Going with the flow

I have just finished a full week at the annual conference of VSO volunteers in Cambodia. It was a fun week but it didn’t resolve many of the questions I had going in such as what should I be doing? Yatta, yatta yatta. It did give some insights as to how I should be going about my job, which is to say, go slowly, work, but don’t get frustrated when your ideas and/or efforts are either not listened to or ignored entirely.

I have developed a really enjoyable relationship with my bicycle. It is a functional one-speed with handle bar brakes. It has a friction light for driving at night, although its main purpose is to let others see me rather than illuminate anything for me. The front tire tends to lose air over time and every week I have to reinflate it. But I love riding the streets, even the really busy streets like Sihanouk, and Mao Tse Tung and Monivong. The Russian Confederation Boulevard is still waiting for my entry but I look forward to the challenge.

Everyday, at least three or four times and sometimes every hour I am reminded of the Cambodian proverb about life being a river. Bike riding is so much like that. When I first arrived I thought that I would never ride a bike because I would not be able to handle the traffic. It is horrendous. But like a river it flows. It flows around, next to, over and under everything. There are accidents of course, but not as many as you would expect with the literal lack of systems in place. There some intersections were there are traffic lights and they even have numbers counting down. But you get the feeling of Indianapolis and the start of the “five hundred”. If there is not a lot of traffic, then the lights are totally ignored. Traffic flows in all directions literally. If I come to an intersection and I want to turn right, no problem. I don’t even have to look, though I do, I just turn right and traffic flows around me. If I want to turn right, that is another story. I turn into the lane of traffic coming at me. As long as I stay close to the curb, traffic will continue to flow usually to my right but sometimes around me. When a gap or break in the traffic occurs I then move over into the other lanes ostensibly going in the same direction I am. When I am coming down a street, I don’t wait for the intersection before making my move to turn across traffic; I do it as soon as there is a gap and then go against the traffic until I reach the corner and then turn. It takes some getting used to but once you discover the pattern it works.

So, using the river as my metaphor, traffic, work, cooperation with colleagues and life in general takes on a different meaning. I try to flow, and when an obstacle comes up, I accept and flow around it. If it is a big obstacle, then I wait until it moves or it gets dislodged or I take it in my flow. It is working. I don’t have it down to a philosophy yet, but I see where it is going and I like it. I would seriously recommend it to anyone. It is not Buddhist but it seems to have some of the hallmarks of that philosophy without the baggage. Plus no reincarnation to worry about.

For any of you considering a trip to the exotic southeast Asia, my flat has a spare bedroom always open. Great views and wonderful neighborhood.

So, great and noble creatures that you are, remember the river. Think occasionally of me following the current and just checking out the landscape as I float by. I think of all of you often and it is as though I can see you when I drift by. Take care, until my next communiqué, this is your wandering pilgrim heading downriver. No storms in sight.

Sihanoukville

It seems as though there is quite a gap in my updates/reports probably because there is. This week I have spent as a player/student in Sihanoukville, which is to the southeast of Phnom Penh. It is a resort town that was created in 1953 to serve as a deep-water port of the then budding Indochina conglomerate of countries that France had cobbled together over the decades. It was literally carved out of the jungle and rather quickly became useful as a spot for the sailors, tourists, upper middle class nationals and other assorted folks who had some excess cash (didn’t need much) to spend on beaches, drinks and good times.So, here I am at midpoint and I have been encouraged by VSO to have a good time. This has taken the form of some of the following. On Sunday when we arrived here on a chartered bus from Phnom Penh, I had the afternoon free. I hooked up with a couple of colleagues and we down to the beach front and had a leisurely late lunch and few beers and basically just enjoyed the Bay of Thailand which was sending its waves up to the shore about 10 meters or 30 or so feet away. By evening we had all arrived and checked in and had received our packets of information, which outlined the coming week.

While the days were fairly full (with the obligatory two-hour lunch), the nights were also well planned. On Sunday, there was a dinner (buffet and Cambodian Bar-B-Que) at the Sea Dragon, a pavilion on the beach. On Monday, there was another social evening with entertainment at the same venue. This had a cost of $3. Being still new to the country, I went and had dinner at the “Same, Same but Different” beach front bar and restaurant. When I got to the site where the entertainment was going to be held I discovered that a huge buffet was part of the deal. I explained that I had already eaten, but that I was pleasantly surprised. My friends explained that anytime a fee is charged like the $3 I had paid for the evening that always includes dinner. After all what else could they do with all of this cash being collected. Also, drinks, (beer and soft drinks) were also included. I guess I should have figured that out since $3 was such a high price for food and drink. The meal was followed by several exhibitions of dancing. My Filipino counterparts put on three or four dances that I recognized from my time in the Philippines. They were dressed in traditional costumes and were beautiful. I collected several pictures. More dancing followed, Cambodian folk dancing, to cap the evening off, good old-fashioned Texas line dancing, led of course by a Brit. America has exported so much culture it is frightening.

Yesterday was a day dedicated to sector meetings. This meant that the Livelihoods folks met with each other, the health people did the same and the education people did likewise. I had hoped that this would be entrance to the hall of answers to all of my questions. Not so, although it did shed light on some of the problems facing educators in Cambodia, I was left with the same problem of figuring out how to best manage in my assignment on my own. I did meet some other key figures in other ministries how will figure in my plans for the coming weeks or months. Last night was a huge soirée or fancy dress up night. This was to be a fancy dress affair (humorous costumes but everything with a theme of “P”). I was really tired so I went back to the “Same, Same, but Different” had dinner, returned to the hotel, got my laundry together, went to the pool and was in bed by 10 PM. This morning I am up bright and early feeling very good, and preparing for the midpoint of the week.

The schedule today is a mix of serious and fun. In the morning we will be regaled by a lecture on “Volunteer Engagement and Learning”. Essentially I think this will be how the Program Office helps volunteers to continue their language study but also on any of the other opportunities for culture and what not in Cambodia.

This afternoon is tam building on the beach. In this activity I will be a judge for one of the seven “Survivor” type activities on the beach. My responsibility will be “Walking the Plank” whereby I will tell each of the seven teams as they come to my station, how to master the art of using bricks and planks to walk along a predesigned course. For each little pile of sand they pass, they earn a point. Every time a plank or a body part touches the ground, they lose a point. Total scores for each tam decides on a winner.

The final or tie breaking activity is to build a sand castle, but not just any old sand castle. This has to have the shape of a pyramid, with a track running around the edge. When they are done, a ball is placed at the top and timed on its descent. Fastest time gets some more points. It really does sound like great fun and I am looking forward to the day. Tonight continues the fun and frolic for the wild and crazy members of our band of sisters and brothers, with Bingo at the hall of Events. I am not sure exactly where this is but I know there will be several folks to direct me. For the less adventuresome, there are the bars and karaoke spots in town.

Well, the sun is up and my roommate, an Indian named Rushin, has gone for his morning walk. I think I will shave and prepare for this very challenging day.

Appearances are everything

Today is a mélange of topics as usual, the first being that sometimes “Appearance is everything”. I broke through my temerity or simple cowardice (temerity sounds better even if it does reflect the craven sort I have allowed myself to become) and accepted the bicycle that the VSO offers everyone in Phnom Penh. Everyone, even the folks from out of town who have motorcycles back home. I did not take the helmet although it was offered for the simple fact that I want to be able to see as much as I can while I go forth into harm’s way. It turned out ok, inasmuch as I began to recall some sage advice I had received from a fellow in the Philippines who had biked all of the time in Saigon. He said, “All you have to do is avoid the guy in front. ” The guy behind will take care of himself and you. It seems to work somewhat but sometimes I forget to watch out for the guy in front while I am watching out for the car or truck on my left or right. The only guy I am not too concerned about is the guy behind me — I am hoping he is taking care of himself and possibly me.So, after accepting the bike, and getting my housing allowance for equipping my brand new flat, I decided to have lunch in a posh spot, just down the street from my office called the Lotus Restaurant. A gorgeous place, the décor literally French Colonial, and the waitstaff suitably attired in better frocks than at least this patron.

Note: For you French or at least, other Romance language linguists, you will find more and more of the French vocabulary creeping into my chats. I can’t help it, it is here to stay. Many people decry the continuing abandonment of French while others sing praises to its demise. I am neutral except for the fact that it was always a beautiful sounding language and seemed to be truly the language of love. I took Spanish in school and thought it was also a beautiful sounding language, but for the classicists out there, French was still the language of Charles Boyer, and many other incredibly debonair (there, I did it again) screen lovers.

Back to lunch. After being seated and parking my helmet (motorcycle, with “Paco” and a heart with “mom” inscribed on it) and my briefcase, I studied the menu. Since I am only in the middle of my five-day medication, water was the drink of choice but I did spurge and order a coffee with milk as well. Not all coffee with milk is coffee with – at least condensed, milk. No problem, I dutifully drank it down and had what looked like a gallon of water to wash the lunch down. I then ordered the Chicken with lemon grass and an order of rice. Wonderful sounding stuff. It came and I have to say it was one of the worse meals I ever had. I don’t know enough about Asian cuisine, but I am sure that they do not waste anything. I chewed on several bits of gristle, separated some meat from looked like fat, and conscientiously ate the rest. But I have to say; it was most beautiful looking meal I think I ever had. There was a tomato that had been carved in a curl sitting on a nest of what looked like alfalfa sprouts. Sometimes things look too good to eat. So, like I said, “Sometimes, Appearances are everything”.

I have covered some aspects of the traffic on my bike and briefly touched on the monetary sustenance that VSO allows those of us who have sacrificed out lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor and for the benefit of mankind. Well, at least our honor.