Angkor Wat Intn’l Marathon 2009

Hosted by Village Focus. The marathon helps purchase artificial limbs for landmine victims and saving youth from HIV/AIDS. Just the other night, I saw landmine searching dogs on Cambodian TV. I forget the dust under us in Cambodia is still unsafe.

The first few things I learned from our Peace Corps CMAC (demining operations in Cambodia) fieldtrip was that metal signs would be posted to warn people of the danger of mines in the area. However, people would steal the metal to sell and others coming around the area wouldn’t know of the danger. At my school, we had a water pump that was stolen because someone in all likelihood wanted to sell the large piece of metal.

Back to mines. Staff warns us of mines near the western part of Cambodia. And it’s been a year since orientation where I was filled in on mine information. It was nice to donate this holiday season to the cause that I never knew about until working in Cambodia.

Friends and I woke up for the cause around 4:20a, getting ready with yoga stretches, a mini breakfast (bread bought the night before at Blue Pumpkin–the “Starbucks” of Cambodia). We met at the starting place, Blue Pumpkin, about 5a, and biked 8K to the starting line. Around the starting line area, we were adjusting our bikes!, and everyone was taking photos in pitch black, and we all gradually shared those typically lovely sunrises at Angkor Wat.

There was a lot of different events. Cyclos raced/cruised alongside us 30K folks. Methinks just one volunteer did the 80K 🙂 There was a Lady Run, Family Run too.

It was a beautiful day and I’d like to share some of the highlights:

– Cyclo riders, one of the most interesting was a dog sitting on the front seat. The woman cyclo-ing her pet around was an adorable sight. We gave her a big applause!

– In other cyclo memories, a woman and man fell off an edge some where, and the woman’s thigh was just a bit cut up (her wearing shorts made it visible). They had a funny congratulations stored for them, and we all cheered for them.

– I’ve never seen such sexy bikes before. Perhaps I haven’t truly yet because the bicyclists were so damn fast! I heard it was a rough course for those perhaps professional road bikers. My friend, Adrian, who did the 80K (mad props!) told me one of the 80K riders had 6 flats! 😛

– Who knew bread tasted so good during a marathon?

– Some of us saw Thai elephants doing their drill, carrying families along a dirt path, where orange leaves fell like sakura in Japan in Spring.

The one I saw took a break to eat some leaves from a tree. My friend Lydia told me they were indeed Thai elephants because they had brown spots on their face, and the rest of their bodies were black. They were so small, from across the street.

It felt like I was lost in a forest in Angkorian times, elephants and falling leaves and very tall, skinny trees… maybe instead of some tourists riding on the elephant, it’d be some royal Cambodian families decorated in apsaras and lotuses…

All, save for the paved road with tour buses passing me by in near-death closeness. That element of bus danger woke me up from my day dream and we biked back.

^^^ABOVE, I work with Handicap International, helping out with English skills, and when I study at their houses or office, there is all sorts of interesting landmine information. My friend had this sign around, and she uses it as a fan sometimes. I think it’s an old example card board sign.

Packing List (To K4 and Beyond, From a 2nd Year TEFL Volunteer)

So welcome to Cambodia! Su-sa-dy (hullo!), I should say by now if you’re on this page! In this photo, Angkor Wat is looking gorgeous with the sunrise just behind it. The photo or my bad photography skills do it no justice. It’s one of the token things nationals love about their country; and it feels like a part of heaven, all serene and the most beautiful Buddhist architecture I’ve ever seen. I’m posing lazily for a photo, right before the Angkor Wat annual Village Focus marathon. Fizzled out of bed at 4:20a! Could be you some day too!

I compiled this list for future volunteers in the kingdom of Cambodia. It  might be redundant, but it reinforces the fact that these following things were  all I really needed at my site. I’ll update at least once before I finish my service sometime in fall 2010 🙂

**Little gifts for Host Family: Why not?

– First Group (K1, the toughest of our clan) found snacks like gummy bears from the airport to be great.

Those seemed questionable to me because it’s quite a new a thing to introduce to a host family in a rural village, especially since you just met; mine namely was a little scared to eat their gift of gummy bears because it looked so weird.  The kids loved it though so it still worked out!

– Personally, I’d like to bring a few board games and maybe UCLA Bruin stuffed bears, Japanese anime creatures, children’s books for the kids.

Maybe if ever I’m retired and come back to the Peace Corps. A gift all can enjoy. They’re also available in-country at jaw-dropping prices.

**Clothes and toiletries:

– 5 dress shirts

Mostly long-sleeve; it’s PURE SUN here

– 5 loose fitting pants

2 or fewer for sleep, 2 or fewer for exercise, 2 or fewer for street clothes.  Jeans? – are great to protect from mosquitoes because of the thick fabric, but hot needless to say in Cambodia (sometimes 90 degrees F)

– Lots of underclothes.

Hard to find here. Unless you can fit or deal with extra small underclothes or padded bras. Bugs eat underclothes. Handwashing also frays them. Sun-drying doesn’t do much to it

– Most every day teacher clothes can be tailor made here!

It’s fun to pick the fabric yourself and bring in magazine pictures if you so desire.

– Accessories like socks, bags, scarves, beanies, hats, dress shoes, are cheap and everywhere.

2nd-hand piles, Japanese used clothes stores are also about

– A hoodie, small umbrella, sturdy rain coat, TEVAs/Chacos/sport sandals, sandals, pair of dress shoes, a waterproof watch, 2nd pair of prescription glasses, saddle bags (geeky, useful rubber? bike bag to carry things in whilst biking to faraway places–eases back stress)

– Some toiletries, most are available at local shops.

Easy to overkill because PC booklet recommends 3 months of toiletries. You might have to discover new local brands, but it’s all good

– A fun outfit?

For that vacation maybe. Other Volunteers were glad they could dress up once in a blue moon. Did I mention, wedding clothes are also tailor made here? It’s surreal.. get a princess-like outfit made especially for you or be the odd one out at a wedding. But any dress or teacher outfit that’s not black will do for those occasions (that happen all the time; there’s a wedding season, basically not the rainy season and usually coincides with a holiday so friends get a day off to come party all together) –Sorry, for the tangent!

– A light, long sleeve cardigan/jacket/something to wear over outfit that’s short sleeve, to protect from the sun

Hm… basically, be very mindful of having that sun-protecting element to your wardrobe. Locals wear socks, gloves, sunglasses, hats, scarves, arm cozies, whatever it takes for good reason. It even helps guard from mosquitoes

**Hardware:

– Shortwave radio

– CD player

– Laptop, cam

But it’s up against HEAT, HUMIDITY, and DUST. Also when travelling, it might fall off a car if its lodged in a bag with clothes or get shaken a lot. What helps is some schools have Internet, computer labs, most towns have Internet cafes. Mine died a few months ago! 😦 O’ IBM, your service helped me type so many journal entries, rough draft proposals, Thank You letters, and emails to NGOs! It played music for me when I tired of 3 year old rap tracks played at local weddings and ice cream trucks.

– USB sticks

Memory, computer hardware or electronics can be pricey once in country. Stateside, things go on sale. You can haggle, but there’s no refund policy on tech stuff.

– Flashlights, headlamp, but they’re available here

**Food: (don’t mind me) 😛

– Some fitness mixes, fruity, vitamin-y mix packets.

Kiwi-strawberry flavored water is a million times better after 2 liters of plain water. Save for occasions is what I do. Available in country too

**School Supplies:

– Rolls of stickers

– Photos of home, family, friends

– Fave books

**ADDED LATER: As 2nd year flies by!…

– Measuring cups

^^^ ABOVE, bulgogi in Cambodia! I made it by myself, missing stateside exotic foods. I felt like showing my friends some Korean food (hamburgers, hotdogs they are overly familiar being in the tourist province). It was so fun! And too spicy for most of friends’ taste buds

-??

-??

Nascar-style Driving, Antique Vehicles … and Sadly, Deformed Chalk Blobs on the Ground

The highway. The cars pass each other super quickly; both lanes are taken by red dusted Camry’s or Nissan’s or colossal trucks. It’s like Nascar and unfortunately, I get a front row view.

There are antique bikes, motos and tuk tuks, and jumbo-style tuk tuks. It feels like everyone is sporting something vintage. Never is there a new bike around, even after a good rinse. The red dust on the roads are very sticky and damaging, and floats in the air forming dust storms if you will. Happens just right after those fast big cars pass you by. Other volunteers have shared stories where a side-view mirror of a moto or car had hit her/him.

Around places where people tend to drive not-so-carefully, deformed chalk  blobs are drawn on the ground to indicate where someone’s dead body was last found on the main road. Usually because the person did not wear a helmet.

Those fatal accidents haven’t happened at my village. Students have walked away from the paved road with missing teeth, messed up hair, broken bones, peeled limbs worth of skin, patches of coagulated blood on their head and who knows what kind of lifelong handicap perhaps. But Death hasn’t visited, maybe thanks to Handicap International–offering out pamphlets with information on safety.

Very cute, I have to say when I saw them! 🙂 They’re scattered on a few of the desks in the school’s main office. It’s the shape of a happy face wearing a blue helmet and its content probably says something like: wear your helmet, check out student/friends Group A photos that didn’t wear their helmets (blood oozing from a head on the ground) and student/friends Group B photos that did (happily cruising). The pamphlet even shows shows how to wear one (tightly, clinging to the under-chin). In addition, it shows the anatomy of the dorky thing that saves your life: the thick white styrofoam and the outer shell of whatever color your desire, the straps adjusted!

Locals tell me how accidents happen more frequently in other places because the villagers there are less educated on that topic, but the village we were namely discussing was actually closer to the city, where helmet laws are strictly monitored with around the clock police officers. Hence, information there must be a daily reminder. So that’s become a mystery to me.

How is that a village with more enforcement and probably more daily reminders than mine seems to have more accidents? Maybe drivers were dodging police and hit a bad turn… Or it happened after police left the scene and drivers felt liberated/went back to old habits because it seems easier, or there just isn’t enough information around cities that are closer to the heaviest tourist spot in Cambodia? I doodle turtles wearing helmets as an allegory for students: drive slow like turtles on these two-lane roads, where dust  complicates visibility just as much as the vehicles. Sometimes people  don’t have enough money to fix their back lights or front lights, and factors similar, these are things students and the community should always think of while traveling on the high way. Safe travels.

International Handicap Day, On Campus

My friends at Handicap Interational (Belgium) were hosting, along with Red Cross, and leaders in our province, a congregation where 200 students –representing the school, and representative people with disabilities (PWDs) from their home villages came to listen to information. Just a few days later, the students thought about their own rights, on Human Rights day. During class, I forgot to take a photo. Of the things they thought about as their rights, I smiled:

I have the right to…

– visit Angkor Wat

– get information

– practice my religion

– speak

– go for a walk (the way to say “go hang out” in Cambodian English)

– justice

– sing and dance

– equality

– visit the community pagoda

– eat a lot

My 11th graders were very vigilant and thoughtful on answering this question. Sometimes my warm-ups just stun them: Guess the meaning of saying”bee’s knees and cat’s whiskers.” 🙂

^^^ABOVE, a speaker on behalf of PWDs