Mozzeenet

Getting the house set up has been fun. I went to the Russian Market yesterday which is one of the best markets (not as good as Chutachuk, Bangkok though) to buy some essentials. Essentials included a motorbike helmet, plates, bowls and a red and gold woven cloth (acting as a cutain or bedspread). Today I bought some plastic bins. Ahh..domestic life!

I am sharing with Sonja from Melbourne and Ana from Canberra.

My “annex” is almost set up. I was struggling to get my screen bit set up so was very excited when I arrived home last night and the family from downstairs had brought us some cane screens which are perfect and exactly what I wanted. They’re very generous.

I was bitten by mosquitos on the first night so I put up my mosquito net last night. Feels very tropical. I guess it is tropical! There isn’t malaria in Phnom Penh and Dengue fever is contracted during the day but it’s not very pleasant waking up with bites all over you.

I have my very own alarm clock - the rooster next door starts crowing at the break of dawn for about half an hour! This is hard to come to terms with. This morning I was wondering how I would get used to it. I guess I will either become immune to it or change my waking habits. There is a lot of activity at that time of the morning. People are getting up. The bread man trundles past calling out “nun pung” (I think this is right). We can buy fresh bread rolls from him (and throughout the day).

Last night we had dinner up on the corner at a local restaurat - good noodles and vegetables. We then ventured into a local karaoke bar. I had only just declared that I was going to have my 30th birthday there when a big rat ran across the floor. I immediately wrapped my legs around the chair and informed Ana who has a rat phobia. We got the hell out of there asap!

Off to a bar tonight overlooking the Tonle Sap river which is popular. It’s called the Foreign Correspondents Club or FCC. There are lots of eating and watering holes.

Jum-reap-lear

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

A quick update before we go and catch our taxi to our NEW HOUSE!!

We have decided to take the wooden house in Street No. 410. The city is designed in a grid pattern and each street is numbered - only the very few main roads have names.

It’s a great house and I hope to get some photos of it sometime. We negotiated the lease yesterday and are going over to sign it this afternoon at 3pm. The family are getting us extra bed, fan and desk. I will be the one with little “annex” room which we are going to create. I’m hoping to find some rattan screens to section it off and it will open onto the balcony. We’re very excited about having our own place!

It is usual to have a house-keeper here who will clean and cook a couple of times a week. We all feel a bit weird about that but we have been talking about it to people here who have told us that there are few employment options for women and we hope that we are contributing in some way to the local economy. Still, takes some getting used to.

I will write more later on my meeting with my host organisation, The Womens Media Centre. It went well and it is an inspiring organisation.

Jum Reap Ly (I think that’s good-bye)

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

We’ve been here for two days now. Everything is a blur - have been taking in so much.

First impressions as we descended into Phnom Penh were: very dry, flat and small. Saw fields and rice paddies as we flew in, not many houses.

We made it through customs, luggage collection without any hitches and were greeted by Hour, one of the managers of the program. He’s really nice. He lead us outside where Lyne, the person in charge of the AYAD program here greeted us. She is a lovely French-Canadian, great accent and sense of humour. She knew us all by name already as she had been given our photos.

We hopped in a little mini-van. I think Lyne was rather flabbergasted by the amount of luggage we had - much more than previous YAs apparently.

The city is very dusty - there are few sealed roads, mainly reddish dirt tracks teeming with motos (small motorbikes) which make up the public transport here as well as bicycles, cyclos and cars. No traffic rules and no concept of giving way. Just pull out and the oncoming traffic will stop! A moto driver pulls up beside us every few minutes asking if we need a lift. It costs about 25 cents ($US, that is) for a short ride. We have been catching them around, pretty scary. I’ve been holding on for dear life. Women ride side-saddle - there is a small seat at the back.

Have been going through litres of water a day, sweating like nothing else.

Last two days has been house-hunting. We have seen a lot of apartments - mostly they are on the 2nd level with a Khmer family living on the bottom level. The ones we have been shown are tiled throughout - some come complete with air-conditioning and smelly drains. The real estates get a commission from the landlords to show people these places so you don’t necessarily get taken to places which you want - more whether the landlord gets a good cut of the first month rent or who they know. We have been advised to avoid “Shit Creek” - it’s a canal in the city and not hard to guess why it is so called.

We found out about this great wooden house from a Youth Ambassador who is about to leave. She gave us the address and two of us went to see it today. It is fabulous - much better than any we have been shown. Three of us are thinking of moving in there. We want to share with a few people at first and see how it goes. It has a wooden balcony, wooden floors, light and airy, good kitchen (fridge and cooker). No air-conditioning but there are fans in the rooms and it is furnished. It is 300 $US a month so would be $US 100 each/month - it has two bedrooms and an area which could be used as a third bedroom so we’re going to check it out again this week.

The food is nice - not unlike Thai but a little different - fish curries, noodles and soups seem to be the traditional fare. I have had sour Khmer soup with fish and Fish Amok which is a fish curry and the specialty. Very good. It is quite cheap - about $1 for a meal.

Had drinks and dinner last night with some of the YAs from previous intakes which was great. They gave us lots of advice and insight into life here. Afterwards we went to Everest restaurant with Indian food (delicious) and to the Peace Cafe - a very chilled, packed bar in a little house. People got up and recited poems and sang their own songs. It was a great atmosphere. Lots of “smoking” (not me…) Home on motos.

Big day tomorrow - we meet our host organisation and have a welcome dinner tomorrow night.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia