix the hot water system.

I hope all is well at home.

Take Care,
Erin

Cambodia - Part 9

2007-06-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday 16th June 2007

I am sorry about the delay in posting, but Kampong Thom has been without electricity for most of the week. The romour floating around town is that the head of the electiricty company wants a pay increase (i.e. better kick back) and is effectively holding the town to ransom and will increase the price next week (we already pay twice as much as people living in Phnom Penh). The other story is that the machine broke and that it will take them a week to get the spare parts. Both st0ories are quite pluasible, so it is hard to tell. What it has meant is that i have had no fans (it is still very hot - even at night - the first night of the blackout I dehydrated during my sleep and spent the whole next day drinking rehydration drinks till I stopped feeling dizzy) and have had to do most things in the evening by candle light. It has also meant very little work getting done at work when the computers are down. The joys of living in a developing country....

Monday 11th June 2007

The big 3-ohhh and other misadventures

I don’t know what is going on today. But I turned up to work this afternoon and only three staff are here. Only one of whom actually appears to be working. I must have missed the memo. I have finished all my work, so I figure I might as well write another blog instalment…

It has been a hectic few weeks and I am absolutely exhausted.

Last week we decided, along with two other local NGOs, to pursue a women’s rights and domestic violence program (we dropped the land rights one in the end) through the European Commission. Unfortunately, the proposals were due yesterday, which gave us a week to create, discuss, budget and write a detailed proposal. One week is not a long time to do this, particularly when it involves coordinating three Khmer NGOs and making it fit in with an International NGOs program. Fortunately, all three NGOs had international volunteers working for them who had sufficiently English skills to churn something out quickly. One of the other NGOs working on the program was CoDeC which is the NGO that Shin (my housemate) is working for. So Shin and I spent nearly every night last week, with a beer in our hands, tapping away at our key boards until all hours (We got a break one night when the power went down). Both our Khmer teacher and our cleaner took pity on us and bought us food which was very nice of them. Yesterday we had to throw Shin in a taxi to Phnom Penh to hand the proposal in on time – he got there late, after the moto driver got lost, but thankfully, they accepted it anyhow.

Domestic violence is a pretty big issue in Cambodia; it is still seen by many as a private or family issue, one that should be resolved within the confines of the household. One statistic, from a national survey, found that almost 60% of people believe that it is ok for a husband to shoot or throw acid on his wife if she disrespects him. In more extreme examples; some men would tie their wives feet together, hang them from the roof and systematically torture them. I found these stories and statistics quite surprising, given how respectful/gentle people appear to be in public and the fact that the country is predominantly Buddhist. It seems that despite the peaceful teachings of Buddha, the recent extremely violent history still lingers in many people’s minds and there is no clear boundary on what is acceptable behaviour.

Our program is aimed at complimenting a program by GTZ (a German Technological Development organisation). GTZ is targeting Kampong Thom – working with the judiciary, government agencies and the police to create a better understanding of domestic violence and to spread awareness of the new anti-domestic violence laws. Our program will compliment this, by working with the community and local officials to create a better understanding of domestic violence, encourage open discussion, coordinate support for victims and to empower communities to deal with domestic violence in a better way. As part of the ‘awareness raising’ I suggested that we get some local actors to act out the issue of domestic violence in a little dramatic production. Everyone thought it was a great idea, so it got put in the proposal. I was pretty happy with that.

So from working really hard, I also turned 30 last week. Shin and I decided to have a BBQ at our place to celebrate. A few of our friends came up from Phnom Penh and Lainie came down from Poipet. Most of the staff from both MODE and CoDeC also came along, as did our cleaner, some neighbours, Khmer teacher and some of the other expats living in Kampong Thom. In all we had about 50 people, a good mix of Khmers and expats. We had it in the back yard and decorated the trees with fairy lights, lanterns and candles (bought from the market), and laid out some big khmer matts on the ground for people to sit. As the sun set, it was quite picturesque…

It was touch and go for a bit on the BBQ front, but my friends Tim & Ags came through at the last moment with both a BBQ and a pile of meat. Legends. It took me and Tim several beers and a good hour to put the little red BBQ together, which ended up lopsided (ahh, quality Asian products), and the paint started falling off when we put the hot coals in, but it held together. There was a lot of interest from the Khmers in the BBQed food (some hadn’t seen a BBQ before) and after I demonstrated how to make a sausage sandwich (with a sufficiently charcoaled sausage of course), they went at it with much gusto. When I first told them I wanted to have a BBQ, it took me quite a while to explain the concept. Thankfully my boss had done a bit of travelling and was able to explain it for me. The potato salad was also rather popular – so much so, that I missed out on getting any. I am on a winner there.

So the party went quite late, with the music blaring through the massive speakers I borrowed off my boss. There was a lull for about 10 minutes when the power went out – but the neighbours came to the rescue a generator and the party kicked on, while the rest of Kampong Thom descended into darkness. At one point we put on the Khmer music and got everyone to dance around the table, that was quite fun. The Khmers loved that all my AYAD friends got up and danced too.

It was about 2 am in the morning when the party wrapped up. All the Khmer, even Mab, had gone home and there was about eight of us sprawled out on the mats sinking Mekong Whiskey (not as bad as it sounds), by candle light, when the dogs turned up scavenging for left overs (they didn’t even bring anything to contribute to the party - scabs). We decided to take this as an omen and hit the hay.

The next morning I woke up sweating profusely from the heat and my hangover. I had that moment where you wish that someone else would clean up, but you know that you have to get up and clean. I could already smell the stale beer, cigarettes and all these little bits of food going rancid in the sun. I scraped myself out of bed and went to the back window to survey the damage, only to find, to my surprise, that the backyard was absolutely spotless. The cleaner had turned up early and cleaned everything up for us. She had even done the washing up. Shin and I were well chuffed. We have decided to buy her a present.

The weekend before last, I went to another 30th in Battambong. Another volunteer, Amy, was born a few days before me and she was having a party. Battambong is on the other side of the Tonle Sap lake, so it took me 8 hours to get there. Admittedly, I went the long way via Phnom Penh, because it was also Tim’s birthday that week, and he was going disco bowling. But it was a good way to break up the trek.

Battambong is the second biggest city in Cambodia, which isn’t saying much. The name means ‘big stick’ and there is a big statue of a guy holding a big stick at the entrance to the city. By Khmer standards it is quite a nice city – there is clearly a French influence in the architecture and there is a big river that cuts through the town with little moto/footbridges that cut across it - but there are far pretty cities in south East Asia. There are four AYADs based there, all girls, and they all live in a massive three story house with a huge balcony – where the party was held. We sat out on the balcony drinking beers, giving each other haircuts and dancing. It was fun. I was particularly happy because I also got to catch up with Lainie for the first time in three weeks.

The day before I went to Battambong was International Children’s Day and as part MODEs ‘happy children’ program I was invited down to my Khmer teachers school (she is the school principal) to help out. When I got there I was shuffled into a seat in the front row with all the local dignitaries for what turned out to be a bit of an awards ceremony. MODE had provided the school with ‘prizes’ for the best students in each class and each of the dignitaries took turns presenting the awards to the kids. It was quite odd – I was sitting next to the District Governor, the Village Chief and the local Police Commander handing out awards – clearly I am moving up in social circles in Cambodia…

I hope all is well back home.

Erin

Cambodia - Part 8

2007-05-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Monday 28th May 2007

My moto, vulnerable children and community meetings

Wow! I can’t believe over two months have passed already. Time has just flown by. In three weeks I will be half way through my assignment and next week I turn 30! We are planning on having an Aussie styled BBQ for my birthday. We have pretty much everything sorted, excepted the BBQ, but I figure we could always dig a hole, throw some coals in and chuck a sheet of metal over it. I am sure it will work out.

Last week I bought a motor bike. It is a 95cc Honda Wave and it is way cool. I have been practicing all weekend and am now confident enough to ride down the main road of town. I took it for a little spin on some of the dusty cattle tracks outside of town. That was really fun. Don’t worry mum – it doesn’t go that fast and I wear a helmet. The hardest part is actually starting the thing and avoiding the dogs. The dogs just run out in front of you or sit there until you are nearly on top of them, even if you honk the horn. Little bastards. At least, the cows move slowly and get out of the way when you honk, although they do leave little mines along the road. Just another reason not to like dogs, I say. The traffic isn’t too bad either. All that cycling in Sydney has put me in good stead for negotiating vehicles bigger than me. Although it is more chaotic, other drivers are actually more courteous and travel considerably slower.

On my first attempt to ride the moto solo I fell over in front of the office. Basically, I over revved it in first, went flying and stacked it trying to stop. Luckily, I wasn’t going fast and wasn’t hurt and didn’t damage the bike. It was just my ego that took a battering. Half the office saw it. They flocked around me, carried me inside and made me sit down for half an hour. Naturally, it became the talk of the office; they have all been checking on me and making jokes about. They keep telling me that if I want to fly I should take a plane! My boss wouldn’t let me ride solo until the guys took me out for some more lessons. But all is good now. I have it under control. I just needed some more practice.

At work a few things have also been going on.

First of all, I went out with the ‘Happy Children’ program, a program that targets orphans and vulnerable children. They get the kids together and teach them about things like hygiene. After that the kids get to draw pictures and to play. The two staff – Arun and Mab are both former school teachers and were really good with the kids. I took the toys along that my cousins donated and taught some of the kids how to play frisbee.

It was really nice to play with the kids and see them happy. Some of them come from really bad situations. There are six I want to adopt: Two brothers whose parents died from HIV/AIDS and one blind girl (and her three siblings – I couldn’t break up the family) whose parents are infected.

The little blind girl breaks my heart the most. She clings onto her mothers clothes and follows her everywhere. I don’t want to imagine what her life will be like if her mother dies. The other kids, especially her sister, are also really sweet with her. They lead her around and get her to touch the toys. She particularly liked an orange toy that played a song. She just held it close to her ear and played the song over and over. She sang us a traditional Khmer song which was really sweet. She sings quite well and I was holding back the tears.

The two little brothers lost their parents to HIV/AIDS a few years back. They live in a little thatched hut, which MODE built for them, with their 85 year old grandmother. Their grandmother is also suffering from ill health, so they get a bit of special attention from us. Consequently, I have met them quite a few times. They like to pull on my pants and pinch my feet. The eldest tends is very serious and wants to be a doctor when he is older. I hope that he will be. I like to try and make him laugh by pulling faces. The youngest one is really cute - he was in hysterics when I picked him up and put him on my shoulders. He comes up to about my knee. I must seem so big to him.

I have also been going to the community forums facilitated by MODE on HIV/AIDS. They are held after work hours in the local villages, usually on a dusty old dirt volley ball court. The meeting format goes something like this:

Staff tell local villagers of the up coming meeting on their visits. On the morning of the meeting a staff member goes out and puts up the big blue banners with white writing advertising the meetings. A group of us go out to the village after work, at about 5pm, and blast Khmer music really really loudly though a massive stack of speakers. Inevitably a few kids turn up and start running around and don’t stop for several hours. After about 3 hours, of blaring music and kids running around, the villagers and the other speakers turn up and the meeting starts. By this time it is dark and we have fluro lights radiating light from a few strategically placed trees. None of the villages like the light, so they sit in the shadows out on the road or in clumps on the other side of the strategically placed trees. A representative from MODE gets up and talks about HIV/AIDS and MODEs program. A health official gets up and talks about the medical aspects of HIV/AIDS. A person living with HIV/AIDS gets up and talks about their experiences. There is a Q&A session and then some dancing. This is where I come in…

Allegedly, it makes the villagers very happy to see foreigners dance. So I am forced out onto the dusty dance floor by one of the staff and the two of us move three steps forward, three steps back, with hands contorted, around a desk (people won’t dance if there isn’t anything to dance around). I might point out that I am stone cold sober when this is happening. If I am lucky some kids will join me, followed by a few adults. At one I had a bit of a Congo-line happening, which was cool, but last Friday only three people joined in. There must have been at least five hundred people watching me from the shadows. This goes on for a few songs and every song goes for what seems an eternity. Although, it is not all bad. Many people have commented on my dancing skills and the other week I got handed a note from an 18 year old girl with a phone number on it and a message saying that she ‘really’ wanted to ‘get to know me’.

After the dancing, there is a competition. People have to answer questions on HIV/AIDS to get a prize. The prizes consist of Khmer scarfs, writing books and if they are good, and I mean real good, they get washing powder!! Sometimes I even get to present the prizes. Usually, at this time, some of villagers (mostly kids learning English) come up, say hello to me and have a chat. After the prizes are handed out, we wrap up, usually about 11pm. It makes for a long day, but it is interesting.

After one of the meetings, I was introduced to a man whose daughter was about to get married. The man spoke quite good English and invited me to the wedding. So, mostly out of curiosity, I went (with Mab from work). The wedding was held in a restaurant in town which had been decked out with lots of streamers and other decorations. The wedding party greeted us on arrival and we were ushered to our seats. The local karaoke stars were up on stage belting out the Khmer favourites, while we hoed into some great food and skulled copious amounts of beer (poured over ice of course).

During the ceremony I got up to watch them cut the cake and take a few pictures on my phone (my camera got stolen when I was at the market last week – my own fault, I should have been more careful). While I was standing there a girl turned around and said something to me. It took me a moment, partly due to the beer consumption and the loud music, but mostly because I just wasn’t expecting it, to realise: not only why she speaking in English fluently, but she was also speaking with an Australian accent. Anyhow, she was a Khmer Australian who has just moved to Kampong Thom from Perth. You can never get away from Aussies. They are everywhere. Even in Cambodian backwaters like Kampong Thom.

Later, somehow, I am not really sure how, I found myself sitting with the bridal party. Which was strange, but which I am sure I pulled off with grace and dignity. The father, the groom and a few others knocked back a couple of coldies with me, until I was well drunk. Shortly after, I decided to make a sensible exit and left. The father who invited me was very excited that I was able to make it and shook my hand vigorously on the way out. It seems, to me at least, that the Khmer people really love to see people participating (especially foreigners), smiling and enjoying life, so I tend to go down a treat at events. Well, that is what I am telling myself…

On a completely different topic, I have been thinking a lot about ghosts lately. Many Khmer people are very suspicious and believe in ghosts. People talk about them quite openly and they appear in Khmer TV shows all the time. One of the girls from work told me she is afraid to go out by herself at night for fear of running into ghosts. Being something of a sceptic, I don’t really believe in ghosts. But I must say if there was every going to be an event that might leave a few tortured souls behind; it would probably be an act of genocide.

And then late the other night something weird happened.

I was at home alone when something caught my eye outside. When I looked out the window there was what looked like a torch light moving across the neighbour’s wall. I couldn’t figure out the source of the light and when I moved closer again. A shadow, of what looked like a small boy, quickly scampered off over the other neighbour’s roof. It was all quite weird. And the shadow moved far too quickly to be a real boy. Anyhow, although I am sure there is a normal explanation for it, all this talk of ghosts has got me paranoid and I was a little freaked out.

Coincidently, I was also reading a book that mentions the concept of ghosts in a western context. That every world view clings to ghosts, including ours. Our ghosts, though, are thinkers, inventors and scientists, like Descartes, Edison or Aristotle, who are made immortal through their teachings, inventions and insights…so maybe there is something in this ghost thing. Or maybe I just have too much time to think.

One thing that is definitely not a spectre is my craving for food. Over the last week or so I have been getting some serious hankerings. It was triggered by a dinner party I went to the weekend before last at my friends, Tim & Ags, house in Phnom Penh. I was down in Phnom Penh for an AYAD meeting and stayed the weekend. Ags made these delicious veggie burgers and after eating some crap fried rice (Bai Chaa) the following Monday, I realised that I had hit a wall. Up until now fried rice has pretty much been my staple. It is easy to order and digest. But I realised on Monday I was over it and have been craving western food since. I spent much of last weekend cooking pastas and potato salad as a result.

Tonight I am going to meet the District Governor. My Khmer teacher lined it up – she is friends with him and told him that I worked in local government at home. So, he is interested to meet me and talk ideas (I suspect he really wants English lessons). But I am hoping to get a foot in and discuss some issues with him on behalf of my organisation. Will see how that goes.

So, as I mentioned, I had my camera stolen. The pics I have taken are from my phone, so the quality isn’t as good. But you probably won’t be able to tell on this page.

I hope all is well back home.

Take Care
Erin

Cambodia - Part 7

2007-05-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 16^th of May 2007

Land Rights, the Long Weekend and Eating Crickets

It is the Wednesday after a long weekend and today I have been struggling for inspiration. On Friday I am going to an AYAD meeting in Phnom Penh and to see the doctor for a follow up visit. So effectively, I have a two day week.

Last week, I spent a good few days furiously searching for funding options and putting together a funding proposal on ‘land rights’. Land rights are a major issue here, especially for people who are poor and/or vulnerable (i.e. women headed households, people living with HIV/AIDs, people living with a disability, etc). Without housing and income security (through subsistence farming) people are pushed even further into a life of poverty.

The problem stems from the Khmer Rouge period, when all official documentation was destroyed and the population was displaced. Since then the land title system has not recovered. Only the very rich can afford to buy property and to pay the bribes necessary at each level to secure a title. As a result, most people have no proof that they own a property, even if it has been in their family for hundreds of years (most people started again after the Khmer Rouge though – so many families have lived on properties for about 20 years which is still quite a substantial amount of time). Basically, around Kampong Thom, wealthy farmers and companies, in cahoots with corrupt officials, are forcing families off their family plots, leaving them homeless and without a means of income. Most rural families are ill educated; they have now idea how to stop this from happening or what to do if someone tries to take their land. Even if they do know they can take it to court and defend their rights, then the wealthy farmers/companies will usually buy off the judiciary. So it is a pretty bad situation.

On the up side, organisations like the Legal Aid Cambodia are doing some good work and having moderate success in representing poor people. But, their resources are limited and there is a lot of dispossession happening around the country. It can be quite dangerous work; at worst some activists have ‘disappeared’, at best there have been more ‘inspections’ on organisations helping people defend their rights. Many NGOs are a little reluctant to deal with this issue, but my boss and I think it is worth while and my NGO has a good relationship with local officials, so I hope we go ahead with it (the staff are going to decide this week at a staff meeting). If it goes ahead we will be educating people on their rights, working with local officials, the judiciary and lining up legal support for victims.

So work has been going well and is really interesting. Although I am getting a little frustrated with the internet connection; it is very difficult to research programs and funding, when there is only one connection and it is slower than a train on the Bankstown Line. It seriously takes me an hour to reply to a couple of emails (I apologise to anyone who was hoping for replies and I haven’t – don’t think I don’t appreciate you and your thoughts). The other day I was over waiting, and decided to go to the internet café and work from there. The connection isn’t much faster, but at least I don’t have to wait for other people to finish. No one had a problem with it, so I might do that a bit more often.

As I have already mentioned, the last few days were public holidays. I had a date of sorts with Lainie, whom I have mentioned previously. Lainie is another Australian volunteer working in Poipet, on the border with Thailand. We met up in Siem Reap, where we stayed in the ‘Day Inn Angkor Resort’. It was a nice place – hot showers, air conditioning, a pool and a buffet breakfast. The most luxurious place I have stayed in Cambodia and still pretty cheap. We had a pretty laid back day, drinking, eating and relaxing. In the evening we went out to a French Bar that is tucked away behind a Silk Shop near the Psaar Chaa (new market). We stumbled across this place on a previous visit they have a bamboo loft section above the bar, serve great buckwheat crepes and mix a mean Mojitio. Our friend Bek was also in Siem Reap with a friend Belinda, who was friend’s with Lainie’s sister (small world), so they caught up with us there too. It was nice evening, talking and drinking.

The next day Lainie and I headed off to Sisophon, on our way to Poipet. It is a three hour drive between Siem Reap and Sisophon. Even though it is a highway and the main road leading to the Thai border, the road is not sealed and quite rough. The rumour doing the rounds is that Thai Airways gives large amounts of money to the Cambodian Government so that they take their time sealing it, as the airline makes a lot of money flying tourists to and from Siem Reap (for Angkor Wat) from Bangkok.

Anyhow, we spent the night visiting our friend Laura (another AYAD) in Sisophon. We had a bit of a dinner party at Laura’s and cooked up a western feast, using supplies we bought in Siem Reap, of pasta and vanilla slice. Sisophon itself, is quite a nice spot, nestled under hill that has a Temple (and mobile phone tower) perched on top. There aren’t many hills about, so you can see it from miles away. Laura’s house is massive – it is a little older with six bedrooms and she lives there alone. She has a nice verandah at the front framed by fairy lights.

The next day Lainie and I headed to Poipet. We took a share taxi and they piled eight people in; driver, two in the passenger seat and five in the back seat (including me and Lainie). Sometimes they try to squeeze even more people in, but not that day. Because of the limited room, Lainie sat on my lap, which I didn’t mind at all. The road is at its worst between Sisophon and Poipet; it was really really bumpy, but it only took about an hour and a half.

Poipet would have to be one of, if not the, ugliest parts of Cambodia. It has an industrial, barren, dirty, dusty feel to it. Lainie has it tough there, she is the only AYAD in town and one of the few foreigners, but she is a pretty cool/strong chick. She has to live in a hotel because her organisation won’t let her live alone. A lot of Cambodians come to Poipet from rural areas (like Kampong Thom) to try to find work and are usually disappointed to find there are few jobs and end up sneaking across the border in dodgy wooden hand pulled carts to work in Thailand. The authorities know this happens (it is pretty obvious) but just turn a blind eye as long as they stay out of sight and they are given a cut from the smuggler.

There are parts of town that sit in muddy bogs, houses made from plastic sheeting and rubbish just strewn in piles through the street. Old clothes sit like a carpet across the muddy banks of the back streets. There are few trees and heaps of mud. I felt there was a definite tension as we walked around the town. I realised just how laid back Kampong Thom is in comparison. While were walking about my new thongs got stuck in some mud and broke (cheap thongs) to the amusement of some nearby, orange be robed, monks. We jumped on a moto and went to the markets, where as usual, I had trouble finding something that would fit me and ended up with thongs that were a little too small.

Almost, overshadowing Poipet are several Casinos’ that sit in the ‘no mans land’ between the Cambodian and Thai borders. It is quite surreal, the stark contrast of the casino’s wealth and modernity against the town, but we went there for dinner anyhow. We had dinner in a proper Chinese restaurant and I tried my hand a little roulette. Ever the shrewd gambler, I doubled my small bet and we left. On the way out we found a night club (wonder of wonders) with a live band, so we had a few drinks and a bit of a boogie there. They played a few English pop songs (most likely for our benefit) which we found highly entertaining as the emphasised the wrong parts of the words. We were the only people dancing (well, except for the Thai girls that were being paid to dance) on the dance floor. Lainie claims she won the dance off, but I know better. It has been a while since I have been anywhere where western dancing was deemed acceptable and so it was quite fun.

The next day I had an 8 hour journey to look forward too, but I should have stayed in bed. For some reason the taxi drivers were being reluctant to take me back to Siem Reap or Sisophon. Lainie and I spent a good few hours trying to find me a ride. In Poipet, the police take a cut from the taxi drivers and if they see a foreigner get in the taxi they will expect a bigger cut, so sometimes they don’t want to take them. Eventually, after going from taxi rank to taxi rank I split a taxi with an American, who had just come over the border, and said goodbye to Lainie. After not being able to get in a share taxi, the private taxi companies literally had a fight over us. It was more expensive, but the driver took us all the way to Siem Reap and we had space to stretch out, so it was probably worth it. It had rained over night, so the road was really slippery and slow going, in parts we fish tailed through the mud.

By the time I got to Siem Reap I had missed the last bus to Kampong Thom and had to organise another taxi. Fortunately they know a thing or two about customer service in Siem Reap and I was bundled into a share taxi with 8 others in no time. Funny thing, while I was waiting in the front seat for the other passengers to arrive, one of the drivers friends kept jumping in the car, giving me a cheeky grin and moving it in front of the policemen (presumably so they could see he was carrying a westerner and would have to pay a higher bribe). The other drivers found this hilarious and were in stiches.

Despite the fact that things were quite cramped, the road was soooo smooth (being sealed) that I fell asleep for a good hour. I woke when our taxi swerved to miss a dog, then some buffalo and finally some cows.

I got home about 7pm, after having left Lainie’s hotel at about 9.30am. It was a long trip in a short amount of time, but worth it. Lainie and I had a lot of fun. It was good to get back to the peace and quiet of Kampong Thom though. I think I might be turning into a country boy – horror of horrors!

Today the staffs of MODE are having a workshop that is all in Khmer, so I was excused. But I have been watching them playing games, brain storm on butchers’ paper and singing songs. Everyone seems to be in good spirits.

My house is becoming a popular hang out for the boys from work since I got the volley ball net and the boys keep asking if they can come over and play. If they could, they would play ever day. Thankfully I have other things to do, like Khmer classes, otherwise I know they would be around every day.

My clothes were caked in mud from Sisophon and Poipet, so I was much relieved to see the cleaner this morning. I could get very use to having a cleaner. She bought us a whole bag of fried crickets the other day and left them in a bowl surrounded by water in the wok, so the ants wouldn’t get to them. Shin and I just looked at them. It was a nice gesture, but there was no way either of us were going to eat a whole bag. In the end, Shin took them to work to give to his colleagues.

The crickets are very popular though and I have tried them. One of the guys from work came in with some fried goods wrapped in newspaper. I thought – great they do fish and chips here! Yum! But then they unravelled the paper and it was full of glistening freshly fried black crickets. I have seen moments like this at the movies – but usually they are the nightmare scenes. So I had a go. They weren’t too bad – a bit like a crunchy chicken/dried fish taste. I ate about 5 so they guys from work didn’t think I was lame. But they still had a laugh at me because I ate the little legs. They don’t. Apparently it is gross to eat the feet (it is considered the dirtiest part on the human body – after the weekend I can see why). I was like, so you eat the bum and the brains, but the feet are too much?! I have also seen people putting them on steamed rice and mixing them into their lunch at the restaurant. Gross.

Also, some good news from home – Jane & Tom (my old house mates) had a baby boy! They haven’t settled on a name as far as I know, but they might name him Blake (after the poet, not me). But, you know, I might have to return the favour one day and call my first born Tutton. Tutton Blake – kinda has a nice ring to it. Some other friends, Loreto and Greg also had their baby a few weeks ago, and Paul and Kym got married. So that is two births and a wedding since I have been here. What is going on in

Australia

!! I haven’t been gone that long!!!

I hope all is well for everybody.

Take Care

Erin

Cambodia - Part 6

2007-05-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday 6th May 2007

Home coming & Home leaving

Last weekend I went home to Sydney for my sisters wedding.

It was nice, but weird, being at home and seeing my whole family together. Even after my short time in Cambodia, Sydney seemed so sanitized, organised and developed. And it was a little difficult to adjust. In the car on the way from the airport, people were discussing Sydney’s tunnels, on talk back radio. Having just got off the plane from Cambodia, it just sounded like a bunch rich people whinging about nothing. It seemed like such a non issue compared to what people go through here. But, if I have learnt anything while I have been away it is that everything is relative to your own experiences. You deal with what you are given.

On the up side I got curl up under the covers in my comfy bed, wash my clothes properly and have a hot shower. It was good to feel the dust and sweat wash away and to put on clean crisp clothes. Although it was pretty cold and I immediately started to sniffle as I walked out of the airport.

The wedding was a lot of fun. It was good to see everyone together, all dressed up and happy. I am really happy for my sister, Meredith, and Don, they have been together for a long time, and I think it is a good thing for their relationship to take the final step. I can’t imagine what it would be like without Don around, it seems like he has been a part of our family for such a long time. They got married and St Patrick’s Catholic Church in the City and had the reception in the Sebel (on the old Pier One) which was pretty schmick. The food was great and I made the most of it. At the moment they are in Tahiti soaking up the sun on their honey moon…

So, I had a whirl-wind three days in Sydney, but still managed to catch up with some friends at the Courtie, by some more clothes and replace my reading glasses which I lost of the back of a moto, before I flew back.

It felt like a long time travelling, even though I managed to sleep a bit, and I was exhausted by the time I got to Phnom Penh. It was weird, I felt quite anxious and out of sorts until I got back to our house in Kampong Thom. I guess it is all part of this culture shock and reverse culture shock thing they told us about. Some part of me feels like this is home now (well for a while).

It is cooler today, the first cool day I have spent here, and there is a nice breeze blowing. At the moment I am sitting on our front veranda looking out over the muddy waters of the Stung Sen River. On the opposite bank, I can see cows grazing, some wooden boats, up turned and a row of wooden/thatch huts mounting the rise. A little golden dog is sniffing around the front of our gates trying to find a way in. Occasionally, a moto putters past, a cow moos, or my neighbours yell something to each other or clink a bowl, but aside from that, it is just the sound of the rustling leaves and the birds chirping. It is really quite peaceful in Kampong Thom on the weekend. It really is a rural town. I have really been enjoying the chance to relax and have spent most of the day lazing back in a hammock reading a book (Cloudstreet by Tim Winton).

While I was away there has been some rain about the province, so things are looking a bit greener. The difference was quite noticeable from the bus as we sped past the vast rice fields. It has also meant an explosion of bugs. I turned on a fluoro light the other night and, within seconds, there was a cloud of them whirling around. This has meant the implementation of a new lighting strategy around the house. Instead of turning the inside lights on, we turn the outside lights on and the inside ones off, and the bugs tend not to bother us as much. Out in the fields and along the road side the locals have erected big plastic sheet with water troughs at the bottom. At night they turn on purple fluorescent lights to attract the bugs and they catch them in the water trap. You can buy bags of fried crickets everywhere around town. I will have a go, but I have to prepare myself for it first. One of my colleagues offered me one the other day, but I feeing a bit queasy as it was and just couldn’t do it. Just watching her was enough.

I did have a go at some of the beetle nut that they old ladies chew on instead of tobacco. I can’t say I liked it; it was quite bitter and peppery, I spat it out after a little, but my mouth still went numb. Strange. It is not cool for women to smoke here, so they eat the beetle nut instead.

The other day I went out on a field trip with my boss and some of the guys from work. It was quite a revelation to me to find that there is a second, better and bigger, market in Kampong Thom. It seems that I managed to miss a whole part of the town, on the left as you cross the river. It really doesn’t look like anything is down there, but it appears there is heaps of houses and that they go on for quite a way along the river. Kampong Thom is much bigger than I first thought (it’s more of a two horse town, not just a one horse). I guess it is the provincial capital. Still, there isn’t that much to see or do. Most of the action happens on the main street.

Although I haven’t been around much in the last few weeks work is also picking up. I am conducting a review of their current local governance project and looking around for funding to support it in the future. My boss is also looking at getting involved in a land rights campaign, which I think is particularly cool, but might be a bit dangerous as it could put the organisation at odds with some powerful people. So I am in two minds about it.

Outside of work life in Kampong Thom is coming along as well.

On Friday, I bought a volley ball net and ball. We have set up a bit of a court in our front yard. The boys from the office came around and we promptly popped the ball on the barbed wire lining the top of our neighbour’s fence. So we went and got some beer and pig innards and drank the night away instead. We made quite a mess and in the morning the sight of pig innards warming in the sun did nothing for my hang over. Thankfully, our cleaner came to the rescue and cleaned it all up while I slept off my hangover. She’s a gem! Don’t know how I got by without her!

Yesterday we fixed the ball and half the neighbourhood turned up for a game. It was fun, but hot, and I was drenched in sweat and buggered by the end. It turns out my friend Mab is quite the star about town he played volley ball for the Cambodian National team, although they could never afford to travel out of Cambodia to play in tournaments so they only played the occasional game against a visiting neighbour. I tell you what, for a little guy he sure can jump for the spikes.

I am also getting known around town, some people know I speak a little Khmer and stop me to have a little chat. Most of the time I just smile, nod and agree. Usually, I have no idea what they are saying to me except for the odd phrase like ‘are you married?’ or ‘where are you going?’ - I have moments of brilliance in Khmer, but most of the time I struggle still. My Khmer teacher wants me to take more lessons, so I get better quicker. Actually, to go off on a tangent, I told my Khmer teacher that my parents were ‘retired’ and she thought that I was saying that they had passed away. It was a bit of an awkward conversation correcting her, as some time had passed before I realised; she clearly felt sorry for me and was lining me up with orphan friends. Ahh, cultural misunderstandings…

That is one of the other cool things I have come to like about the Khmer culture. When people go through stuff, they never do it alone. They really pull together and look after everyone in the community. For example, one of the younger girls at work, who has lost her mother, has a very close relationship with one of the older women. They call each other sister, hang out after work and do stuff that sisters do.

On the flip side though I have been having a hard time getting across the point that I chose live on my own at home. They simply don’t understand that if I am not married, why I wouldn’t live with my parents. I could think of two good reasons (sorry mum & dad – you know you wouldn’t want me there anyhow).

My health is also improving. After taking antibiotics and using some cream, my spots seem to be going away at last. I am almost back to full health, but I do have to make the trip back to Phnom Penh to see the doctor for a follow up at some point. When I go to stay in Phnom Penh, I usually stay with my friends, also from the AYAD program, Kate, Bec and Sophie. They have a spare bed in a top floor unit. They have a great upstairs part from which you look out over the southern part of Phnom Penh. They sit up there and sip on G&T’s most afternoons, something I am quite partial to. I watched the sun rise from up there just before leaving for Sydney and had a little moment to myself. I was spending so much time at the girls place just before I left for Sydney that I started to feel like I was the fourth housemate…the tuk tuk driver on the corner outside their place knows my name!

Next weekend is another long weekend. We have a two day public holiday for King Norodom’s birthday. Given that I missed a public holiday while I was in Sydney that will make it six public holidays since I have been in Cambodia. It is pretty cool if you ask me. I think I might go west and catch up with my friend Lainie, maybe spend some time in Battambang or something.

Also, big thanks to my cousins, who donated and collected some toys for the kids over here. MODE runs a ‘Happy Happy Children’ program for orphans and vulnerable children, so the toys will go towards that. I will take some pictures for you.

Take Care
Erin

Cambodia - Part 5

2007-04-21T02:23:00.000-07:00

Friday 20th April 2007

New Years & Health Scare

Sok Sabi Chnum Khmai (Happy Khmer New Year)

I have had a mega busy week.

Firstly, on Khmer New Years Eve, we had a big morning of handing out rice (and other foodstuffs, including cooking oil from Australia) to orphans and people living with HIV/AIDs. The day went quite well, heaps of MODEs clients turned up (they were qued up outside when I arrived – I felt guilty that I was carrying my breakfast and had to sneak around the back) and we gave away somewhere in the vicinity 1000kg of rice. They came in big 50kg bags which we had to split into 30kg bags for people to take away. I ended up lugging around most of the bags - They were really heavy and really hot, but I wanted to show that I was really keen to help, so I pretended like it was nothing. All the guys in the office started calling me ‘bourng klang’ (strong man) which sufficiently placated my ego. It was a long/hard mornings work, but well worth it. The guys on the office kept jumping on the scales to see who was the heaviest. They kept trying to get me to go on, but I knew that a) the scales did not go up to my weight and b) I had about 40 kg on the nearest competitor, so I strategically avoided it.

While were handing out the rice, one of the grandmothers came up to me and emphatically thanked me for giving them rice. It was quite sweet at her, but I felt quite embarrassed about it (yes, it does happed). It would have still happened if I had been there or not. It is not like I organised it. I felt a bit humbled I guess.

After we handed out all the rice we packed up the office and headed out to the lakeside for an office picnic. There was a lot of eating, drinking and playing cards which was a lot of fun. I ate raw snails, and little clam things. Did I mention the pig innards I had the other week? They go great with beer…

Just as everything was winding up for New Years, we had a rushed meeting/visit from some of the donors. So instead of kicking back for a few days before new years I was busy redrafting a funding proposal and going around with the sponsors. It was good though. I feel like I am finally getting involved in the organisation and the work.

MODE has been working on a project that aims to replicate successful micro-businesses which will help people get out of poverty. If you earn under $20 here you are considered to be in poverty. People living with HIV, people living with disabilities and women-headed houses holds in rural areas are particularly vulnerable to poverty and marginalised by the local communities, many do not have the basic skills or access to programs that could help them develop the skills in order to generate an income. The aim of MODEs is to help these people. By providing them with skills, micro-financing, health services and empowering them through self-help groups.

On our field trip, we took the donors out to see some successful micro-businesses that had been established by people living with disabilities and their families. We visited a cake maker, a rice wine maker (my favourite), a pot maker and basket weavers. They set up their businesses on the side of the road or take their produce to the local village market.

Our meeting and field trip went late, but I still managed to get down to Phnom Penh (there were some seriously bad accidents along the road and it took two extra hours on the bus) for a Saturday departure with some of the other AYAD guys. We hired a mini van with a driver for the weekend and he took us in his ‘Mercedes’ van down to Kampot. We spent the afternoon/night at a place on the river where we went swimming, ate heaps and drank the first day of new years away. It was also one of the girl’s birthdays (Kim) so we made sure she got extra smashed. It was quite a nice spot and was nice to catch up with the guys. On the way home eleven of us squeezed into a tuk tuk. A few of us took turns pushing it up the hills.

The next day the group split up between the ‘mountain goats’ and the ‘beachcombers’. Some of the guys went hiking, while the rest of us (Ags, Tim, Susan, Allison and me) went to Kep which is on the beach. Kep was great – beautiful and tropical and packed with Khmer people on holidays.

Somehow we managed to find a bungalow in this beautiful hotel set among the trees looking over the water. Stunning. It was one of the nicest places I have ever stayed at and all for about $12 a night. From Kep we tried to go Island hoping, but were thwarted by a dodgy boat engine and only got to Rabbit Island, which was beautiful, but not as secluded as we wanted. The Islands off Kep are really close to the border with Vietnam and we were told that if you went the wrong way that the Vietnamese border patrol would just open fire at the boat. So we all had a moment when the boat engine died and we started drifting towards Vietnam. Thankfully our trusty boat driver jumped in and jimmied up the engine so we could get back to Rabbit Island.

While we were on the boat a flying fish jumped out of the water and hit me in the head. Why do all the weird things happen to me? I hadn’t even seen a flying fish before.

At Rabbit Island we splashed about in the water, kicking back in a few inner tubes, lazed about under the palm trees and sunk some beers (to celebrate new years of course). It was so nice to go swimming in a cool ocean. I could literally feel the dust washing away.

The food in Kep was also amazing – fresh fish, prawns, crab and octopus – and soooo cheap. It was great. We ate like kings. On our last night we went to Karaoke bar where the locals all came up to talk to us (there weren’t many tourists about) and get us to dance. But after two bottles of vodka and a couple of goes at dismal Karaoke performances I think they were happy to see us leave.

It was a long trip back to Kampong Thom (over 7 hours in total) and I was feeling pretty crap (see afore mentioned vodka reference). When we got back though, things didn’t improve. I started getting weird aches and pains in my chest and shoulders, on top of which my rash had gotten worse. I was quite worried about this all (being at least 3 hours from reliable medical help), so I decided to call SOS who told me to go to Phnom Penh and get checked out. I spent the night moaning to myself and woke up feeling better, but decided to bum a ride with my boss to Phnom Penh and get checked out anyhow. At least I could get something effective for my rash.

When I got to the SOS clinic they decided that they better do a blood check for malaria and told me to come back the next day. At this point, I really started to get worried. I stayed the night, slightly panicked, at a friends place and went back to the clinic this morning. To my great relief, I do not have malaria (I have been very good taking my anti-malarial medicine), I just had a bit of a bug, no doubt from the seafood or something and the rash it turns out, is most likely due to the anti-malaria medicine (although the doctor kept asking if I took body building drugs - I will take that as a complement. I am like ‘do I look like I am on roids?’). So I am now on anti-biotics and have some kick-ass cream. Phew. If that doesn’t fix it I will have to change my anti-malaria regime.

And I get to spend the weekend in Phnom Penh.

Too add to the good news – I checked my bank balance and have managed to save while I have been here. Cool. Time to go shopping! Maybe I can buy something that won’t fall apart in 4 seconds.

Next week I will be back in Aus for a few days for my sisters wedding, so will see some of you then.

Also, Liz, my cousin, is doing a bit of a collection for toys and clothes and stuff. So, if you have anything that some kids in Cambodia would like let me or Liz know.

Liea Ta (See you)

Erin

Cambodia - Part 4

2007-04-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 11/4/07

Khmer New Years Eve…

For some reason I get inspired to write on Tuesdays. It is not intentional; it just works out that way.

Khmer New Years is this weekend coming and office is pretty much winding down. No one is looking to do anything much. I wanted to talk to the boss and my counterpart about some work that I had done. They gave me a kind of tired look and said it would be better to talk about it after New Years. So now I have three days of work and nothing much to do. Which is ok by me, it is hot and I don’t feel like doing much.

Khmer New Year is a big celebration here it goes over three days. While we only get one public holiday, the office will be closed for almost a week (everyone takes leave). Everyone goes to spend time with their families and dances for three days. My counterpart, Nary, only gets to see her husband a few times a year – New Years is one of those times. A few guys from the office are also travelling back to their home towns to visit their families, but most will stay and celebrate in Kampong Thom. As for me, I plan on catching up with a few of the other guys from the AYAD program. We are going to go down to Kampot in the South near the Vietnamese border – surf, sand, trekking and no doubt a few cocktails. It will probably take me about 8 hours to get there, but it will be worth it.

Around the streets people are putting up big colourful stars, lights and decorations. The local kids have been setting off fire works…like the good old days…it’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas…

Last weekend Shin and I got to go to our first Khmer party. It was really fun. It was a house warming party for the new office and house. We received formal invites on nice paper with golden writing. I am told that it was a fairly upmarket affair in comparison to most Khmer parties. They set up a big colourful marquee at the front of the house. We had to register when we arrived and make a donation to the party. Given that it was bosses party and that I am a foreigner I was expected to give a little more than most others. I am seen as rich and close to my boss and you pay according to the respect you should give. But still I got off quite lightly. The food was great and the beers just kept coming. Everyone wanted to drink with us because we were the foreigners.

Before drinking the people will designated how much of the glass should be drunk. ‘Moi moi’ translates to ‘one after the other’ which means you have to knock back the whole glass. Most of the night people kept saying ‘moi moi’ to us. Thankfully I am much bigger and quite the experienced drinker, so it wasn’t too much of a problem keeping up and remaining composed. Later in the night they broke out the Karaoke (it was nice to be on the other side of the stack of speakers for once) and everyone started to dance. Again, everyone wanted to dance with us so we were up dancing for quite a while. Khmer dancing pretty much consists of going slowly around a centre piece: stepping a few steps forward, then stepping a few steps back while contorting your hands. I was a natural and received many compliments, but it might have been the beer talking. They all knew that Shin and I weren’t married so they kept angling for us to dance near the single girls at the party which was kind of funny. We were still metres away but people were giggling and saying that we should get married. A few guys from the office, including my boss Sinal, got up and sung a few songs. They were all really good. Lucky for Shin and I, there were no songs in English and we could decline singing ourselves. All in all it was a really fun night.

Aside from the party Shin and I also went up to Siem Reap for a night. We stayed in a good hotel which had air conditioning and a hot shower. I forgot how good a hot shower could be. It was heaven. Lainie was also in Siem Reap for work and we met up with her. We all went up to watch the sun set over Angkor, which was quite cool, but packed with tourists. I am still to actually see Angkor though, but I am gradually getting closer.

Last week I also went out with my boss to Sunden; a small town about 2 hours north east of Kampong Thom. Sunden is my boss and his wife’s home town and is also home to one of MODE’s satellite offices. I thought Kampong Thom was quite rural, but this place was more so. No sealed roads and only about two shops. It was nice to visit, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck there. Sinal told me that up until about 3 years ago the Khmer Rouge was still active in the area between Kampong Thom and Sunden, and that there were still a few hiding out in the forest. They would often hijack cars on the road that we were on and kidnap westerns. But that was three years ago, they pose no threat now (phew).

The reason we went out to Sunden was because it was the Chinese day for the dead. Sinal’s wife is Chinese in ethnicity and she goes every year to meet her family and pay respect to her ancestors. We went to a big mound where her father was buried next to his old rice paddy. There the family decorated the graves with colourful pieces of paper, lit some incense, chanted a bit and then made offerings of food, money (they burn fake money that they buy at the market) and drink to the dead. Strangely, it got me to thinking about my own family and history and I got a little emotional about the whole thing. After, we went back to her family house where we had a big lunch and played English teacher with the kids. They are quite smart and quick, so I had to keep my wits about me. They were writing words I said in the dirt with sticks.

On the way back from Sunden we visited Parsat Tao, a largely in tact temple on the outskirts of Kampong Thom. The temples in the area are mostly made from clay bricks (Angkor is made of stone) and are located in the middle of the forest. It is quite a cool area and would make a great picnic location (or rave party). The temples are quite simple, predating Angkor by about five hundred years, and have been worn by the elements. This area use to be the capital of Kampuchea before it was moved to Angkor and it still remains quite a spiritual place for the Khmer people. The boss’s kids were really excited to see it and went running ahead; it was nice to see them so interested in their history. The other great thing was that there were no other tourists about! We had the whole place to ourselves.

I also got my first haircut in Cambodia. All I knew how to say was ‘short’, so I was pretty much at the mercy of the barber. It cost me $1, but they took a lot of care. I was day dreaming away and didn’t notice the guy pull out the razor - I have been worried about getting my haircut over here because of the high rate in HIV and hepatitis that may been transmitted via razors etc, but the guy started before I could say ‘’no’’ and then he had to even it up. Well, he didn’t cut me, so I think I am safe for now. But I had images of going to HIV/AIDS support groups and hanging out with ex-junkies and prostitutes telling them how I got HIV at a barber in Kampong Thom…” he splashed my face with windex after – I thought that would kill it’’. Seriously though – he did use windex as lubricant, after shave and gel. I smelt like a freshly cleaned window for hours! On the upside he also gave me a massage.

Aside from my meanders, not much else has happened this week. Except that our cleaner started and we found a Khmer teacher. Both should make our lives here a little easier. I think I have forgotten more Khmer than I can use.

Tomorrow we are going to be giving out rice to the needy for New Years celebrations. That should be pretty cool. Aside from that I have finally been given some work to do, although, they have given me over a month to complete it. They want me to conduct a review of the local governance and decentralisation program. I am hoping I will be able to do some surveys and stuff with the villages, so I can gauge how much they understand about democracy etc, but I think that money will probably be an issue. On the up side it good to have something to concentrate on. Shin has nothing to do at work and has been amusing himself creating posters.

That is all for now.

Take Care.

Liea Ta.

Erin

Cambodia - Part 3

2007-04-09T03:37:00.000-07:00

Friday 6/4/07

An average day in the life...

Reading over my last few instalments it has become apparent that I sound like I am doing a lot. The truth is, is that there is a lot of sitting around between doing really cool things. So to break this image people may be forming of me saving entire communities single handed, pushing back the scourge of corruption and bring democracy to the people, I have decided to detail an average day of my life in Kampong Thom:

Wake up at about 5.30am when the sun rises and shafts of light bore through the wooden windows. Lie in bed for two hours trying to ignore my stomach cramps and cursing the fact that it is already hot and I am sweating, despite having the fan pointed directly at me. (Over the last week I have had the added joy of waking to the neighbour’s music – it has been the festival of the dead, I think they are actually trying to wake the dead. They like to kick things off between 4am and 5am – now I get a bit antsy where here an alarm go off at a low level, so music blaring at levels I have only heard in night clubs or at concerts standing next to the speaker does not entirely impress me, but mostly starts around 7ish, by which time I am wide awake anyhow).

After I get up I often grunt at Shin before getting ready for work. I have to dress fairly conservatively for work – long sleeve shirts and long pants (with sandals of course – I bought some faux Birkenstocks in Phnom Penh for $7 - bargain!). I also lather myself in repellent and sun cream – there has been a bit of a dengue epidemic around Kampong Thom over the last few years and my office is opposite a swampy area.

Sometimes I make breakfast, but usually I get some noodles from a road side dinner (by which I mean a couple of chairs on the footpath next to someone cooking) on the way to work. The cycle ride to work is about 1 km. Not very far – but I do have to avoid the dogs, chickens, cows, ducks, children, buffalo and other human traffic (including tour buses steaming through town and crazy moto drivers). There is one particular dog (which I suspect is rabid mostly because it doesn’t like me) that likes to chase me and bark loudly. To put it plainly – I hate it. I plan on eating it before I leave town (actually, the Khmer don’t like eating dog – they only did so during the Khmer Rouge period when there was no other food. Now it is frowned upon).

I arrive at work around 8ish, sit around and say hello to everyone (they don’t say hello to each other – they just smile and nod at each other – so they indulge me). If I have work to do usually I do it first thing in the morning before it gets too hot. But most days I do some Khmer practice from a book, chat to the other staff, write emails on my laptop or try to break my top score on pinball. Now I know a few people out there will think I have merely transported my old ways in Sydney to Cambodia (I never realise how much work I put into work avoidance before). But, seriously it can be quite dull and frustrating. Even when I push for work it hardly ever comes. We warned about this though. It is simply not the Khmer way to make people work hard for the first few months – not until they get to know you. So I have put it down to a ‘learning’ experience and make sure I take something to do to work.

By about 12 noon it is scorching hot and time to go home for my two hour lunch break. I usually swing by the markets to buy something fresh to make lunch with (the town isn’t that big and it is kinda on the way home) and a cold drink.

It is so hot by this stage, I usually have to take some clothes off (sexy I know – but it helps it the sweat dry – not so sexy now, hey) while I have lunch. After lunch I sleep for an hour or so on the hammock with the fan at maximum setting and angle. Most days I wish I could just stay there in the hammock, relaxing with my thoughts, but somehow I manage to get up and ride through the thick thick heat to get back to work.

No one does much in the afternoon. We usually sit around eating fresh fruit and chatting (read ‘relationship building’), waiting for five o’clock to come. No one dares to leave early, unless they have a good reason.

After work I swing by the market again and/or the internet café. Generally, Shin and I take turns doing the cooking, even though our options are quite limited. I like to eat dinner on the veranda over looking the river with a few drinks (I bought some gin and vodka in Siem Reap). Sometimes we watch TV. There is an Aussie channel that shows Aerobics Oz style! But aside from the ABC Asia news it has little else of interested. We also get BBC, NBC, CNN, a movie channel (which changes every few days to another movie channel) and a heap of Khmer and Hindi channels. There is this guy that is always on TV – I think he is like the Khmer Daryl Sommers (circa 1984 – during the Hey, Hey it’s Saturday period). He wears a big mop like wig, a fat fake moustache and a tight tight tight yellow t-shirt. Apparently he is very funny, but just like Mr Sommers, I can’t understand why. Most evening though I read or listen to music or call our other friends from the program and see what they have been up to. Sometimes we catch up with the other expats in town for a game of badminton and some drinks.

At night we have to negotiate having the fan on high and trying to get the mosquito net to stay in place. Any romantic notions I may have had about mosquito nets have been quashed by the practical realities. Once tucked in, it is a pain the arse to get out again, but inevitably I have to go to the toilet five minutes after I get settled. Usually I am in bed by 10 pm – mostly because there isn’t much else happening and I try to go to sleep.

But, because of the afore mentioned ‘festival of the dead’ sleeping hasn’t been so easy this week. The music and mega phones have been blaring well into the night – at one point I could hear it clearly over my ipod at top notch – it was soooooo LOUD! Now, I have thrown some loud parties in my time, but nothing compared to this. For such a quite people they sure love an amplifier and speakers. Shin and I decided to check out the action and road past on our way away from the noise early this morning. There were only about 30 people there! They were just sitting round drinking tea under colourful awnings. I always say though – if you got more than 5 people coming to a celebration you an amplifier is a must.

While I am writing this some guys are working outside my window. They are putting up an awning on a second floor building. I feel ill looking at them. They are standing on this flimsy scaffolding thing (which buckles under their weight) with a ladder lying across it, in thongs, welding (with no glasses or protective clothes on). A while ago some of the structure fell down, but no one was hurt. I am just waiting for one of them to die. I expressed my concern to my colleagues, but they just shrugged it off. That is how they do things here.

Till next time
Erin

Cambodia - Part 2

2007-04-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 3/4/07

Bed Bugs, Siem Reap & tales from Kampong Thom

Look at me I am blogging!!! Given the crap email access in Kampong Thom this should work out better...

My chest, my shoulders and my back are covered in a rash of bed bug bites. It sucks - I am really itchy. This morning I had to spray my clothes, my bed and my sheets with bug spray before leaving them out in the sun. Apparently bed bugs are quite difficult to get rid of. So fingers crossed that this will work (crossing your fingers here means something else entirely, as does sticking your thumbs up – both are rude, so I am crossing my fingers figuratively only).

But to put this all into perspective, I went out in the field this morning, with one of the field workers (named Mab), to visit some families living with HIV/AIDS. The first family that we saw was a family of six. All were infected with the virus and the father was also suffering from TB. The youngest child was about two years old and the eldest about ten. The whole family will be lucky to live for another two years. Basically, Mab sat around talked to them for a bit, checked that they were taking their medication and checked out their house (which MODE had built for them) to see if it needed repairs. These people are seriously poor and marginalised by their community, but they still managed to smile and were very sweet. They pulled out the good matt for us to sit on. I don’t know all that much about HIV/AIDS, but around here I am still considered an expert on nearly everything, including health issues (I would probably have a similar, if not better knowledge, of things than the field workers have without having attended any training). After that we visited a number of other families including an eight year old who had lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. She was clearly not doing so well and scabs were starting to appear over her body. At Mab’s prompting I took her photo and she lit up when she saw herself on the screen of my camera. Next time I go out I plan on taking some toys with me to give to the kids. I know it isn’t much, but still, it would be nice to try and cheer them up.

So today was pretty full on. MODE appear to be doing some really great work with the local communities and I am glad I am here to help them, if only for a short time and in a limited capacity. The other day I edited a funding proposal that they are putting together. Most of the guys in the office speak pretty good English but there writing isn’t so good. The funding proposal I edited was attempting to get funds for a program which aims to assist the most marginalised and poor people (particularly women-headed house holds that where people are living with disabilities, mostly land mine victims, and HIV/AIDs) to set up sustainable micro-businesses. There are a lot of micro-finance NGOs around, but there is not a lot of support and a lot of poor people end up borrowing from several lenders and end up getting into massive debt ($100 US is a massive debt in Khmer terms – but I could pay it off in a week). The program MODE are proposing relies on establishing networks in the community and has several follow ups over the course of a few years.

Aside from that I haven’t done much at work except ‘build relationships’ (a euphemism for sitting around talking, playing games and learning Khmer off the guys in the office). The guys in the office have taken great joy in teaching me ‘bad phrases’ and making me say that I love different member of the staff. It has been a lot of fun, but at the same time the day drags by…there is no hurry to do things around here – I kinda like that, even if it is frustrating at times.

The thing that has struck me the most over the last couple of weeks is the lack of coordination from international sponsors. There are massive holes in many of the programs. Organisations like MODE have attempted to deal with this by remaining locally focused. Also local NGOs tend to tailor their project to what the sponsors think is the right way to do something rather than shaping the project around the needs of the people the projects are aimed at. I know I was joking about setting up the ‘Erin Blake Foundation’ before I left. But now I am seriously putting some thought into organising something…

Outside of work things are going well. Shin and I moved into the house last week. My whole office turned up to check it out. I was like – ‘is anyone at work??’ The guys at work love checking out what I am up to. The other day I ripped my pants riding to work and the whole office was talking about it all day. One of the guys drove me to the market – my bare white arse hanging off the back of his moto. I then had the joy of going through the market looking for the one pair of pants that would fit me. Finally I found a pair and we went back to work. Everyone came up, one at a time, to look and tell me they were very nice pants.

It was partly due to the pants incident and the fact that I was getting seriously short of cash (we had to pay 3 months rent in advance) that I decided to go to Siem Reap last weekend. It is a three and a half hour bus trip. But it was well worth it. Firstly – they have banks that accept credit cards and secondly, given that it is a tourist hot spot (being near Ankor Wat) they have bigger sized clothes for westerners. The bus was also air conditioned (our house isn’t), so it was all quite luxurious. I text messaged my friend Lainie, who is based in Poipet on the border with Thailand, with my plans and she decided to meet me there (she had a four hour ride over some rough roads in a share taxi).

We met up late on the Friday night and checked into the first guest house (read dodgy hostel) that we found (It was five bucks a night for a room with a bathroom) and then we hit the town. We ended up at a ‘lady boy’ bar drinking cocktails to all hours of the morning….ahh, the expat lifestyle…

The next morning I figured out that it wasn’t just because I was drunk, but that the water wasn’t actually working in my room and in the process of trying to get it to work I had actually broken the toilet – I don’t envy the Plummer who had to fix it. So, I got moved into what turned out to be the ‘bed bug’ room. Given that were both hung over, we decided to forego an excursion out to Angkor Watt, and made a lazy day of it bumming around Siem Reap sucking down coconuts (the local hang over cure – I tells ya it works a treat), getting massaged by blind people (hey – it helps them) and going out to the floating village on Tonle Sap lake.

The floating village was first established by people escaping the Khmer Rouge. They put their houses in the river and pushed them into the middle of the lake (which is massive) out of sight of the Khmer Rouge. Talk about crafty. They have floating schools, restaurants, basket ball courts, houses, farms and a tourist centre. It is pretty cool. We got a boat to ourselves and our guide was quite entertaining.

Because we were practicing our Khmer the Cambodians really opened up to us and we met heaps of nice locals. Everyone is poor and everyone has a story, but they were all so warm and engaging. After we got back from the lake we found a rooftop bar where we kicked back in some hammocks, with a couple of G&Ts, to watch the sun set over Siem Reap. It was actually quite pretty (thanks mostly to the pollution).

I must say I was a bit embarrassed by the behaviour of some of the tourists. They can be so loud, disrespectful and rude. I think if you are going to travel somewhere you need to at least try fitting with the local customs. Walking around in bikini top and short shorts in a country like Cambodia is not cool – they get excited when they see a shoulder (sorry girls – the boys in the office went mental at the pics from my party). Aside from that Siem Reap was pretty cool. It is still a small town, despite the number of tourists that come through (very different to Kampong Thom) and there are some cool places away from the hordes. Lainie and I found a cool little bar at the back of a silk shop. It was tucked away and we were they only two people in there. It had a great range of cocktails, crepes and a cool bamboo seating area. They also played some great world music, we spent most of Saturday night hanging out there.

So I got a heap of stuff for the house (like sheets and booze and stuff) in Siem Reap and some more clothes, as well as bed bugs. All in all not a bad little haul and it was good to get away from Kampong Thom (I have mentioned that it is small haven’t I?). On the way back a grand ma and her grand son fell asleep on my shoulder. It was quite cute. Actually all the kids are really cute. Lainie and I were talking about splitting one. It could work…

Last weekend was also the election for the Commune Council. Shin and I were asked to be international observers which would have looked great on my CV...but we had to decline after the AYAD manager gave us a stern warning. There is a high risk of political violence. Also, the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) won 97% of the seats – I wouldn’t want to legitimise what is obviously a corrupt system - sorry I am not suppose to be political (but I am teaching people how to advocate for their rights). If one was cynical (and I am not saying I am), one might think that that the CPP held the election in the driest time of year when food was short and then drove around last week handing out food to people who don’t have enough food for a reason…but that would be only if you were cynical.

I am getting better at Khmer and I am also getting use to the whole living in Asia thing. It is weird just how easy it has been. The guys at work have been a great help in learning the language. Although, Mab (who I went out in the field with this morning) has been spreading a rumour around town that I am learning Khmer because I want to meet a Khmer girl. As a result, there are a couple of ladies interested to meet me…not sure what I can do about that. All the Khmers keep telling me that I am very tall and very handsome. To the point where I know that they are talking about me if I hear (Bourng Saart – handsome man). It isn’t bad for the old ego, but I am also a little unsettled by it.

I dig the no shoes thing at work, taking siestas in the middle of the day, sleeping in a mosquito net (although once the fan goes on it is a bit of a pain) and using a bucket to wash with instead of the shower. The temperature has been in the high 30s nearly every day, so I look forward to splashing myself every night when I get home from work. Aside from house stuff I have also bought myself a bike. It’s grey with a little basket on the front and goes like a little rocket.

Shin and I have started cooking. Although our food supply is restricted to whatever looks fresh at the markets. The following are easy to get – rice, noodles, mangos (lots of other weird fruits), green tomato, garlic, ginger, mint, potato, mushrooms, cucumber, leafy greens and fish (the meat is always covered in flies – don’t think I can stomach it yet). If anyone has any ideas for recipes – let me know. We have also discovered just how quick the bugs can be…especially the ants. Thankfully the cleaner starts tomorrow. Again – ahh, the expat lifestyle…

Tonight we are heading to another expats house for badminton and cocktails. We have also been invited to a big party on the weekend (we have to take cash as a present). The weekend after that is Khmer New Year – which looks like it will be fun wherever I end up.

I am also planning on getting involved with some soccer and volley ball at the local ‘stadium’ (the ‘stadium’ makes Birrong Soccer Park look like a world class facility). The boys at work play and have invited Shin and I along…should be fun.

Anyways, I hope everyone is well.

Take Care

Erin

Cambodia - Part 1

2007-04-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 27/3/07

Cambodia – Instalment 1

Chum Riep Sue (Hello),

So far, so good. So much has happened already.

I have decided the easiest way to keep you updated is to write a little bit of a journal on my laptop. Will save me time and money at the internet café. Also, I can keep them for future reference. So here goes instalment 1:

It is my second day at work. I am actually on my two hour lunch break at the moment – so this writing business is cutting into my well deserved siesta time. This morning I went to my first community meeting about half an hour out of Kampong Thom town on the back of a ‘moto’ (motor bike) with my counterpart Nary and one of her staff members (whose name I forget). Talk about the middle of nowhere, well actually it is almost the middle of Cambodia – Kampong Svay district. The roads were rough and ready and my ass was quite sore by the time we got back. It is a weird contrast out there – it is really dry and dusty, yet it still retains this tropical feel. The kids yell out ‘hello’ when they see me. The roads themselves are on top of dykes that run between dried out rice fields. If you weren’t with someone you could get very lost, very quickly. You could see for miles and miles, but there was only dried out rice paddies and trees to see (and cows – Kwoo in Khmer)

The meeting went for about 3 hours and didn’t seem to resolve much. But I understand that is how they do things in Cambodia. It is much more important to talk, maintain relationships and try to meet consensus than actually make a decision. People don’t play numbers games. Everyone has to agree.

MODE are trying to establish sustainable democratic practices. They are trying to encourage the local villages to participate in decision making by establishing small villages committees who then lobby the commune council. During the meeting the villages were complaining they had no money to attend meetings (they are that poor they can’t afford the cost of travel), so once funding to MODE ends for this project, it seems likely to me, this system will fall apart. However, they seem to think that once they get people talking, the rest will take care of itself. My thoughts on ‘sustainable’ practices are clearly different to theirs. But I guess this is why I am here.

I have been pleasantly surprised by how advanced MODE is in their local governance project and with the office – it is shmick by Khmer standards (I have a desk). Shin’s (the other AYAD in Kampong Thom) office is literally a shanty in the middle of a rice paddy about 5km out of town and his boss doesn’t speak English – so I have it pretty good. My office is tiled and has big fans which keeps it coolish. My boss lives behind it with his wife and four children.

MODE seem to have a clear idea on what they want to achieve and have written some well designed, budgeted and informative reports. However funding is a major challenged for them. MODE itself is a local NGO who deals with many aspects of human rights in about three districts. They have a HIV program, a general health program, a disarmament program, an orphanage support program and the local governance (or decentralisation) program. Local NGOs over here tend to focus on an area (like place management) rather than on a specific issue.

The guys at work are very nice. There is a lot of smiling and bowing going on. Most of them speak a little English and are very keen to 1. Learn better English off me and 2. Visit Australia (every Khmer sees it as a better life – although most would probably struggle to get work). My bosses name in Sinal and he speak excellent English. They have had a foreigner before, so I am not a complete freak to them.

Last night I went out for drinks with the boys from the office – it was nice. We ate steamed fish (which they cooked in the yard) and what I can only describe as swamp weed – it was like eating peppery grass. But they told me it would stop malaria. So I hoed in. We had a few Black Panther beers – a stout beer made in Siem Riep which is surprisingly strong. I took some Pringles – cause we eat chips with beer in Australia…ahh, the cultural exchange…

My Khmer is improving: I can introduce myself, order food and talk a little about myself. I am organising lessons with a teacher who worked with the UN. I have taken to introducing myself as Eh-rin (it is easier for them to pronounce).

Shin and I have also found a house. Tomorrow we are going to meet with the owner and discuss the contract – we are demanding a cooker. It is a big wooden house on stilts with a view of the river (where kids and water buffalo swim – personally I think it has Giardia written all over it). While we were looking at the house a couple of wild horses decided to have a fight (or flirt – I am not sure which) in front of the gate. It has five bedrooms (but I would say only three would be ok to sleep in), a veranda and a big back yard with hammocks (I can taste the mango daiquiri’s), coconuts, mangos and bananas trees. Bonus – it has a western toilet AND a hot water shower. Looks like we will be paying $250 US a month for it. It is a part of town called ‘Elephant on Tiger’, apparently both animals use to roam these parts, alas no longer…

I borrowed a bike and taken to riding around town, much to the amusement of the locals – who all stare at me. We are two of five foreigners based in town (although tourist buses often stop at the one restaurant for lunch). Kampong Thom itself isn’t much to speak of. It has a kilometre or two of shanty shops down the main drag. Off the side streets there a few houses and then there are dried rice fields – I imagine in the wet season it will become quite beautiful and lush, but now it is dusty and dry. And the dust gets into everything (it’s funny I kept reading about how dusty it gets but it never really clicks until you get here). There is a market and two blocks of shops in buildings and about twelve petrol stations (being on the ‘good’ road to Siem Riep from Phnom Penh).

I had a great, but hectic, week last week in Phnom Penh. We had some intense language and cultural training. But I still managed to check out the markets, the genocide museum, be massages by a blind man (in a centre that helps blind people get work – the best massage I ever had) and the Wat Phnom Penh (temple). I also manage to sample some of the local night life (surprise, surprise). On my last night a big group of us went out to Karaoke which was a lot of fun – the place had big sofa’s and was completely Asian kitsch. On the front door it said we could not bring in knives, guns or hand grenades (aw man, not the hand grenades too) - it was only the next day I found out it was also a brothel.

I am glad I am out of the capital though – I can see how easy it would be to fall into that ugly ex-pat life style and completely miss out on the wonderful cultural experience that the provinces can afford. To me this is the real Cambodia – this is where most Khmer live and work. I have been here three days and have little idea of what I have actually put in my mouth. Yesterday I got my first bout of explosive gastro – completely gross, I won’t give details. I had a drink with some ice in it. I was hanging for a cold drink – it’s damn hot – but I paid the price.

The flight over seemed really long, mostly because I had the flu. When we were landing it felt like my brain was going to explode. Thankfully a few days in the dry heat sorted out my sinuses. The first thing that always strikes me about Asia is the smell. It is always that sickly sweet rotting fruit smell you find around the back china town. The second thing is always the heat. It’s like a wall. It was most noticeable when we landed in Malaysia for the stop over. We had to catch a golf cart to the hotel from the airport it was so overwhelming (ok, we didn’t have to, but it was far more fun than walking).

I have had a few cultural insights since I got here. Our Khmer teacher Sitha (we call him ‘Look Kruu’ meaning my teacher) was really good on that for us. Firstly – you can’t touch a Khmer on the head (it is real bad luck), but it is fine to put your hand on the inside of another males thigh. Secondly, Durians under the bed keep mosquito’s away, but they stick to high heaven...could you imagine picking up – ‘I hope that is durian under your bed that I can smell’ …Look Kruu also told us a his experience with the Khmer Rouge which had us all holding back the tears while he smiled (he was keeping face) but his eyes gave away the pain…I found that story a lot harder than looking at the genocide museum. I guess it made it all personal.

I will try and stick some photo’s in too – not sure if I am going to be able to post them on the web…

I will be flying back to Sydney for three days for my sisters wedding on the 28th of April. So I may see some of you then. Otherwise I will keep you posted.

Also, feel free to pass this on to anyone. I am not precious about such things.

Chum Riep Lieu (Good bye)

Lots of Love
Erin