In Transition



No more yellow walls

My Kitchen

I am starting to get my bearings after almost three months, so let me describe where I am or where I think I am.  First my apartment is a nice, the building is brand new has everything that you could want or need.  I'm on the second floor so I have a little bit of a view from my balcony and it is my good fortune to have the Hatha Khmer Massage by Men across the street because they have a dense stand of trees and bamboo preventing a view of what really goes on in there.  This all means that I have nice green tree tops to look out on and these are attractive to birds as well.  So far only sparrows, mynas and something called a minivet, but I am hoping that as the winter comes up north more birds will perch above the men.  Just a half a block away is my school.  It is a nice place to work, very kid friendly and a good group of teachers.  Being close means I can go back late in the afternoon to swim, I've given up jogging and have replaced it with laps.  I've also taken on two tutoring jobs and do about six hours a week which is good spending money.  I live in an upper middle class neighborhood that is safe and relatively quiet.  I like it here, my neighbors are nice and friendly, there is an Australian guy who fixes motorcycles up the block but aside from him everyone is Khmer.  The women next store sells cold drinks and I stop sometimes and she tries to teach me a little bit but I am a total failure. After a rather long and painful lesson on counting, I forgot how to ask for two and can't even remember one, she laughs and laughs.  There is a man who is always out washing his car in the afternoon and I have commented in my own stupid sign language way how nice and clean it is.  Penny Lane.  There are two small restaurants on my block and I've tried eating at both but I really didn't like the food and never went back.  I walk by now kind of sheepishly but they always give me a nice smile.  Most of these little Khmer restaurants are kind of dirty, plastic chairs, lots of napkins on the ground and the certificate of health in the cooking area not clearly displayed.  I did find one about four blocks away and it is really nice, it is clean with a charcoal grill and bird cages.  It is off the beaten tourist path and its get few westerners.  My arrival, I've been there three times, always seems to quite an occasion, like they never seen a pasty bald guy before.  They are really very gracious and because the menu is only in Khmer, they act somewhere between apologetic and overly helpful in trying to tell me what to order  Then they tend to hover. The food is good, cooked over the grill (very little chance of cockroaches or worst  falling in) and they have a really spicy chili sauce to put on it, that, a beer, tea and dessert for under $4.  Also with in walking distance is the church I go to on Sunday morning (a lot of singing, good people and really good AC), the Boddhi Tree, the AK and a really funky move theater call The Flicks.  The first row is air mattresses, the second, blow up chairs and then wicker couches: seating and lounging=54.  They just use a computer and a projector. 

The ktichen of the Khmer restaruant I like

           Phnom Penh is a funny little city, more Brooklyn than Manhattan. I am so glad I am not here as a tourist because I know I would be disappointed by the city's major draw which is the river side.  Lots of bars and restaurants.  People just wandering around looking for something.  I went down there for three Sundays in a row to watch the Rugby World Cup and really had fun in this open air place called Patty Rice crowded by crazy fans from New Zealand, Ireland, France, England and Wales (you wouldn't think there were many Welsh in Phnom Penh) all cheering for their teams.  I  haven't done any real sightseeing in the city.  Over the Christmas break my lifelong (I'm advoiding the word old)  friend Chris Walsh is coming and we will spend a couple of days here and see the Royal Palace and tour a silk farm (did you ever wonder how silk is made?).  I have really enjoyed and appreciated the other teachers, mostly youngsters, inviting me to places they know about.  When we all first got paid we had to walk to the bank to set up a pin for the ATM.  After that we went to the Beer Garden, a real Khmer outdoor place where we ordered a tower of beer= 5 pitchers with a big frozen tube of ice floating it it.  I also went with them one night to a karaoke bar and we all had a great time.  And thanks to Gayla and the crowd at the AK I have been to a lot of nice places to eat that I would never have known about if I was here for a week.  I actually love telling people, "No, I live here."  What I don't like about Phnom Penh is that is not a good city for walking (or jogging) and that it really smells bad.  All the street drains empty into these open canals and the whole system literally stinks.  I especially dislike walking along the canal which is called the Black River and I am sure worse. 

Route 1 just outside of Phnom Penh

           I've only been outside Phnom Penh twice and it really feels like a third world country.  Although I've heard that the roads are much improved, they still are a mess and dangerous.  The garbage thing is really a shame.  Only when you get pretty far away from "civilization" do you see the beautifile tropical forest and mountains.  I wonder what the fate of this country is?  An ancient culture that maybe peaked with Angkor Wat a thousand years ago and then was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and now it is changing quickly.  Cambodia is incredibly young and it feels busy and on the move.  The west with all its money and conviences has a strong pull.  Lucky's supper market is like any in the US (except Skippy peanut butter costs $8) but its shoppers are mostly westerners.  The open air markets, with crawling crabs, and squirming fish and live chickens waiting to be separated from their heads are jammed with Cambodians.  I think of farmer's markets in the US replacing the preservative infused and hormone injected foods of the supermarkets at home. So I guess I don't see the bigger picture very clearly.  I would like to comment more on Cambodia's direction, the role of women here, my students and their role in the future, corruption, the environment, but it will just have to be for another time.