A) I really need to set up an alarm on my phone so I remember to take malarone. Although I completely bypassed paying $6 a pill by strategically picking up my prescription in batches over the course of six weeks, I must remember to take these pricey pills that will keep me out of hospital. At least I bought bug spray yesterday. And it smells like citrus (insert emojicon here)!
B) I also need to bite the bullet and buy some sort of sun hat contraption for my dear shoulders. I applied sunscreen twice today and still look like a genetically enhanced tomato. I went to a pool close to my new guesthouse (see below) because the there was a powercut and life without a fan was just not in today's tarot card reading, and it was Saturday.
I am glad I went despite my current tomato status, as the experience was very interesting and something I normally do not do (I am not a fan of pools). I met the owner of the resort, a Singapore-Malay man who lives in Holland and gave me an overview of foreign leased land to build hotels, as well as the immense expat scene in Siem Reap. We also spoke Bahasa! :-o More importantly, he gave me the number of another NGO that works with food and food access that I will call! There were a lot of other long term stay guests/expats (not sure of the line between the two) there as well, which was interesting especially listening in on their conversations. Right before I left, a Cambodian family rolled up in their brand new Toyota, iPad / iPhone in tow. I was actually surprised it wasn't a Lexus, considering the sheer amount I have seen around town. This was just another display of the sheer wealth that certain Cambodians possess.
Yesterday, I was able to find a guesthouse that was far out of town with a monthly rate for $150 a month--almost half of what I had budgeted for. Although I would much prefer a homestay--and still hold hope!--this is fine for now. There are tons of street side restaurants around where I can get really good fried rice for $1. And I mean really good. I had fried rice last night at the market in the center of town and truly, it was a disgrace to fried rice everywhere. The flavor was MIA, I found a random shrimp with two pineapple slices, the carrots were soggy, so just no.
I also finally got myself a Khmer phone number, although with a company that I have since been told is the worst one in Cambodia (Beeline). I am able to text out to the USA, but cannot receive texts from my mom, for example. I have also realized that some Cambodian phones cannot text in general. In general, I am noticing that there is a wide array of cell phones, from iPhone 5s to Nokias from 2002. When buying my citrus bug spray, I saw a toddler on the floor buy his mom watching a video on his iPad. Seeing all of this Apple wear reminds me of my lost iPhone 4 that I got stolen at Ari Cantik Hospital in Bali, a place I prefer to never go to again (not Bali, the hospital).
To get my SIM card I went to a shop that was about five minutes walking from my old guesthouse, but the man who worked there, the grandma told me, was getting food and would be back soon. Although she told me this in Khmer, she used enough hand gestures that I knew what she was talking about. So I waited. The children watching TV were too adorable to leave behind, and one of them even brought out all three of her stuffed animals to give me a tour of them (I had no clue what she was saying). Although I loved this grandmother and wanted to give the little girl a toothbrush (although a toothbrush does not change the world, I just hated to watch her drinking Coca Cola with blackened teeth), forty minutes later I was still phone-less, so I went to another shop.
Lots of other exciting things happened yesterday, such as getting lost for about an hour and a half and buying a kilo of mangosteens for $2 (still unsure if this was too expensive, but I was not about to bargain with the woman who was riding on her bike around town sporting long pants, a long shirt, socks with flip flops, and a hat/neck/mouth covering contraption for something that was less than a coffee at La Colombe), and I could keep writing and bore not only you, dear reader, but also myself to tears sitting here with Khmer karaoke in the background and a mosquito bite on my chin. One of the most interesting, poignant, and sad (not sure what the right word is) things I witnessed yesterday were the camps that Cambodian people set up just across the river from the touristy district. Just out of sight for the vast majority of tourists/travelers, Khmer people were setting up camp for that night beside a river. Just four hours earlier, I watched some convoy of three Mercedes, an Escalade, and four police motorbikes and cars escort some public official right by the same place. As I listen to Hun Sen preach on television (the guy switched from karaoke), I am truly shocked at the amount of political and cultural contexts that went right by me last time I was here. I had some idea, but not a fuller picture.
.JPG) |
| The pool I visited, 5-star place next to my $5 a night place. |
I am glad I went despite my current tomato status, as the experience was very interesting and something I normally do not do (I am not a fan of pools). I met the owner of the resort, a Singapore-Malay man who lives in Holland and gave me an overview of foreign leased land to build hotels, as well as the immense expat scene in Siem Reap. We also spoke Bahasa! :-o More importantly, he gave me the number of another NGO that works with food and food access that I will call! There were a lot of other long term stay guests/expats (not sure of the line between the two) there as well, which was interesting especially listening in on their conversations. Right before I left, a Cambodian family rolled up in their brand new Toyota, iPad / iPhone in tow. I was actually surprised it wasn't a Lexus, considering the sheer amount I have seen around town. This was just another display of the sheer wealth that certain Cambodians possess.
Yesterday, I was able to find a guesthouse that was far out of town with a monthly rate for $150 a month--almost half of what I had budgeted for. Although I would much prefer a homestay--and still hold hope!--this is fine for now. There are tons of street side restaurants around where I can get really good fried rice for $1. And I mean really good. I had fried rice last night at the market in the center of town and truly, it was a disgrace to fried rice everywhere. The flavor was MIA, I found a random shrimp with two pineapple slices, the carrots were soggy, so just no.
I also finally got myself a Khmer phone number, although with a company that I have since been told is the worst one in Cambodia (Beeline). I am able to text out to the USA, but cannot receive texts from my mom, for example. I have also realized that some Cambodian phones cannot text in general. In general, I am noticing that there is a wide array of cell phones, from iPhone 5s to Nokias from 2002. When buying my citrus bug spray, I saw a toddler on the floor buy his mom watching a video on his iPad. Seeing all of this Apple wear reminds me of my lost iPhone 4 that I got stolen at Ari Cantik Hospital in Bali, a place I prefer to never go to again (not Bali, the hospital).
.JPG) |
| Her stuffed animals before her brother came and put them all behind her head (but didn't take them away? He needs big brother lessons). |
Lots of other exciting things happened yesterday, such as getting lost for about an hour and a half and buying a kilo of mangosteens for $2 (still unsure if this was too expensive, but I was not about to bargain with the woman who was riding on her bike around town sporting long pants, a long shirt, socks with flip flops, and a hat/neck/mouth covering contraption for something that was less than a coffee at La Colombe), and I could keep writing and bore not only you, dear reader, but also myself to tears sitting here with Khmer karaoke in the background and a mosquito bite on my chin. One of the most interesting, poignant, and sad (not sure what the right word is) things I witnessed yesterday were the camps that Cambodian people set up just across the river from the touristy district. Just out of sight for the vast majority of tourists/travelers, Khmer people were setting up camp for that night beside a river. Just four hours earlier, I watched some convoy of three Mercedes, an Escalade, and four police motorbikes and cars escort some public official right by the same place. As I listen to Hun Sen preach on television (the guy switched from karaoke), I am truly shocked at the amount of political and cultural contexts that went right by me last time I was here. I had some idea, but not a fuller picture.
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