Dispatches From Deltas

I’m spending my final week in Cambodia, relaxing in the sparsely populated northeastern part of the country. I’m also enjoying the cool weather (I’ve worn a sweat shirt more times here than in my entire 2 years combined) and the quiet, a rarity in a country where noise ordinances are unheard of.  I also finally got the chance to ride an elephant.

It’s been a good time, except there are a lot of mosquitoes here. So, I’ve taken to getting rid of them the Cambodian way – with a tennis racket that electrocutes them.

Before checking out a new part of the country, I said goodbye to my village. I had pretty low expectations since Cambodians rarely say goodbye. Most people don’t leave their hometowns permanently and phone conversations  generally end with an abrupt hang up. If you’re lucky, they’ll say “yes yes yes” before ending the call.

However, everyone was incredibly warm. They reinforced the pride I felt about what I accomplished here and how close I’ve grown to many of the people. A typical goodbye conversation involved people telling me how much they would miss me, that two years went fast and that they wish me happiness and good luck. Many people would also ask if I was going to find a wife immediately upon returning to the U.S. I would tell them that I want to find a job first. Then, they would talk about how high my salary would be and ask when I was coming back. I’d reply that once I have free time and enough money I’ll come visit.

People also threw goodbye parties. One party involved making these Vietnamese pancakes filled with meat. Some women cooked for four hours and made enough for the party and to share with the neighbors for two days.

We also exchanged gifts. I gave the people I was close to photo albums or framed photos, while the gifts for me ranged from massive pictures with fake gold frames to knickknacks like tiny stuffed animals.

My school director served 13 chickens at the party he threw for me (one chicken for every two guests). They deep fried a lot of them and were so proud that they did it like Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Phnom Penh, eating at KFC is a special occasion and people dress up for it. Another curiosity is that the beef is too low quality in Cambodia for McDonald’s to open a restaurant here.

The chicken preparation:

There was also lots of beer.

Here are some other group shots from the going-away parties:

To say goodbye to my students, we went on a trip to a nearby mountain that had a Buddhist temple.

While walking up the temple steps, we saw some creative ways of begging; I didn’t know monkeys could ask for money.

The whole group of students .. .

…fit into one van!

Saying goodbye also involved getting rid of old clothes and things I didn’t want to bring back with me. What’s great about giving things away in rural Cambodia is that they treat second-hand gifts like new gifts. My host-brother took my broken speakers, brought them to a repair shop and then was thanking me like I bought him brand-new speakers.

Giving away things even involved creating a Mets fan.

I’m definitely going to miss this place. My collaboration and relationships with people in a vastly different culture is something I will remember forever. There’s nothing like being welcomed by strangers whose lives are vastly different from mine, and it led me to understand more about the world – and about myself. I will always be grateful for everyone who supported me on this journey.

I just visited Sumatra, Indonesia.  I saw lots of orangutans and other primates on a jungle trek. None of them stole anything from me this time though. And we could get pretty close to them.

This one found some shampoo and was trying to eat it. I would say it’s sad and cute at the same time.More orangutan pictures:

The city of Medan was pretty hazardous. The sidewalk had countless uncovered manholes, containing sewage and swarms of flies. My friend (pictured below) almost fell in when she wasn’t paying attention. I guess lawsuits aren’t that common in Indonesia.  Can you imagine a stretch like this in Manhattan?

I also ate some great food..

..and drank some interesting beverages. I went to a traditional bar where the only drink was what my Indonesian friend referred to as “jungle juice,” which tasted like sweet slightly expired milk. I think it was made from palm fruit. Here’s the bartender.

Before going to the bar, my friend took me to a shop where they sold love potion. He told me if I take some of the products, I can get Britney Spears or anyone famous to love me. Here’s the store and its employees (or just people hanging out there – I’m not really sure).There were also some spectacular views in Sumatra.

One of my travel companions posted a few videos from our trip on his blog here. Scroll down to see a video of the orangutan with the shampoo.

Lastly, this article about Obama’s negotiating tactics and intentions is interesting. It argues that perhaps Democrats aren’t actually poor negotiators , but negotiate simply for non-divisive outcomes that benefit them politically. Obama’s “bad negotiating” is actually shrewd negotiating

Now, I’m off to check out the city center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I love vacation.

I’m off to Indonesia and Malaysia tomorrow. I want to get a few things down before I leave.

1. My province put together a very successful girls leadership conference.

All the participants of the camp, including Peace Corps Volunteers, female teachers and students.

A view of the conference.

2.  It’s common in Phnom Penh to see an old western man with a young Cambodian woman. Cambodians and expatriates alike are concerned, rightly so, about the possibility of human trafficking.

This is a complex issue that deserves a lot of attention, but the Cambodian government is choosing to deal with the problem with a blunt new law: All foreign men over 50 cannot marry Cambodian women. And foreign men younger than 50 must have a monthly income of at least $2,250 in order to marry a Cambodian woman.

The law has no method of determining the true nature of the relationship. There are also concerns that the new law is discriminatory towards women since it does not give women a choice in the matter.  Leading human rights groups criticize the government for making this law while doing little for women’s healthcare and education.

One wonders if a core intention of the law is really to protect women. The BBC points out:  “The authorities seem to have been motivated by aesthetic considerations as much as anything else. A government spokesman said it did not look “fitting” to see a young Cambodian woman with a much older foreign man.”

The law may also increase illegal trafficking and corruption, as people try to get around the law.

Read more interesting stuff here:

Cambodia Sets Marriage Age Limit For Foreign Husbands

Does New Marriage Law Protect – Or Patronize – Cambodia’s Women?

3. Someone can spend a long time in Cambodia withdrawing only US dollars from the ATM and never changing their dollars into Cambodian riel. In Cambodia’s cash economy, everyone accepts US dollars as well as riel. This has brought stability to Cambodia’s prices and made it a popular place for investors since Cambodia’s problems don’t affect the strength of the currency.

Read more here:

Cambodia’s Riel Survives Alongside the Dollar

The Cambodian Case for Dollarization

4. Generally speaking, I think an issue with the environmental movement is that it presents science and intangible issues first, and presents human issues second. While environmental issues are important for a variety of reasons, I think the best  way to sell would be to present environmental concerns as human concerns.

For example, a good Cambodian friend of mine is using his vacation time to work with monks in northwestern Cambodia to protect the forest. The project website presents other points about the project, like biodiversity,  before discussing the human impact, listed here:

• While logging and hunting are prohibited, villagers can use traditional fishing methods, collect old timber for construction materials, and harvest non-timber forest products such as bamboo, wild ginger, fruit and mushrooms
• Mushroom cultivation has been a particularly lucrative income diversification strategy for the local population, earning households as much as US$150-$200 per month, substantial considering the average annual income is approximately US$700
• Revenues have been reinvested into emergency rice supplies for poorer families, cost-effective market supply chain linkages for non-timber forest products, and needed petrol and food for patrols
• Six women are involved in village sub-committees

So, protecting the forest contributes to women’s empowerment, income generation and helping poor people.  This hits closer to your heart than protecting a rare bird and worrying about a chemical in the upper atmosphere, right?

Read more and here: Monks Community Forestry. There’s a cool video at the bottom of the page.

5. Here’s a good article about American misconceptions of foreign aid and some on the ways to improve its implementation:  How to Protect Foreign Aid? Improve It.

The day started off poorly when a fat monkey darted in and stole some of the candy I was going to give participating students as prizes.

Fatty with his bounty.

But then, one of my students befriended one of the monkeys.

And the rest of the day continued on that positive note. It wasn’t too hot (as in below 85 degrees) and the students were smiling all day as they learned the skills necessary to speak in public and tips for not being afraid. Many Cambodians are terrified of speaking in public. If I call on a student to speak in class, they will typically shake their head and look down, hoping to avoid standing to speak (even if they know the answer).  If they cannot avoid it, they typically slouch and speak quietly.

All smiles.

A Cambodian TV station was making a documentary about Peace Corps volunteers and their projects, so they shadowed me for much of the day and did some interviews. Interestingly, my female students were not afraid to be interviewed, but the male students were camera-shy. The documentary will air on Cambodian national TV in late May.

I was proud of myself for being able to give a clear speech and be interviewed in the Khmer language.

Me giving my Khmer speech while being filmed.

I also saw how much the people I’ve worked with have grown in my two years here. The students who worked with me before knew all the health topics I taught them over the summer by heart and spoke confidently about them. And the teacher who organized the event with me was effective at teaching the new students how to speak in public.

Here are more photos from the event:

A student practices public speaking.

A group of students prepare visual aids for their village health presentations.

A village health presentation, where the students can practice their public speaking skills.

Students wash their hands before lunch, a rare site here.

A student participates in our public speaking contest.

The winners of the contest with their prizes: Khmer-English dictionaries.

Some of the students and I after a good day.

1. The website I found this picture on was shocked by how much stuff this truck was carrying, but this is actually pretty standard for Cambodia.  It sure makes you regret ever renting a trailer.

2. This 6-minute video is of a Khmer man telling the story of how his family escaped from Khmer Rouge. Amazing: Sophal Ear: Escaping the Khmer Rouge

3.  I enjoyed this Vanity Fair profile of Jeff Sachs. It lays out a lot of the debate going on in international development. This stat always blows me away, since many Americans tend to believe that U.S. budgetary problems can be solved by simply cutting foreign aid:

Last year, the United States spent $499 billion on its military. In sharp contrast, it spent $22.7 billion on foreign aid. Measured in dollars, the sum of $22.7 billion makes the U.S. the biggest foreign-aid donor in the world. Still, considered as a percentage of the country’s G.N.P., America’s foreign-aid budget, at only 0.17 percent, is almost negligible.

5. I can’t wait to come back to American sports fans, particularly Mets fans. I love the way we choose who we love and hate:

Even though [closer Francisco] Rodriguez attacked his former girlfriend’s father, many Mets fans reserve more venom for [starting-pitcher Oliver] Perez, the mild-mannered left-handed pitcher. Perez made $12 million last year and went 0-5 with a 6.80 earned run average. He is guaranteed another $12 million this year even if he does not make the team.

From:For a Day and a Game, Rodriguez and Perez Look Like a Pair of Aces

“Everyone is rich in America.”

“In America, they work so hard and never see their family.”

These are some common assumptions I have to deal with on a daily basis.  My first response is to disprove these stereotypes and explain America’s diversity and rich family life.  It is disconcerting that despite my insistence on what things are like, Cambodian beliefs about America  persist.

Then I realize that perhaps these views aren’t about America at all. Many of the people I talk to have never left Svay Rieng Province, so these views are of of an America seen through a Cambodian cultural lens. They reflect people’s own fears and interests.

I recall a time when I was drinking beer (with ice cubes) with five Cambodian men. We were all sitting around a table and using chopsticks to pick meat and pickled vegetables off a single shared plate.  One of them was asking me about wealth in America and dreaming aloud of cars, a big house and lots of money. Then, he lamented that he has some relatives in America and they complain about working too hard. The relatives don’t have time to have a party in the middle of the day with their relatives and friends, as Cambodian weddings and other festivals generally take place during the work day. This idea of America was rooted in my friend’s fear of losing his Cambodian culture.

Of course, even these thoughts are an oversimplification. But, as bothered as I may be by Cambodian assumptions about America, it would also be another foolish assumption to write them off as simply about America and not also insights from Cambodia.

Some of these ideas were inspired by Peter Hessler’s New Yorker article: Go West: Scenes from an American homecoming

At first, I was baffled when someone would not return my calls one day and then another day I would have five missed calls from them in a span of five minutes.  Now, I know Cambodian phone etiquette. Many developing countries skip landlines and went straight to cell phones, resulting in interesting cultural expressions via phone (see Holiday Text messages). When returning a call or sending a text messages, a lot of the norms are the same as America, but there are some interesting exceptions and these exceptions are reflected in the way Cambodian phone services are offered.

Only the person calling has to pay for the call and there is no voice mail. So, if a Cambodian wants to reach someone, they will try calling them 2-5 times in a couple of minutes. The caller is spending money the call, so they must have something to say. Therefore, the person who is called is not necessarily expected to call back. And if the person being called is busy that day, it’s perfectly understandable for them to not even answer. There is no reason to answer the phone since they would just tell the caller that they are busy now, as the call is likely about something immediate and plans in rural Cambodia are rarely made in advance.