Wednesday, July 30, 2008
A: The Spiritual Mafia, the red light district, avoiding the Cambodian tatoo and being laughed at by kids: Cambodia Update #6
Q: What experiences did I have in Cambodia today?
Yes. The Spiritual mafia... as I have begun to call them, are the Buddist Monks in Cambodia. I don't mean to offen all buddists. It is just the monks here are really interesting. First, the prayers they recite are from rote memory in a language they don't understand at all... and so when they "pray" they don't really know what they are saying, which I find really funny. We were at a restaurant and we saw a monk come up and one of the employees come out with money. The store gives the monk money for a "blessing" that is said out loud but that neither understand. It smacked of a maffia-like kick-back money to keep the neighborhood safe. It just struck me that way when I saw it. Money in exchange for "protection" - sounds like a scene out of one of the Godfather movies.
Yes. Each day we drive through the red-light district of Kampong Cham to get to our teaching sight. We see the monks walking in their orange robes... and then see the painted women out on the porches of the houses waiting for men to come. It is the embrace of the flesh meeting the denial of the flesh... all on this road we take each day. The juxtaposition is startling.
Yes. Today I finally road on a moto. I white knuckled it the entire way and wore a smelly helmet. But I did it... and I am proud of myself, because it was the last fear I had to overcome here before I left. And a "Cambodian tatoo" is what westerners sometimes get when they are unfamiliar riding on motos. The exhaust pipe is on the right side and it gets HOT. If you dismount from the moto wrong you get a painful burn on your right calf. I successfully avoided this today. Bravo me!
Yes. I was laughed at all morning. Normally we stay on our staff sight. Today I went into the field with the World Relief Hope staff to see the work they do in remote, small villages. They play games with them and use puppets to teach them about avoiding mosquitos and how to avoid getting HIV. Today the skit was about mosquitos, but the whole village stared at me. Cambodians make fun of tourists but out in the villages it is different because many of these kids have never seen a blond haired, blue-eyed person before. I also have short hair, which women in Cambodia rarely sport as a style. I am also "big"- yep, I can admit it... I should lose a few (more than a few) pounds, but that is not all they were talking about. I am TALL in this country... so the kept saying ''ooh, she's big" (not in English but the guy who drove me out told me). So I really had to put on my thick skin this morning. They basically laughed at what I looked like and all of my mannerisms, too. But seeing the children was all worth it. I held a baby girl this morning. How do I know she was a girl? She had no diaper on. How do I know she had no diaper on? She was completely naked. I just prayed she wouldn't pee or worse all over me, but then again, it might have been worth it to make the kids laugh... as I am SURE they would have laughed at me. Seriously, though, these kids were really living in extreme poverty. I was really amazed to see their village. But the smiles... the HOPE staff brought such joy and laughter to their day! I was just the oddity... but the HOPE staff does the REAL work of helping these families. I was blown away by the work they do. No words. And that is rare for me, isn't it?
Yes. The Spiritual mafia... as I have begun to call them, are the Buddist Monks in Cambodia. I don't mean to offen all buddists. It is just the monks here are really interesting. First, the prayers they recite are from rote memory in a language they don't understand at all... and so when they "pray" they don't really know what they are saying, which I find really funny. We were at a restaurant and we saw a monk come up and one of the employees come out with money. The store gives the monk money for a "blessing" that is said out loud but that neither understand. It smacked of a maffia-like kick-back money to keep the neighborhood safe. It just struck me that way when I saw it. Money in exchange for "protection" - sounds like a scene out of one of the Godfather movies.
Yes. Each day we drive through the red-light district of Kampong Cham to get to our teaching sight. We see the monks walking in their orange robes... and then see the painted women out on the porches of the houses waiting for men to come. It is the embrace of the flesh meeting the denial of the flesh... all on this road we take each day. The juxtaposition is startling.
Yes. Today I finally road on a moto. I white knuckled it the entire way and wore a smelly helmet. But I did it... and I am proud of myself, because it was the last fear I had to overcome here before I left. And a "Cambodian tatoo" is what westerners sometimes get when they are unfamiliar riding on motos. The exhaust pipe is on the right side and it gets HOT. If you dismount from the moto wrong you get a painful burn on your right calf. I successfully avoided this today. Bravo me!
Yes. I was laughed at all morning. Normally we stay on our staff sight. Today I went into the field with the World Relief Hope staff to see the work they do in remote, small villages. They play games with them and use puppets to teach them about avoiding mosquitos and how to avoid getting HIV. Today the skit was about mosquitos, but the whole village stared at me. Cambodians make fun of tourists but out in the villages it is different because many of these kids have never seen a blond haired, blue-eyed person before. I also have short hair, which women in Cambodia rarely sport as a style. I am also "big"- yep, I can admit it... I should lose a few (more than a few) pounds, but that is not all they were talking about. I am TALL in this country... so the kept saying ''ooh, she's big" (not in English but the guy who drove me out told me). So I really had to put on my thick skin this morning. They basically laughed at what I looked like and all of my mannerisms, too. But seeing the children was all worth it. I held a baby girl this morning. How do I know she was a girl? She had no diaper on. How do I know she had no diaper on? She was completely naked. I just prayed she wouldn't pee or worse all over me, but then again, it might have been worth it to make the kids laugh... as I am SURE they would have laughed at me. Seriously, though, these kids were really living in extreme poverty. I was really amazed to see their village. But the smiles... the HOPE staff brought such joy and laughter to their day! I was just the oddity... but the HOPE staff does the REAL work of helping these families. I was blown away by the work they do. No words. And that is rare for me, isn't it?
# posted by ErinW @ 12:41 AM 
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