16.09.-30.09.09 - Blogabond

16.09.09
Cycling to work along the river is really nice. Usually in the morning I see first the elderly lady who sits in her little shop just next to my house. She can’t speak a word English but we smile at each other and she is very friendly when I buy something there. Then I wave to Vandy who serves breakfast with her daughters in her little restaurant. Then usually a disabled boy waits for me, sitting on a wooden bench, looking out for me and giving me a really big smile. He wears a mustage, and I noticed that all impaired people wear that here. It is like a recognition mark. Then further to the RTC are little shops and the children shout really loud: Hello! to me.
I can hear the sound of bells which are around the cows necks and a more wooden sound from the water buffalos, who wear like a bamboo bell.
Usually, people who are poor cycle. If you have some money, you drive at least a moto. Now they got used to me cycling, but at the beginning, I was asked many times, where my moto was.

Today I wore a skirt, it wasn’t a long one but over my knees, and everybody was staring at me.

Nary, please notice the print on her t-shirt!

Nary and me, sometimes my only student

The last English class with the rather good speaking bunch of teachers was really fun.
I prepared a short amusing story for them where they had to guess the last line of the story and a game. Well, you know that game where you have to pick a famous person everybody knows and then you write that name down on a little note and stick it on each others forehead. Then the person has to ask questions and the others are only allowed to answer with yes and no. So we were 5 people altogether and the funny thing was at the end, that instead of having 5 different famous persons at the end, we had 3 Christiano Ronaldos and 2 Britney Spears. During the game I just couldn’t stop laughing.

another one in my collection for 'weird creatures in and around my house'

In preparation for our trip to PP, the girls sleep for one night at my place so that we can go together on Friday morning to the Bus station. Also they escape one more night in the crowded RTC student accommodation. So I had to get some more pillows from Delia and another bed sheet. She is also exited for us and gave me $10 to buy a meal for all of us once we are there. Bless her. She is so thoughtful and has such a big warm heart.

Apparently, hair loss is a common complaint of female volunteers, whether they are taking antimalarial drugs or not. Usually it is hard to identify a specific cause, and it may due to the change in environment, a new diet, general stress, lack of sleep and changes in the menstrual cycle. Some volunteers don’t get their period for months. For myself the only change I can think of is the new diet I am having. I am eating really only basic food, mainly rice and noodles, very little bread and if then it’s made out of coconut I think, I have no butter, no cheese, no chocolate, only a little bit of milk in the morning with my tea. Otherwise I have mainly fresh vegetables I fry and fresh fruit of course. Especially ripe papaya. Most of the European food is just not available in ST. But when I go to PP, I’ll buy me some cheese. I am craving for it, really.
If I think of what I ate in England, baked beans, fatty sausages, lots of cheese with buttered good brown Botley bread, chips and kebabs, frighed mars bars and stews and I drank much more alcohol then I do here. Sometimes I feel a craving coming up and then I buy for myself a box of Pringles. They are available here. Sometimes that is my dinner. Then I have to think of Doerti and our ‘Chips Abende vorm Fernseher’.

28.09.09
Oh, we had such an amazing time. So the girls and me got a moto dop to the bus station on Friday morning and took the bus to PP. Of course the bus broke down for 2 hours on the way, but finally after nearly 10 hours, we made it. On the way we were nibbling Cambodian sushi and I had my first fright beetles which weren’t so bad.
In PP, we went to the VSO Programme office and made ourselves comfortable. It was late already and we cooked something and then Sareth and Srey-mom wanted to hit the nightlife. Parim had a headache and wanted to stay in. So the rest of us visited two clubs fairly early (for nightlife), but I introduced them to Tequila ( they had a quarter, Cambodians usually don’t drink), and they were first time in proper, real night clubs. They were staring at those girls who did wear tight minidresses and high heels.

On Saturday morning, we went with the tuk-tuk for 2 hours outside PP to see Parim’s mum, who visited her sister. Because of the Phchum Ben season, we went to a pagoda.
( Bonn Dak Ben and Bonn Phchum Ben - It’s also called the Spirit Commemoration festival which is held for the spirit of the dead, Bonn Dak Ben- the offering of food to the Buddhist monks, lasts for 15 days. The full moon is called Bonn Phchum Ben, means the collection of the beans (offering). During the celebration, if the departed souls do not find their families making offering at a Wat ( Pagoda), it is believed that the souls are cursed and will bother the descendants through out the year.)
So I thought we would go into a Pagoda, but suddenly there was the most impressive stone temple, I’ve ever seen. A little bit like the Ankor wat temple, only in mini size. Inside was a Guru with long black hair and bright red lips, elevated on pillows, praying. In front of him a group of people, deeply praying. So we also sat down and I basically did what the others did. Folding my hands and from time to time touching the floor with my hands for three times. This temple inside, it wasn’t very big, but it was full of Buddha statues and giant pictures of himself in glorious costumes. I felt like being in a different world.
After half an hour or so, my legs just started to get numb, the group of people disappeared and the Guru gave me an inviting smile of black teeth and made me understand to come closer. So the girls and me sat in front of him, and while he was chewing his Beatle nuts and spitting them out occasionally, ‘Father’ gave us a blessing. Then he sprayed some perfume onto the palms of our hands and I followed the others, rubbing it into the hair. Then we gave a donation and went out.

Then we had a look around the temple, and they don’t only have a monkey, they also keep in a cellar a real big anaconda. It was amazing.

After lunch with Parims family, we were asked, if we want to have a water-blessing. It was 35.000 Riel, which is nearly $9. And that is a lot and was probably the only money they had with them. But they persisted to do it for religious reasons I suppose.
So we undressed naked under a piece of cloth in front of the temple and were waiting for father. Wrapped up, full anticipation and excitement, we waited for around 40 minutes for Father to bless us again. Parim was the first. She was sitting on stairs with the back to father, who purred a stone jug of water over her, while he blessed her. Then he smashed the jug onto the floor and it broke into thousand pieces. She then stood up and had a ‘flower shower’, thrown by a few monks. It’s a nice procedure. Afterwards we tried to get back into our clothes under a wet piece of cloth. During our final blessing back in the temple, I felt the petals itching in my underwear.
We got another spray and I got my first Cambodian little red piece of string, you were on your wrist. It was an amazing experience and on the way back to PP on the back of an open pick up I thought, life is good.

Back in PP we had dinner in a Khmei restaurant and I had my first Tom Yam and Parim liked it so much, that she wanted to go to that restaurant the following night as well.

Later we all went to hit the night life again. First we saw life Cambodian Karaoke on a stage, and then we went to my favourite club in PP. It’s called Pontoon and it is a ship, you dance on. Sareth and Srey-mom really like dancing, Parim I found out, is actually quite grown up already and very serious some times. She preferred to sit all night, while we had fun on the dance floor.

On Sunday morning, we cycled to the hospitals. The first one was amazing. They couldn’t believe how clean it looked and how well organized it was. It was a normal hospital, nothing special, but it was much better then everything I’ve seen so far in the north-east. So after we went to different wards and spoke to several people, we got the address and phone number, so that they can contact them maybe next year, when they finish their training, to apply for a job there. The other two hospitals were not very impressive and it was good I think, they realized the difference and what it can make.
After lunch at the PO, we went to see the National museum. They were also fascinated by it. In the evening, we walked along the River side and enjoyed the sunset at a big public park in front of a Casino. We went in and it was even breathtaking for me, to see all that glamour there.

On Monday morning, I brought them to the bus station to make sure, they are safe and waved them goodbye. They were very sad to leave, but me too. I had a wonderful time with them and I also felt, they improved their English speaking skills enormously. At the end they spoke so much more fluent then at the beginning. And I know them also better now. Each one has a different personality, which is very interesting. In reflection, they liked the hospital visits most and the nights out.

After having made a very spontaneous decision on Monday, I went to the beach. During some snorkelling there, I stung my foot on a spiky black sea star and fortunately it wasn’t poisonous. My big toe was numb for nearly 3 days. I met really nice people on the way. It could have been the perfect trip, if not my handbag got stolen.

Suddenly 3 boys on a moto turned out of nothing, grabbed my handbag and drove off. And people who know me, know that I have a lot of things in there. So my camera with all the precious pictures from the girls and me, is gone now, my phone, my purse with ID and credit card of course, my USB stick and most valued my diary. I never knew how somebody feels who just lost that, but it feels pretty shit, I know now. Without money for a few days, I managed to borrow some and went back to PP. There I got some ID from the PO and managed to block my account and ATM card and ordered a new credit card. VSO also gave me $100 in advance instead of next month, so that I got a new phone at least, a taxi ticket back home and I got my running shoes, training starts in 2 days…

That experience was a good eye opener for me actually. I was quite gullible and trusting so far, maybe I need to change that a little bit. I also felt betrayed by the Cambodians, I am here for. But at the end of the day, there were only material things.

To talk about something more cheerful, on Saturday morning, I had my first paddle practise for the dragon boat race in November and that was real fun. I met a few other volunteers and we went with a ferry to the other side of the Mekong and drove to a village, who provided the boat. They are tiny, those paddles, and it is exhausting. Around 40 people fit into that boat. We were only 20 then and paddled 6 times altogether up and down a maybe 2 kilometre length. Next paddle exercise is in 3 weeks I believe. Back in the PO I met Claire and Holli, who wanted to go out that night. Before I went with them, I met Delia with her mother for dinner and was embarrassed, that they had to invite me.
Claire, Holli and me went first into a really cool small club, where a Cambodian band played live western music, and they were really good. Then we went again to Pontoon and danced the night away until 3:30 when Helen called me, that the taxi is on the way to pick us up.

Back in ST, I have the feeling that I need to change a few things in my life. I really want to concentrate on volunteering and make most of the time, I am here. But somehow it feels suddenly quite overwhelming, all the things I want to do. And I also don’t have much time left, until I have my 2 month ICT- in country and language training, then I will have visitors.

Hor told me a sad story. His neighbours son who is 13, got ill. He got tested for Malaria and treated with antibiotics for it. But they didn’t help. He got tested again and it is not Malaria he’s got, but Dengue fever. Apparently he is so ill, day 5 today, he has dengue haemorrhagic fever, which can cause deathly bleeding. Apparently any transfer to another hospital or PP can kill him, because the ambulance can’t provide the material to keep him alive in case of an emergency. His stomach is very swollen and he is severely ill. But they can’t do anything for him, except praying. I feel so sorry for the family. And I can’t do anything.

30.09.09

About the little boy, they found out that he has now both. Malaria and Dengue. He is still critical in Stung Treng hospital and the praying for him continues.

Last night, me, Helen, Delia’s mum, Louisa and Sambath were invited to a wedding of a colleague from the PHD.
Before we went I had a phone call from VSO PO to inform me about the weather. I didn’t know that there we had a Typhoon. I was wondering why it was heavily raining all day and night with strong winds. So VSO advised volunteers from the province next to ST, to move from wooden houses into brick stone houses.
When I had a look at the weather forecast in TV, they said it’s coming from Vietnam, over Laos and will enter Cambodia, then it will move along the Mekong.
So today again, rain all day and last night there was a heavy storm keeping me awake. I felt slightly scared.

Louisa and Delia

Louisa, Delia and her mum

So the poor married couple had a very wet and windy wedding. The celebration was outside under open tents, and where we were sitting, I suddenly got a cold shower from above because the tent gave away.

Helen and me after the shower from above

Delia gave me 10 points in the ‘wet t-shirt- contest’. So dripping wet I ate my dinner and afterwards we danced in the mud around a table.

dancing around the table

It was my first Cambodian wedding, and the bride and the groom looked absolutely beautiful, in their silk traditional clothes.

the beautiful bride

the handsome groom

I don’t know how they managed to smile all the time, because not only the rain bothered, but also the lack of electricity at the beginning. But we had a few beers and suddenly the situation became more jolly.

the boy behind me was very keen to dance with me

At 9 pm we went home, cycling through flooded streets and a heavy storm.

written by

katja-horsch on September 30, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

from the travel blog: 16.09.-30.09.09

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