My near detention and a sad day for us all

Today was our last day in Phnom Penh. I went to buy a group present for Gwen, our instructional leader for the program, at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) and on my return I stopped at the U.S. Embassy to take some pictures of the building. I have been wanting to take these pictures since our arrival in Phnom Penh last week, but have put it off until our last day here. As I was happily snapping away, a security guard (dressed much like a military soldier) approached me from his guard shack outside the embassy and asked me to come inside. I thought that he was being so nice to allow me to come inside to take some up close photos. As soon I was in the gate, two other much less happy “soldiers” came over and asked for my camera. Again, I thought they were being nice to offer to take my picture with the inside walls of the embassy in the background. “Do they do this for all U.S. citizens,” I thought to myself. However, soon I realized that was not the case. They asked me for my camera and started to interrogate me about why I was taking pictures of the embassy. They also asked if I was a U.S. citizen and if I had my passport. Of course, my passport was tucked in my hotel room’s safe. I had no identification on me. They continued to look through my camera’s memory admiring my pictures. I started to have visions of being blindfolded and taken into some basement prison cell to never be heard from again. This past week, there has been a huge story in Cambodian newspaper about a missing activist monk who was recently defrocked. Maybe I would meet him in my cell and we would converse about Cambodia and the sense of lawlessness that exists. Even though I was at our American embassy, the security guards were Cambodian. Well, after about 10 minutes, they gave me my camera back and commented that they don’t like it when people take pictures of the embassy. I said I understood and took my camera and walked quickly out of the gates to a grassy area across the street. I took a picture and left.

It was a somewhat sad day for us all as we drove to the Phnom Penh airport to fly to Bangkok for the last stage of our trip. All of us were melancholy as we were bused to the airport. We knew our journey in Cambodia was over and it was the beginning of the end of our time together. In just a few days were would be flying back separately to our former lives in the U.S. We will be reunited with our friends, children, spouses, and beloved pets. Although most are happy to get back to a routine, we also realize that this experience will never be duplicated and has been special. On the ride to the airport, we all commented on how sad it is that we are leaving Cambodia. It definitely has become a special place for us all and we have connected with the people of this wonderful country.

In our last debriefing session with Namji on Saturday, she mentioned that many of us may have a challenge with our reentry to our former lives. I can definitely understand what she may be talking about as this has been a trip that could never be duplicated. We will never be given access to a country like we have been given by this program. We were not simply tourists, but also participants and students of Cambodia. It was a special experience for me and most of my colleagues in the program. It may be a challenge to assimilate back into our culture at home. I can definitely anticipate potential culture shock on our return to the U.S.

We arrived back to Bangkok and have until the 24th to explore the city. We only have two more meetings and then the rest of the two days are left up to us to play.