November 9th

Tuesday morning ridiculousness ensued. I woke at 8 to a Khmer lesson, which went great. I can now say Hello, How are you?, Do you like?, and I am hungry. Its not going to be as easy for me as Swahili, which is phonetic--Khmer is tonal and even when the teacher would tell me how to pronounce things and I'd write them down phonetically, I'd still screw up the pronunciation.

Then it was off to Wat Phnom, the fabled first site of Phnom Penh. Its a huge tourist site set atop the only hill in town (Phnom Penh is said in the guidebooks to be about 6 feet above sea level....I knew there was something different about the air here than Arusha!). The temple is huge, and in it are about a million statues of buddha along with flower arrangements, gifts and money all throughout the shrine. Foreigners pay $1 and Khmer pay nothing. I wonder how that works out, what if you're a  dark Chinese person? Tibetan? Nepali? Thai? They just pick you out as you're going up the stairs'---Westerners, pay $1! Its worth it, the site is kept in extremely good condition. When you enter, you take off your shoes (something I've got to get used to now) and leave them in a bin. You head in and its courteous to walk with your right hand side towards the shrine at all times. Most Khmer or Buddhists sit down on their sides for a moment to acknowledge the buddha and then get back up. Photography was not allowed inside of the temple, but of course, you know Americans. The temple also sort of served as museum; some of the relics from ages ago is kept in a glass case in the back where visitors can take a look. As we stepped out back to take our tuk tuk to another pointless meeting, I heard rustling in the trees overhead and remembered that familiar sound from Tanzania. Monkeys!! There were about 3 playing in the trees, and some came down to chase after the others. I thought for a moment that they were natural to the park around Wat Phnom but should have known better since the park is in the middle of town in a huge roundabout. They must be part of the attraction to locals, as I saw one woman feeding a monkey on the ground a mango, offering a banana and other fruits. Since I haven't been vaccinated with a rabies shot, I knew better and kept walking away.

We rushed again on to the Central Market in town. I've been excited to go see an Asian market since I knew I'd be in Cambodia. It really is unlike any market you'd see on television! The Cambodian government has built a huge yellow complex, decked out with electricity, running water, restrooms, and booths in which vendors sell everything from scarves, souveniers, jewelry, art, clothes, wigs, food, even cockroaches! The market is arranged into sections in which vendors sell similar things all near each other, which to a foreigner means one thing--cheap prices! The woman with the cockroaches was all alone, and each large cockroach was 5,000 riel-- a little more than a dollar. I promised myself I wouldn't leave Cambodia till I came back to even try a cricket.

After the market, it was time for yet another ridiculous meeting and testing my tolerance for stupidity, until finally it was time for bed. Tomorrow, orientation will continue with more sightseeing around Phnom Penh and figuring out what I will be doing here!