Pchum Ben and moto driving

Last weekend, coinciding with Rosh Hashana back home, was a very important Khmer festival, called Pchum Ben. This festival goes on for two weeks, I believe, culminating in a national holiday when all offices, banks, etc. are closed and most people go back to their hometown. The purpose of the holiday is to respect and appease the spirits of dead ancestors. I was told beforehand that Phnom Penh empties out during the festival, so I should think about leaving town. I was planning on staying in the city, thinking that it would be quieter and a good time to explore, but I got invited by an American friend to go with him to stay with a Khmer family in the countryside for a day, to go to the temple with them and get a little taste for what life is like outside Phnom Penh.

The town we visited is called Wiel Kandal, in Kandal province. It was only about 30 minutes outside of Phnom Penh. The first day there, we just relaxed around their house and surrounding area. They introduced me to all their relatives and neighbors (most people seemed to be both a relative and a neighbor) and I practiced my Khmer a lot. I am slowly improving. I also ate a TON. All sorts of meat and vegetables, sticky rice with bananas, spring rolls, eggs, guava. I even ate prahok (Khmer fish paste). Everyone wanted to keep on feeding me, and when I said I was full, they asked me if I was worried about getting fat. As a matter of fact, I was feeling self conscious about my size, because people kept mentioning how big and fat I am. I tend to think I'm pretty average sized, but next to most Khmer people I am a giant. But really, I was just stuffed. People also enjoyed commenting on my big nose, which they said was very beautiful. Funny how standards of beauty really vary, based on what is considered exotic. I've never thought my nose to be my most attractive asset, but here it gets a lot of attention. I have to get used to accepting things like "you are fat" and "you have a big nose" as compliments, because instinctually I feel very embarrassed by comments like that.

The second day in the village, we woke up early and went to the Wat (temple). It was packed--this holiday is one of the most important. Before we went, the daughters of the family I visited dressed me up for the temple and even put makeup on me. (If you know me, you probably know that it is a very rare occasion that I wear makeup. I'll upload a picture soon.) There were a million things going on at once at the temple: people bringing food to monks, selling all sorts of refreshments, offering incense, giving money, and a whole bunch of other rituals that I don't know the explanation for. I, along with my hosts, offered rice to the dead ancestors, by placing a little bit of (cooked) rice each of a series about about ten big bowls. I was wondering what they do with all that cooked rice at the end of the festival--there must have been hundreds of pounds of it.

I returned to the city on Saturday afternoon and it was still quite empty: a perfect time to practice my moto driving skills. After quickly becoming frustrated with having to pay someone every time I wanted to go somewhere, I had decided a few days before to buy a motobike of my own. A friend of a friend was leaving town, so I bought hers. I got some good driving practice in before the crowds came back into town, and I had practiced a little bit while in the countryside, but none of that prepared me for driving around during rush hour for the first time. Don't worry, I am VERY careful and I always wear a helmet. The traffic here is chaotic, but it is a slow and gentle chaos and I am slowly getting used to the traffic patterns. The biggest issue that I have on my motobike it that I am constantly accidentally honking the horn as it is very low and bumps up against my bag (which I wear on the front of my body to deter bag snatching). I remind myself of the van in "Little Miss Sunshine", always honking for no apparent reason. The moto I drive is the same variety that most of the motodops (people who drive other people around on their own motos) drive, and motodops on the street are constantly asking me if I'm selling my moto and offering to buy it when I do.

I've started work now, but so far it's nothing too exciting: I'm still very much in background research and planning stages. I've also found a place to live and I'm moving in tomorrow. I'm looking forward to feeling a little more settled. Please write me anytime, I love to hear from you all.

Arriving and adjusting to Phnom Penh

Hello friends and family and welcome to my blog. In case you don’t already know, I’m spending the next ten months or so in Cambodia on a Fulbright scholarship. I arrived here on Monday and am currently staying in a guesthouse in an area called Boeung Keng Kang 1 (or BKK1) while I look for a more permanent place to stay. The neighborhood is quite safe because it is full of tourists and expats and is likewise also quite expensive. I am trying to speak a lot of Khmer, which is fun but also challenging. I’ve noticed that most Cambodian people I’ve talked to don’t really know how to speak Khmer to non-native speakers—I guess it’s just very uncommon to encounter a non-native Khmer speaker. In the US, people will often speak slowly, loudly, and use simple words when speaking to someone with limited English skills. That is not the case here: people speak quickly, quietly, and use complicated words when they talk to me. I generally need to ask them to slow down and repeat themselves a few times and eventually I just pretend to understand, even though I only have a vague idea of what they just said. Still, people are generally impressed and pleased that I can speak with them, especially when I tell them I’ve only been in Cambodia a few days and learned most of what I know in the US.

The most overwhelming thing in Phnom Penh for me is the traffic and transportation. The traffic is pretty crazy at first look but people who drive around here tell me that is indeed it chaos, but a slow and gentle chaos. The road is shared by cars (many of the wealthy Khmers drive big SUVs like Lexuses and Hummers), tuk tuks (sort of like a horse drawn carriage but pulled by a moped), motos (mopeds), bicycles, people pulling food carts, and pedestrians. There are very few traffic lights and people often don’t obey them. Crossing the street can be quite scary. The best ways to get around are in a tuk tuk or on a moto. Every time I step onto the street or walk anywhere, there are drivers offering me one.

I haven’t begun my research in depth yet. I met with my advisor on Monday and again on Tuesday, but this weekend is a holiday called Pchhum Ben day and the office has been closed. I don’t know much about the holiday except that it is supposed to honor and appease the dead and that many people leave Phnom Penh to go to their hometowns in the countryside, so the city empties out and is much quieter.

Yesterday I went to the US embassy for my security briefing. The embassy is quite a place—a massive compound with many layers of security. Cameras, cell phones, and any other electronics are forbidden, and they check your bags about six times before you finally get where you need to go. Of course, the security officer scared us a bit, but I think it is his job to overstate any threat. It is comforting to know, however, that because I am a Fulbright the embassy is watching out for my safety and will come to my aid if necessary. Being in the embassy, a centrally air-conditioned, brand new, very American compound, was very strange after the past few days in the heat, dirt, and liveliness of Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is the least Americanized city I’ve ever seen: there is no McDonalds or Starbucks in Phnom Penh—only one KFC. I did get to meet a few of the other Fulbrights at the embassy. There is another woman my age who is studying Cambodian dance, a man who just finished law school studying malnutrition in the context of the Khmer Rouge trials, and an older woman who is on a teaching fellowship, teaching education at a university in Phnom Penh.

There is a lot more to tell but I’ll save it for another day. I don't have too many photos so far but I hope to post some soon. I love to hear from any of you so please stay in touch!