Finally, I’m starting to feel somewhat comfortable here in
I've had a good week, and feel better about living here, for 3 reasons:
1. Water Festival this past weekend:
2. Meeting great people. I met up with this guy Yazan. We were told to meet because he is a friend of a friend of Hannah Lantos. He just graduated from Duke, was actually their student Graduation Speaker, and is currently working with an NGO that runs an orphanage in Battambang. He's working on an ongoing Duke research project and is funded as a sort of 1-year post-bac fellowship. Battambang is 6 hours away, but he was here for Water Festival. It was so wonderful talking with someone my own age, going through similar changes at the same stage of life (adjusting to life after college). Everyone else here is at least 27, and while many are awesome, few are going through that one particular and difficult change. Also, he has been here 3 months, so it's inspiring to see how well he as adapted Cambodian life and how well he's learned Khmer. Something to strive for.
It was great to have such flowing and interesting conversations with someone who I could relate to so well. I hope there are others out here who aren't 6 hours away too.
On Wed night, Daniel invited me to dinner at his friends’ apartment, a beautiful, open space with great art on the walls, an atrium, and a spectacular balcony. Man, if only the French had stayed in power here, everybody would have apartments like this! Well, at least the wealthy, and then the underbelly of society would work for them, but at least they would be working in beautiful buildings. Please note the sarcasm in these statements; otherwise it would sound really insensitive.
Anyway, I had a great night of amazing food and conversation with 8 of Daniel’s friends here. They are all older, but are really fun and interesting, 2/3 of them work for NGOs, predominantly with orgs that combine the arts with the empowerment of children, or with environmental orgs. The others worked for the UN (UNICEF, UNHCR). Really fun, interesting, smart, and motivated people—hopefully I will see them increasingly in the coming months.
3. I decided to take a day trip out of
There was also one mosque at the top of one of the outer hills. It had been there for 50 years, though it had also been gutted during the Khmer Rouge. Along the drive, I also saw about 4 mosques—Islam is the second-most practiced religion here, and has a growing presence. I want to find out more about Muslim culture and how it interacts with Buddhist culture here. The
At Oudong, there were so many beggars--amputees, the blind, the aged, children, it was very overwhelming, and there was one for about every 5 steps on the 509 steps on the staircase up the hill. One shrewd teenager came up to me and started fanning me, and then followed me and Sophorn the whole way. We couldn’t get rid of him, but the fanning was pleasant, even if I felt a little strange being so lavished with privilege. I gave him two dollars at the end, and all along the way gave some of the beggars—and all of the amputees—about a quarter each. There are money changers who change larger bills for the smallest currency so that people can distribute small amounts to more people, and to the Buddhist offering sites, along the whole route. But all in all, just seeing the way houses were constructed, the way people were living, and the forms of spiritually displayed at these important sites was very interesting, beautiful, and a refreshing change of pace to the chaos of Phnom Penh.
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