Slow Day on the River

DDD's Battambang office is located right on the river. The building was built by an influential military officer who was assassinated by Khmer Rouge paramilitaries in 1995.

I arrived at the office in the morning, and addressed the group briefly (in my limited Khmer) during the main staff meeting.

We had a nice Khmer lunch at a restaurant close to the office, during which we discussed the Peace Corps. "What is this peace corps?" my Cambodian colleagues asked. I told them about John F. Kennedy (Kennedy seems to be coming up a lot recently, Jackie O. went to Angkor Wat, and someone wanted to know why the airport in NY is called JFK) and Americans working around the globe with people from other countries. "It's sort of a diplomatic project," I explained. "To show people that Americans are nice people and want to help others."

"Ah, so that's why your troops invaded Iraq."

Well, sort of.

We all had a good laugh, but I quickly recovered my diplomatic tone, mentioning Barack Obama candidacy, opposition to the war, and alternative foreign policy.

After a motorcycle tour of town, I had a phone conversation with the Chair of Democrats Abroad in Cambodia. Turns out that he went to high school (Punahou) with "Barry" Obama, as he was then called.

After work, I had dinner with a young and energetic couple who are in Peace Corps, the first group to enter Cambodia (2007-2009). She teaches teachers, which is pretty important in Cambodia, and talked all about the the challenges of the education system post-Khmer Rouge. He teaches english, but has been getting more involved with DDD, which a huge boost for the organization.

The Corps couple told me a terrific story about a guy they know, the "Khmer Homer Simpson" and his cockfighter (rooster). The rooster woke them up one morning at 4AM, running in the room in which they were sleeping.

But they had the last laugh: the rooster later picked a fight with one of the neighborhood dogs. They weren't eating dog that night.

They told me that the rooster was extremely tasty, maybe the best chicken they'd ever had.

Later in the evening, I ordered in: noodles and beef at 11pm. 10,000r ($2.50) for two large containers of noodles, beef, fried eggs, etc. I gave the delivery guy a 1000r tip ($.25), for which he thanked me profusely. Tipping is not so customary in Cambodia.

Twenty minutes later, there was another knock on my door. It was a man who wanted 2000r. His English was poor, and my Khmer is limited, so it was a strange conversation. I think he wanted to take me to the night market to get food, and was offering to do it for 2000r.

He ended up telling me that we'd do it tommorow after I walked downstairs with him to find a translator.

No sign of him today.