After a month in New York, i'm on the road again. I'll be a 10am flight heading east.
More details to follow.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Time in New York
Things have been moving fast. Since my last entry, i've:
Attended two seders. One was led by Rabbi Ari Weiss and Rabbi Charlie Buckholtz in the East Village, and was concise, pleasant, and full of spirit. Rabbi Weiss quoted Michael Walzer and Soren Kierkegaard, and talked about happiness. According to a certain harvard professor, happy people tend to say thank you to other people, to appreciate that they have others in their life.
The other seder was at my parent's house in brooklyn. It was also on the short side, with family, nice food, and familiarity.
I have mixed reactions to being home for Passover. I am relieved to be home, safe, and among my "own people." I also feel changed, and am little dissatisfied with the even familiarity of what ought to be home. Things feel small and easy, New York is a bit dead after Southeast Asia.
Earlier this week, I went to a benefit at the New York Athletic Club for an excellent Cambodian charity. The club is a bastion of privilege and power, situated on the Southern edge of Central Park. My grandfather worked as a waiter at the club, and once told a story about receiving a $5 tip from a Cardinal.
A successful Cambodian friend tells me that his mother and family can't even begin to comprehend his job, reality, or lifestyle. He grew up in extreme rural poverty, and now lives in Phnom Penh, a full partner in a land trust.
Perhaps you can't really go home again.
Attended two seders. One was led by Rabbi Ari Weiss and Rabbi Charlie Buckholtz in the East Village, and was concise, pleasant, and full of spirit. Rabbi Weiss quoted Michael Walzer and Soren Kierkegaard, and talked about happiness. According to a certain harvard professor, happy people tend to say thank you to other people, to appreciate that they have others in their life.
The other seder was at my parent's house in brooklyn. It was also on the short side, with family, nice food, and familiarity.
I have mixed reactions to being home for Passover. I am relieved to be home, safe, and among my "own people." I also feel changed, and am little dissatisfied with the even familiarity of what ought to be home. Things feel small and easy, New York is a bit dead after Southeast Asia.
Earlier this week, I went to a benefit at the New York Athletic Club for an excellent Cambodian charity. The club is a bastion of privilege and power, situated on the Southern edge of Central Park. My grandfather worked as a waiter at the club, and once told a story about receiving a $5 tip from a Cardinal.
A successful Cambodian friend tells me that his mother and family can't even begin to comprehend his job, reality, or lifestyle. He grew up in extreme rural poverty, and now lives in Phnom Penh, a full partner in a land trust.
Perhaps you can't really go home again.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Lending Money for Pigs (in Cambodia)
Ever heard of Kiva.org? They just won the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, which is the mini-nobel prize in international development (DDD won too).
My colleague S just lent a woman in Siem Reap (home of the temples of Angkor Wat, see the photos) $50 to buy pigs.
It will take the Cambodian woman 18 months to repay S. The Cambodians in and around Siem Reap are very poor, which is odd, since it's the home to some of the nicest hotels and tourism in Cambodia.
Kiva is great.... become a Micro-donor for pigs in Cambodia!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Development and Happiness
In New York Everyone around me seems so unhappy. People look miserable on the train. Very few people smile. Very little small talk. People seem content to be malcontents.
My friend T argues that New York is a miserable city, more so that other places in the US. And the weather seems awful, particularly in comparison to the U.S.
Cambodians are poor, but they seem pretty happy. They tend to be focused on the short-run, which works until things go wrong, when they get anxious.
Does economic development make people happy?
Bhutan supposedly has a GDH/GNH, an index that measures the aggregate happiness of the population.
I wonder where New York would score on the GDH.
My friend T argues that New York is a miserable city, more so that other places in the US. And the weather seems awful, particularly in comparison to the U.S.
Cambodians are poor, but they seem pretty happy. They tend to be focused on the short-run, which works until things go wrong, when they get anxious.
Does economic development make people happy?
Bhutan supposedly has a GDH/GNH, an index that measures the aggregate happiness of the population.
I wonder where New York would score on the GDH.
Friday, April 4, 2008
MARTY, WE'VE GOT TO GO...
They've done it again. Custom time, from Google...
How do I use it?
How do I use it?
Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient's inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option.
Is there a limit to how far back I can send email?
Yes. You'll only be able to send email back until April 1, 2004, the day we launched Gmail. If we were to let you send an email from Gmail before Gmail existed, well, that would be like hanging out with your parents before you were born -- crazy talk.
How does it work?
Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (see Grandfather Paradox)."
Dith Pran is dead
Dith Pran, the Cambodian Journalist depicted in The Killing Fields film, is dead.
I re-watched the Killing Fields after living in Cambodia for a few weeks, and was struck by it's effective portrayal of the Khmer Rouge's brutality, the dynamics of an expat-Khmer relationship, and the chaos and social upheaval of violent revolution.
After watching it, I lent it to my Cambodian colleagues at DDD, one by one. After watching it, many came back with their family's story. One manager watched it with his mother, who broke into tears mid-film, and proceeded (for the first time, I believe) to share her story with her son.
I asked an older manager if he thought the film told the story well.
"It was worse in real life, he said. Much worse."
I re-watched the Killing Fields after living in Cambodia for a few weeks, and was struck by it's effective portrayal of the Khmer Rouge's brutality, the dynamics of an expat-Khmer relationship, and the chaos and social upheaval of violent revolution.
After watching it, I lent it to my Cambodian colleagues at DDD, one by one. After watching it, many came back with their family's story. One manager watched it with his mother, who broke into tears mid-film, and proceeded (for the first time, I believe) to share her story with her son.
I asked an older manager if he thought the film told the story well.
"It was worse in real life, he said. Much worse."
Need custom-made invitations?
The work of my friend Brynna Chernoff has been featured in a fashion blog.
Bryn's has a talent for custom-made-high-end invitations, as she's an aesthetic maven with perfect penwomanship.
I can probably get a discount for interested parties.
Bryn's has a talent for custom-made-high-end invitations, as she's an aesthetic maven with perfect penwomanship.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Reverse Culture-Shock
After a few days in New York, a few things stand out, other than the change in weather:
Informal Interactions: people are informal and friendly in Cambodia, and informal contact is constant. People on the street or on elevators don't expect contact with strangers, and such contact isn't necessarily welcomed.
Speed: Things move fast here, and the expectation is that service will be immediate. In Cambodia, "fast" food takes 10-15 minutes, and things move at a slower pace.
Focus on the world: New York is a bubble. Even working-class Cambodians (urban Cambodians) know what is going on with the American presidential primary. New Yorkers seems less concerned with what's going in Tibet than what they're having for lunch.
Subtlety. Enough said.
Mood: Taking the train to the brooklyn, I marveled at how unhappy everyone seemed. The weather must play a large role in this disparity, but culture is also important.
Informal Interactions: people are informal and friendly in Cambodia, and informal contact is constant. People on the street or on elevators don't expect contact with strangers, and such contact isn't necessarily welcomed.
Speed: Things move fast here, and the expectation is that service will be immediate. In Cambodia, "fast" food takes 10-15 minutes, and things move at a slower pace.
Focus on the world: New York is a bubble. Even working-class Cambodians (urban Cambodians) know what is going on with the American presidential primary. New Yorkers seems less concerned with what's going in Tibet than what they're having for lunch.
Subtlety. Enough said.
Mood: Taking the train to the brooklyn, I marveled at how unhappy everyone seemed. The weather must play a large role in this disparity, but culture is also important.
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