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.