How to Survive Hot Season

I like to think of myself as a very rational, logical, common sense type of person. However, I've been loathed to write about hot season, for fear that I'll jinx it and make it even hotter. This fear forces me to look deep within myself and admit that I am superstitious. This superstitious fear of increased heat also comes from a tiny place of relief inside of me. Because for a whole, it was hot, but not unbelievably hot and we allowed ourselves the arrogant thought that hot season wouldn't be that bad this year.

However, in the past three weeks, the heat went from tolerably hot to inexplicably hot, when you sweat before 7:30am, when nothing you wear is cool enough, when you can't manage to consume enough water. Everyday for the last few month, I asked my Khmer colleague if it will get hotter. Every time he laughed at me and said, "yes, it will get more hot." Until last week when I finally got the answer I wanted, "it is the most hot now." This is comforting because it means we can only get cooler.

Hot season is aptly named, because it is so hot. It starts early March and runs through the end of May (all dates approximate). A perfect hot season should see no rain. However, we've had a few thunderstorms which are also extremely welcome. When you first arrive in Cambodia, you wonder why people are up at 5am. Upon reaching hot season, this quickly makes sense because often by 9am, it's already soring into the high 90s. When I get home from work, it averages 96 in my house, so I open all the windows and doors and it cools down to the low 90s. Driving after 10am is much the same as driving into a hair dryer, and the breeze on your face which is often so welcome, is hot and smoggy and you can literally imagine the smog is sticking to your sweaty face. If that sounds nasty, it's because it is, incredibly nasty.

There are several coping strategies to hot season.

• Cold showers. A truly hot day in hot season, can call for three showers.
• Mangoes: Hot season is when mangoes are in season, and so unbelievably cheap that you start to drool. 
• Work: I don't at all mind going to work. It means the opportunity to be air conditioning because after 10am, my house heats up like an oven.
• Sun: The sun also seems harsher in hot season, and I tan on my mere 20 minute afternoon commute to my partner organization. I also burn after not that much more time outdoors. Still, a nice tan from a seasonal change isn't inherently bad.
• AC (also known as "air con"): I do have AC in my house, which is reserved exclusively for sleeping or the electric bill is outrageous. AC five years ago, was considered luxurious and unnecessary. Thank God I didn't live here five years ago.
• Common Misery: The nice thing about hot season is that everyone experiences it together. Even with AC, the sun shines on the just and the unjust. I take comfort that even with sweat rings, damp clothes, and a greasy face, everyone else looks about the same. The standards lower ever so slightly, and without this, I wouldn't survive quite so well.

Technically, we're about halfway through hot season 2012. We can only hope and pray that it end "on time," or that June's rains come early. I'm not quite so superstitious about rainy season.

This Post is for Halfway

I can't help notice on my calendar, that I've been living in Cambodia 18 months. That totals to exactly half of my time in Cambodia. Of course, extension is always an option, but the likelihood of a new adventure in the likes of Timbuktu, Vanuatu, Slovenia is rather high. Historically, my immediate family is incapable of staying in one place longer than three years, so I must carry the torch forward.

I have a love/hate relationship with Cambodia. I love my life; my friends, my church, my colleagues, most of my job, and the rich abundance of easily accessible vacation destinations. But I struggle with the systemic injustices; the land evictions, the overcrowding of cities, the harsh working conditions of garment workers, the high rates of domestic violence, the massive corruption. I've gone through stages of anger at Cambodia for these senseless tragedies that could so easily be avoided. I've also experienced times of hope and excitement, seeing positive change at the periphery. This is life as a global nomad. You can't compare with your home country because that's unfair. You can however be frustrated that change is a slow and dynamic process which can often include regression.

But now that I've summited the mountain and finished the hardest part, I expect a fast decent. Time only goes faster when you're having fun. And for the record, life is so, so good.

How to Enjoy 36 hours in Kampong Som

Every year, I'm given the pleasure of two annual retreats. The first is the national retreat which includes all the national staff and their families. The second is the regional retreat, and previously included the program staff across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, rotating among the three countries. The former took place last weekend, with over 50 people traveling down to Kampong Som, staff and family members.

Kampong Som (featured in several other earlier posts, also known as Sihanoukville), is five hours south by bus. The idea of an overnight trip was initially repulsive. However, at it's conclusion, it was rather enjoyable!

Cambodians and expats have very different ideas about the beach. This is manifested in four primary ways.

First, Cambodians only swim fully clothed; denim or khaki shorts, t-shirt, jeans, and even a hat. Cambodians have an uncomplicated view on swimsuits; "you're wearing underwear in public." Needless to say, because we know this view and because we're trying to be sensitive, we wear a t-shirt and athletic shorts, over our swimsuits. 

Second, swimming fully clothed ties into another Cambodian value, white skin. Beauty and desirability are connected strongly to fair skin, and women will go to great length to whiten their skin. This is extremely obvious at the beach where there are "pavilions" with tables for the Cambodians to sit in the shade, and the normal sun lounge/beds for the expats. The two values coincide no more apparent than on same strip of land alongside the ocean. Cambodians would never lay in the sun. Expats would never come to the beach in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

Third, another common Cambodian beach value is the acquisition of food from the market. This market is a 10 minute moto/tuk tuk ride away, and inevitably Cambodians will bring food from the market to eat on the beach. The expats would prefer to just buy food at the beach. The price is almost identical, but this is how it must be done.

A final prominent difference is travel to a vacation destination. As expats, we climb on the bus and expect to make one bathroom break, and arrive at our destination as fast as possible. Cambodians enjoy making frequent stops on the way; stop for breakfast 45 minutes after departure, stop for snacks 45 minutes after that, stop 45 minutes after snacks for the toilet, stop another 45 minutes after that for lunch... The journey is part of the adventure and it's an infinitely social experience. For expats, it's maddening.

Our values are quite apparent in how we all perceive the same retreat experience. The emphasis is relationship-building and spending time with each other. But with such prominent language and cultural barriers, beyond the silly ones mentioned above, friendships require far more time and effort. It doesn't fit neatly into a 36-hour retreat. It takes a whole lot more time.