The Forest

I am told that most of Southeast Asia used to be covered by a deciduous dipterocarp forest. This kind of forest is hard to imagine if you've never seen it. It's a very open forest, covered at the ground level by small shrubs and grasses (and water, in rainy season). If this were an airline, the trees in this forest would be flying first class because they've got all the room they can handle. It's an unusual (read: Weird!) kind of environment, one that takes a lot of getting used to. It can be beautiful, although capturing the beauty on film usually requires standing in one place long enough for something to bite you. This forest is home to some truly evil biting ants.



Anyhoo, my coteacher Miyuki and I spent a couple of weeks near a village in the forest, teaching English. Hard-core birdwatchers go up to this site to catch a glimpse of the giant ibis and white-shouldered ibis, two endangered bird species. We managed to tag along on a couple of these birding trips but honestly can't tell a parakeet from an ibis, especially as everything we saw was pretty far away. Miyuki later did her "sleeping ibis" impression for me.



Our job was to teach the local committee some basic English to help them interact with the bird-watchers. We had 4 hours of class every day, 2 hours for the committee



and 2 hours for teenagers from the village who are on school break and have more free time than they know what to do with. Everyone's favorite unit was when we had them play Bingo to practice numbers, although the unit that provoked the most hilarity was practicing "th" sounds for "this" and "that." Having students watch each other struggle (and sometimes fail) to get their tongue out between their teeth is not good for classroom decorum but excellent for morale.

Aside from teaching, Miyuki and I didn't have a lot else going on. We read through a whole box of books, played long games of Skip-Bo, and fantasized about food of all kinds. I also spent a good deal of time asking Miyuki stupid questions about Japanese culture, the answers to which I have now forgotten.

But that's OK, we'll have a chance to go through them all again, as we're going back to the village to teach for another couple of weeks. Woot?

Small-ish World

So I sit down this morning to check my email at the Sam Veasna Center. (I returned from the forest last week but am planning to go back again soon. Hot damn, is it good to have phone service!) And who sits down at the next computer but an IT guy to update the Center's computers. I field a call from a very persistent student wanting a letter of recommendation (after having ignored his 2 phone calls before 7:00 am this morning), and the IT guy overhears me mention my permanent site by name and when I'll eventually go back there. The IT guy then tells me he's from a village, Boeng Pring, about 10 km from my site. And he says his brother studies at my high school. And in the end, it turns out that his brother not only studies at my high school but is one of the better students from my English essay writing workshop, one I named Nicholas. Crazy!

I'm still trying to figure out if it's a small world or if Cambodia is just a small country.

P.S. Pictures of the forest are coming soon.

Rambling Summary of Where I've Been

My apologies for not writing more often recently! I've had a rare eventful patch and Blogger has also been kind of a brat. Time for some back story:

Cambodia's national election was held July 27 this year and to my surprise was briefly reported on in the Western media, ranging from a BBC "Yay happy democracy, gift of the UN" piece to a thoughtful and probing Australia Network one. In no relation whatsoever to this (nope, no relation) a prominent politician visited my school in June. Conveniently, this happened the week before exams were due to start, thereby abrogating any review time teachers may have thought they had. Students were tasked with beautifying the schoolyard and their classrooms by taping up posters, sweeping the rooms, and clearing out the lilypads choking the school pond.

Meanwhile, I was busy spewing nervous energy in all directions, as my normal outlet of teaching was not available. Instead, I deeply annoyed anyone that crossed my path during this week: "Why are they cutting down that tree? Can't we just have a one-hour review session? What are you going to wear?"

In addition to all the beautification done in advance, on the morning of the visit, someone actually pulled out (and dusted off) a red carpet.



Tents were erected to shade all attendees, although the angle of the sun caused those in the first row to break a sweat just by blinking.



I was one of these unfortunates, but at least I wasn't wearing a silk skirt like all the other female teachers.



My luck changed, though, since just as a speech was beginning, my cell phone rang. Hooray! I snuck off behind the school building and away from the powerful loudspeakers. Turns out it was the Sam Veasna Center, an NGO that does eco-tourism projects involving Cambodian bird life. Peace Corps had hooked some of us Volunteers up with summer projects this year to explore relationships with different NGOs and to prevent a summer cloud of ennui from descending upon us. SVC was calling me to set up a project.

So the long and short of it is, I'm going to a small remote village tomorrow to teach English in connection with this eco-tourism project. I'll be mostly out of cell phone contact until late August. This village is in what is known as a "deciduous dipterocarp forest," which judging by pictures I've seen looks like some fields with scattered trees. I hear that when you actually get there, the forest is stunning and lush so of course I'll be posting pictures when I drag myself back to civilization on an oxcart. Til then, I'm wishing you a happy Olympic season! (Let me know how it goes...no TV in the village.)

Dear The Universe

I have made my decision. I would like the situation at the Cambodia-Thai border, with all the troops and the weaponry, to go *poof* and suddenly become a happy lucky special birthday party with lots of cake and ice cream. I'm sure this is entirely within your powers.

Please do your utmost to remedy this situation as quickly as the cake can be ordered.

Love,

Liz

I Hate Entropy

You know that when the streetlights on one of the main east-west boulevards in Phnom Penh (Sihanouk) are out, you are going to have a more-harrowing-than-usual bike ride to the post office.

Controversy!

Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple has just been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I keep hearing rumors about worrisome events surrounding the inscription, but it's hard to get accurate news in my town. Apparently, Thailand and Cambodia have been disputing the temple, which is on the border of the two countries, for years. Of course, Cambodians, including the former king, claim the temple belongs to Cambodia. Many Thais say the temple belongs to Thailand. The Thai foreign minister who signed off on Cambodia's application for inscription has resigned due to this disagreement. Rumor is, the border between Thailand and Cambodia in the area near the temple was closed off for a while. I'm not sure if it's open now or even if it was ever closed.

Cambodians don't tend to express strong opinions around me, but if I ask them to explain the Preah Vihear situation, they immediately make nationalistic noises. They tell me that Preah Vihear temple definitely belongs to Cambodia and the Thais have no right to it. I've also seen fervent text messages that declare the temple for Cambodia. (Due to the poor quality of the roads that access the temple, however, I don't know many Cambodians who have actually visited it.) I think I'll get a chance to see it with my own eyes sometime this summer, and I can't decide if I should hope for the situation to have settled down by then or to still be seething...

Dear The U.S. Dollar (#2)

Wow. Thank you for your prompt response to my earlier request. 4,100 Khmer riels is a highly satisfactory exchange rate.

Love,

Liz