Cambojamming!!!!!!

HAPPY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY!!!!!!!! DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM!

Week#1 in Siem Reap: Vegas in Cambodia
Anna and I arrived in Siem Reap a few hours late due to rain delay. It was muggy out and we waited in long lines to get thru immigration. I didn’t have to bribe anyone this time around. I already had a permanent visa in my passport. I was amazed to see the ginormous city block size hotels popping up everywhere. Anna said it was like driving through Vegas. Unfortunately, these huge energy sucker uppers are mostly foreign owned hotels who use cheap Khmer labor. The next day we left for Battambang so I could run an errand for my family. I had to deliver a good size donation to the local mosque in Battambang. On the boat ride back from Battambang to Siem Reap there weren’t any seats left inside the boat so we ended up sitting on top of the boat for the entire 6 hour journey. It was a spectacular view of the riverfront but I ended up getting sun burned. I didn’t realize it was so hideous until I took off my sunglasses and noticed my red face with a big white stripe across it where the sunglasses were. I looked like a Khmer raccoon. The temples of Angkor were breathtaking. It was fun doing the “leap shots” infront of Angkor Wat. What’s great about being Khmer is that we get to see the temples for free while foreigners have to pay. My uncle tried to pass Anna off as Khmer. Anna is Chinese American and although she can pass for other Asian ethnicities, she is not Khmer. Day 1 of temple site seeing Anna passed for Khmer since we rushed through the lines before they could question us. But Day 2 she got caught and my uncle tried to lie even more to cover up the first lie. Because she couldn’t speak a word of Khmer or understand any Khmer it was quite obviously she was not Khmer. The lies didn’t work. The officials wouldn’t let her enter Banteay Srei until she paid the $20 Day Fee. The lesson here is simply don’t lie about who you are and don’t let others lie about who you are.

Week#2 in Phnom Penh: Reunited ‘cuz it feels so good
This was a week of reunions with family and friends.This was the week my cousins Julie and Wanda, Uncle Sem, Anna, and I all met up together. Julie arrived with her two pasty and tall white family members. Uncle Sem was surrounded by family who waited on him hand and foot. Wanda had an unofficial guard. Her guard is her cousin who lives in Cambodia and ended up driving and taking us places. I call him a guard ‘cuz he wouldn’t leave her alone with me. Apparently he had a problem with some of my Khmer friends. They weren’t the “right” kind of people for his cousin to associate with. According to him, artists are all crazy and gay! This was also the week of the annual Water Festival in which the streets of Phnom Penh are packed with 1 million Khmer people. Literally, people arrive in truckloads – about 50 -70 people cram packed onto trucks. Most of these people arrive from the countryside. It is not advisable to walk around during the actual festival as the streets are crowded with millions of young people who get a thrill out of pushing their way through the crowds. I was trapped last year in one of these crowds and couldn’t move a step for about 30 minutes and it felt very suffocating. That’s why we got rooms at the R-Star Hotel, top floor balcony rooms with perfect views of the festival. We stayed up there for 2 days enjoying the boat races, crowds, boat parades and fireworks. I never get disappointed with fireworks. The fireworks for the Water Festival were really spectacular the way they lit up the dark clear skies and reflected off the Tonle Sap River. The first day of the festival we actually left for Sihanoukville – a beach resort town. Sihanoukville is a really beautiful town. I wish we could’ve stayed longer. The salty sea water was so warm and buoyant. You could walk out for about half a mile before it got really deep. It was nice to be in the sea while watching the sunset. I swear sunsets and sunrises are always more beautiful when you’re away from your usual surroundings. Whenever it’s clear out I can see the sunrise off the Tonle Sap from my hotel room. So the service in Phnom Penh isn’t what we’re use to in the west. Phnom Penh is a city that doesn’t cater to tourists the way Siem Reap does. I love it here in Phnom Penh because it feels alive. And if you really want to understand Khmer people and culture – this is where it’s at. All you really have to do is walk the streets and turn a few corners and start talking to people.

Week#3 in Phnom Penh: Small World
My cousins and uncle have all left. Both Anna and I got very sick. Anna hasn’t really recovered and she’s homesick more than ever. I feel bad that her final week in Phnom Penh isn’t very satisfying. I got sick too but quickly medicated myself so I’m already feeling better. Tomorrow (Friday) we leave for Bangkok. I can’t believe my time in Cambodia has yet again come to an end. Trip #2 has definitely been very different from trip#1. I still had a great time. It was much more relaxing this time around. I got to meet up with a lot of people that I didn’t get a chance to meet up with last year. I met up with two local artists who are also Cambodians from overseas. They’ve lived here for 3 years now and are committed to organizing the visual artists for exhibits and shows. Sovanna Phum Arts Association is still doing amazing work. I saw their latest production and I loved all the experimental work they are doing. What’s even more cool is they’re brand new collaborative work with Sandglass Theater called “The Story of a Dog.” It’s a visually beautiful work. I was proud to have had the chance to work with many of the artists involved. I met Ines & Eric of Sandglass Theater during puppet boot camp 2 summers ago in Vermont. And now I’m watching khmer movies and sharing a meal with them here in Cambodia. It’s amazing what a small world this really is. I also met up with Bill Herod and Dimple Rana who are Americans doing work with deportees. I went to the guesthouse which doubles as a drop in center for the deportees. Most of the men still use their street names and were unusually shy around us. Apparently they don’t get too many female visitors. It’s been difficult for many of them to integrate into Khmer life considering many of them have been raised in America. The oldest deportee is an 80 year old man. There is only 1 female deportee out of the group of 130. Everyone is trying to move on. No one can ever return to America again. The scent of stories is always so thick here.

so i’ve just uploaded more of my photos from week 2 & 3 in cambodiahere on flickr