re-entry

Well, I had to light the wood stove this morning, so I know I'm not in Cambodia any longer...A lot to unpack from the suitcase and from my mind. I hope to correct spellings and add photos to my blog so that I have a more complete record. Right now the US just looks like "too much," the way it always does after a trip to another place. The grocery stores are obscene, the TV nuts, the people too flabby, the news is lies...I know I will recoup some balance for my dear and wacky country. I do love Amerika, but...I take home the knowledge that we are too unaware of the lasting damage we do to others protecting our self-interest.The unexploded ordnance in Cambodia is horrifying. We are relieved that we are close to being "out" of Iraq, but we won't be-war lasts a long time. I am also very aware, after a month and half of watching Asia TV, Asia, especially China, is on the rise. The tide is shifting. Obviously, I am not an expert on either Cambodia or Vietnam, but feel heightened awareness about the many contributions and rich cultures of both places and feel so grateful that I could be a visitor. Now Marge and I will sift through our Madison Quaker experiences and make a report-which I'll post later. For now, time to get the garden in.

Temples, more temples...

I have had three days of temple exploring-really awsome. Can't wait to upload my 500 pictures! It has been wonderful to immerse myself in this 9th-12th century ancient empire and all its glories. It does cause one to ponder empires and their eventual fall from glory. Cambodia is a struggling country and quite poor, but people are very kind and friendly even with a continuing resentment about US bombs and unexploded mines harming people to this day. What a weight our government has left on the world.The only harsh words I heard were about my lack of care for my three day temple pass. I managed to tear a corner of it,and that was frowned on by several gatekeepers. There is quite a bit of respect for protocol here.And still alot of traditional religous practices-mixes of Buddhasim and left over Hindu. I've been praying to false (who knows?) idols quite a bit, just to see the drill. For Vishnu worship, we brought fruit & money, all the Buddhas get lotus flowers, insence sticks and money. It reminds me of Catholic rituals. bowing & prayers. Much more drumming around the bigger pagodas. I think I've earned some merit...reminds me of chants for souls in purgatory. Whatever happened to purgatory anyway?

Being templed-out I spent the day with some market shopping and then respite from the heat, sipping lemon drink in a "butterfly" tea cafe which had netting over the garden to keep butterflies in. I went to the local bookstore and traded a book for postcards, had coffee with some Australian folks I met and generally hung out. I am in the last leg of journey now, headed for Hanoi tomorrw. It's been tough to have ten days alone, but I've chatted up strangers and watched weird TV at night.It's a very different experience from my time in Vietnam. Being a tourist is really an experience in privilege and difference. I feel even more grateful for my time in Tinh Khe, connected and part of a community, however briefly.

"Madame, You have many dollars"

Well, my 3rd day here and I am weary of the considerable poverty, endless begging, entries...I've talked to a few other travelers and we all agreed that we are actually spending more than we ever planned to because of guilt and sorrow. It does seem tough to haggle over a dollar, so in the tourist areas, one collapses and just gives it away. It is possible to be a backpacker tourist on very little money, but you have to harden yourself and stay out of the nicer tour areas.There are signs telling you to NOT give to child beggars since it encourages adults to use children that way. And huge government billboards try and scare the touring pedophiles with pictures of handcuffs and other dire consequences.Still, every public area and all temples are surrounded by pretty pitiful looking beggars.An army of monks prowls the streets begging during the day,and bigger armies of prostitutes at night.I am starting to remember fondly all the pesky,hard working and entrepreneurial street vendors in Hanoi trying to sell stuff.I imagine if you stick around Cambodia you figure out ways of balancing your needs with the ocean of poverty. I've met and seen a lot of wonderful young American and European people and orgs. working to keep kids out of the sex trade, and teach them job skills. And there are big parts of the city, relatively prosperous where NGO staff and other professionals live.But you can still go on a tour of huge garbage dumps where kids live and collect or go off to visit the huge orphanages, probably a better deal for many kids. Early this morning I went to the big square outside the palace where more well off parents and grandparents bring toddlers to buy corn and chase pigeons. Adorable,well dressed 2 & 3yr olds tear around and send clouds of pigeons flying.It's a treat to see.And I love seeing the scrubbed school children off to morning classes. I have no idea of percentages but I know many families who can afford it, give their government grant for schooling to families who need it. Not being mother Teresa, I confess I went to the Foreign Correspondent Club (FCC) for good coffee, fruit and banana bread this morning. Walking along the riverfront, I gave small change to a beggar with an artificial leg, watched people buy lotus flowers for the temples, watched a spirited game of soccer, saw fishermen throw nets on the river and tried to just be present in this surprising city. I am frequently amazed to remember that Pol Pot totally emptied the city, forcing everyone to go to the country or, if you were educated, to torture centers and executed. From such a ghost city, this new and ancient one has sprung up and lives.

Landed at the Fancy Guest House

Well here I am in Cambodia lodging at the Fancy Guest House, around the corner from the Palace and the National Museum. This morning I got up very early and walked along the river and watched Phonm Penh wake up and go to work. This included the last elephant in the city, being walked down the main road. Others in the palace grounds died during the Pol Pot wars, and this animal is saved for tourists. The city is a huge mix of beautiful and ancient buildings, old French Colonial buildings and then some terrible poverty all over the streets. It is lots poorer than Hanoi. Many people and children live on the street, many beggars and sick people. It's less hectic than Hanoi because fewer bikes and cars and easier for western tourists because all the ex-pats, ngos staff and tourists have created lots of market for services. You have to specify that you don't want marijuana on yr. pizza! After touring at the Palace today, I had lunch at a restaurant,Friends, a training restaurant for street kids who clean, cook and serve there. It's a little weird to be just a tourist again, but I am enjoying the respite and managing to stumble around by myself with occasional retreats to the tiny balcony of my room. Hope to figure out photos later. I planned to NOT go to the Killing Fields with its towers of skulls, but a Cambodian man suggested I should go to show respect.Not sure...

Perfect Goodby

Marge took me to lunch the day she left. We went to the second floor of Dinh Lang,the traditional restaurant that overlooks Hoan Kiem Lake. She ordered delicate and delicious dishes from Hue region and we were treated to live traditional Vietnamese music because a large party of officials was holding a banquet in the other room. What a treat. Sweetly, the Paul Simon song, "Are you going to Scarsdale Fair?" was on the set list along with very traditional and ancient tunes. Our window side table looked out over the beautiful lake and a small Heron flew across the view. It felt like a Vietnamese poem-also a poem for Marge who loves the myth of the turtle coming from the bottom of the lake and taking back the sword from the King and demanding peace. We were both weary from the time in Tinh Khe which was emotional towards the end, but appreciated each other's gifts and very glad we did the journey. Now we will have to think over our experience there and decide what kind of recommendations we can offer for Madison Quakers. On the way home we met up with a Veterans for Peace fellow and he & Marge went for coffee to mull over other ideas. I went home (hotel) to pack for Cambodia. Cambodia epilogue follows...

Compassion Houses

On Sunday, we went with Mike, Doh and Noel, the Madison Quaker (MQ) gang to do site visits of 6-7 Compassion Houses. Each village seems to have a committe (VAVA)whose job is to identify "worst case" families in desperate need of housing and other support with a priority on those impacted by Agent Orange, a very toxic defolient used during the war. MQ has commmitted to 15 or so houses in the Quang Ngai province where the chemical was used heavily. I thought we had already seen some pretty poor folks and houses in the countryside, but these were surely worst cases for the most part. We went far down rural roads and saw many under-nourished children and poor wooden shacks.The VAVA village or district committee selects the recipients... A very ill woman and her only daughter, taken from school to care for her, an ill man who looked as if he might have AIDs, whose wife abandoned him, a woman who may have polio and had to put her childrten in an orphange, a family with a severly retarded child who seemed to be locked in a dirty closet much of the day because of her violent behavior... It seems like every disease and genetic disorder is attributed to A.Orange and probably much of it is.The simple houses cost about $1,500 each and they are a huge step up for these families with toliets, wells and tiny gardens. We were required to take photos of us with poor folks for future fund raising materials. We did give them gifts of canned milk and some small money. It was emotional day for all of us to look such brutual poverty in the face and to be the weird, wealthy "observors." With the VAVA committe rep., a journalist and and MQ, we (8-9 of us)had to peek into barebones kitchens and bedrooms to "check" progress, I guess, while the new owners looked on anxiously. Of course, it is necessary to make sure the construction that was paid for it actaully completed, and useful for funders to see the results. The MQ have insisted that the houses they fund do not have the usual governemnt plaques, hoping to spare people some of the embaressment of being a major charity case. I thought of many people I've seen in Africa and even Appalachia who still who live in houses that seem not livable. Something so wrong in our world.

Our Five minutes of Fame!

On Monday evening we ended up on national VN TV! The station always does some story from the Tinh Khe region of My Lei on the anniversary. They dedided to highlight our little project with school children (and the major investment of Madison Quakers in the school buildings) as a sign of hope. Marge was doing a puppet show with a sea turle and I was teaching "row row your boat." To those who know my singing ...this should not be broadcast on TV, but they cut the sound anyway.The segment showed little girls crying about our departure and both Mike, in English, and Marge, in Vietnamese talking about the importance of the young people for the future.The little boys, who did not cry, said the girls were like "watery breadfruit." Great expression. When we got back to Hanoi we found ourselves briefly famous for being on TV! All of this was the result of the good work of Doh who works tirelessly for MQ, getting out positive messages, and persauding various officials that we mean well.

We also had a good article in a national newspaper.It turned out OK, but the reporter was determined to make us say that we thought the US government should compensate Agent Orange victims. We tried to talk about the "Compassion Houses" that MQ is buidling for victimes (more on this is in another post). Yes, probably the govt. should compensate victims, including our soldiers, but it is very unclear what the actual effects really are and we have been dragging our feet about our own US soldiers who have been affected by it. I doubt the govt. will ever do this. It is still a pretty touchy subject here.