I started my morning off by sitting on my balcony with a cup of tea watching the neighborhood monkey cross the metal rooftops of the market. To end my day, I’m sitting in the same place, drinking a different cup of tea, and watching the sun disappear as the streets below fill with food stalls and people coming home from work. Sqwaky voices over mega phones blare, “Bong muan ang! Chnang!” which means, “Grilled chicken eggs! Delicious!” and the smell of grilled meat kabobs floats into the air. Life is good.
This week there is only two days of work before another holiday. Cambodia is not lacking in the holiday department. I’m hoping my cough clears soon as I am planning to go back to Koh Rong for some more diving. I have the 9th-13th off for Bon Om Touk (Water Festival) so I’m going to avoid the city at all costs. The boat races were cancelled due to the height of the river, but apparently is has receded enough to hold the races once again. As much as I would like to see the festival, I think it’s wise to leave considering the tragedy from last year.
Over the weekend I went to a Vietnamese trade show with my friend Phivear. It’s exactly what it sounds like. The massive convention center on Diamond Island held hundreds of stalls filled with Vietnamese products and food. I was the ONLY foreigner there and got pointed and stared at, A LOT. It was the first time in a long time that I felt like a big, giant, white, monster again. The best part of it of course was the food. Pho, kabobs, coffee samples, weird (but delicious) waffle/pancakes on a stick and mooncakes is all a girl can really ask for. Success.
It’s hard to believe that it’s November considering everyone from home is posting pictures of snow and telling me about their beautiful new winter coats. I’m jealous. But today was overcast and only 28 degrees Celsius (88 F) which kind of felt like fall….not really.
Karma. It’s extremely prevalent here. Keeping a positive attitude and high spirits is key in this culture. Of course being realistic and practical is the only way to keep yourself from falling into a twilight zone state of existence, but things always manage to work out if you remain in the right state of mind. A dear friend of mine said this the first time I met her, “If you belong in Cambodia, things have a way of working themselves out” and I couldn’t agree more. BUT, I believe it has a lot to do with attitude. This has held true for me in so many ways. From finding the perfect job after two major failures, my living situation, the general timing of things, managing to get by for 5 months without owning a phone charger, and a couple weekends ago when I missed my late night bus due to the boat breaking down. It just so happened that a lovely Chinese couple on the boat had a car and would be making the 4 hour journey back to Phnom Penh that night because they, like me, had to be back at work the next morning. I offered them money but they refused, and they even bought me a hotdog for the ride home. I’ve learned that when something goes wrong, as it does constantly here, and it’s out of your control, then there is no sense in getting worked up over it. I see many people here (foreigners) get very stressed and bent out of shape, and I only wonder how long it will take before they combust. I’m convinced everything here takes 3x’s longer than anywhere else in the world. If I’ve learned anything, it’s patience.
HERE'S TO NOW 