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!