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on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 11/Nov/2009 12:02, 34 days ago
week 3Today Sunday, I took my courage in my hands, got out the bicycle(not exactly a ten gear, more like a‘high nelly’)and took to the road. I thought Sunday might be a quieter time to begin, but every day seems to be the same here. It was terrifying at first and I was tempted to give up. It is just a myth that they drive on the right. I swear there was as much coming towards me on my side as was on the other. One learns the unwritten rules quickly.1 The bigger the vehicle the louder the horn.2 Priority goes according to size, only pedestrians are lower in the pecking order than bicycles.3 Don’t make any sudden moves and they will avoid you. If on a bike, it’s not wise to avoid pot holes, puddles, mud or rubbish as that could be a sudden move and could mean trouble. It’s safer to take the bumpy option.   One gets used to the chaos after a while. I must say that, like toad from‘The Wind in the Willows’ I felt a great sense of freedom. Hope I don’t come a cropper like him!,      ,Week. 4It’s Sunday again and almost two weeks of language training done. I really need to master the Cambodian language (Kmai), as otherwise I’ll be totally dependent on my interpreter who will be with me two and a half days a week only. Also unless I master this language I will be unable to communicate directly with the teachers and children. So far I’m keeping up, but it’s hard work. Our teacher is excellent, very patient and good humoured. Old style teaching,talk and chalk and lots of repetition. I’ve heard he learned eEnglish while in a Thai refugee camp after the Pol Pot regime. It’s speaking only, and writing words phonetically in roman letters. Luckily we don’t have to learn the Cambodian script. It’s an easy language in some ways. Once you learn the vocabulary, you just string the words together. There are no tenses or plurals. ie’ Mee-un’ means’have’ and it’s the same word for had, will have or having. ‘Man-uh’ means‘person’ and for more than one you jast add a number or‘Ch-ran’ for many.I’m enjoying life here so far. I’m constantly amazed at how pleasant and gentle the people are. The children are beautiful. They play so happily with almost nothing. Shuttle cocks(Spelling?) are very popular. I watched kids standing in a circle and flicking one over and back to each other, with the side of the heel, with surprising skill. (All bare-foot)People here are very enterprising. Apart from little stalls selling bottles of petrol, foods, flowers,drinks etc. I saw a little old lady sitting on the ground with a bathroom scales, charging a few riel( Cambodian money) to weigh yourself. Every evening two young men set up a ghetto blaster on the promenade by the river, stand on 2 tables and dance for about two hours. Hundreds of people, from small kids to grannies pay 1000 riel( about 20 cent) to join in. Many more sit on their scooters and watch them. Whole families sit around and eat supper while they watch. It’s a real social gathering.It’s early to bed here. The town is deserted by 9pm. Work seems to start around 6am.In the street the smells are still hard on the nose. it’s a combination of cooking with many spices and rotting rubbish. I don’t think refuse collection has come here yet. Religion:-Cambodian people are mainly Buddhist. There are altars to Buddha on most street corners. There is a big one lit with flickering‘christmas’ lights in the hotel foyer. They put baskets of fresh fruit in front of it regularly. Sometimes they place lotus flowers there also.Sometimes I hear chanting over loud-speakers ,but I’m not sure of the significance of it yet. It happens when a wedding is about to take place, but at other times also. We’re wondering if it’s when someone dies,or to announce a birth. Must investigate some more.There are some Muslims here, and the call to prayer is heard from the mosques.I found a Catholic Church here, on the outskirts of town, thanks to my rusty bike. The only Mass was at 7am. on Sunday morning. The Priest is French. The church is built on stilts. You leave your shoes at the top of the stairs and sit on rattan mats on the floor. It lasted one hour and twenty five minutes.After that I could do with a Radox bath. I’m thinking it might be enough for two weeks! Food;-Food is mainly sold in the markets. They’re in full swing by 7 o’clock every morning, including Sunday. The market consists of little wooden falling apart tables side by side along each side of a narrow lane(dusty or muddy depending on the weather) The stall owner sometimes sits cross-legged on the table with the produce all around him/her. You can buy meat, fish, fried spiders,all kinds of fruit vegetables and spices. There ia a lady who makes waffles and one who cooks noodles and fish soup there, and a few tailors.Fish is plentiful here because we are near the Mekong River. They serve fish soup, fish curry, fish with noodles, fish with rice,etc. I’m not comfortable with it yet, I’m not sure if it’s because of what I see in the market, or because they throw in the head, eyes, tail, and probably the inners. I’m still happy with a waffle and a pineapple for breakfast.When eating, most families that I have seen, sit on a mat on the ground and serve themselves from a pot in the centre, picnic style.Milk, cheese and butter are almost impossible to find here. Bread is available, but locals don’t seem to eat much of it. They call it balloon bread( because of the air-holes in it). Rice or noodles are the staple diet, and eaten three times a day Some of the delicious fruit on sale in the market:-From left:-Pear, Jam boo,Orange(mostly green here, but still ripe) Pomegranate and the big pink one at the back is a dragon fruit. Bottom picture:dragon fruit and pomegranate. There are other fruit to be enjoyed here also, the dorian fruit smells like rotting meat, but I’m told it’s delicious. It’s the size of a rugby ball. Because of the smell you are not allowed to take it on public transport. Jack–fruit is also very large. It’s divided in segments and tastes a bit like banana. It can be eaten raw, or cooked and made into salad. This I have eaten and it is great either way. Lychees are the size of a strawberry. They’re white inside with greenish tough skin, very tasty. Lady-finger bananas are just that, the size of your little finger, a little more yellow than we are used to, but also delicious. I’m sure there are lots more to be discovered in the coming weeks, but for now I can survive on these.   Customs:- Do’s and Don’t’s .You could get yourself in hot water easily here, things we regard as rude are good manners here. For example:You must not make eye contact with a person you are talking to.( how often in the past I have said ‘Please look at me when you speak to me’ Not here.We greet people with hands joined under the chin and bow slightly. We do not attempt to shake hands.The head is sacred, so never pat a child on the head.Never show feelings, neither anger nor joy. You must smile politely through everything.Voices are never raised.The left hand is unclean, so you never offer something with the left hand, the right hand is ok, but the correct way is to offer is with both hands.Shoes are taken off outside the door of a house or hotel.( I sometimes worry that they will be gone when I go back for them, but it hasn’t happened yet)Rudest of all is to show the soles of your feet to anyone.    Sunday November8th.I left Kompong Cham this morning by bus for Siem Reap.This is the most famous tourist area in Cambodia, because, on the outskirts of the town there is the world heritage area of Angkor Wat.(more about that later). According to the time-table the bus was schedueled to leave at 7.30, but it took till 8 o clock to load the cargo. It was a cross between the Connemara bus and the West Clare railway. Everything imaginable was loaded on, boxes of fruit,sacks of rice,live hens in plastic carrier bags with their heads out,( I felt so sorry for the poor things). Passengers were last on,and we had to hold our luggage on our laps and around our feet for the 5 hour journey. When we were all in they piled in some more sacks of rice on the steps, and the conductor sat on a three-legged stool. He journey was uneventful and we arrived in Siem Reap in one piece,sore and tired.Siem Reap is a used to tourists and has many facilities to suit westerners. It is reasonably clean and has some nice restaurants. Prices are a bit higher. I plan to spend time there when I’m finally doing what I came to do.Monday Nov. 9th.Today is Independence day.I travelled by taxi with 3 other volunteers who will be working in my area to Sisophon. We were met by Jan and Jen. Jen has kindly offered me accommodation for this week. She will also introduce me and help me find a place to live.Tuesday 10th.Today is the day. Sokpa, my volunteer assistant arrived at 7 30 this morning to take me to visit one of the 3 District Offices of Education that I’ll be working with. Attired in biker’s jacket and snazzy helmet I hopped on the back of the moto and we were off. Jen and her V.A, set out with us. Sokpa and I arrived safely but Jen wasn’t behind, they got a puncture. I felt a bit of panic as the Director came running out to greet us. Alone, there was so much to try to remember-How do you do( in Khymer), bow, don’t look him in the eye,And try to explain what happened to Jen. About 40 people were waiting to meet us, all bowing and needing to be greeted politely. I got through ok,only forgot to take off my shoes. The first question they asked—How old am I?Now we would think that very rude, but here it’s expected because the older one is the more respect they show you. They were very courteous and said they thought I was 20 years younger, that made my day. Jen and Vomit( smirk if you must, but that’s his name) finally arrived and the meeting began.The Director insisted on sending the assistant Director with us to visit two model child-friendly schools in his area. He seemed very proud of the standard reached in these schools.We asked if we could see one model and one that needed help from us, but he mis-understood us.We were made very welcome in both schools. One was easy to get to. To reach the second one we drove along a bumpy country lane for ages. When we got there the Village Elder was waiting to greet us. He was eager to show us the work he had done with the children developing the grounds around the school. I was impressed, a man after my own heart.He had set several different trees so that the children would know about the forest. Forests are out of bounds because they haven’t been cleared of mines since the war.All this done and it isn’t even 11 o’clock.