Pics and Videos
Trip Start
Feb 02, 2007
1
5
10
Trip End
Jun 04, 2007
Kompong Thom, Cambodia
Friday, February 9, 2007
So I left Phnom Penh on Tuesday for Kompong Thom. It was a two hour drive which wasn't bad at all. My project advisor, Leonard, and two other staff members came along. As we were driving we ran over a dog...and I have a very funny follow up video!! First of all, let me just explain how rural Kompong Thom is, I have never been anywhere like this..not even parts of Peru. Like in PP there are motorbikes everywhere...there are very few cars on the road. The rest of the road is taken up by ox or horse drawn carts. The best part about seeing this on the road is the fact that they try to load up as much stuff as possible on one little cart or even more amazing on one little motorbike!!
When we first arrived we went to the ADRA office. It's really small and cute and has a great view of the.....fields (it's the dry season so there's not much to look at) All of the staff here are sooo nice and they were really excited to meet me. Then I rode on the back of the motorbike with one of the ladies to take me to where I will be staying. It's a couple miles down the road from the office. I am staying in a guesthouse above the house of another staff member. I don't think she had entered the room in a few months, or since the last intern stayed there. To say the least I was suprised. I know she had good intentions and she's probably a very busy lady, but it would have been nice to enter my new home for three months with some decency or cleanliness in order to appease what fears I did have. After she cleaned the rat droppings, spider carcasses, cobwebs, and who knows what was growing on the bathroom floor, I was ready to move in. I made a makshift curtain out of a sheet I brought, bathed myself in deet and fell into a peaceful dreamless sleep....
So the ladies at the office are really nice and funny and I am as much their object of curiosity as they are mine...if not more. On the drive there I was joking with one of the ladies about how I want her to find me a Khmer boyfriend...handsome. So at worship the next morning she introduced me to everyone as Jenica, she will be an intern here for three months, she is from America, she is looking for a handsome Khmer boyfriend between the ages of 21 and 30. So I'm off to a good start.
Last night (wednesday night) they took me to a traditional Khmer wedding ceremony. It was on the side of the road under a few canopys. Before we even set foot near the entrance several men were surrounding us asking to dance. I learned how to dance Khmer style.....veeery interesting. I think what they lack in hip movement they make up for in hand movements. But it was still very fun.
Ok this is getting really long and I still have lots to tell you...but I am getting tired.
I am back in Phnom Penh right now because I needed to use the internet for some project related research (i.e. email family and friends) There is a girl from Switzerland staying here as well and her and I will go shopping and exploring PP tomorrow and Saturday!!
These are pics and videos of my first few days in Kompong Thom!
