First reactions to Phnom Penh:
1. The smell is different than anything I've ever known, and I already have some sort of smell-association with this city. It's a smell of fish and sweet spices and dirty water -- but not in an unpleasant way. It's actually sort of comforting to walk around the city and smell what I smell as 'Phnom Penh.'
2. The city feels strangely new, but is very dirty. During the Pol Pot regime, the Khmer Rouge destroyed all of Cambodian academic, intellectual, and cultural life. All the schools, universities, etc were demolished as Pol Pot moved towards "Year Zero" -- i.e. starting from the beginning. I'm right down the street from the Genocide Musuem, where the Khmer Rouge turned a school into a slaughter house. Many of the buildings are new; construction is booming all over town. But the government is too poor for any sorts of public works projects like trash management. It's this weird paradox that you can only explain once you see it. I have LOTS of pictures so take a look and you'll see what I mean.
3. Cambodia gets a reputation for being extremely poor and impoverished. True, the government does not have a lot of money, and true that people live on very little money, but 'poverty' as we conceptualize it doesn't really exist to the magnitude I expected it to be. Everyone just lives on less money, but most people are able to feed their families. The Cambodian government still has to rely on foreign and international aid to substantiate half of its national budget.
4. This place is VASTLY different than Chiang Mai (or the other places I saw in Thailand) in the following ways: the Monarch is not staring at me from every street corner, billboard, calendar, street shop poster, alter in a home, etc -- the King in Thailand is HIGHLY revered and loved and respected. His face is EVERYWHERE. Literally. I've only seen three or four posters of King Norodom Sihamoni, the King of Cambodia. He's loved and respected, but is a lot less present in daily images and moments of Phnom Penh life. I only really noticed this difference once I left Thailand because I became so used to seeing Bhumipol (Thai monarch) everywhere.
5. The city itself feels a bit European. There are big open parks and promenades throughout the city, and large sidewalks next to the rivers. I've had all sorts of international foods so far, and there are many French style bakeries and patisseries that dot the street stall food shops. A lot of the architecture looks French, and it makes the city feel 'international' in a different way than Chiang Mai felt. Side note: the French influence makes a lot of sense seeing as France occupied Cambodia/Vietnam/Laos (French Indochina) for more than 60 years.
6. The city is very quiet. Everything shuts down around 9pm. I feel at peace during the nighttime.
7. The food here is unbelievable. I've had great meal after great meal. Let me walk you through a gastronomical guide of the past 5 days:
-Our welcome dinner was coordinated by my professor, Dr. Kyle Latinis -- they call him "the Living Indiana Jones, more on him later -- and he brought us to a delicious restaurant that blends traditional Khmer (Cambodian) cooking with Western style tapas. We had spicy papaya and mango salads, fish amok (Khmer curry) bruschetta, and sweet potato and chicken kababs marinated in traditional Khmer flavors. Good wine with good company. A fantastic way to welcome us to the country!
-Sunday dinner was at a Korean/Khmer BBQ place called Savarna. We were treated by our hosts/directors Maryann and Joanna who both live and work here in Phnom Penh with different NGO's. The specialty at this spot is grilled beef. Now, I haven't really had good beef here in SE Asia, so I was thrilled to have a nice juicy piece of red meat. There's a special way to eat the BBQ that requires a special kind of pepper. I put the pepper in a small dish and squeezed a fresh lime wedge; it makes a sort of sauce into which you dip the beef. UNREAL
-Maryann and Joanna took us to a Chinese noodle house on Sunday afternoon, where all the noodles are made right there in front of you. Tim, Anna and I went back tonight to get dumplings for dinner. 12 steamed dumplings for $1.20! Local food is so cheap here...
-Adam, our Payap director, treated us to a special dinner at a restaurant called Friends, which is part of a local NGO called Mith Samlanh ("Friends" in Khmer). This is an incredible organization! They work with street kids to get them educated, trained in vocations, get them health care and access to HIV/AIDS treatment and information, and all sorts of other projects to get them off the streets and back to their families. The restaurant is run by the kids and their teachers; it's a 'training' restaurant where the teens learn how to cook and manage in the food services industry. They equip them with culinary and leadership schools so they can make livelihoods for themselves. Friends has a number of restaurants and projects -- read all about it on their website.
-Tuesday breakfast was particularly significant to mention, as Kyle took us to the local market to get some real home cooked Khmer food in a grungy market stall. This was by far the most delicious and memorable breakfast I've (ever?) had. Fresh beef sausages with hand-made noodles in a sweet coconut broth, garnished with greens and lime and peanuts and pepper. BOMB. Here's a picture:
Next post: a recap of the first few days' activities, complete with pictures!
Goodnight y'all!
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