A New Day, A Fresh Perspective

Orientation Day One

Monday 6/15/15

What a difference a day makes! After sleep and a nice cold morning shower, I felt refreshed and ready to learn more about the city. Even though I only slept four hours in a hot room, it really did turn my attitude around. Today we began orientation. There I learned that UBELONG is one of approximately fifty overseas organizations that partner with the local group "Volunteer Action of Cambodia." All of our training and communication from here out will be with VAC. Before lunch we covered transportation, the history of Cambodia, Cambodian politics today and the VAC's mission. I knew about much of the history of Cambodia from my preparation for this trip. However, it was more interesting to hear the history told directly by a confident, obviously educated Cambodian. I did learn more about the most practiced religion here, Buddhism. I read Siddhartha when I was in college, but I remember very little about the book. Buddhists here believe in karma. Life is cyclical and if you do good in the world good will come back to you and if you do bad, bad. I was aware that they believe in reincarnation. What I didn't realize is as Buddhists they still believe in heaven and hell. Instead of going there forever as most Christians believe, Buddhists believe that heaven or hell are rewards or punishments that may last for one year or for many. The ultimate reward for good karma is nirvana which is from my understanding an ultimate state of peace. Nirvana, once reached, is everlasting. I had a hard time reconciling what I learned about the faith with the corrupt Cambodian government. Over ninty percent of Cambodian people are Buddhist. If you are truly Buddhist and believe in karma both good and bad how can you behave so poorly toward fellow humans? Cambodia's government is ranked as one of the top corrupt governments in the world. Bribes are often accepted by government officials. If you are accused of doing something you are most often considered guilty. Land grabbing is common and accepted practice. If you speak out against these injustices you face the probability of being arrested. Corruption is not the only problem current Cambodia faces. Although prostitution is illegal in Cambodia it is a common practice. Nineteen percent of Cambodians live under the poverty line. Drug abuse is common amongst teens. I can not imagine living in a place where if I spoke out against something that was so obviously wrong I could be punished, but this is the life of many Cambodians. Given Cambodia's sordid past, I still have a great appreciation for how far they have come while accepting there is a lot more work to be done. 

After lunch we went over cultural dos and don'ts and attempted to learn the Khmer language.

Take aways 

Don't - shake hands when meeting, touch people on the head or shoulder, touch a monk if you are female

Do- bow head when passing old people,  hand over and receive items using two hands, finish everything on your plate, shower at least twice per day (I was very worried this would be on the don't list thinking water would be expensive)

Afterwards Sreng, one of the program coordinators, gave us a list of what Cambodian people think of westerners: they smoke, show affection in public, have tattoos and piercings and women drink with men. All of us laughed, as my new Italian friend Sara could be the poster child for the perception Cambodians have of westerners!

We had a long break between our lessons and dinner. During which we took the time to take our laundry to be washed. I have one clean outfit to wear tomorrow. Perhaps I didn't pack enough, I never get sweaty back home but here I am swimming in sweat by mid morning. We stopped on the way home for smoothies and fresh juice. I had a delicious watermelon juice for only $1.50.

In the evening, the fourteen volunteers and Sreng went out for a traditional Cambodian dinner. The food continued to come in large family sized portions plate by plate as we laughed, drank and talked about the cultures of our own home countries. In traditional Cambodian families, you do not talk during meals. However, according to Sreng, what we were doing was typical for young Cambodians (apart from the women drinking with men). There were so many new dishes to try. Two beef dishes, two vegetable dishes, one dish with vegetables and noodles, fish amok (tasted like a weak soup version of a coconut curry), fried whole frogs that were two to three inches long, ants, and something I would describe as corn squares. Most of the food was very good. The frog was difficult to eat because you could so clearly identify it. The ants had a nice flavor from the marinade, but the texture was difficult to get over. I don't think I'll be eating either of those dishes again while I'm here. We enjoyed our time together as we were serenaded by Cambodian karaoke. The meal was covered by VAC through our volunteer fee, but came to only $75.

At the end of the day I was tired but happy. Happy to be here meeting new people and learning about many different cultures. I not only am up for this, I am excited to be here. 

$1.50 watermelon juice
Today's Total:$1.50