Sunday in Siem Reap

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As a reward for those of you who managed to slog all the way through the last entry, I was planning to provide a short update this time around. Those of you who know me will not be surprised to see that brevity is still not one of my strongest skills.

Having arrived safely in Siem Reap and settled in a bit at the guesthouse, Jaz and I wandered down the street and ate dinner at “Home Cocktail” restaurant, where we enjoyed lovely spring rolls, noodles with shrimp and vegetables, and soup. On the way back, we stopped at the local grocery market to stock our refrigerator with juice, beer, yogurt, and a few snacks, and by the time we finished that, I was barely able to keep my eyes open. We were both sound asleep by 8:30, and slept almost ten hours.

We woke up around 6:00 and found the room a bit warm - it turned out that the power had blinked off a few times during the night, which had turned off our air conditioning, but a quick reset fixed that. A shower and some breakfast at the Star Rise restaurant (great crepes, of all things, served by a waiter who may have been all of ten years old) and we were ready to tackle the day ahead.

Our agenda was to wander around Siem Reap a bit and get our bearings, so we set off to do just that. Down the dusty streets toward the river, trying to figure out where we were in relation to the hotel where we stayed last year and “downtown.” It turned out to be a ten-minute walk or so, during which Jaz and I speculated about how long it would take her to get her bearings enough to be able to trek off on her own. I think it won’t take her very long, but she’s more doubtful about her navigation skills. If she ever takes off on her own and can’t find her way to or from the guesthouse, there will be no shortage of tuktuk drivers willing to take anywhere for $2 or so, so there’s not much danger of being lost for long.

We were thrilled to come across an outdoor market full of fruit stalls stocked with mangosteen, longan, rambutan, and plenty of other familiar and unfamiliar choices. We buy some of these occasionally at home at the Vietnamese market, but they are a big splurge, and we have really looked forward to eating fruit every day while we’re here. We eventually found our way to downtown Siem Reap and had a glorious time wandering the Old Market, which has variety of stalls catering to both tourists and locals. The sprawling food market is crowded with people buying produce and meat of all kinds, and it is a feast for the eyes, ears, and nose. (Well, sometimes it’s more of an assault on the nose, but a rich experience nonetheless.) It also became apparent at one point that we were the only Westerners in sight, which is always an interesting thing to notice.

Jaz decided to get a foot massage, and while she was enjoying that indulgence, I sat at an outdoor café table and had a cold drink, watching the world go by. There didn’t seem to be nearly as many tourists on the streets as I recall from last year, which suggests the expected drop in tourism. There were considerably more kids hawking bracelets and postcards - in fact, I didn’t remember seeing any of them downtown at all last year, but only saw them at the temples. Fewer tourists and more kids competing for their business cannot spell good things for local families.

Several kids approached me as I sat, and the familiar exchange was repeated over and over:

“You buy bracelets from me? Ten for one dollar.”
“No, thanks.”
“Where you from?”
“I’m from the USA.”
“Capital of USA is Washington DC.”
“That’s right. You’re very smart.”
“You buy bracelets from me? I need money to go to school.”
“No, I’m not buying bracelets today. I don’t need bracelets.”

There were a few variations on the theme. One young girl followed me down the street for a long time as I walked, repeating, “You buy me food. I hungry. You buy bracelets or give me one dollar.” After a while, I gave her 1000 riel (about 25 cents) which she quickly pocketed but continued to sing her refrain. “I hungry. You buy from me.” I pointed out that she could use the riel to buy food at the market, but that didn’t satisfy her. Eventually she gave up and wandered off.

Another young boy went through the whole bracelet offer and then asked, “Why you don’t buy bracelets from me?”
“I don’t need any bracelets. I already have one.”
“You buy for your boyfriend.”
“No thanks, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“You know why you don’t have boyfriend? Because you no buy him bracelets!”

By mid-day we made it back to the guest house. The temperature, which felt quite comfortable at 8:00 am, was now rising and the clouds that had partly blocked the sun were breaking up. I went for a bit of walk further up Wat Bo Road where our guest house is, before deciding it was time for a/c. The heat was intense, but the only part of me that felt truly uncomfortable were the tops of my feet; I felt as though they might begin to make sizzling noises at any moment. I was glad my shoulders were covered, or I assumed they would have felt the same.

While Jaz enjoyed some R&R (and internet), Lori and I went out for our version of a three-martini lunch - which means we had three rounds of draft beer, a pretty hefty amount of alcohol for me in a two-hour span. It was great to hear more of her background story, how she came to give up her house and her career and most of her things to relocate to Cambodia after founding the Ponheary Ly Foundation. Lori has a keen sense of justice, a delightfully colorful vocabulary, and a wicked sense of humor. She tells a good story and I was both entertained and provoked to think even more about many of the questions I’ve already pondered about the culture and potential of this country.

It’s impossible for me not to draw parallels in my head about of a country that was once so traumatized and the families I work with at home, many of whom have had their own version of trauma. Generational poverty in America and childhood abuse may fall somewhere else on the continuum than clawing your way through each day to survive the Khmer Rouge, but the impact of living in survival mode is not so different. The lack of critical thinking skills that results when all of one’s energy is spent surviving each moment leaves anyone at a disadvantage, and an entire generation of Cambodians missed out, and then began raising children of their own. Who can help? What will help? How can we help? The questions are not so different than those that many of us who work in social service agencies at home ask ourselves and each other every day.

After our “lunch,” I rejoined Jaz at the guesthouse and we all talked about plans for the coming days. On Monday, Jaz and I will help clean and paint a classroom at the nearby Tchey School, in preparation for it becoming a computer classroom after solar power is installed. Later that day, Jaz and Lori will go meet with the principal of the Wat Bo School to begin working out the details of the Bridges To Understanding project that Jaz will be doing with some students there. My options are teaching English to school kids or to teachers, and my plans still remain somewhat undefined. We also talked about some tentative plans to go and visit the Koh Ker School, three hours away. The students we toured the temples with last year attend this school, ands it is in a remote rural area with one guesthouse that might have electricity for a couple of hours a day. We’re up for the adventure!

Before going out for some food, we moved all our belongings to a room on the opposite side of the guest house, which will allow us to get a wi-fi signal in our room. This makes us very happy, because we are technology-dependent, Facebook-addicted, compulsive internet users, and we like to satisfy our addiction in air-conditioned comfort. Do you suppose there’s a 12-step group for that yet?

Jaz and I wandered off for dinner and made it as far as the corner, where we found a restaurant that offered a view of the passing traffic. Jaz ordered fried frog and was disappointed that they were fresh out, so she settled for ginger pork instead, while I had a whole fried fish with “mango sauce.” After eating, we were once again exhausted, and once again sound asleep by 8:30 or 9:00.

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Comments

[Judy Ayers]

Catching up
Hi Jess and Jas, I just read your entries and it is all so interesting. I didn't know you were going until just before you left so will be following along via your blog. I loved your description of the taxi driver driving like a bat out of hell. That really does describe what I remember! Have a wonderful experience and Jess have a few beers for me! Judy Ayers

[anne damrosch]

and please eat at least 7 or 8 mangosteens a day for me !

[jessw]

I think of you every time, Anne!
I always associate you with mangosteens, thanks to your recommendation last year. I promise to eat plenty on your behalf!

[jessw]

I love the "assignments" you're all giving me
Judy, I promise to drink at least one beer for you every day. Anyone else care to assign me a task???