Ladies Night

One of the best things about Cambodia is that alcohol is cheap. And I mean dirt cheap. A draft Angkor beer is $0.50 and even in expensive bars a cocktail is under $5. As tourists flock to bars after a long hot day of touring Angkor Wat, it's a lucrative business. 

 

To keep up with the competition, many bars have various events and Happy Hours. In midweek many of the bars have Ladies Night in which we took advantage of at the Sonia Moria Hotel. Alcohol half off until 7pm plus a glass of free sparkling champagne. Can't say no to that!

 

The bar is on the rooftop of the hotel with a jacuzzi on the other side. Plus the staff there are sweet and attentative. Highly recommended for some serious girl talk over a few drinks. It's still low season so it's a shame that there weren't many customers there.

 

 

 

Kathina Service

As mentioned in my previous entry the many monastery traditions in Theravada Cambodian Buddhism are eye openers in a fascinating way.  I grew up in the Mahayana Japanese Buddhist tradition so I find many of the contrasting traditions in Theravada Buddhism especially interesting. For one thing, Japanese Buddhist monks are generally called reverends and do not follow a monastic order. In addition they are able to marry, have children, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and live a normal life (to all that are appalled by this, they are the equivalent to Protestant pastors).

The monks here are not even allowed to buy their own food nor their own robes. Their robes are given to the community in the annual Kathina ceremony following the Vassa period. Again, I follow the Mahayana tradition so I apologize if there are any discrepancies in my explanations. Most of my knowledge in Buddhism comes from my youth days in Sunday Dharma school at my local Japanese American temple in San Francisco!

Buddhism stems from India in which there is a distinctive Monsoon season. During this time it makes it hard for travel, hence Buddha designated this period to stay in one place and concentrate on meditation and religious studies. Many lay people also dedicate this period to strengthening their faith, abstaining from meat and intoxicants. The Kathina ceremony marks the end of this period and as a form of appreciation to the monks, they lay people offer new robes.




Since 95% of the Cambodian population is Theravada Buddhist, Cambodian society is concomitant with the religion in everyday life. Many people gathered at the temple from early morning to celebrate. As our supervisors are monks, we volunteers were also coordially invited to participate. It was an amazing experience walking along with the community in procession around town to hold the robes that were going to be offered.

Carrying "gift sets" for the monks

 

 

Each "gift set" includes a robe, soap, toothbrush, water, snacks, and of course coke.

 

 

 

The golden baskets the ladies have are robes

 

 

 

The PAGE girls also attended the ceremony since it was a school holiday

 

 

Everyone gathered for the procession to start

 

Lay ladies in pretty attire

 

We circled around the temple and Old Market area

 

 

 

Smiling nuns totally make my day

 

Let's follow the drummers and dancers to the main prayer hall!

 

 

 

Oops, fixing my "head attire"!

 

 

 

Robes presented to the monks

 

 

カンボジアでの食事事情

カンボジアに来る前は食事事情や衛生面をかなり気にしていた我が母。

 

でも衛生面がかなーり怪しいインドでも中国でもあたしは屋台でガンガン食べていたので（笑) お腹はかなり強い方。好き嫌いはあまりないし、唯一お米がないと生きていけないけど、幸いカンボジアはお米主食国なのでそこはクリア。お米さえあれば世界どこでも生きていけるのであたし自身はあまり気にしていなかったけど、やはり親としてはいろいろ気になるよう。

 

結論から言って

 

 

 

全く心配する必要はなし。

 

 

 

いまや２１世紀。世界のあらゆる場所で日本食が手に入るようになったのは嬉しいこと☆

 

駐在員用のアンコールスーパーの日本食売り場もこの通り♪：

 



 

 

その他にも街中には中国や韓国人専用のスーパーもあるのでそこでも日本食材も手に入る（はず）。

そして更にこんな珍味も♪

 

１０粒ぐらいが小分けされて売られています。実際に買って食べてはないけど、見る限りかなりちゃんとした梅干し。


更にこんなものまで！

！∑ヾ(￣0￣； )

しかも地元で生産された納豆！こんなところにも日本が存在しているとはちょっと嬉しい （＊＾＾＊）　納豆好きのうちの父親でさえカンボジアで暮らせそうです。笑　（ちなみにこのスーパーでは２～３種類の納豆が売られてました♪）

全ての日本食材が揃っているわけではないけど、最低限のものは手に入る感じなのでとりあえず大丈夫な感じかな？不思議と今のところ和食は恋しくないけど万が一そうなってもあんまり心配する必要はないし、値段も結構良心的なので一安心。

ちなみにタイの方が日本食材の品揃えは豊富なので大抵の日本人駐在員はバンコクに旅行に行くがてら買いだめする人が多いようです☆

The "Monktail"

"Theravada monks take numerous vows and follow austere precepts in their daily lives. They have to devote their life to the Buddha and the community. They must wake up at 5am for morning prayer everyday without fail. They cannot be overweening in their action, words, or thoughts. They cannot have a tinge of lascivious thoughts nor can they even touch women. They are forbidden to be acrimonious, use invective language,  and to be churlish in attire or actions. They cannot own any form of transportation. They are not allowed to go to any entertainment spots including restaurants.  They can only eat twice a day: 6am and 11am. And these are just to name a few.
 
But they do have some fun in their lives too and in some ways they are just like us. For example, they can still joke around, go on Facebook, and talk on their smartphones. Nevertheless, I've always wondered how they keep their sanity and still be happy and smiling all the time despite living under such a devoted and, in some ways, a controlled life.

And finally, I found out the ultimate remedy: Redbull and coke. Together. 

It's great. It keeps them awake from a long day of chanting and studying. Plus it gets them all giddy and happy all throughout the afternoon. It's their version of an afternoon Starbucks latte or an afterwork beer. Some telltale effects of this drinkinclude jittery motions, giddiness, stuttering, and lots of giggling. Us volunteers jokingly call it the "monktail".  I've tried it myself and oh boy, was I trembling giddy with the surge of sugar in my blood! If they keep on doing this, I swear they will get diabetes..but that will be for another conversation.

All jokes aside, monks in Cambodia are the most happiest, affable, amiable, and kindest people in the world. I've been here for over a month but I don't know how many times their smile has made my day.

カンボジアの国民の95%が仏教を信仰しているそうな。ただ日本と違って上座仏教なので出家したお坊さんは厳しい戒律を幾つも守って生活しているのが特徴。例えば食事は一日二回(正午過ぎたら固形物は全て禁止)、朝は5時に起床して読経、女性の妄想はもちろん触れることさえ禁止。でも妙に人間っぽいし、冗談も言うし、携帯で話したりSNSで交流することは許されている感じ。それでもやっぱり仏に身を尽くしつつ、戒律を守りながら暮らすのはかなり大変なはず。でもそんな素振り微塵たりともみせないのがカンボジアのお坊さん。それよかいつも笑ってるし、おっとり穏やかなお茶目なお坊さん達なのです 笑。一体どうやったらそうなれるのか。。。

そしてその秘密がついに明らかに。。。！

その秘密とは

レッドブルとコーラのミックスドリンク。

笑

これがかなり強烈。一回飲んでみたけど、糖分の多さだけでも心臓発作を起こしそうなのに、レッドブルのカフェインが体の隅々まで行き渡ってものすごーく目が冴える 汗。が、朝4，5時から起きてずっと仕事したり学校に行ったりしている勤勉なお坊さんたちにはもってこいのドリンクなよう。うーん。。。ただ健康面ではかなり危険なのでおすすめはできませんっっ！

糖尿病になる覚悟がある方はぜひお試しを！！

No Music No Life

It's beyond dispute that music is something we all cannot live without. Whether it be songs on your iPod, background music at restaurants, sound effects in movies, or singing at karaoke, they're all part of everyday life. It's so ubiquitous we take it for granted. But imagine a life without any music. Zip. Nada. Silence.
 
Such was the life in Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime in the 70s. It's putatively said that about ninety percent of the musicians were killed. All the others have fled the country. Nevertheless the Cambodian music scene has been making a slow come back in the last twenty years. Cambodian modern pop music has been very popular. Local TVs broadcast music videos all day long (which by the way conjures cheesy Asian oldies that my parents listen to). And Cambodians are quite good singers; I often hear my staff singing along to their music on their phones.  

Despite that, it's inevitable that a whole generation of music has been lost and the redevelopment has been slow. Outside of modern Cambodian pop music, many are oblivious to the various other genres of music such as classical and jazz. Music classes are almost nonexistent in public schools simply because there are so few music teachers. And frankly, there is no luxury for families to pay for music instruments or music lessons. Many barely have enough money to send them to school.

But music is more than a concoction of sounds. It makes us feel happy, sad, inspired, empowered, moved, and energized. It soothes our minds and heals us at times in sorrow. It hits our adrenaline when we workout. Many studies have shown music having positive effects for cancer patients, PTSD recoveries, and babies. A recent New York Times article even claims that success is related to music. That certainly may not be the case for me but I firmly do believe it had a positive impact. I played the piano (of course, I'm Asian American) and the flute for over a decade and studied the Japanese harp and flute for some time as well. Music has been a big part of my life so it's almost disturbing that an entire nation has been deprived of music for so long.

Fortunately there have been recent movements among the NGOs and expat communities to bring music back into people's lives. Many of the expats are also talented musicians and have been performing for the Cambodian audience as well as teaching music to the younger generation. My coworker's friend, who is a musician, has been helping revive Cambodian oldies that have been exhumed from pre-Pol Pot era. They've formed a band and have been doing performances throughout Siem Reap. I finally got to see a glimpse of them at the Made In Cambodia Festival held last week. It's great to be able to see a wide generation of local people enjoying the music that was once popular before all the tragedy had occurred. I definitely saw some wistful smiles from the older crowd. 

 

  

 Made In Cambodia is a fair held at the Shinta Mani hotel with  different NGOs to set up booths and sell their products and give them a place to promote their organization at the same time. Our Sewing School sold a few of their products that the students have made so it's been a great success. I've sauntered around the different booths and it's really amazing to see what and how the different NGOs are helping out the local and surrounding communities. 

 

Girl Power

Several weeks ago, I've started to work with the girls at the Sewing School. The teacher volunteer that had been teaching them English is leaving so I am taking over from next week. Eek. I've tutored and taught English before but I fear this may be my biggest challenge yet - namely because about half of them do not understand any English and I only understand a few words of Khmer. Moreover, a few of them are illiterate in Khmer as well (only 70% of Cambodian women are literate).

 

But they are all very keen learners and their eagerness keeps us going. Coming from poor villages, this is their chance to become an accomplished seamstress and having English knowledge will definitely help them in the future to talk to get foreign customers. I still have qualms that I have to teach all by myself in a few days but I am very determined to make a difference in the girl's lives in someway whether it's being their mentor to making them master their ABCs!

 

End of a Chapter

One of the hardest things working as a volunteer here is that the turnover rate is high. And that is inevitable. After all, we are volunteers, aka work for free, and not many of us have the luxury to be jobless for long term. Many of the volunteers usually come here for their long term vacation usually for about a month.  During my first month here I've already seen six volunteers go. But I feel that I must dedicate a post about a recent volunteer Cecil who recently made his departure from the organization.

 

 

 A proud Northern Irish man in his sixties, Cecil has been the backbone of all the volunteers. As I've mentioned a few times, our organization is under major reconstruction and there have been lots of chaos and disorganization. At first, the Foreign Language School that he had put so much work into was in derelict condition with a meagerly cobbled together curriculum. It was him that pulled the straps of the monks in charge, and worked with them to reestablish the institution. 

It was also him who had taken on the leadership and brought the volunteers together for regular meetings and outings. His voice and presence had great clout but with a good sense of Irish humor. When I first arrived and was confounded about my role in the organization, he has kindly offered his support and advice. He has helped me give advice to some of the proposals I have made and also helped coordinate meetings with me and the other LHA staff. He almost conjures a father-like yet lofty figure. If it were not for him, I would've been completely lost not knowing what to do or who to go to.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

We had our last dinner with him and it's still unbelievable that he is going to be gone. My days here would never have been the same without him. I wish him the very best! And he is my model for what an ideal volunteer/NGO worked should be