Back in business!

I am very sorry for the ungodly length of time since my last update. Time has passed fairly rapidly and without too much of an unsettling nature, but with sufficient problems to warrant some annoyance. I don’t want to make this a “bitch” letter so I will simply relate some of the factors that have caused me concern and let your imaginations deal with how a mild-mannered guy like myself manages them.

First my computer. I think I shared the saga of the abused computer and the valiant efforts to revive it. Through my own fault, I had schemed very imaginatively to conceal my computer under a pillow in the guest house in Kampong Chaanam. I did this because I had been warned that there seemed to be a better grade of thieves in this town. Because it was a guesthouse and I was paying big dollars ($5/night) we had maid service. While I was at the workshop, the maid came in and surely grabbed the sheets, gave them a vigorous toss, and of course, the computer went flying. Not being one of those indestructible windows type of computers, which weigh fifty pounds and have a movie screen, my computer took the fall badly. The result was no power. I took it to a reputable computer shop, and they sent it to Singapore (twice) but to no avail, and I finally took it back to memorialize it in some later ceremony. I bought another, almost exact, duplicate, except this Mac Book is in black, which fit my mood better. And then I began the restoration.

Second, the restoration. This really wasn’t too bad since my daughter had created a great backup system for me, and I only had to decode the methods to restore. The first thing was to get rid of the trial Microsoft office application. This was only good for 30 days and wouldn’t let me print anything in the meanwhile. I finally got the application from my backup and it worked so I dumped the trial application. Then, purely by accident, I loaded all of my music back on. I have lost the music twice now and both times have restored it and could not tell you how if you held a gun to my head. There are approximately 1800 songs, many of which I had purchased from iTunes. (Can you see what is coming?) When I went to play one of my “Crickets” songs by Buddy Holly I got the message this is a new computer and is not authorized to play this iTunes song. Do you want to have iTunes authorize the song? Sure, I did. But, iTunes does not work in Asia, only in North America and Europe and a few other developed (read affluent) nations. So, again, you can imagine how a mild-mannered guy like myself manages this type of capitalistic nonsense. In case you can’t, I am planning to dump all of this music (renaming the songs didn’t help) and buy pirated copies for $1 a CD. Giving up one bandit for another seems like good old-fashioned “fair-play” to me.

Third, the Windfall. A group of nations (affluent) have gotten together and donated a large sum of cash to another group of nations (poor as church mice) to help their educational systems. It is called an FTI or “Fast Track Initiative”. This is so-named because it has to be spent in the next three years. Cambodia came in for the second largest amount, $57.4 million, even though Cambodia is way down the list in terms of size.

Today I enjoyed learning how to ride a moto, a small motorcycle about 125 ccs. It was great fun but I know I will never ride one in Phnom Penh since I have enough close encounters of a first and second kind without the benefit of a powerful machine between my legs. (No jokes or laughter, please.) This is another story that will be continued.

For now, this is your wandering pilgrim hopefully back on the communications track and wondering how I got lost. It is still fun although with a definitely shady side to the humor.

A flipped computer, language training, and gender equity

I am finally updating this note while spending a leisurely afternoon in the Freebird Bar which is a wifi and American type bar. I am drinking gin and tonics and while the internet is free I am rapidly going into chronic debt drinking and eating the spring roll appetizers at the final calculation of probably $6 or $7 dollars. God, life can be so tough!I am very sorry about the delay in updates, but I have been going through a series of adjustments due to the loss of my computer. Not the actual loss, but an “oweee” inflicted by a maid during my workshop in Kampong Chnam. I thought I was being clever by sliding my computer under a pillow to keep it out of sight but when the maid came in to clean the room I am sure she just grabbed the sheets and flipped them. Of course my computer got flipped as well and that night when I returned I could not get it to power up. I tried and tried but nothing.

Later in the week I returned to Phnom Penh and went to a computer store to see what they would tell. I was not hopeful, as a matter of fact I was pleased that I had as much backed up as I did since in previous episodes I had lost everything. The fellow at the store was helpful but he said it would possibly be better to go to another store on the riverfront since it was a Mac. I did, and to make this long story a little shorter, they worked on it, sent it to Singapore and this weekend it was returned to me safe and sound.

The purpose of this long discourse is not to burden you with the routines of computer repair but to emphasize the psychological impact of losing what has come to be a very important part of my life. My music is here, my financial accounting is here, and all of my thoughts and correspondence is here. Granted this time I had a backup but even still, I was a loss without my laptop. I was actually depressed. I am aware that it may only have been the trigger for other issues but since I am not in psychoanalysis yet, I am not sure what those other issues are yet. My distance from home and loved ones, a strange and challenging country, and a ton of other factors could all play a part but I was focused on my computer. So now, all is better if not perfect, and I am a happy pilgrim again.

This week I begin language training. This is a serious point in my stay in Cambodia and hopefully it will allow me to become more effective in my daily work. I have some phrases and vocabulary that I depend on a great deal but I would surely like to converse with people even at a low functional level. I don’t think I have a very good aptitude for languages. I did enjoy Latin in high school, Spanish in college and personal efforts at learning more Spanish since school. Tagalog was a disaster since I basically blew it off after learning that everyone spoke English in the Philippines and while they said they would help me with Tagalog they always keep speaking English. So, now I am in a country that basically has been exposed to their own native language, Khmer, but also Vietnamese, Thai, Russian, and now English. The nationals know that the one constant is Khmer and if they are going to be understood, the barang (foreigners) are going to have to speak Khmer.

I have been involved in several workshops during my short tenure in Cambodia. I have been a observer in Kampong Speu for Accelerated learning, a semi-involved observer in Kampong Chnam for Accelerated learning again, and last week, a participant in the reviewing the Child Friendly School Policy in Sihanoukville, where I had had my annual conference for VSO two weeks before. This last one was my most active participation since I arrived and while I was pushing for more involvement of children with disabilities, particularly physical disabilities, I seemed to have received a reputation for advocating for gender equity. In one small working group, I had mentioned the need to focus on the recruitment for more girls in the school population, especially disabled girls. I also mentioned that the focus could not just be limited to girls in school but also on women in the teaching and administrative ranks, hopefully women with disabilities. There has recently been a letter from MOEYS (Ministry on Education, Youth and Sports) stating that it was no longer permissible to deny women with disabilities teaching jobs because of their disabilities. But time moves slowly in Asia and in a Buddhist culture everything is explored at depth and repeatedly, even government communiqués. During a summary session where all of the discussions of the small groups were collected, Mr. Richard was mentioned at least twice as advocating gender equity and most people nodded wisely at this radical idea. The fact that it is a key component of the UNICEF and World Bank programs in education did not seem to diminish its wisdom.

That is it for now. I am happy to back in the communication links with all of you and hopefully my future notes will be a little more interesting. For the time being I remain your loyal and loving far eastern companion.