This morning we woke up, had a remarkable breakfast thanks to the B&B, and hit the town.
First we saw a squatter village.
Ever seen one? Ok. Maybe you have. Ever walked through one and talked to the people?
It was really intense. Suddenly a few hours outside of AC each day didn't seem so bad. The houses were made of any material they could find at the time of construction: siding, branches, logs, cardboard.
One woman, Yuem, who we talked with for quite a while, built a really decent structure that she spent $1500 on. I couldn't imagine how ridiculous we looked as well dressed Americans with cameras worth more than her house.
**Yuem standing in her doorway.**
Yuem had three kids. The oldest was 17 and then she had two in the house that looked about 5 and 1. She told us that people in the village feed their kids sweetened condensed milk because it won't go bad and it's much cheaper than regular milk. I can feel my mother cringing.
Rice is 60 cents a day per person so after buying that and rights to the land there isn't much money left for more food. The kids also have parasites so they get first dibs on the little bit of nutrients the kids get. Hence the skinny ribs and puffy bellies.
Yuem also proudly said that her 17 year old works in a garment shop, to us a "sweatshop." Except there was a whole nother tone to it. Brandon told us a story that someone had referred to it as a sweatshop as if it was a terrible, oppressing job and the Cambodian responded, "Try being a farmer. Once you're bent over a field 10 hours a day in the heat and humidity then sitting at a machine in a room with fans and a fixed salary doesn't sound so bad." I think that's what I'm going to write my first story about. Americans get it so wrong sometimes.
Then we learned about Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) which is the non-profit that Andrea and Brandon (owners of the B&B) run. They've dug wells in the squatter village so they can have clean water year round instead of drinking collected rain water out of holes in the ground. They also have scholarships to send people to college in turn for "volunteer" work. Most of the program is about educating people, including teaching english.
Once we were done with our tour we headed to the market to get lunch. Everything is so cheap. I guess I knew that coming into the country but you really just don't believe it until you see it. I have a strong inkling that I won't be able to resist the incredible prices. Or the food.
I've decided to pull off a fedora. Mostly because I know I can't pull it off in America because I am neither Britney Spears or a starving artist. Hopefully it'll be worth my $3 investment to wear it for the next 5 weeks. If you can't pull it off in America, try it abroad.
Exhibit A: If you haven't heard of it before, witness the "navajo skirt."
** A rare gem I came across at Goodwill that I decided to pull off in Morocco. Not sure it succeeded but damned if I didn't try.**
Tomorrow we're headed to Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the world.
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