Exercise, Sunsets and Sucking it up

I had to break the news to Yuan today that I’d bought myself a motorbike and would no longer be needing his services. I really felt quite bad about it and it took me until the afternoon to get the courage up, I've paid him for the week as I wanted to give him some notice and I don't know if that's more to ease my feeling of guilt or to keep paying him for just a bit longer. A friend had said that Motodop drivers struggle to earn about a dollar a day and here was me giving Yuan $4 a day, which has hopefully helped that little bit. One day on coming out from work I find him waiting for me and reading a pamphlet on English lessons and I hoped that to some degree I was making those English lessons possible for him. However, a week later the Moto is running like a hairy goat and I think I was actually quite lucky to be making it to work and back each day. He took the motorbike in over the weekend to be fixed and it cost him $70, a massive amount of money when you’re earning $1 a day or even $4 a day. (In Australian terms that would amount to approximately the equivalent of $15,000 to $20,000.) And then I have to go and break the news to him that his $4 a day is about to disappear before his eyes??? Crap! Still, all I can do is hope that he has been sensible with the money he’s earnt so far and that his positive Buddhist philosophy kicks in. As I’ve already paid Yuan for the coming week, there’s every chance he might not turn up for our next journey to MEDiCAM. But, my faith in my believe that human beings will generally do the “right thing” is restored as I open my gate the next morning and see him sitting there on his motorbike waiting for me, the usual big smile on his face. I’ve bought a flashing rear light for my pushbike and get some funny reactions from young Khmers as they ride past me on my way to attend the NataRaj Yoga centre on Monday night. I really enjoy the experience of gently pushing my body into the extremes of its capability in a yoga class. After years of running and cycling there’s just no way my calves are ever going to stretch enough to place my feet flat on the ground in “downward dog” but I’m definitely up for the challenge of seeing how much closer to flat I can get them. I’ll be the first to admit however, that I have a very short attention span and find my mind is wandering throughout the class to what I’m going to have for dinner when I’m meant to be “with my breath”. Oh well, onwards and upwards or should that be downwards! I took myself off for lunch today at Khmer “Starbucks” – they’ve improved on the menu since I was last there. They now have the meals written in English so you can more accurately order what you want. I say, more accurately, because although I ordered Fried Rice with Chicken today I got served some kind of pork dish. If I was at home I probably would have told them it was the wrong order and got then to replace it but here I just look it as an opportunity to try something I might not otherwise have tried. I’d been feeling a bit out of sorts today so decide that going for a run and getting my blood coursing through my veins is just what is required. And so, I jump on my lovely white stead with the white-wall tires and run the gauntlet of traffic along Sihanouk Boulevard to the Independence Monument. I feel every trip on my bike is a daredevil adventure where only those with the fleetest-of-wheel, keenest of vision and nerves of steel, survive! Well, it’s not quite that bad but you get the picture. I can’t wait to start riding my Scooby to work next week! All my lovely Khmer friends have beaten me there and are already exercising – there are hundreds of them! Mostly walking, but also playing badminton, some kind of football and there’s a couple of runners besides me as well. (That’s good! when I used to run at lunchtime in Dublin, 10 years ago, I was always the only one.) It really is a social outing; children are playing, non exercisers are sitting and watching and entrepreneurs are peddling their wares. These amount to, bottles of water and other adventurous drinks as well as sets of domestic bathroom scales, obviously to check if the exercise is actually doing some good. The Independence Monument sits at the top of this park where all the action is taking place. It is like a massive medium strip surrounded by busy roads on all edges. It has a wide expanse of grassed area in the middle with a footpath traveling all the way around the edge and crossing it in sections. I stop after my run to sit and watch one of the many football games, taking place all along one edge of the park. The game is fast and furious and they’re playing on concrete with only two of the players wearing shoes. The goals are sets of jandals, the sidelines; the grassed verge on one side and the road and passing traffic on the other. The ball is small (about the size of a coconut) hollow and made out of cane, I think. It’s tough though or maybe it’s just lucky and manages to miss the cars wheels as it frequently rolls out into the traffic. Most of them play in tshirts and jeans which make it seem like they’ve just started up an impromptu game, but I have a feeling that these guys have been coming here for years developing their skills. Groups of Monks stroll past me in their beautiful tangerine coloured gowns as the sun is setting behind the Monument on another beautiful Khmer day. A friend Ang, wrote on her Faceook today what I thought was a great quotation: “Life is tough, Suck it up”. It made me stop and think that it’s usually the people that are the worst off that actually do, just that. They “suck it up”. Maybe the easier we have it the more whinging and complaining we do?? And no, that trait is definitely not just reserved for those lovely friends of ours from the UK – lets just listen to ourselves for a while; “it’s too hot”, “it’s too cold”, “petrol is soo expensive”, “that b@@stard just dared to try and move into my lane”, “there’s no time to do anything”, “there’s too many bus lanes”, “cyclists should be banned from existence”, “if only people weren’t so stupid” etc, etc – we’re all guilty of it. Ok, so it’s all relative you say, but maybe, we’ve actually lost a bit of our touch with reality. Maybe we should just practice “sucking it up” a bit more. I’m going to try, anyway.

Scooby, Italian men and Hokey Pokey icecream

Right no more movies at the Meta House for a while! Being suckers for punishment we went again on Tuesday night and watched a film more horrific than the one from last week. This one was filmed in the 1970’s straight after the Vietnamese assisted in removing Pol Pot and his cronies from power. It’s pretty harrowing but if you want to see exactly how cruel man can be against his own kind then this is the movie for you! And unusually, in this case, the association for cruelty was not religion or oil, just greed for power and a deluded, demented strategy for their own kind and country. If you talk to teenagers here they’ll say, that the Khmer Rouge time was their parents life and has nothing to do with them. A fairly shortsighted view when you consider the psychological scars that have to have been passed onto the next generation plus if you take into consideration the condition of the country and how it has taken the last 30 something years to crawl its way back from the brink in the main part through the assistance of other countries. How can they believe that it means nothing to them as half the country still struggles for enough to eat and clean water to drink? But a friend wisely pointed out, in Buddhism, there is no yesterday, no tomorrow there is only today. Hhhmm I think there could be a a big debate bubbling away on the surface of that cauldron. I need a good old dose of American cinematographic escapism for a while :o) Well it wasn’t quite what I ordered but Friday night dished up a French movie which is almost always better than American (at the French Cultural Centre) but this one left me a little perplexed. The best bit was the cost (free) and the, oh so lovely air-conditioning. For a line in all that’s new – I walked out of the office today to go and meet a friend for lunch and saw both a goat and a brood of chickens pecking away at the grass. What did you see outside work when you left your office today? I picked up my new Honda Scooby on the weekend. Oh she’s so fine, 50cc of pure power!! Me and Scooby, scooby’ed around for a while, getting the feel of the road and then I stopped at a supermarket to buy a bottle of red. At this juncture I’d just like to comment on the fact that you can buy a bottle of vodka (Smirnoff) for the same price as a bottle of red and what’s more, you can buy both of them at the supermarket! But I digress,...... it all got a bit embarrassing on Scooby at the supermarket as I quickly got told by the lovely Khmer man that I’d parked in the wrong spot and then getting all flustered at having to move her I couldn’t then work out how to release the seat to remove my wallet and bag from her neither regions. Finally a man (don’t you love being a female and having a man turn up at just the right time, bugger woman’s lib, I could’ve been there all day!) arrived on his scooter looking like he was just picking up some treats before heading off to Mardi Gras (I hope he doesn’t read this). He was Italian I think, judging from the accent but what better person to help me with my scooter problem? He showed me that I needed to give my seat a good whack before pushing the key in and sure enough up the seat popped. We’ll that’s lesson number one of riding Scooby out of the way. I thought it safer to go straight home with my bottle of vodka and wine – I’m just kidding! I only got the wine - and save more adventures with Scooby for another day. The power went off again on Friday night, which was ok as it was nearly bedtime anyway. I turned the fan on in my bedroom in the vain hope it would come on again while I was asleep but unfortunately it was still off the next morning. As fate would have it, I’d actually polished off my ($6aus for a scoop and a bit) New Zealand Hokey Pokey ice-cream the night before, so all was not lost. Sunday was a tough day, I found myself a hotel pool to lie beside and practice my Khmer while sipping juice shakes and eating chicken sandwiches. I topped that off with half price cocktails at FCC for Sunday aftenooners. A nice relaxing weekend indeed.

Udong, photography course Feb 09

I had an interesting mix of a week this week, sadness, adventure, learning and experiencing new surroundings. Let us begin with the sadness so that things move upwards from there :o). I’ll attempt to put into words my emotions from Thursday night but suffice to say it was such a moving few hours where the reality of living in Phnom Penh, which is not my experienced reality, hit home. We cycled to “Meta House” which is an art studio with mini movie theatre and bar on the top floor. Lights were already out when we slipped into our seats and the sights and sounds of modern day Phnom Penh beam out at us. The theme of the short movie is “Red Earth Village - Dey Krahorm” one of the last real “village” communities left in Phnom Penh and scene of an unfair and unlawful eviction in January this year. It’s quite a sobering thought that while I was laying in my bed on the 24th January, families were experiencing the total and complete destruction of their homes, belongings and livelihood. The movie started its story well before the eviction by introducing us to some of the families, the circumstances that led them to find a home on this piece of ground, their initial struggle to establish their homes, their struggle to earn a living, their families growing up and the obvious happiness of their children and grandchildren at being able to attend school. The piece of land the developers wanted and ultimately took, was 3.6 hectares of prime real estate valued at $44million UsD. The land was originally given to this whole community through a Social Land Concession Grant by the Council of Ministers back in 2003. Some of the families buckled under the pressure and took the money, or alternatively the house the developers were offering. The money incidentally, is not enough to buy any form of housing within Phnom Penh so taking what was offered meant settling for living miles from where their family, friends and social services and businesses were. Significant to the people of Dey Krahorm is the total loss of any sort of community and support network if they took the offer. That sense of community is something that has been lost to us but which here it is so much a part of life. People come out of their houses and squat on the street chatting with their neighbours for hours. I’ve lived in places in Australia where I never even knew my neighbours let alone sat and chatted to them. Even borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbours has all but disappeared. At 3am on the 23th January without any warning armed government forces, police and private contractors employed by the developer surrounded Dey Krahorm. At 6am they moved in using weapons, tear gas and bulldozers as residents screamed their shock and disbelieve. Scenes of children crying, old ladies wailing and people running as destructive machinery crunched through the rubble of what remained of their homes filled the screen. The families had no time to salvage belongings as in a matter of hours the village had been flattened and over 100 families displaced. Following the movie, three very brave students from the Dey Krahorm school who along with their families had lost their homes, got up to speak on their experiences and feelings as a result of the eviction. Very simply and with great composure they described how sad they were, sad at the loss of their school, sad for their families and upset for their friends. The displaced families, now homeless and emotionally distraught have been placed on land 14km out of the city with very few facilities. However this situation is only temporary and since the developer has withdrawn their offer of money or housing, it is unclear what will become of these families. For now they are reliant on the assistance of donations. There are many NGO’s providing legal advice and advocating fair treatment for these types of development/eviction situations. No one seeks to stop progress but they do seek to ensure families are not pressured into accepting minimal compensation. In this case and in many others there has been no fair compensation for people that legally own their land. Because this eviction was situated in the centre of Phnom Penh it received a lot of media attention but such evictions are continuing to happen around Cambodia. So that was the sad part of the week, for the rest, I spent my Saturday on a photography course which provided me with the learning part of my week. Adventure, came in the form of travelling in a Cambodia taxi out on the country roads and experiencing new surroundings through visiting the floating village and the ancient city of Udong. There were two other people on the course and believe it or not they were both from QLD! We spent the morning in the studio going over technology, techniques and also composition. At 12.30 the four of us hit the road in a taxi which truly was a “thrilling” adventure. You know the deal, overtaking on blind corners, overtaking so far onto the wrong side of the road that you almost run over a pedestrian walking along who justifiable hurls abuse at you. Worse was the return trip in the dark where you could already see 5 or 6 lights coming straight at you when the driver decids to overtake! As one of the others girls said, “best just to shut your eyes and hope for the best”. Today would have to be one of the hottest I’ve experienced yet and so it was nice to be propelled along the river in a boat which created some breeze. We got to experience and take 100’s of photos of what life consists of for these people. I wonder if they are sceptical about these people floating past, cameras in hand, taking photos of them doing what they normally do. I guess it would be like a busload of Japanese tourists being let through our homes and offices to take photos to show the folks back home. The children are a delight, yelling out hallo and waving and waving. We see people washing their hair in the river, men dropping off and weighing loads of fish, shops floating past selling their wares and all to the back drop of vibrant colours, all blues and yellows mixed in with the grey of faded wood. Our next stop was Udong which was the capital of Cambodia a few hundred years ago. Although some of the structures have been destroyed by the Khmer Rouge a lot remain intact and some of the others are being restored, like a massive gold Buddha that is pretty much back to new. We have a couple of kids accompany us on our journey around the buildings and monuments and up and down the many, many stairs. They are very entertaining as they laugh and fool about, singing and dancing and posing on some of the statues. We are here just as the sun is setting and it truly is glorious as in the fading light we capture images of the stunning structures while hearing the chanting of monks from the Wat we can see far below us in the distance. Hopefully my photos do these two places justice, I have saved them at the Picassa web page:

Udong and the floating village

Other than that, I went for my first run at day break on Friday morning at the Olympic stadium. There were 100’s of Khmers already there, doing Tai Chi, aerobics and running around the steps. The experience was great, the run not so much - lets see if I repeat the exercise.

Home Sweet Home and other photos

Kitchen with 2nd bathroom through door. Fridge and pantry

Bedroom (with ensuite through door)

Reception room / study (above and below)

(Below, lounge cum exercise room)

View from back balcony at FCC (Foreing Correspondent Club)

Precious cargo

Precious cargo of a differnt kind

Nature and Sea cafe

Tonle Sap River

Some anecdotes and the week that was

A couple of anecdotes to start this weeks blog:

On helping to correct the English on the minutes of a meeting for one of my workmates I couldn't’t help but have a chuckle to myself at this final sentence: “the meeting finished at 11.30am of the same date and year with productive meeting”

This must have been a short meeting, I don’t think I’d like to attend those that cross into a new date or god forbid, new year. Mr Khun Another sweet piece of Cambodia: Khun asked me what you call it when a bee touches you. I told him it was “sting”. He then shared with me a lovely Khmer saying. When you’ve been waiting for someone a long time you say “I’ve been waiting so long my eyes sting” From someone who is (hopefully) reformed from always keeping people waiting I thought this was a really cute saying.

My hips and lower back felt like I’d gone three rounds with Costa Zoo, who would have thought yoga would make you so sore? Definitely belong to the school of “if it hurts, it’s got to be good for you though and it wasn’t anything an hours massage couldn’t put right. That was Monday and Tuesday I was back at the gym. Rode over to Mara’s hotel to pick her up and we rode the 10mins to the gym – everything is so close now I’ve got my lovely bike. We followed up the workout with dinner at the Boddhi Tree which is a lovely wee sanctuary opposite the scene of one of Cambodia’s worst moments in history. The Toul Sleung museum and venue for the 1000’s of executions performed by the Khmer Rouge in the 70’s. Putting that aside, dinner was lovely in a setting of tables and chairs dotted amongst trees and climbing vines. Unfortunately the mosquitoes also thought it was a lovely spot and dinned on us while we ate quickly and left. Unfortunately, a nice dinner was followed the next day by another bout of the dodgy tummy. Managed to make it through the rest of the day at work but crashed on getting home and had to put off dinner with another friend. The dodgy tummy syndrome is so common and everyone is used to people not being able to meet up or having to head home early and quickly as those nasty bugs play havoc with our unaccustomed belly’s. I haven’t heard of anyone being really ill here yet, although one of the AYADs did develop malaria not long after arriving in Phnom Penh and post a trip out into the provinces. Not a nice thing to have but soon sorted with readily accessible drugs.

Thursday was made more interesting at work as Michelle came to visit. We talked about an organizational review document she’s pulling together for her NGO and then went and had lunch. There’s really nothing of any interest in Toul Kork, the suburb I work in but it just so happened a café had opened up last week near by so that’s where we headed. It is hilariously a Starbucks rip-off with the full Starbucks colour scheme and logo, only this one if called Terrace Cafe. The menu was all in Khmer and although they had pictures we still weren’t sure what we were ordering. Mine ended up being chicken with peanuts and about 3 stalks of thickly chopped lemon grass. Once I managed to remove all the debris it was actually tasty. Returning to work I had some work to do as I went with the office manager to measure up the venue they’ll be using for the AGM in March. I produced a seating plan and exhibition lay out which kept me amused for a few hours.

Thursday night I finally put my exercise ball to use and followed one of those cringe inducing American instructional DVD’s complete with fake tans, boobs and teeth all on prominent display. I used to pay $17 to do Bikram yoga in Brisbane which is held in a specially heated room to aid suppleness and encourage detoxification. Here, I only need to workout in my living room! Friday was spent being a participant in an interview panel for the Trainer/Coach position at my NGO. As well as normal interview questions, the participants had to read a English article from the Cambodian Daily and explain to us their understanding of the context of the article. They also had to do a written English test on a computer of at least 200 words in half an hour. I got away at 6pm excited about the long weekend ahead with one of the 25 annual (government recognized) public holidays set for Monday. Yuan took me straight to the Australian Embassy where I’d missed the BBQ but where embassy staff were ready and waiting for my order behind the bar. The crowd was low key and a mix of volunteers, UN staff and friends. In one of those “it’s a small world” moments I got introduced to a Cambodian girl called Nim which happened to be the name of the Khmer language tutor I had contacted during the week via the Expat Advisory Service website. And yes, it was the same girl.

Carel, me, Cara and Leila at the Australian embassy

Pajamas have become the latest trend amongst fashion conscious Khmer woman. No longer are these brightly coloured ensembles with cute little animals and cartoon characters to be kept hidden away at home for bed wear. Now they can be seen, shopping at the mall, riding on motorbikes or walking down the street. I’m really envious, how comfortable to be able to hang out in your Jim jams all day! And so when some of the Ayads got invited to a Pajama part on Friday night they had no trouble finding the perfect outfit. After the Embassy, we headed to an awesome pub across the road called “Elsewhere” which is rumored to be shutting down. (It’s a bit like those carpet shops at home from what I understand.) The venue is what looks like a colonial house with big front yard dotted with trees and palms and a centerpiece swimming pool.

Balinese type platforms with cushions to laze around on are dotted around the pool and as we were early we managed to find one free. About 10/11pm this place gets really busy and there’s just about standing room only – not too close to the pool though unless you want to get wet. Of course drunk boys are going to take off their shirts and start doing bombs – it’s only natural! I was hungry so decided to get my evening carbs in the form of a cocktail. Banana, coconut, lime and vodka! My gosh, it was sooo good. A traveling Canadian brother and sister duo joined our platform and it was interesting to hear their experiences and views on Cambodia from the day and a half that they’ve been here. Unfortunately the stand out for them is that all Tuk-Tuk drivers are crooks and the whole country is full of people trying to rip them off. Oops not good, hopefully that will turn around for them in the time they have left.

Saturday was spent shopping including checking out a supermarket I hadn’t been to before, lots of goodies from home like Bega cheese. I did get a bit carried away with my purchases and then had the challenge of trying to load all the stuff onto my bike (see photo) Caught up with Cara and Leila for lunch at a café called Nature & Sea. It’s up three flights which is effectively the roof of the building. There’s more platforms with cushions and a beautiful breeze. It’s times like this, when you’re chatting with friends in a different but amazing scene that you truly appreciate being away from home and all that is familiar to you.

Michelle and her Tuk-Tuk driver, Tinny, come and pick me up and we head out of town a ways to the Northbridge school and venue for an Expat touch rugby team. It’s a beautiful spot out here, so green and lush with little pollution and best of all no noise! It’s so peaceful I really want to curl up in a hammock and go to sleep. We watch for a hour or so then both decide we really need to get home for a nana nap before dinner tonight. I get an hour’s shut eye but no sleep and then “glam up” for the first time since being here. This equates to putting on make-up, wearing a maxi dress, doing something “up” with my hair and wearing my “bling” Haviannas. On coming out of my gate I am rewarded for my efforts by my neighbor saying “owww, beautiful”, “you go to party” I explained I was going to a birthday party and he said he also was going to a birthday party later – the governor of Phnom Penhs birthday party.

Dinner and the venue, Khmer Serin were really lovely with a big crowd having turned out to wish Cara a happy birthday. The crowd splits after dinner as some people head to a party and we head to “Pontoon” where it’s hip hop night. What a brilliant night, I haven’t danced so much in years. A hip hop crew performs some exhibition dancing and they are amazing. It truly is unbelievable how agile they are and how they just seem to completely disregard the laws of physics. They’re trying hard for that American look with baggy, baggy pants hand held clasped at the crutch and head gear in the form of baseball cap or grid iron net. $4 Mojitos are the order of the night and if you’re not dancing there’s always entertainment in the form of people watching as the crowd is a real interesting mix. “Pontoon” IS actually a pontoon on the river and we have to climb the gangway up to the street when we leave at 2.30am. The Vida recommended Tuk-Tuk driver has an uncanny knack for knowing when to turn up and at what venue and we all exclaim our relief and delight when we see “Mr Jim” waiting for us. Cara texts me the next morning saying they are laying around the pool and it takes me a further half an hour to get the gumption to actually get out of bed. I feel wrecked after my big night of dancing and have the luxury of being able to blame my age. Cara has discovered a great wee oasis of a hotel for her friend Leila’s visit and I join them for sun baking and dipping. The staff let you use the pool if you’re not staying at the hotel as long as you buy some drinks or food and I think this could become a refuge in the hot days to come.

The tailor at the Russian Market has forgotten that she said she’d have our clothes ready today and asks us to come back at 5pm. We shop and have a vegetarian lunch then shop some more. Finally 5 o'

clock comes and our new outfits are ready. It was actually worth the wait, as the tailor had done a really good job. By this stage I am completely exhausted and fall into the first Tuk-Tuk I see. I have one of my many cold showers a day and flop onto my couch. I think I’m out for a good couple of hours and awake to find text messages on the phone that was sitting right beside me and went completely unheard. Arrr, the sound sleep of the completely wrecked.

My saving grace is Monday is a public holiday and I wake up refreshed after an early night and head to the gym. I’m the only person there at 7.30am and I watch with shock CNN and the horrific news from home, the Victorian bush fires and all their devastating carnage. I try Skyping Mum when I get home but my Internet is down. Mike picks me up and we head out of town along the river to go to a factory that makes furniture out of water hyacinth, a similar look to Rattan. Ikea have discovered it apparently so you’ll probably see the products in a venue near you soon. I give into temptation and buy a chaise lounge and pouffe as well as a massive vase type ornament (it stands about 4ft) and a storage container all for $100. Now I just have to work out how I’m going to get it home to Australia. Their products are all made by hand and I ask to take a photo of the ladies who are working at making some containers. They chuckle and grin and are happy to have their photo taken. One elderly lady removes her hat especially and gives a beautiful wide grin. It’s 12 o’clock and they all down tools and punch their cards into the time keeping clock. The elderly lady turns to say good-bye as she leaves and reveals a mouth of absolutely no teeth. She is gorgeous this little old lady with her beautiful grin. (see photos)

Chanthy the Tuk-Tuk driver and a little bit of Western intervention Chanthy is a lovely middle aged Khmer man with a wife and two children. His survival and the survival of his family is protected through the money he earns driving a Tuk-Tuk1. It is customers such as Westerners or Asian holidaymakers eg, Koreans, Singaporeans etc that generate most of his income. It’s a tough way to eek out a living as competition for fares is high amongst the 100’s of Tuk-Tuks in Phnom Penh. Plus they have further competition in the form of Motodops (motorbike taxis, which are nimbler and quicker through the heavy traffic)

Most drivers just play the sit, wait and hope game, occasionally asking the passing foot traffic if “you want Tuk-Tuk”. Sickness is something most Khmer families cannot afford to budget for and in Chanthy’s case his Tuk-Tuk was already in bad repair and his motorbike running on a wing and a prey when his son became ill. He tried local medicine which comprised of feeding his son ash and only seemed to be making his son worse.

Around this time Lydia and Mike had moved to Phnom Penh for volunteer work and started to use Chanthy’s services to transport them about. One of Chanthy’s best advantages is his good command of English and over a period of a few weeks Lydia and Mike came to know and like Chanthy very well. The story of his son was eventually uncovered and by this time Chanthy had already been to a loan-shark to obtain the $40 required to repair the engine on his motorbike and keep his only form of livelihood running (literally). Lydia and Mike are just normal, honest and caring people but what they’ve done has been monumental in Chanthy and his families life’s. Small things like passing on sparkplugs from Mikes bike, to Lydia printing up signs for the Tuk-Tuk to promote Chanthy’s services which include day trips and translation. To remarkable things (at least in Chanthy’s eyes) like loaning him the money to assist him to tidy up his Tuk-Tuk with new upholstery and paint, pay his son’s doctors bills and actually buy a new motorbike. (The old one’s engine having given up the ghost two weeks after being fixed by the money from the loan-shark) Lydia and Mike also wanted to provide a constructive way that Chanthy’s wife; (Chantoo) could supplement the family income. Chantoo previously had a job at a garment factory earning 5c for each shirt and trouser outfit she completed but had to relinquish it on the birth of their second child due to a lack of child care. The factories in the recent past had been outsourcing sewing to those with machines at home but this has stopped with the economic downturn. So instead they have bought her a sugar cane machine, something that will have a very positive effect on Chanthy and his family and an investment out of the reach of many locals. Chanthy is now becoming very busy, through word of mouth and repeat business, so much so that Lydia and Mike now have to book him in advance, of which they couldn’t be happier! So that plus his wife’s income, through the sale of sugar cane juice, means that Chanthy was able to make his first repayment to them within 6 weeks. Not only was he able to pay almost 5 times the kind repayment fee Lydia and Mike had set, he was also able to repay his loan sharks, buy new shoes, register his new bike, and take his family out to dinner (probably for the first time ever!). All this from a lovely Cambodian who couldn't afford a new inner tube a month and a half ago. I thought this was just such a positive, encouraging story of people’s good will and the ability of a smart man to turn his life around given the opportunity.

Thanks to Lydia and Mike for letting me retell their story. I hope myself and all other westerners living or visiting here can have their own such positive stories. 1 A Tuk-Tuk is a two wheeled carriage motorized by a motorbike which is fixed in place where the motorbikes backseat is . It has a roof but exposed sides, and has two bench seats facing each other. You can easily fit 10 Cambodians inside, but only about 4 westerners.

Photo of Chanthy, Mike and the new sugar cane machine.

The last week of January - livin it up in P.P

I think it’s curious that now I’m living in a foreign country I am finally interested in the news and what’s happening around the rest of the world. But then again it could just be because I now have the luxury of Cable and it’s being thrown at me from multiple different channels. Watching bad movies on Cable is what encompasses my Tuesday night this week. I’m still a bit fragile from Sunday night/Monday mornings events, and am not brave enough to venture outside the house. I lay on the couch in my front room, reading and keeping half an eye on the Tv while the sounds of Phnom Penh let themselves in through the windows I’ve left open for the breeze. The ”Ta Ban Club” is directly across the road from me, (three strides and I’m there). Big neon signs tell you in English that it’s a “massage and restaurant” establishment. Now it could just be the uncultured western part of me but I’d rather be offered a “pedicure or facial with my massage” rather than “Asian noodles or rice”. The entrance attracts a crowd of Khmer men most nights playing some game of cards they’ve laid out on a sack on the ground. Tonight they’re completely raucous and you don’t need to understand the language to know someone is either losing very badly or winning extremely well by the hoots, shouting and laughing that’s going on. I go to bed early, beat, and dream I’m back in Australia, at work. It goes something like this: . . . we’re all told an emergency meeting has been called and everyone has to get to the main hall quickly. Everyone is rushing because no one wants to be the last there and be singled out by the speaker. I sit down and am busy saying hallo to lots of different people when the speaker begins. I’m surprised it’s not the CEO but is instead someone from Comms. She’s very flamboyant and “made up” and I forget to listen to what she’s saying for a while as I focus on what she’s wearing and the way she’s done her hair. Once I tune in I realize she’s saying things along the lines of how she's sick of the situation at Suncorp, how she’s sick of doing the work of three people etc, etc. There’s murmuring all around me and I turn to someone next to me and say, “I don’t think this meeting has been organized by the Execs” everyone agrees and we soon realize it’s a staff revolt organized by the Comms department. We’re all amazed and kind of in awe at the braveness of it all. . . Now, some of you have been privy to the retelling of my dreams before and thought you would find this one close to home although not as interesting as some of my others have been. :o) Note to Nat: don’t worry this dream has no direct link to anyone I know personally who may or may not work in Comms herself. Srey greets me in the morning with a Khmer phrase that I actually recognize and I repeat it back to her hoping it’s the equivalent of the French ”cava?”, “cava!” I think she’s happy that I am better anyway. The streets are still quiet because of Chinese New Year and Yuan and I fly to work. I spend the day preparing questions for external interviews. Four of the staff head off at 1pm to Kratie where they will be for 3 days doing interviews and attending an annual meeting. The ED (Executive Director) promised me before he left that they would take me next time so I could get to see the country side, I can’t wait to get out and about. I get changed as soon as I get home and walk to the gym, mainly to see how long it takes. Going for a walk here is really not the same as at home. For one thing, if there are footpaths, they are normally covered in cars, motorbikes, food stalls, dogs etc so you’re forced to walk on the road anyway. And secondly when crossing a road you have to actually look both ways two or three times, because it's more than likely a motorbike will shoot past you traveling on the wrong side of the road which is actually the right side of the road if you are at home. Yes, very confusing! Once again the gym is wonderfully cool for my workout and a Motodop is waiting right outside to take me home. I don’t feel save enough to walk home in the dark although it’s only about 6.30pm. Although in hindsight, this could have been the safer option as riding on the back of a Motodop in the dark is a whole other scary experience. My blind little “woofer”, as always, welcomes me home (that’s how I’ve decided to look at his insistent yapping) and I cook and eat my first real meal since Sunday. The real treat is the Chai tea I make later on with Soy milk that doesn’t taste like it’s had a cup of sugar added. Hhhmmm bliss. Traffic is back to chaos again today as Yuan bravely takes them on!!! It’s kind of good that we can’t communicate as I get to make up this whole personality for him that he probably doesn’t possess or even want. I’m gonna stick with the white knight, caped crusader on rusty red stead image I have for him though, cause I think it kinda works, especially with that big cheesy grin and sly little smirks as we leave yet another 4x4 in our wake!!! I’m honored on Thursday as the Media & Comms Manager asks me to edit the latest issue of MEDiNEWS for him and he’s added my name to the list of editors before it goes to print. This is a monthly publication that goes to all medical NGO’s across Cambodia. I go out to lunch with Kalyan our Health Information Officer. I find out she has a 6 year old son who prefers to learn English than Khmer and a husband who is a dentist. I also get to try a Khmer dish that I would have had no idea how to order on my own and it’s delicious. Kalyan offers to take me shopping and says she loves to go “window” shopping at the Russian market. I walk the 20mins to the gym again after work and this time Toby (Vida volunteer) is there and offers me a lift home. He’s got a big,"dirt-bike" type bike and I hold on for dear life as it’s not quite as sedate as riding on the back with Yaun. Toby takes me to the French bakery for a baguette enroute cause that’s the only thing I can think of that I want to eat, brown rice just isn’t going “to cut it” tonight. I try to pay Srey in the morning as it’s the end of the month but she refuses to take it. She shows me on the calendar that she’s only worked two weeks, a fact that I was happy to ignore but she’s not having any of it. I finally manage to convince her to take half of it anyway by saying “soam” in Khmer (please). I knew learning the language would come in handy! It’s Friday but the day is sooo quiet and slow and takes for ever to pass. I am invited out for drinks but I’m still not sure my stomach is up for any alcohol and spend the night vegged out on the couch instead. Saturday morning I walk to meet Lydia at the Java Café. I’ve noticed when Westerners get together there seems to be this rapid deluge of conversation, as everyone breaks down the constraints and rejoices in the luxury of being able to speak as fast, and with as much colloquialisms as they can muster after speaking English slowly and correctly all week. Mara joins us after a bit and we all head off with Chanthy to look at pushbikes. There’s no deliberation as I fall instantly in love with a great big white beauty. He’s preloved and costs me $38, the iridescent paint job is worth that alone I think to myself. But the extras don’t end there, they throw in a basket for the front, a bell, front light and a rear carrier. I’m certainly traveling in style now! We can only imagine what people are thinking as Chanty drives me, Mara and two bikes through Phnom Penh in his Tuk-Tuk. They don’t think we’re too lazy to ride and carry our bikes around with us “just for emergencies”, surely not. I really enjoy the rest of my afternoon as I walk ten minutes to Orussey my nearest market and spend the next few hours phaffing about. This is more of a “local market”and not so much for tourists which definitely has it’s own appeal. I stumble upon hairdresser and beautician suppliers and manage, by rubbing my toe, to demonstrate my need of some nail polish remover. I’m pointed to where 5 people are sitting surrounding one lady who is upending a 40ltr drum to facilitate the filling of 500ml water bottles at her feet. I’m provided one of these in exchange for $1. Wow, I’m gonna have to stay here for 5 years to use up that amount of remover. The market itself is relaxing as there’s no pressure to buy and you don’t get the feeling they trying to rip you off with Westerner prices. The english of the stall owners is limited but somehow we manage. I buy material to have a skirt made for $3, a kilo of tomatoes for 75c and a reading lamp and torch (just incase or for WHEN the power goes out again). I join those crazy Kiwi lads from “Flight of the Conchords” in America on Saturday night and fear this buying a television is having an adverse affect on my social life and productivity. I can’t believe I leave the house at 9am on Sunday and don’t return until well late, the day just flew as I transported myself around town on my new “white charger”. Things were a bit wobbly to start with as I got used to the size and weight and I found myself doing things that don’t work unless you’re clipped into the peddles but other than that I loved being back on a bike. There’s nothing like the exhilaration of self propelled freedom! Yoga at 9.30am was great although I’ll have to get used to all the “hhhuuuuummgghhing”and other chanting. It was held on the roof of a building with temporary roof, cane blinds for walls and lots of drapped material for decoration. Some of the area was exposed to the view and created a beautiful gentle breeze. The setting made for a lovely relaxing tranquil atmosphere. My body felt great as I stretched out some knots and completely relaxed. Afterwards we have a chat over the home made Chai tea the organisers supply, I’ll surely become their friends for life as it's beautiful. They explain that this afternoon they will have the children from the Stung Meanchey Municipal Waste Dump come in for play time and yoga lessons. Mara took the same kids to the Waterpark yesterday. It’s really heartening to hear that these poor kids who live near the dump, and work as “rubbish pickers”, get some “time-out” to just be kids for a while. I meet Cara at the Russian market and we go visit her tailor to arrange to have some things made. My skirt is going to cost $5 and be ready next Sunday! We bump into Terri and Toby at the Jenjji café which is a favourite amongst volunteers. Afterwards myself and Cara can't resist and head back to the market for another dose of shopping. Me, my bike and my load cause a bit of a stir as I park at my local supermarket later on. You pay 500riel, (about10cents) for a seemingly efficient security system out the front. The security system asks me what I’ve got on the back of my bike. I’d bought some black cane sticks at a shop near the market to make wall hangings with and considered myself to be looking like a true local with this long, ungainly load on my bike. They didn’t really understand my explanation but when I came out of the supermarket a bit later they were still hanging around my bike. Unfortunately I didn’t have a small enough note to pay for the curious security but they smilingly waved me away. I'll give them double next time. Well, it’s the start of a new month and already I’ve been here for three weeks! I think this is one of those periods in life when you wish time would slow it’s incessantly rapid pace.

Here's few photos from the bike buying expedition: