Cambodia Fabulousness

So I'm missing the States--big time--so instead of wallowing in my desire to be somewhere other than where I'm at right now, I thought I would blog about some of the amazing things Cambodia has to offer:

Bomb-Diggity Fruit...and Cheap Cheese
As I write this, I'm munching on a big bowl of fresh fruit. In it consists of bananas, dragon fruit, and papaya. I chose not to put the mango or pineapple that is also in my refrigerator, but that was out of pure laziness more than anything else.

The best thing about all of this? It was SO cheap, it's so good for me, and I can get it easily every day from the local market that is two streets away. I will certainly miss this, and if you have no idea what dragon fruit is, I've attached a picture for your reference.

 


We also love cheese and bread and wine, and because all of this is a lot cheaper here than at home, we've been indulging in our most favorite meal ever. Here it costs under $10; in the States, we'd have to spend around $40-$50 to eat this. Yummy.

A Different Way of Life
I've been seeing a lot of posts about rear-facing car seats, which promise to keep your child safer longer. What's funny about most other non-Western countries, however, is that car seats are non existent, and children don't die from car accidents at a higher rate than they do in the West.

I know this will probably upset a few, but we've been in quite a few cars and had no car seat for Sila. Gasp! He's also been on more motos than I can count, and it's the complete norm here.

The point I'm trying to make is that I appreciate (and very much love) the perspective that Cambodia--and other non-first-world travel--offers.

Chickens and Ducks
Non meat eaters for animal rights reasons, stop reading now. About every few weeks or so a moto will zoom by with around 50 live chickens moaning and squawking hanging from the back of it. They're not the liveliest of chickens (it's probably been a long journey for them), but it's amazing to see.

On our way home the other day, we decided to take a tuk-tuk (a luxury for us now since we tend to bicycle everywhere), and as we were heading home, Conan started to hear what he thought was a cat meowing. As I tuned in, I said it was a chicken, and we both laughed and wondered where it was.

Turns out that our tuk-tuk driver had a chicken and a duck stuffed under our seat! They, too, were on their last legs and were probably bought at the market early that morning to inevitably become dinner way later that night. In the interim, they got to sit in the heat and darkness until that time arrived.

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So you might be thinking that it's weird I titled this post "Cambodian Fabulousness," but that's what all of this stuff is. Will I miss seeing chickens hanging from motos? Probably not. Will I miss the simplicity that Cambodia offers? Absolutely. It's all fabulous and in many ways so much simpler than the States.

I know that many are thinking or have hear rumors that we're not coming back. We laugh to that. Yes, we LOVE travel and will continue to do it for the rest of our lives. But you know what we love more? America. Our lives. Our home. Our life. So if you're hoping we'll be back, we will. Until then, hugs.

We're Famous!

This is a totally unrelated to Cambodia life, but Conan and I are famous! We had this filmed a few years back in Los Angeles, and it's through a show called "Don't Trust Andrew Mayne: Crash Test Husband".

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQZf8oCWZ1w

How cool is that?? I'll post more later, but thought I would share this. Much love.

Book Review: Books 1-4

I have always loved to read. I think I've been reading since the age of 4 (mom, you can correct me if I'm wrong), so with this more relaxed schedule I am now living, I have ramped back up my reading.

My reading comes in waves. Sometimes I read nothing--but it was probably the mental exhaustion after finishing my M.A. that thwarted my desire to read--and other times I read three or four books at the same time. Right now I'm doing the latter. I thought about going back and listing all the books I've read since I've left Florida but that would be exhausting and overwhelming to you as a reader. I'm probably close to thirty books or a little beyond.

So I've decided to start listing my books as of January. As a disclaimer, this isn't much I won't read. I love it all. The quick, poorly written stuff; the complex, mind-blowing fiction; the often difficult sociological explorations into human habits. I love it all. To me, heaven is a library.

The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho

• You've surely read The Alchemist (or at least heard of it), and The Pilgrimage is written by the same author but the book is a lot different. Both bad and good. It's not as well written as Coelho's Alchemist, but in some ways it's a lot better. Maybe it's because I've read TP twice. Once in my usual speed racer pace (bad habit) and the second time really slowing down and absorbing it all. It chronicles Coelho's pilgrimage across northern Spain and guides the reader to find meaning in his or her life, even in the most mundane areas. For me, it was a nice read to meditate on how finding my purpose is useless until I know what I will do with it.  

Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival by Alison Wright

• This was a book I grabbed from a friend's shelf because I was craving a real book (I bought a Kindle for my travels, knowing that space is limited for reading). I wanted something quick and easy to read, and it was. This book essentially tells the story of how the author got into a bus accident in Laos and took many years to recover. I finished this book in less than 24 hours. It was clearly written and compelling. I wanted to keep reading about how the human spirit can override most physical setbacks. This was an inspiring read but not perspective shifting, if you know what I mean.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

• This book was recommended to me about two years back, and frankly it sounded boring. I kept seeing it pop up (especially on FB and everyone's top 10 most influential books posts), so I decided to give it a try. It's about the HeLa cells that pretty much changed the world of science and medicine and cells, and they're from an African American woman. Some of it got a bit "science-y," but most of it was pretty fascinating to follow. Did you know that you don't have any say over cells that you leave behind? So when you give blood, and someone finds something pretty amazing in your cells (maybe an inability to die, much like HeLa), they can be used for science without your consent? Interesting stuff. It also touches upon a little history and the struggles African Americans went through, especially when it comes to science.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

• I had no idea what this book was about, but it was one of the many books that popped into my Kindle by *eh-hem*a help of a friend and a USB. I just looked it up today because I finished it this morning (another 48 hour read), and it's...well...a NY Times bestseller. Sometimes that can be a great thing, and other times it's evident why most of America liked it. This was the latter. It was about car racing (so American), greedy grandparents who feel they're better at raising their grandkids then the parents (again, America), and a dog who means the world to one man (need I say more?). Did it make me cry at the end? Oh, yeah. Will I re-read it for deeper meaning and application to my life? Hell no. 

Life Now in PP

So a few might be wondering what our life is like in PP now. As a review, here is how we spent the last few months: volunteering at an NGO teaching English, spending lots of time with good friends we've made during volunteering, drinking, enjoying life, teaching a month-long course (Conan), taking a month off (me).

Now, though, things have changed a bit. As for me, I am now teaching yoga quite a few times a week and enjoying these few months of working on myself physically and mentally. Also, I have initiated another month-long "one a day," and this month is meditation. I've been pretty successful at it (only missed two days: sick one and spaced the other), and I'm also working on another, more private, 100 day goal. This idea was inspired by a couple of websites I came across, and I thought "why the hell not?" If you're interested, here they are:

Advanced Life Skills

100 Projects

As for Conan, he is devoting the next few months to something he has always wanted to carve the time out to do--write. So far, he has been pretty successful, publishing an article (and another on the way), as well as working on his book. He's also been enjoying working out and cooking us all very good meals. If you haven't read it already and are interested, here is a link to his most recent article:

Conan's Article

Lastly, Sila. Well, life hasn't changed much for him. He is still going to school and will continue to do so until the end of March. One big thing that has changed is his room. We got rid of his bed and now he sleeps in a tent that Santa brought for him. Needless to say, he is stoked. I've included pictures for you to get a visual of the coolest room ever.

Christmas, New Year's, and Weirdest Place Ever

Christmas has come and gone, and overall, it was a really good day. Santa came, as expected, so it was a good thing we left some cookies and carrots (for the reindeer), as well as some dinosaurs to keep guard. 

Sila was excited to open his many gifts: a cool snake puzzle, dinosaurs, and t-shirts from MooMoo; a few DVDs, action figurines, and an excavator truck from Santa; and books and clothes from mom and dad. 

For New Year's we decided to take a little reprieve from the city and go visit a rare place in Cambodia: wooded land. For more reading on deforestation in Cambodia, click here: http://www.wildlifealliance.org/page/view/71/forests

The place? Kirirom National Forest. So we hopped on a bus and took off.

A few short hours in, the driver indicated we were to get off. Sila decided to puke about five minutes before, so as Conan was scooping puke from the seat and putting it into Sila's blanket, I was grabbing all our stuff and frantically getting off the bus. Thankfully, once we got off, we had an audience of about ten Khmers, observing our every move. Stripping Sila and putting new clothes on him? Yup, they were there. Conan wrapping all clothes and puke into the blanket? Yup, Khmers. 

Finally with a smile and a sigh, we were ready to hop on two motorbikes and head down a road to the Kirirom Hillside Resort, which boasted horseback riding, spa/sauna, fitness center, pool, dinosaur park, zoo, fishing, kayaking...all for a cool $50 a night. 

When we got there...well...it was Cambodian fabulous, as we like to say. 

First, let me diverge: "fabulous" to us means the epitome of a culture's most kitschy things. This term first came up as we were living in Tennessee came across many people who were, well, Tennessee fabulous. 

Oh, there were dinosaurs and parks and pools and a spa/sauna (but you had to tell someone when you wanted to go in so they could turn it on), as well as a zoo and other the other "fabulous" items boasted on the website. Was it all in functional quality? Not really. Was there ANYONE else at the resort? Nope. Was it weird? Yup. Was it the weirdest place we have ever been? Yup.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite it being slightly creepy and everything being a bit defunct and Sila puking every other day and me puking and the other thing for six straight hours and being bedridden for over a day, we had a good time but decided to call it quits a bit early and head back to PP. Ah, PP. There is no place like home....except America. 

So there you go. I'll leave you with a few more pictures (of Sila, of course). Hope all is well with everyone, and if you're still with me because this is the longest blog post ever, then much love to you!

 

A Different Vibe in PP

This post was going to be about Christmas, New Year, and perhaps the weirdest place I have ever been, but I have decided to hold off on that update due to the current situation in Phnom Penh.

Overall, PP is safe for us. Our neighborhood is far away from Freedom Park, the Capital, and the main protest area. The vibe, however, has changed a bit. There are a lot of armed military, carrying very large guns, standing on various corners, and driving throughout the city, and people everywhere are watching the TV and listening to the radio. We don't need to know the language to know what they're watching. Their faces tell it all.

Normally, I'm not easily shaken, but when I was interviewing potential new students for CWF and asked about a problem in Cambodia, most replied "corruption." Corruption with the police, corruption with business, corruption with education.

Now the corruption turns to garment workers and their wages. This is a local Cambodian issue that has worldwide effects. Because you know who buys this stuff? We do. Nike, Puma, H & M, Gap. Yup. We're probably guilty of shopping here. Yes, we hear about the factory workers, getting low wages and working in poor conditions, but does it really hit home? Not really. I know it didn't for me until right now.

I don't want to worry anyone, but I do want to raise awareness and let you know that the vibe has changed. Hopefully it will go back to smiles on the street and a vanishing of automatic weapons near the playground.

Until then, we'll be safe (we promise) and leave if the embassy tells us to leave. We don't expect it to come to that, but I don't know where this is going. Things are never good when you have a mass amount of people who have nothing to lose plus corrupt government. Only time will tell.

I promise my next post--planned to be in the next few days--will update you all on the holidays and what's in store for us next. Until then, keep an ear and eye open to the news and think about the message it sends when you buy something.