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Published: October 30th 2009
I feel a certain obligation to write a blog entry, but please don't expect much. All is wonderful, we are having great adventures, and there is plenty to write about, but I am more in the mindset of experiencing and doing rather than writing and recording. Perhaps it comes from the fact that this trip is not a first-time brand-new adventure. In fact, oddly enough, the closer we got to Siem Reap on Thursday, the more I had the sense of coming home. While the countryside is lusher and greener this time of year than I've seen before, this place is comfortingly familiar and dazzlingly beautiful.
I suppose that some of you are wondering how our day with the monks went. We all agree that it was a truly unique and amazing experience, and it certainly deserves its own blog entry, but for now, I'll just give you some highlights.
These young men, Sokol and Chansorn, were delightful and gracious. As we waited for them to arrive, I felt all the nervous anticipation of a first date. Will they like us? Will we say or do something stupid? Will it be awkward? And yes, there were a few awkward moments as we all struggled with the language and culture, but we figured it all out in the end. We spent about eight hours with them, visiting
Wat Po,
Wat Arun and taking a longboat ride through the canals.
It was like sightseeing with celebrities: everywhere we went, people stopped them constantly to take their photos. It was like running around town with Brangelina! At one point, a woman who was asking to pose with them for a photo seemed to grasp that they were somehow connected to us and asked, "Oh, are they yours?" She followed up that inane comment with, "So, can you just hire monks to show you around?" I was pleased to be able to say that we were together because we were friends. The other benefit of sightseeing with monks is the fact that no one tries to take advantage of you. The canal tour cost one third of what I had paid in the past. When we took two taxis to get across town, our taxi driver stopped at our destination and ran out to confer with the other driver before deciding what to charge us for the ride, and I'm quite sure it was less than we would have paid on our own. Steve had the privilege and responsibility of riding in the taxi with the monks, and he did his usual excellent job of chatting them up and making everyone comfortable.
At the end of our day, they came back to our hotel and asked to see the photos we had taken. Sokol then produced a thumb drive from his bag and asked for copies of the pictures, which I was happy to give him. We all posed together for one more photo, and then they got back in a taxi for the two-hour trip back to their university. It was an amazing day, and I hope that sometime soon I feel up to the task of writing more about it.
We spent Thursday in transit from Bangkok to Siem Reap by taxi and bus and van. Despite having crossed the border at Poipet only six months ago, it was still an adventure. Some things had been changed, so finding the visa office was a challenge, but they didn't try too hard to overcharge us once I told them I had been through before. And after getting through all the officials and offices and being stamped into the country, we walked outside to find Marina, Ponheary's sister, waiting for us!
We eventually wrestled all our luggage into the van and were off on our way to Siem Reap. Five-year-old Fifi had come along as well, and after a few minutes of cautious quiet on his part, he warmed up and chattered and sang all the way home. When he wore me out, Steve changed places with me and he and Fifi began a singing contest. Steve tried to think of songs that Fifi didn't already know, but had very little luck. When it was Fifi's turn to sing, he made up long and interesting songs about all sorts of topics, keeping us all quite entertained.
We arrived at the guest house just a little while before Jaz and Lori and Ponheary returned from a long day at Koh Ker school. We had a wonderful reunion and are all so happy to be together!
The evening was spent having dinner at Home Cocktail restaurant and then Lori and Steve and Jaz and I went out for trivia night at the Funky Monkey. (We came in second, so we'll have to go back next week and try again.) At the end of the day, we all slept soundly - though Mim is still waking up at 3:30 or 4:00 am. Steve and I seem to have finally adjusted to the time change reasonably well.
Today, Steve rode out to Tchey School with Jaz to watch her teach, and ended up teaching himself when one of the teachers had to leave school unexpectedly. While he had been hesitant about the idea of teaching English, he ended up having a fantastic time, and I suspect he will be doing more of it.
While they were off at Tchey, Miriam and I went to meet with Dessa at the Life and Hope Association to talk about our plans to teach English at the PAGE program - The Program for Advancement of Girls' Education. The Association owns a house where 10 or 12 girls live so they can continue their education and finish high school. We rode our bikes there to meet them and made a plan to return tomorrow morning and have a conversational English class. They are a delightful group of girls age 14-21, in grades 6-12, and I think we will have a good time there.
I have to report that Miriam is an excellent traveling companion. Considering how foreign this environment is, how overwhelming the heat and the sights and the smells can be, how unfamiliar absolutely everything is - including the concept of teaching English - Miriam just goes with the flow and demonstrates an incredible openness and flexibility. We have a long list of things we want to do while she's here, and she wants to have some time to relax and read and take it all in, and we will be working hard to find the right balance. We are so pleased that she's here with us!
We checked a few things off the list for Miriam today: she rode a bike through the streets of Siem Reap, she took photos in the Old Market, she bargained for her first purchase of scarves, and we had a foot massage. She and Steve and Lori have plans to take a cooking class, we began to discuss a plan for visiting the temples, and we have a whole list of restaurants to visit in the next ten days.
So forgive me for not having more to say at this point, but know that we are having a wonderful time and couldn't be happier. I promise to post photos soon!!!
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Tom Whitney
non-member comment
Great to hear from you
Both you and Jaz write very well and it is great fun to follow your adventures. Hey, Jess, will take a few minutes and show Jaz about taking some panoramas; keeping the camera on the same level and overlapping the pictures about 25% and ask her to send me a couple which I will process and send back so she can see the technique and can decide if she wants to use it in the future? Things here are relatively uneventful. It has been a rainy year here, more so than usual.I finished my big project for the year which was to write a foundation-funded report about the community health clinic I go to. This morning the sun is nice and fresh, temperature is cool, a little blue sky showing. I am looking forward to that nice cup of coffee I am going to walk down the hall to make, and then the nice blue cheese omelette I will make. Take care; hello to Steve and Jaz Tom