Didn't have time to write this when we first found out . . . Cambodia has officially been moved off of the Tier II Watchlist and is now firmly on Tier II of the U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for the first time in 4 years. http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/
Pretty exciting eh? Eh?
Also, elections are fast approaching (July) and I'm fairly interested in seeing how things actually go down here . . . I'm considering volunteering to be an election monitor through another NGO here. Most people say the elections have already been decided and that there is a .1% chance of things changing. Nevertheless, I'd still like to get a chance to observe the process (whatever process that may be).
And again, I promise to write a real entry soon . . . and by "soon" I mean "when I get a chance"
PEACE
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
change of plans
So, um, yeah. Remember how I said that I was only going to be away for about 6 months? Turns out I will be extending my stay in Cambodia a little longer. Not exactly sure when I'll be returning to the states (I might toss in some extra traveling after the work is finished), but I will be sure to keep you updated to the best of my ability.
I've decided to stay for various reasons, but foremost among those reasons is that I would like to see the project I'm currently working on to its conclusion. To all my peeps in the Lou, don't worry . . . you will be seeing my shining face of gloriousness before you know it (and promptly become annoyed with me again).
Anyways, I will write a real entry soon . . . lots of love.
PEACE
I've decided to stay for various reasons, but foremost among those reasons is that I would like to see the project I'm currently working on to its conclusion. To all my peeps in the Lou, don't worry . . . you will be seeing my shining face of gloriousness before you know it (and promptly become annoyed with me again).
Anyways, I will write a real entry soon . . . lots of love.
PEACE
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Toilet Paper and Babies
Two blogs in two days? Both incredibly random? I know, I know, I'm just full of surprises.
I forgot to mention something else interesting and random in my last entry. Last week I was able to go to an art exhibit opening for a Khmer artist based in Battambang. It was incredible. Not only is she an amazing painter, but she sculpts too. She sculpts with toilet paper believe it or not. Its a painstaking process in which she rolls the toilet paper (which she sometimes steals from restaurants she gleefully told us) with glue and then proceeds to wrap it either around objects, or sculpts with it on its own. Man, oh man, I wish I had even a smidge of the artistic talent this woman possesses. After the art exhibit, we went to a fantastic Malaysian restaurant (although they were out of the crispy spring roll things I like). We also accidently bumped into the car of someone who I can only assume was a gangster, which was pretty exciting, but ultimately uneventful.
Onto the baby part. I'm pleased to announce that my neighbor T.'s sister (who also happens to be my neighbor) has just had a baby boy (5 days old now). T. brought the little fella to my apartment yesterday. I got to hold him at which point she also tried to convince me to take him with me when I go home, along with all of the other children that are giving her a hassle (she was just joking guys, come on). I still can't figure out if he has an English name or not (which is what it sounded like), but he's cute as a button and I just thought I'd share. The visit was brief because baby got hungry and I probably smelled really foreign to him.
I forgot to mention something else interesting and random in my last entry. Last week I was able to go to an art exhibit opening for a Khmer artist based in Battambang. It was incredible. Not only is she an amazing painter, but she sculpts too. She sculpts with toilet paper believe it or not. Its a painstaking process in which she rolls the toilet paper (which she sometimes steals from restaurants she gleefully told us) with glue and then proceeds to wrap it either around objects, or sculpts with it on its own. Man, oh man, I wish I had even a smidge of the artistic talent this woman possesses. After the art exhibit, we went to a fantastic Malaysian restaurant (although they were out of the crispy spring roll things I like). We also accidently bumped into the car of someone who I can only assume was a gangster, which was pretty exciting, but ultimately uneventful.
Onto the baby part. I'm pleased to announce that my neighbor T.'s sister (who also happens to be my neighbor) has just had a baby boy (5 days old now). T. brought the little fella to my apartment yesterday. I got to hold him at which point she also tried to convince me to take him with me when I go home, along with all of the other children that are giving her a hassle (she was just joking guys, come on). I still can't figure out if he has an English name or not (which is what it sounded like), but he's cute as a button and I just thought I'd share. The visit was brief because baby got hungry and I probably smelled really foreign to him.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Neighborly Love and Royal D
Sorry, this will be a kind of random post, just felt like an update was called for. The cultural differences between Cambodia and the U.S. never cease to amaze. A couple weekends ago, I brought some work home and was working with A. in my apartment. Now, granted, I am not the tidiest of people, but I've really been making an effort here. (Although my parents won't believe me, its the truth! I clean!) Unfortunately, when my neighbor T. stopped by with children in tow as per usual, I had neglected to sweep or take out my trash for about a week (all right, all right, maybe it was more than a week). Seeing this, T. took it upon herself to clean my apartment.
Needless to say, I was horrified. Horrified!! Despite all my protestations she persisted. It was the most uncomfortable experience, but she kept saying that she wanted to do it for me (seriously, it almost turned into a fight). All I could do in return was give the children some candy and dried mango.
Let me just tell you how much I love my neighbors--Every morning I come down the steps and if one of the regular moto drivers are not there, they help me flag one down and actually bargain with the driver for me. One time when I was coming home from a particularly rough day at work and the moto driver was giving me a particularly rough time, T. full out yelled at him. Completely balled him out. It was shocking (and amazing) and I could do nothing in return but give her a big hug. (Although, I have to say that it is less of a pleasant experience when I'm the one getting admonished for not turning on the stair light or for smoking too much.)
Whereas other people quickly give up, T. actually tries to communicate with me (despite the fact that I speak next to no Khmer). Between the tiny bit of English that she speaks and the tiny bit of Khmer that I speak, most of our communication happens to through mime (which can be pretty amusing and I'm beginning to prefer it to speaking). I also suspect that it was T. who took my laundry in one day when it was raining (although I do question how exactly she got access to my house when it was locked).
While I don't always get the privacy that I became accustomed to in the U.S. (excluding freshman year of college), I think that I will truly miss the children banging on my gate, screaming "BONG ROS-EY!" at the top of their lungs. ("Bong" is a polite way of addressing someone that is older than you, and I much prefer it to "Baraang," the word for foreigner. The basic English equivalent is "Miss Rosie" although "bong" is used in different ways as well). I'll also miss them banging on my back door and running away and laughing. They are so incredibly sweet and rascally and full of youthful mischief.
On a less happy note, I finally got my first bout of sickness here over the Khmer New Year (so much for getting a lot of work accomplished). I'm definitely lucky that this was the first time, considering I've already been here for almost 4 months . . . didn't have to go to the doctor or anything. I'm ok now, and I have to say, one of the positives of getting sick was that I was introduced to this marvelous elixir called Royal D.
Royal D tastes exactly like Tang and is a powder that you mix with water so that you can rehydrate, full of electrolytes and awesomeness (much better than the rehydration stuff I brought with me from home which tastes like vomit). I bought a big box and have at least one every day b/c its so freaking hot here that I'm sweating constantly (yes, a very attractive image I know). I wish I could take 5 cases home with me, but I'd probably get stopped at the airport . . . the charge, you ask? Smuggling deliciousness.
List of Other Things I Wish I Could Smuggle Home:
* White Rabbit candy.
* All the dried mango I can find.
* The entire fruit market next to my apartment.
* Cambodian iced coffee with the sweet milk, often served in a plastic bag with a straw.
* The masala dosa and vegetable biriyani from my new favorite Indian restaurant.
* A moto (but not one of the fancy shiny motorcycles, I'll take an old school moto any day) or a tuk tuk . . . these items might be kind of hard to fit in my suitcase though.
* Oh yeah, and a palm tree, a monkey, and an elemaphant.
Needless to say, I was horrified. Horrified!! Despite all my protestations she persisted. It was the most uncomfortable experience, but she kept saying that she wanted to do it for me (seriously, it almost turned into a fight). All I could do in return was give the children some candy and dried mango.
Let me just tell you how much I love my neighbors--Every morning I come down the steps and if one of the regular moto drivers are not there, they help me flag one down and actually bargain with the driver for me. One time when I was coming home from a particularly rough day at work and the moto driver was giving me a particularly rough time, T. full out yelled at him. Completely balled him out. It was shocking (and amazing) and I could do nothing in return but give her a big hug. (Although, I have to say that it is less of a pleasant experience when I'm the one getting admonished for not turning on the stair light or for smoking too much.)
Whereas other people quickly give up, T. actually tries to communicate with me (despite the fact that I speak next to no Khmer). Between the tiny bit of English that she speaks and the tiny bit of Khmer that I speak, most of our communication happens to through mime (which can be pretty amusing and I'm beginning to prefer it to speaking). I also suspect that it was T. who took my laundry in one day when it was raining (although I do question how exactly she got access to my house when it was locked).
While I don't always get the privacy that I became accustomed to in the U.S. (excluding freshman year of college), I think that I will truly miss the children banging on my gate, screaming "BONG ROS-EY!" at the top of their lungs. ("Bong" is a polite way of addressing someone that is older than you, and I much prefer it to "Baraang," the word for foreigner. The basic English equivalent is "Miss Rosie" although "bong" is used in different ways as well). I'll also miss them banging on my back door and running away and laughing. They are so incredibly sweet and rascally and full of youthful mischief.
On a less happy note, I finally got my first bout of sickness here over the Khmer New Year (so much for getting a lot of work accomplished). I'm definitely lucky that this was the first time, considering I've already been here for almost 4 months . . . didn't have to go to the doctor or anything. I'm ok now, and I have to say, one of the positives of getting sick was that I was introduced to this marvelous elixir called Royal D.
Royal D tastes exactly like Tang and is a powder that you mix with water so that you can rehydrate, full of electrolytes and awesomeness (much better than the rehydration stuff I brought with me from home which tastes like vomit). I bought a big box and have at least one every day b/c its so freaking hot here that I'm sweating constantly (yes, a very attractive image I know). I wish I could take 5 cases home with me, but I'd probably get stopped at the airport . . . the charge, you ask? Smuggling deliciousness.
List of Other Things I Wish I Could Smuggle Home:
* White Rabbit candy.
* All the dried mango I can find.
* The entire fruit market next to my apartment.
* Cambodian iced coffee with the sweet milk, often served in a plastic bag with a straw.
* The masala dosa and vegetable biriyani from my new favorite Indian restaurant.
* A moto (but not one of the fancy shiny motorcycles, I'll take an old school moto any day) or a tuk tuk . . . these items might be kind of hard to fit in my suitcase though.
* Oh yeah, and a palm tree, a monkey, and an elemaphant.
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