Floating villages and traditional dancing

Sour sdei! (that's "good day" in Khmer)

I back with Internet connection after another spotty day of connectivity. I went running this morning and once again, the streets were packed very early in the AM. I'm sure they look at me like a stupid foreigner running in the morning with my running shorts and shoes. I have yet to see any other runners, which is so odd, as I always see at least a couple of people running in the morning no matter where I am travelling.



Yesterday we had another Khmer language and culture class in the morning taught by Mr. Sna. We went over basic Khmer phrases and FAQs, such as "Where is the bathroom?" (Teor born tup teuk nour a na?) and "No, thank you." (Te, or kun lork)


The night before, we divided our group up into threes and went out into the Siem Reap area with Khmer yuppies. They just toured us around the city on our tuk-tuks, which are scooters with small carriages connected to them. It was fun as we had a really awesome man with us. He was 23 and worked in archeology for the government. Since the huge ancient temple Angor Wat is here, that made a lot of sense. One of the stops we made on our tuk-tuk was to a Khmer grocery store to load up on snacks to take to our home stay in case we don't like their food much.

Yesterday, everyone had an awesome time visiting the Tonle Sap lake community. Tonle Sap Lake is a huge lake in Cambodia-it stretches all the way from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. We stopped at a floating restaurant to take pictures of the lake on its rooftop deck. The highlight was seeing all the floating houses that people live in on the lake. They survive by fishing and their houses are more like shacks on logs. They are all very poor and just barely can make a living. We visited with one household, docking and coming into their house. The house was so small and 13 people lived in it. I do not know how that many people could even sleep in such a small space. The family was really nice to sit down with us and answer our questions through our interpreter guide. The mother was proud of her children and pointed out all of them on a wall full of wedding pictures and other family photos.


They asked us how much it had cost us to come to Cambodia and when we gave them a figure they literally let out a very audible gasp! They could not comprehend the amount of money that we could afford to spend as their cost of living is on a totally different scale and our ability to travel is beyond them as they are just trying to sustain their lives by fishing for pennies a day. The father told us that he has worked all his life (he looked in his late 60s, but probably was older) and he could not do something such as travel to the U.S. and how was it that we could? It put us in our place in terms of realizing how fortunate we are to be able to something like this program and the quality of life that we enjoy and have come to feel entitled to have in America. The lake community was really fascinating. We saw a floating police station, school, basketball court, and stores.


In the afternoon, some of us went back to the orphanage that we have now visited three times. It was so much fun because the kids now feel so comfortable with us. We played around with them for a couple of hours before we had to leave to come back to the hotel. I saw my buddy, Yum, who was eagerly waiting for us as we walked up the dirt pathway to the orphanage. I talked to the director for awhile about him and she said that he does not go to school anymore because he repeated 2nd grade four times because he could not pass the exit exam. She thinks that his mother was died from alcoholism and I'm sure this is true as he has some physical characteristics of fetal alcohol syndrome. But, he has a wonderful spirit that everyone really enjoys. He was so happy to see us!


The non-profit that supports the orphanage is amazing! They also work with the orphans in a traditional dance and puppet troupe. The kids performed for us last night at dinner at La Noir restaurant, which is run by the non-profit. The kids were fabulous in their traditional dress dancing to traditional music. It was interesting to see the contrast between their confidence at the orphanage and in their performance. At the orphanage they seem timid, non-assured, and lack self-confidence. But, in the performance they looked so poised and confident. It was satisfying to see that they had that one area of their life that they felt good about-which they should as they were very talented.

Some of us went to the Red Piano, a restaurant/bar, after dinner to hang out for a bit. Our server was a pre-school teacher during the day and works at the restaurant at night. She only make $35/month teaching, so she works at the restaurant to pay for English lessons. I found her English to be better than any I've heard in Cambodia. It is really hard to understand when Cambodians speak English as their pronunciation is much more nasal than our pronunciation, which tends to be more from the throat. So, a Cambodian may be speaking correct English, but it is hard to understand-even with the guides and translators we have had on the trip. Her family has rice patties and she does not want to plant rice or live that sort of life as it is a very hard life.


Today, in the morning (9:00) we are breaking up into three different groups and rotating through the following: 1) Landmine Museum, 2) Cambodian Living Arts project, and 3) visit a craft cooperative practicing "fair trade." We should be done around 3:00 and we have the rest of the evening on our own to pack for our home stay and relaxed. I'm thinking about hiring a tuk-tuk to take me out exploring in the countryside to explore.


We leave for our home stay tomorrow and everyone is getting a little anxious, but also very excited! I may not be able to post until we are done with the home stay on the 17th and we are in Phnom Penh. But, if I can find an Internet cafe to post I will.