My Brush with Fame

The call came one June afternoon from my coteacher. "Come to school now."And then something garbled. Possibly the explanation of why I should go to the effort of putting on my teacher outfit and pedaling down to the high school in the stifling heat when I didn't have to be in class. Which is what, against my better judgment, I did.

The full explanation was easy to understand when not relayed by cell tower: a famous film star was coming to our school! To give us a library!

The first thought that crossed my mind was this: Cambodia + film star = Angelina Jolie. That equation, however, seemed far-fetched, so I decided that some young, scruffy, do-gooder actor was more likely. But I still secretly hoped for Angelina.

The Cambodian teachers crouched together under the shade of a small tree, sitting on benches or motos or their shoes. Waiting. A couple of the female teachers showed me the classroom prepared for the scheduled reception of the star. I tried hard to see it with my Western eyes, as the film star would see it, but my Khmer eyes wouldn't let me. Real flower bouquets? Where did they get those? (Trees in Cambodia are bursting with flowers but the kinds you see in houses and offices are usually silk or plastic.) Fans? The school owns fans? What may have looked like a standard reception to my American eyes 4 months ago was actually a grand welcome.

As the actress and her entourage made their way from their cars to the classroom, I scrutinized their faces in the hope of one of them triggering my memory. A woman walked by wearing a giant pair of sunglasses, and I thought "If that's Angelina Jolie, how do they make her lips look so big in the movies?" As it turned out, though, this lavish reception was set out for an Italian actress named Sabrina. I wondered if I had seen any of her films. (As it turns out, no.)

Once we were settled, the speeches began: speeches thanking all for their attention, money, presence, effort. And after this, we went back outside to talk to the assembled students.

I've done my internet research, and apparently this actress's name is Sabrina Ferilli. She does Italian-language movies exclusively and is married to a CEO of an Italian company. Through an NGO, they are providing funding to bring a library to our school: building, books, and all. It's pretty exciting for the school, as in my opinion the Khmer students need access to more books, especially Khmer-language books. Rumor is the library will be finished by next spring.

Sadly, I have no pictures of Sabrina. But I promise to post pictures of the library once it's built.