August 2012

      The idea of “catching up” with the blog – writing about all the highlights of the last few months – is far too daunting a task. Every time I think about trying, I immediately become overwhelmed, and then I find something else to do.  So let’s just acknowledge that lots of interesting (and boring) things have happened over the last few months, and then move on.

Some things I haven’t written about:

• Steve continued to play insane amounts of tennis.
• I continued to NOT play tennis.
• I had my second dental crown done here, and I encourage you all to come for dental work. Even considering the cost of airfare, it will probably save you money.
• Some long-term Siem Reap friends left Cambodia, including our housemates. There were goodbye parties.
• We miss them.
• I’m getting better at drawing blood, thanks to my Khmer coworkers’ willingness to let me practice on them.
• We went to Vermont for the whole month of June and had a terrific time.
• Except for the sticker shock. Ouch…
• Sovann got his green card. He and Jaz are working hard.
• I turned 50. It was not traumatic.
• My work is interesting, and I have a really good work/leisure balance right now.
• There has been a crime wave of night-time purse snatchings in Siem Reap.
• Tourists can still be really annoying, but they are part of what makes this town what it is, so I try to be tolerant.
• Something still surprises me every day. 

Any questions?

I told someone here recently that while I know a hell of a lot more about this place than I did two years ago (most of which I learned the hard way), I still have the following thought almost daily:

“I wonder what the hell is happening right now?”

Usually followed by:

“I wonder what’s going to happen next?”

I guess that’s why Cambodia likes to bill itself as the “Kingdom of Wonder” to tourists. And I hope I never stop wondering.

For my birthday, my mother bought this very cool mini video camera that is built into what looks like sunglasses. I have been playing around with trying to wear them while I’m riding on my motorbike, because that provides the best possible scenery and glimpse into life here. I’m still struggling with how to wear the video glasses while driving because they don’t really fit under my helmet, but one of these days I’m going to figure it out. I wish someone could just embed a camera in my eyeball and make it really easy, because I really wish you could see what I see.

I saw something today that I wish I had been able to capture for you. First, you need a bit of background: A “taxi” in Cambodia is not exactly your NYC yellow cab. No one takes a taxi across town – they’re usually used for long-haul travel between provinces, and they’re usually early-90’s model Toyota Camrys. Often they run on propane rather than gasoline so they have a huge modified propane tank in the trunk, which makes you really hope that no one rear-ends your taxi while you’re in it. Occasionally they have a couple of working seat belts.

If you need a taxi, you have the following options:

• If you are a foreigner, you will generally call a taxi driver you know (or ask a friend to call one that they know) and arrange the details a day or two ahead of time. You will agree on destination and price, which will be the same whether you’re traveling alone or with friends. (As an example, a trip from Siem Reap to the Thai border costs about $25 for the two-hour ride.) You can stretch out in the backseat and ask the driver to turn on the a/c and turn down the karaoke soundtrack and it will be a pretty pleasant ride.
• If you’re Cambodian, on the day you want to go somewhere you will stand on the side of the road and wait. If a taxi goes by heading in your direction, they might slow down and you can nod to let them know you want a ride. You will negotiate destination and price (Siem Reap to the border: less than $5), and then climb into the car and squeeze yourself into whatever tiny space remains, as the point is to fill the car. Any children will be sitting on an adult’s lap. Some adults will be sitting on another adult’s lap. 

          And today, I saw what I haven’t seen too many times before, though I know it’s not that unusual.

          An adult was sitting between the driver and the driver’s door.

          This was a classic Camry taxi – a spider-webby windshield, overworked shocks, one slightly wobbly tire, and a good solid coat of red dust. I suppose that the Camry is marketed as a five-passenger vehicle, but I was stopped in traffic next to this one long enough to confirm a count of ten passengers, plus the driver, for a total of eleven. Five adults were in the back, and four (including the driver) were in the front, as well as two children on laps in the front seat.

Cambodian people are generally smaller than Americans, but Camrys are Camrys everywhere. Those front seats are buckets seats. And the driver was sharing his, with another adult sitting between him and his door.

I wonder how many more people they picked up along the way to where ever they were going...

You know, some things I see along the road are so ubiquitous that I don’t even take notice any more. Pigs strapped upside down on motorbikes on their way to market, people driving in the wrong lane in anticipation of making an eventual left-hand turn, tour buses full of serious-looking tourists staring solemnly out of their air-conditioned bubbles and taking in the sights, families of five on a motorbike, buffalo crossing the highway and slowing down traffic, the women in green coats and masked faces who methodically sweep up the dirt on the side of the roads every day, groups of monks parading between pagodas. I hardly notice those things any more. But I'm glad there are still new things to see, if I look hard enough.

There was another surprise today. A Khmer coworker had spoken to me last week about his young child with recurrent ear infections who had a burst and draining eardrum. We talked about what the local doctor had prescribed (which was appropriate) and why some kids get so many ear infections and where to go for a hearing screening and some closer monitoring. Conversations like this make me feel useful, and people seem grateful for some explanation and direction.

Today he happily told me that the problem had been solved. By spraying perfume in his son’s ear, on the advice of his neighbor. “And now, no problem! Nothing is coming out of his ear!”

I wonder what will happen next…?

And now, some random photos to make this post more colorful:

My favorite commute

Seriously, sometimes I drive right past this guy on my way to a home visit.

These guys too.

If I forget to bring a drink or a hat, no problem.

Tuktuk parking lot at the temples.

Crowds of tourists - it's fun to try to identify their nationality from afar.

Let's not forget these temples are sacred spaces.

Someday I'll shave my head, but I still won't look like this.

Rice, ready for transplanting

Road construction!

Khmer-style bridge building

That is a LOT of concrete to mix and pour by hand.