Cambodia 1

My posts are going to get a little out of order here, so I'm just going to have to rely on the intelligence of my readers to keep it all straight.
There is no really good reason for this, except that I do not always feel inclined to write a massive entry (which my trips tend to require) and so I keep putting it off. Pretty soon it is two weeks later and I still haven't written about something really cool - like my recent trip to Cambodia.
Before I launch into the escapades of my globetrotting life I should say that I am currently waiting to see what time I am going to drive over and pick up some manure for the farm. That should help anyone who might have those twinges of envy! Actually, I find that whole thing interesting as well, and might delve into my activities at the farm in another post.

Cambodia
I am embarrassed to admit that I did not know much about Cambodia before I came here. I do recall a Cambodian girl in my high school whose family had somehow fled the country. I believe that was the extent of my knowledge. I didn't know about Angkor Wat, or the troubles the country has had until very recently.
Fortunately for me I have a more knowledgeable roommate who has wanted to go to Cambodia for many years. She was very excited about this trip and I can't say I was dreading it!

More specifically we were excited to see Angkor Wat. It's pop culture claim to fame is that part of Tomb Raider was filmed there. Otherwise, it is known as a lost (to the Western world, anyway) city that had been buried in the jungle. Basically Angkor Wat is a series of temples built by a succession of kings. First they were built to Hindu gods and later to Buddhist gods. Each king had a temple(s) built where he could worship. Upon his death, the temple would be abandoned and the next king would build his own temple in which to worship. I am really oversimplifying this. But as I wandered into this vast area dotted with very old piles of rocks, it was hard to figure it out. Is this a city? What's where? It's not a city. It was strictly for the kings to worship the many different gods of their religion.

Now - about those piles of rocks. They're old. And very beautiful. They're about 800-1000 years old. As you can imagine all of the temples are falling apart. I guess it adds to the charm. Of course, what's not good is that they are continuing to fall apart. Minor efforts are being made to preserve them, but that takes money. I got the impression from our guide that much of the entrance fee lines a rich man's pockets and does not go to upkeep. For me it was kind of nice. We could wander wherever we wanted and climb around. There were hardly any signs indicating that we could not go somewhere. I liked it because it made it seem more real somehow. Not as modernized and sterile (for lack of a better word) as other preserved places. Of course, it would be good to know it will be around for future generations to see.
Millions of hands a year touching the stones is already having its toll as rocks are being smoothed out.



I should really back up a bit. I have already been here for six months! This means that it was time for another visa run. Stacey and I wrapped up a day of school, hurriedly gathered our backpacks, and left on a Monday night bus to Bangkok. This ride went quite smoothly and 10 hours later we arrived. After a few hours hanging out in the snooty part of Bangkok (with the sky train and very upscale shopping centers) we headed to the airport to catch our flight. I believe this is the shortest amount of time I have ever spent on a plane. As soon as the beverage cart made it's pass down the aisle, we were landing. Upon our arrival we got tourist Visas (for $25US) and then grabbed a cab into town.

The ride into town was the best taxi ride of my life. Maybe I should have been scared, or at least nervous, but I was more fascinated than anything. There were motorbikes and cars galore. And I believe only 2-3 stoplights the whole ride. Motorbikes and cars just push themselves into the intersection until they have taken up most of the lane and then they go. And the amount of things they carried on those motorbikes was crazy. Thailand was good preparation because this was Thailand to the extreme. After a fairly short ride we arrived at our hostel.

Here's where it's kind of a small world. I walked in the front door of this random hostel and there was a friend of mine from Bangkok! We had known the other was planning to be in Cambodia, but thought we'd just miss each other. It was a very pleasant surprise. Not least of all because he and a friend had been there for about a day and scoped out some things. After Stacey and I got our room situated (which was actually a bit of a hassle) the 4 of us headed out for dinner. We had a great time at a local place called Amok.

Wednesday afternoon saw us on a bus to Siem Reap. I really enjoy the short bus rides. You get a chance to see a lot of the country side. As we rode along it seemed like much of the scenery was under water. After reading a bit in the guidebook I found out why. During the rainy season the Tonle Sap reverses its flow and the Mekong River backs up into the Tonle Sap river, which in turn backs up into Tonle Sap Lake. The area of the lake increases from 2700 sq.km. to 16000 sq.km. This creates the largest fresh water source in Southeast Asia.

We arrived in the early evening and were "greeted" by a throng of tuk tuk drivers. It was actually one of the craziest experiences I've had traveling. Here in Asia there are many times one feels overwhelmed by the constant attention from tuk tuk and sawng tao drivers. Anywhere I go I hear "tuk tuk lady" or am honked at. (I think they have good memories, though, because this doesn't happen as often in Chiang Mai as it once did.) At any rate, the bus purposely drops travelers off a little ways from the city so they have to take another method of transportation into town. When we pulled in to Siem Reap the drivers came running after the still moving bus, pushing signs up to the window yelling at us. This was not a very good incentive to leave our little sanctuary. Of course we had to. As we got off the bus we were literally pressed in on all sides, having hostel names yelled in our ear. The first instinct was to fight (since flight was not an option) and we actually had to push our way through. They followed each of us everywhere yelling, desperately trying to get us to take their tuk tuk. Every single backpacker (there were about 10 of us) was looking around wide-eyed trying to figure out what to do. No one really wanted to say yes to one of them. A guy we met on the bus negotiated with a tuk tuk driver and 5 of us with our luggage piled into one tuk tuk just to get out of there. We were actually followed for a little ways. Once we had escaped the madness our driver pulled over and the couple in our tuk tuk moved to another.

Once we got to town it was a little easier. We had dinner and met up with a friend of ours who had arranged our hostel already. We also got a tuk tuk driver for the next morning and were set for our first day at Angkor Wat.

Watch out - Erika's behind the wheel!

For those who may - please do not get your hopes up. This post is gonna be tiny.

Today was an interesting day. It also goes to show that I'm the kinda gal that just needs to jump in feet first.

I got a call this morning saying that the guy that usually oversees the farm and drives the students around could not be reached. I was asked if I had ever driven the truck. I have actually. A couple of times at the feast. Both with a knowledgeable driver beside me and at 2am. That really wasn't too hard. Ahhh, yes, and for those who might not realize why driving the truck is a big deal, well, for starters it's a manual, and everything is opposite over here. At any rate, I gamely hopped in for a test drive to the farm. I backed out with little difficulty, but upon putting the car into first it kept stalling. I was blocking the whole road outside the school (not hard to do) when a truck came up. Still I could not get our truck to move. One of my students had walked out to make sure I didn't hit anyone while backing up. He piped up and said he had driven a truck 3 years ago. I thought "sure, hop on in and give it a whirl." Well, he did, and while he was trying to go forward he realized the parking brake was on. He pulled it out and we lurched towards the brick fence across the road. "Brake, brake, BRAKE!" I believe he froze and we plowed right into the fence. I was sure the truck would crumple, but instead the fence did. Indeed, the parking brake was the problem and I easily went on my way to the farm to 'fess up. Fortunately, Aj. Leon was completely relaxed about the whole thing. Whew! He just said "we all make mistakes - so do you feel up for bringing the girls to swimming?" "Uhhhh, sure, I can do that..." I replied. And that was that. I did. And after a lurching ride back to the school -where they all said it was so much fun - and another lurching ride to the pool - where I was congratulated upon arrival - I finally drove back to the school with hardly a problem. And now I can drive the truck!
By the way, the students all gamely offered to repair the fence. And the truck didn't have too much damage (just a little bent), so all in all, we got through things okay. I just felt bad for my student. He'd had a rough week as it was - and then this! I think he's good now since I said the whole thing was on me - and no one was mad at me or him.


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In other news, I am headed to Cambodia next week. There was a time (just a few months ago!) where I would have thought that was crazy - but now it's a neighbor. So it will be a nice week long visit and then back to school.

Chicken soup for this gal's soul

Apparently ten hours of sleep is not enough for one night. Here I sit at 4:30 in the afternoon yawning. In my defense I have been battling quite the bug this week. I'm still not sure what it was. Was it the fish caught in the river that I ate Monday night? The bad cheese I ate Tuesday? Or the fact that I hardly slept or slowed down for two weeks before that? I'm willing to bet it was a combination. At any rate, I was walking around rather hunched over for a few days (that's when I wasn't on the couch doing nothing, or the day I spent in bed sleeping). Today I ventured out to the farm to see the students and read a book. I went hoping to alleviate worries that I am alive and well, but instead I probably only created concern. They are very sensitive to us teachers getting sick. I imagine part of the reason is the fact that if I go down there go almost half of their classes. At any rate, they took note of the sunken eyes, and the thinner frame, and promptly invited me to stay at the farm for lunch. Fortunately I was able to eat the heaping plateful put in front of me and hopefully put some minds at ease.

For me being here makes me look at things a little differently. It used to be that if I were sick I would want to be well primarily because I didn't like how it felt and also because I had responsibilities to a job. I suppose on the surface this is still true. But since I now live at my job it's kind of an added incentive to make sure that I am always strong. I suppose I know that I am a healthy person, and don't really worry about my health to much because I pay attention to how I feel and generally respond accordingly. But now I feel this even greater responsibility just so as not to worry others. Next semester is going to be extremely busy so I will have to be sure not to let my guard down on sleeping and eating.

Anyway, I hadn't really started this blog with the intent of it being a synopsis of my health. Mostly, I really liked my day today because the farm was so beautiful and the students all felt like a family. We actually do have a Burmese couple living at the farm until Sunday who act kind of like parents for the Burmese students. (They all knew eachother in Burma.) It was fun, though, today seeing them all around the table talking and laughing together. They even lingered which is something they never do - usually it's eat and run. I think, too, that when we are sick we miss our family more (because really, my mom's chicken soup and my dad's urging me to eat an apple would have been much appreciated!) and feeling concern from a big "family" here was so nice.

Next week it will be back to teacher mode and hopefully building relationships with the students over the break will help and not hinder our progress.

I also will have to write an update about the Feast (The Feast of Tabernacles - part of the religious Holy Days I keep) because it was insanely busy but insanely fun after all was said and done!