Reap-ing Cambodia — TO FALL UP

Siem Reap: Our heart in Cambodia

To begin with, we apologize how infrequent and sporadic our posts come! Internet access and strength is always questionable, and it doesn't help that we are on the move every 4 days, roughly. We are in Thailand now, however we must pay our respects to our favorite city in Cambodia, Siem Reap.

Greatest Moment: Experiencing the traditional design, art, and dance of the culture. The art and design at Artisans d'Angkor as well as the philanthropy of organizations such as Haven Restaurant, where we ate our last meal. We have felt so connected with the country of Cambodia and with its people, of whom we were able to interact with in the country side. We have learned so much from them. These two places have been our favorite in that it helps support all the qualities that makes Cambodia great: their suffering, their strength, and their hope for the future.

Worst Moment: The food is so good here, and you pay a heavy price for it. Jamie, it seems, is immune to its gut wrenching ability to disagree with digestion.

Lesson Learned: We learned how the statues and ancient artifacts of Angkor Wat and surrounding temples are being preserved and replicated, along with the Thai silk printing process and wood compressing/lacquering. Thievery is a major concern for these ancient sites, and though Siem Reap is a major tourist hub, it lacks significant resources for protection of these sites. On that same note, it is severely lacking in sufficient teachers, and the majority of children do not finish secondary school because of the difficulty accessing schools. Once they are old enough to help the family, that is where their school education ends.

We see this in the amount of children that approach us on the streets. 80% of families live in rural areas and make less than 40 cents a day. This poverty leads families into depts and lose children due to horrible health conditions of the water and food that they take in. Not only that, but impoverished families surrender their children to 'orphanages' that are still not equipped to take care of these kids. We found out also, that the only way to help this is to strengthen community support rather then give unknowingly to establishing more orphanages.

Cultural Insight: The most enjoyable moments have been taking a tuk-tuk (a motorbike pulling a cart that we sit in) through the countryside. Family homes are on stilts to deal with the rainy season, while in the dry season they use the protection of the shadow the home creates. Scrap metals and tarps create the walls and roofs of these homes, and you get the impression they use whatever is available. There is genius in some of the things that we have seen here, in how Cambodians have made much out of little.

When it comes to meals, they largely cook in their walkways and on the edge of streets. One can purchase from them, but it seems these 'kitchens' are frequented by friends and neighbors. Their daily habits are also their abilities to gain as much income as they can, and they have an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood to sell. Everything is noodles, curry, and rice. Khmer curry is not spicy, but flavorful and colorful!

When business is slow, they have hammocks to nap in under the fierce sun and oppressive dusty air. Initially, one could consider the person sleeping in the hammock as lacking in drive to make money. However, the more you see how earnest and hard working these people truly are, you realize that their hours do not correspond to an average 9-5 job. Instead, you see them at markets and along the popular street till the early hours of morning.

All in all, we love this country. We love the people here. And though we have to be careful what we eat (Kathy may never be the same), we cannot wait to come back.