This Post is for TWO Years

It's that time again for another "camba-versary." Moving from one to two years comes with respect. After 18 months, you've been here forever. It doesn't yet feel like forever, but that might come soon.

Year Two has been mixed. It started on a high, only to plummet over the spring and finally begin to level out into a balanced contentment over late summer and autumn. As an expat, the longer you live here, you feel you understand it less and less. You learn that the strangeness and complexity are all beyond what your Western mind can process; a beautiful place trapped inside itself, unable to move forward without taking one step back. Former US ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph Mussomeli, remarked once,"be careful, because Cambodia is the most dangerous place you will ever visit. You will fall in love with it, and eventually it will break your heart." 


Cambodia has broken many hearts, including mine; a beautiful place trapped in the ghosts of the past, the corruption of the present, and struggling to find a path into modernity that doesn't widen the gulf between the rich and poor. Sometimes I wonder if the best thing for Cambodia would be for us to leave and let Cambodia decide for itself what sort of country it wants to be. To deforest the country and sell it to China or to respect human rights. To face the ghosts of the Khmer Rouge or to sabotage the tribunal. Cambodia itself hasn't decided the answer to these questions.

Yet just like the 14 different locations before Cambodia, Cambodia wasn't an accident. There's some reason why any of us end up anywhere at any time. I've been told that if I live my life differently because I was here, that is sufficient. I have learned and grown here, in the most unexpected ways. It hasn't been entirely tragic. I'm proud that I've found my way in the mayhem and I honestly adore and appreciate my little life here.

There are wonderful things about Cambodia, and utterly irritating things. I was reflecting on this recently, in honor of TWO.

Five things which must change in Cambodia:

• Wedding/Funeral Tents. Pitching a tent on the road in front of your house is so two-thousand-and-late people. Please rent one of the many available facilities! Please stop creating monstrous traffic jams. Please stop blasting 11pm street-side karaoke. Please stop the 4am chanting. You no longer live in the province. Urbanize people!
• Sidewalks. Sidewalks are not parking lots, let me tell you. Sidewalks are not extensions of your store. Sidewalks are not locations to discard smelly rubbish  Sidewalks are for humans to walk on. There should also be more.
• Climate. It's so hot. I whinge endlessly about this climate and the longer I'm here the more I whinge. However, if the climate changed, then the agricultural livelihoods which people depend upon would be destroyed so personal preferences must be sidelined in this case. However, I'm no longer ashamed to admit, I hate this climate.
• Trees. Deforestation...(and land grabbing)...enough said. 
• Food. Initially, I was not impressed with Khmer food. Now I'm completely comfortable at partner events when an entire fish is placed in front of me. However, we could introduce something beyond fish sauce and salt for flavors. 

Five things to continue in Cambodia:

• Motos. Motos are a good thing for Phnom Penh. They are small, efficient and cheap. Cars are none of the above and Phnom Penh was not built to handle cars. Continuing bikes and motos is essential. 
• Markets. Markets are fun! You can buy fresh produce, ice coffee, tasty noodles, and haggle to your heart's content. There's something delightfully human about markets, even if they can be too warm in hot season. 
• Holidays. While so many public holidays do prevent work efficiency to some extent, I really love having 17 public holidays per year in addition to my 15 vacation days.
• Buses. It's pretty easy and painless to get around Cambodia. You can get to Vietnam and Thailand fairly painlessly by bus. While they aren't fast, they are air conditioned and you'll easily get to your destination problem-free, only a little worse for wear thanks to watching hours of Khmer music videos. In fact, getting anywhere is easy; motos, tuk tuks, bikes...
• Reliable water, electricity, and internet. Phnom Penh ranks very highly in this regard. In two years, I've only lacked water twice at my apartment. Power cuts are very infrequent and short. Internet is decently fast and largely reliable. Lets pray with all the recent building that these lovely amenities don't stop.

How the King Died

Royal Palace Scenes: Incense, prayers, and flowers

On 15 October this year, former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk died from a heart attack in Bejing. He was 89 years old and had been living in China (and North Korea) since 2004. And then Cambodia got surreal.

I'm told it's bad karma to discuss a person's flaws after their death, because even though they're dead, their spirit is still alive and present and if angered, will wreak havoc on me. That's the thing about death in Cambodia, you're never really dead. Your spirit lives on and is still very present in day-to-day life and must be treated with reverence and respect. However, Sihanouk was human, which means he was flawed.

Sihanouk is considered a god-king. Product of the long line of Cambodian royalty, he was installed as king by the French in 1941. At 19, he was slated to be their puppet. He proved otherwise and after a long campaign, Cambodia won independence from France in 1953. After that, he played all sides in the military escalation in Vietnam including the USA and China (all of whom he supported at one point), was disposed in a coup in 1970, served as the puppet leader by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 (who he supported than didn't), disposed by the Vietnamese in 1979 (who he supported than didn't) after which he lived in exile in North Korea. He was finally reinstated in 1991 by the United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia (UNTAC), the UN program which poured $2 billion into Cambodian reconstruction after over 20 years of conflict.

Despite UNTACs efforts, by the mid-90s, power lay with still incumbent prime minister Hun Sen. Despite the lively political intrigue, back-door deals, clever power plays, and even a small coup, Sihanouk was never more than a figure head. He abdicated in 2004 and left the country, largely because bad health. On a personal level, Sihanouk had two wives (unofficially, he had seven), 14 children, and was a filmmaker, poet, an avid blogger.

Some called him a master politician. Others called him power hungry. Most in the West agree he was elitist and authoritarian. In Cambodia, he's remembered with awe and reverence, bestowing Cambodia it's freedom from France. He's remembered as a strong unbreakable leader who put Cambodia on the map. He's remembered as the only king who ever "truly loved his people" (a slap in the face to his son and current king). People are genuinely distraught at his passing, young people who never knew him as their leader and older people who remember the dark days. There have been many tears in the last week.

Sihanouk's body returned from China on 17 October with thousands lining the streets to see the casket. He's currently laying in-state at the Royal Palace for three months and sometime after that we'll have the funeral and cremation (date not set). He death was followed by a week of mourning, and a ban on all television programming that showed smiling, laughing, singing or dancing (end date, unknown). Technically there is a national ban on all smiling, laughing, singing and dancing. Water Festival in November was cancelled...again. People make pilgrimages to the Royal Palace to light incense lay lotus flowers, and pray that his spirit will be at peace and feel sufficiently respected, even in death. While down at the Palace madhouse, you can pick up a t-shirt on sale with his face emblazoned in black and white, as well large photographs of him, and finally a few snacks.

I've lived here for two years. You learn a lot in two years. Yet with this outpouring of grief and sadness, with all the black ribbons pinned to tops and shirts, with all the little shrines in front of businesses in Sihanouk's honor, I have an confession to myself and the world. Frankly, I do not understand Cambodia whatsoever.

How to Avoid Typhoid

How does one get Typhoid Fever? Frankly, it's quite disgusting. If you want to know, you may wiki this yourself. The more polite response is that it's a water and food borne disease. Even though this post is titled, "How to get Typhoid," this is actually a friendly encouragement to make sure you are up-to-date on your vaccine and for more information, visit the CDC or WHO websites.

I've been asked frequently how and where I got Typhoid. Frankly, I have no idea. It could have been anything I ate or drank over the last month. Oh wait, that's right, I had Typhoid. The vaccine is only good for two years and only 50%-80% effective. I was probably 12 years overdue.

I had a milder case of Typhoid. I pulled myself together to make it to the doctor for a blood test (I thought it was dengue) and was on antibiotics three days after first coming down with a fever. Aside from the throbbing migraine, if you're lay in bed, it's not really that painful. The high fever and mild psychosis make you lethargic and sleepy. You lose your appetite and all food tastes extremely bad. However, if you sit up, or try to visit the bathroom, then you know you it's not just a common flu and you mutter angrily about living in such a crappy country that can't eradicate a largely preventable and controllable tropical disease. So you stay in bed...for a week...pretty much just sleeping and watching TV. Towards the end, you start to loose your mind because of sheer boredom.

The following week, you feel extremely tired and have some difficulty focusing, but you head back to work because you're way too bored to convalesce any longer. By the end of that week, you should feel largely well, though your weakened immune system might be fighting something else. The week after that, you're still tired and require nine full hours of sleep per night. Three weeks after coming down Typhoid, then you should finally feel yourself again. Through it all, you're thankful there are people who are looking out for you, texting their sympathy, and thankful that in Cambodia, you can order in.

At least now I get to report that I had an exotic and dangerous sounding disease. Frankly, it's overrated. Also, living in the developing world where unfortunately Typhoid is common, there's really no glamour, only pity. Which is why I highly recommend the semi-effective short-term vaccine. Seriously, it's not an enjoyable disease.

How to Survive "High Holiday Season"

In another 10 days, it will be Puch'm Ben. This means productivity-wise, everything is downhill till International New Year. I like to call this period "high holiday season" to distinguish it from "low holiday season" in April/May. I realize this makes no sense. Forgive me.

Cambodia is already notorious for their 31 public holidays. I like to classify them in five categories:

• Cultural Holidays. Puch'm Ben, Khmer New Year, and Water Festival.
• Buddhist Holidays. These exist, but no one in the international community knows them.
• Political Holidays. Birthdays of multiple members of the royal family, independence days, etc.
• Rights-Based Holidays. Labor Day, Women's Day, Children's Day, and Human Right's Day.
• Imported Holidays. International New Year and Christmas, the later being extremely unpopular. 

Schools and government ministries take all 31 holidays. Even if it falls on a weekend, a day is still taken off in lieu. The private sector picks a selection. My organization (and many others) takes 17. I also work with two different Cambodian partners who both also take 17 holidays. While we take all the "cultural holidays" and "international holidays," we vary on the political and rights-based ones. On my calendar, in three separate colors, I record which partner takes which day off. This varies from year to year, and organizations often holidays based on the day they fall (Friday trumps Tuesday, etc). Officially, I'm only allowed to take the holidays which my sending organization approves. Unofficially, if a partner is closed, I usually don't have much to do...which means going to my sending organization's office and writing blog posts.

The main holidays in "high holiday season" include the following:

• Constitution Day (24 Sep). Holiday for Partner1.
• Puch'm Ben (three days in Sept or Oct). Holiday for my organization, Partner1, and Partner2.
• Coronation Day (29 Oct). Holiday for my org, and Partner1. 
• King Father's Birthday (31 Oct, aka, Halloween). Holiday for my org and Partner2.
• 1st Independence Day (9 Nov). Holiday for all three.
• Water Festival (three days sometime in Nov). Holiday for all three.
• Human Right's Day (10 Dec). Holiday for my org and Partner1.
• Christmas Day (25 Dec). Holiday for all three.
• International New Year (1 Jan). Holiday for all three.
• 2nd Independence Day (9 Jan). Holiday for all three.

This is the next three months for me. I was recently working on my department's quarterly report for October, November, December and realized that between holidays, training's, my vacation, staff paternity leave, and retreats, we only have three full weeks of work between now and 2013. As I go into my third "high holiday season," I've realized that it's a battle at work to keep things moving during this period. Life is slow. You can only accept it, plan major activities for January  and enjoy the time off. Very few countries have this many holidays so enjoy it while it lasts.