SOUNDING BOARD is an outlet for opinions on good and crazy things going on at home (wherever I may be). All are welcome. You are not expected to bring anything except your common sense & sense of humor.
'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.'
-Robert X. Cringely (from geek wisdom)
SOUNDING BOARD
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
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My last few days in Phnom Penh (sort of)
I will be leaving Phnom Penh in a few days. I am not sure how I feel about leaving Phnom Penh.
Part of me wants to go home at once. I need a break from my stressful life at work. I really could use a rest. If you have been reading the few accounts of my work here, youll know that things progressed to hectic-crazy (with lots of unnecessary pressure from a source I'd rather not mention). I do enjoy my work though, save for that. And I believe in what I do.
Yet part of me (somehow, a bigger part of me) feels sad that I will be away from this city, even with all its drive-anywhere motorists that makes you grab your seatbelt or hold on to your seat (in case you ride 'motodup' everyday, like me).
I guess I fell in love with this city. I felt home, actually. I have only managed to throw in a phrase or two, but I felt a deeper sense of belongingness. Cambodians are a bunch of warm, hospitable people, always ready to smile back at you. And when they do, you feel the warmth in the midst of the difficulties they have. For a few hundred riels (1USD = 4,000 riels), you can make a boy or girl happy by buying fruits or delicacy that he/she sells, or just by letting him shine your pair of shoes. For a dollar in exchange of a native delicacy, you can help an old woman get through the day. For a few dollars per week in excess of the regular motodup fee, my driver beams with a smile as he will have extra money for his children's day-to-day educational expenses. And when you feel the day is going too fast, you can sit back, have coffee and read a book along the riverside. No fuss.
Somehow, I stopped dreaming about home after a month or two. And it is probably because I felt happy being here. There is an inexplicable joy in my heart whenever I manage to bring out a smile from a friend, colleague, or from just anyone here. It's the warmth of the smile and the place that lifts my spirit up every single day of my life in Phnom Penh. And even as I get ready to go home, I look forward to my next mission here. I love Phnom Penh.
