May 31, 2009

Got up early today and walked around the city. I haven’t explored far or wide, yet, but am becoming more familiar with landmarks and the city in general. The best way to get to know a city is to get lost in it, which is what I’ve been trying to do, at least to a minor extent. I thought about visiting the Cambodian National Museum, but a tour for the students at Language Corps was scheduled for the afternoon and I didn’t want to visit it twice. Turned out not to be a factor.

At 1 p.m. tuk tuk drivers picked up all the students, about 12 of us, and drove us to different sites within the city. First we visited a park near Wat Phnom. Wat is the Cambodian, Thai and Laotian term for a Buddhist temple or monastery. They’re beautiful buildings several stories high with cavernous interiors. Murals telling Buddhist and Hindi stories coat the walls, with golden statues of Buddha and Hindi gods (with which I am not familiar). Not all, however, are golden, but it seemed the predominant theme. Wat Phnom and The Royal Palace shared these similarities, though The Royal Palace was considerably more extensive with multiple temples and gardens. Wat Phnom did have monkey’s and an elephant wandering in the park.

While there our group, predictably, found itself approached by vendors selling a multitude of products and mostly small children trying to sell water. I bought a bottle of water from one girl as another reproached me for not buying her. Arturo, from New York and also planning on teaching in China after our month in Cambodia, bought a small sack of fried crickets, of which I had two. They were quite tasty, reminiscent of homemade jerky. These children followed us around all over Wat Phnom and as we left the young girl who earlier reproached me did her best to sell more water. When I walked away she angrily said “Fuck off. You are all crazy.” It seemed an unreasonable thing to say.

Although I enjoyed the Buddhist and Hindi influenced temples (my apologies for not having more information on how that influence came about. I’d like to do research before I start including the few tiny tidbits I have now) I couldn’t help but notice the bipolar dichotomy of having such huge and expensive projects, as building these temples surely was, while so many Cambodians live in extreme poverty. I rant and rave about such things often, but so rarely make any positive contribution to change the course of such discrepancy. No need to rant about it here. It’s just hard to appreciate such man-made beauty when man made filth and depression litter the streets outside.

Meeting the other students went well. They’re from a variety of places, as to be expected. New Yorkers, Texans, an Englishman and others unknown. There is, however, a guy from Gothenburg, Nebraska. What are the fucking chances. I have cousins from Gothenburg. He hasn’t lived there for some years and didn’t know any of them, but it was a strange coincidence to meet him. His name is Dirk and he’s a tall fellow with a quiet thoughtful persona. We digressed over the meaning of artifacts and murals while walking through the temples. It was nice to meet a Nebraskan and at no point discuss the upcoming football season.

Part II - June 1, 2009

Last night the Language Corps staff and this months class of students had dinner at The Titanic, a lovely place on the Sap river. I had flambéed duck with vegetables and, of course, rice. Delicious. Truly a great meal. The meat was juicy and tender, the veggies crisp and fresh and all of it very spicy. After that we went to a couple bars for drinks. Talked at first with James and Abbey, a couple from England, about the mundane life they left behind to travel Asia and now to teach English. They don’t yet have jobs, instead are taking this course and will see what happens. Second half of the evening I spent talking to Dirk and Cambodian women who were with Englishmen we didn’t know in a pub. Good times.

Had the first day of class, which consisted mostly of orientation and simple teaching methods. The class will be pretty easy and straight forward. Doesn’t mean it won’t be useful, it’s just not going to be particularly challenging since it’s mostly a preparation course utilizing information I already have through methods of instruction. I heard about $30 bicycles, brand new that come with a basket and a lock at a place, but I don’t remember where the place is. Phnom Penh is small though so I’m sure I can find it. Plus the bicycles are silver, making them an obvious target. I also want to buy a guitar, which I hear are also $30 or less here. I want to do this because I want to play an instrument and my obsession with Neil Young is at an all time high. Currently he takes up 18 of the top 25 songs most listened to on iTunes. I’m reading his biography, which really isn’t that good since I can only hear so many stories about David Crosby tripping on LSD, how he used to smoke pot with Joni Mitchell and how Stephen Stills is an asshole, and I listen to Young pretty much all the time. It’s a little ridiculous since I have 6446 songs on iTunes and listen to fewer than 500 of them, but I love it. At least I have options! And I do in real life, so I’m off to find a bicycle.