My life in Cambodia

 This is me.

 

These are the things that crawl around while I sleep. It's a beetle, about half the size of your thumb. They're also the stupidest creatures on the planet. They can fly, but always flit about like a drunk man in a helicopter, crashing into walls and the ceiling.

 

These are some of my students, I volunteer at a nearby school and I teach English to some of the kids around town. They're happy because they got t-shirts from a volunteer.

This is them cleaning up our classroom. The fellow in back is our Khmer teacher- his name is Passet and he helps with the translating.

This is the general road condition (dirt / gravel) and the general backdrop. (ocean) We did get a few paved roads put in last year though.

This is where I spend most of my days. Seriously. The water is almost as warm as bathwater, and it's a joy to swim in. Why would I leave?

This is what I play with. Cambodia is full of wild cats and dogs. They breed like crazy, so there are oodles of puppies and kittens.

 
This is us trying out our first art day. It was, as expected, chaos. I never should have brought out the glitter. There is still glitter all over our floors and tables.

 
This is the the kids playing after class. I have to maintain order or they'll fight over the frisbee. They're great kids though, and I really enjoy playing around with them.

Here are some cute monkeys. A friend showed them to me, in a random spot of the jungle. It's not part of a nature reserve or a zoo, it's just where they hang out.

 
Here's a video of some cute, baby monkeys.

This is a scorpion. A living one. A friend of mine found it at her hostel and kept it as a pet. His name is Napoleon and he's huge. Yea, don't walk barefoot.

Getting off the grid. Going to Cambodia.

There's a lot to dislike about Cambodia. Poverty, hunger, and corruption are all rampant. Crossing the border is a pain in the ASS. There's no such thing as health and safety laws. Ground travel is always hard, as most of the roads look to have been built around the late 60's.

But my first day back in my little beach town, I was reminded why I returned. It's hard to explain without sounding a little pretentious, but it's the first place I've been to in a long time that felt real.

What do I mean by real?

Well, I think that in this modern world it's become hard to find something that's not polished and glazed over to resemble everything else. We westerners have a tendency to embrace the facade; we go to a foreign country and then eat only Burger King and Mcdonald's. We visit somewhere exotic, then expect the locals to speak perfect English. We spend so much time and energy getting as far away from home as possible, and then seek out all things familiar.

And so many people encourage this behavior that when you truly want to get away... there just aren't many options left. It's gotten so bad that I find myself fleeing from places with Mcdonald's, and movie theatres, and Disney gift shops. I've run from paved roads, and shopping malls, and women with little chihuahuas inside Gucci handbags. I've run from big screen TV's and people who talk about what embarrassing thing celebrities are doing now. I've run and run and now... I've arrived.

Birthday boy in Bangkok

The king turned 87 on December 5^th, and Bangkok threw him one hell of a party. 
 
The king even made an appearance, or, almost. His appearance was canceled at the last minute. Hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people wore yellow in honor of the king, and as you can see in the pictures, yellow is everywhere.
 

Politics divides the citizens of Thailand, with people fiercely loyal to either side. But the king, who has very little power in the government, tends to stay away from politics. Instead he goes around the country giving money to poor people and creating projects that make jobs. You know, things the government should be doing. So, while people may have different political loyalties, they all love the king.

He commands great respect in the country, and his face is EVERYWHERE. Just look at the people who turned out to see him. This picture below represents a TINY fraction of the people who went to honor the king. Seriously, to my left was a massive field, the size of three or four football fields- filled end to end with people.

Also, obligatory fireworks.

Side note: People often think of Bangkok as the place to come party and get drunk and be obnoxious. But that's really only with foreigners. Even though there were massive crowds, the locals were super respectful. I didn't see anyone drinking, and I didn't see anyone acting like an ass. I mean, come one, this is Thailand. Not Korea...