The past week has been lots of travel. I should have kept up on the blog better but the time flew by really fast. I feel like I was just starting to really settle in to Phnom Penh. I had sort of found a rhythm to the day and the weeks. I wondered if going to Europe would make me miss home more and set me back in terms of culture shock. I had overnight stays both directions in Bangkok. I grow to love that city more everytime I go. It's sort of like the New York City of SE Asia. It has a great energy to it and the Thai people are really wonderful. Bangkok isn't as gritty as Phnom Penh. So what do I mean by gritty? Well, here's an example. Last night I ... read more

I thought I better issue a couple of corrections to my previous blog now that I'm reading "Never Fall Down". The lead character in the "novel" is Arn. For some reason, I thought Patricia McCormick had changed his name in the book. Also, Arn grew up in Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia, not Phnom Penh. The book says his father didn't die at the hands of the Khmer Rouge but before they came to power. Arn was living with an Aunt at the time of the evacuation from the city. I don't think any of this changes the incredible story but I did want to put it out there.... read more

Arn Chorn-Pond is a complex person. Arn is a flute player, an orphan of war, a brilliant musician, a storey teller, a graduate of Brown University, a son of an opera singer and an accomplice to countless murders. These are just a few of the people living inside Arn's skin. In the empty moments of the night Arn hears two very different sounds. He hears the cries of the dying, the children he was a child with, his mother and father, the men he cut the pants from from as the Khmer Rouge slamed a rock or machete into the back of their head and he hears the soothing music of his native land rich in tradition whose masters were almost all exterminated during the four years of the killing fields. And he has a vision ... read more

On August 14, 1971, Philip Zimbardo, a young Stanford University psychologist turned the basement of the psychology building into a prison. Zimbardo was seeking to better understand the development of norms and the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations in a simulated prison environment. He recruited 24 young white middle class male students to play the roles of prison guards and prisoners. These were everyday common people like you and I with no previous history of mental illness, criminal record or abuse toward others. The guards were given very little instruction, only that they should maintain order and prevent escape. Students knew they were being watched and recorded and the experiment was to last two weeks. After six days the experiment was halted because the make-belief prison had been turned into a torture chamber. Even ... read more

I'm probably a little past due for a post but wanted to get elections behind me. No, not Romney v. Obama but communal elections that were held yesterday across the country. It was a most interesting time to be here. The Prime Minister, Hun Sen, declared a four day holiday from Friday until today. People have to return to their home province in order to vote. Phnom Penh largely cleared out which made for a really nice quite weekend. There was a huge party held around Independence Monument on Friday by the Cambodian People's Party. I didn't have my camera but it looked more like a victory celebration in advance of the election which would have been completely appropriate given the forgone conclusion that the CPP would win the election. Alcohol sales were banned the day ... read more

10) The cost of living. Anyplace you can buy a meal for $3 rates in my book. 9) Playing Frogger with the cars and scooters when crossing a major street at rush hour. 8) Rarely hearing Barack Obama's name. 7) Never hearing Mit Romney's name. 6) Exercise dance parties on the mall every night by the Independence Monument (I'll attempt to get some pics of this). 5) The kids--unbelievably beautiful children everywhere. 4) Central Market. They just did a major rennovation and WOW, this place is really great. Love the fish market. 3) $8 massages 2) $4 foot massages 1) There's an opportunity to do something really good just about every hour of the day. Small things can make the biggest difference. I'm going to Central Market this weekend--will post some photos then. I booked Jeff ... read more

Settle in to the university--Check Get a bank account--Check (although it has a 0 balance. I tried to deposit a check from the US and they said it would take up to 6 weeks to clear. Living on the ATM so far. Get a local phone number--Check Find a place to live--Check Move In--Mission Accomplished. Check. Although I still have two boxes in Bangkok and a couple of other boxes at Dr. Kol's (University President) house from a previous trip last November, I'm starting to build something that is akin to home. Now this is something between ALF wilderness week accomodations and my loft in Houston but by local standards, I'm livin' pretty well. The pics don't totally do it justice because you haven't seen much to compare it with. In a month, I went from ... read more

It's funny how you look at a place so differently when you are visiting as a tourist. I think as a tourist you find the magic in everything. I remember when I first went to the Dominican Republic to work in a rural village the truck stopped to drop off the first group of volunteers. My work partner, Tom, said, "oh, this isn't so bad. This looks like a nice community." I said, "I'm glad you feel that way because this is our home for the next eight weeks." "Oh, shit, Tom replied, you gotta be kidding?" You just look through very different eyes when the expectations of home change your rose colored glasses to a microscope. Phnom Penh has sort of been like that. The smog doesn't feel so quaint and the election campaign that ... read more