The Settling in Process

is just about complete.

I've just come back from enrolling Sila Kai in school at the Liberty International School. The whole family is excited about this. For as much as SK needs to be among other little people doing little-people party things, mom and dad need a bit of a break. We also wanted to get him placed a few days before our volunteer work begins so that we can be around and available if anything comes up.

I've also just leased an apartment just around the corner from the school. In fact, we can see the school from our (very) small balcony. We are set to move our stuff from our current guesthouse to the apartment tomorrow. After that, it's off to the market to buy sheets, pots, pans, and the other miscellaneous necessities of everyday life.

On a practical note, this means that the Griffin Guesthouse is about to officially open to visitors. We have an extra bedroom with it's own bathroom, so feel free to start making plans to visit beautiful Phnom Penh. This should save you about 10 bucks a day if you're living on the cheap and up to 25 bucks a night for comparable accommodations in the city. Think of the savings! Your stay will also include at least one English-speaking guide with marginal familiarity with the city and almost no knowledge of Khmer culture, history, or language. Book now!

Beyond that, we've contracted with a foreign-language school, Conversations with Foreigners to volunteer teaching English about 3 hours a day for the next 12 weeks.

At this point, it really feels as though we're beginning to settle into life in Phnom Penh--at least for the time being.

Cheers!

Our First Week in Phnom Penh

is over--I think? It's been a bit hectic adjusting to a 12-hour time difference (that's exactly opposite where we were for those who are paying attention), seeing some of the local sites, and getting settled as it were.

We began the week in a (sort of) swanky place. It had air conditioning in the room, and the lobby wasn't someone's living room. We spent a couple of nights there because we thought it would be nice to acculturate a bit on the slow. And it was.

A few days ago we moved to this place, which is, to say the least, interesting. The shower has no curtain and kind of dribbles cold water over you. The air conditioning is gone. The walls are a bit smudged and the blankets (for who knows what in this hotbox) are suspect.

We have just secured some volunteer work teaching English to local adults at a place called Conversations with Foreigners. The "job" lasts for the next three months, so we've been looking at schools for Sila and apartments for the past two days.

In between all of that, we've cruised town in our fair share of tuk-tuks (more on those in the days to come), eaten our share of noodles and rice and other oddities of unknown origins and composition, and been to a couple of the temples outside of town. But to be honest, we've spent more time at the big playground near the riverside than we have doing the "tourist" stuff. It's nice to know that we'll be here for a few months--if not more--because it slows things down. There is no pressure to go hit all the hot spots before jetting off. It feels as though we are just settling in and getting to know our this, our new temporary home.


 

Cambodia?!# Who said anything about Cambodia?

Yes, yes, after a little bit of gratuitous verbal ejaculate, I will answer the question on many of your minds. How in hell's name did we end up in Cambodia? I know, some of you are saying, "You said you were heading to China," while others are even now saying, "China? Who said anything about China?" So, for those not in the know, let me give you the skinny and then I promise that my next post will have something more exciting about our first few days in Southeast Asia.

We were headed to China to teach for an academic year (August to July) at a university with which our home institution (FGCU) has ties. We had hosted a visiting scholar from that Chinese university this past academic year, and I had served as somewhat of a point person for her, introducing her to people and having her sit in on my classes. Well, in the course of our conversations, the idea of Julie and me teaching English in China came up and was enthusiastically pursued by all parties.

On our end, Julie and I wrapped up most of our household belongings and shoved them into storage before handing our keys over to some nice young college girls (no comments on that please). We also made arrangements with FGCU to take an unpaid leave of absence (so, Yes, we have jobs when we return). We bought extraordinarily expensive tickets to China (to be partially reimbursed later), and began taking physical examinations and submitting our bodies to all sorts of other prodding and poking in order to prove our relative healthiness. We then began sending paperwork to all sorts of various organizations in order to prove that we were who we said we were and had the credentials we claimed to have and all sorts of things like that. Though it may sound easy up until now given that this whole process has thus far only taken up a few sentences, it was neither easy nor straightforward.

Once packed and de-homed, we set off for LA--via a two-week, truck-pulled popup camper, camping adventure that is a whole other story--in hopes of arriving in plenty of time to take our remaining documents to the Chinese Consulate in that city and have our visa applications processed only to find out that we were supposed to have gone to Houston because we lived in Florida or to have sent the applications to a third party organization that handled such matters. We found all of this out approximately one week prior to our departure at the same time that we found out expedited handling of the visas would cost over $1500 bucks.

If that would have been the end of it, we very well might have shelled out the cash, but there were still other glitches that may or may not have smoothed once we arrived in China--glitches that may yet have precluded us from staying and teaching there. So, in the words of an old buddy of mine, C-Spot, we "Poof," popped the shoot (which should be accompanied by the motion of your hands pulling imaginary parachute cords).

With no jobs or home to return to and certainly not enough money to hang in the States for a year, we did what any sane person might (or at least what should little surprise those of you who know us), we changed our flights from China to Cambodia for a modest sum, and decided to wing it from there. We had been meaning to spend a spot of time in Southeast Asia.

Now, the only question that remains for those of you who do actually know our penchant for bailing early is, When will we "Poof" and come back to the States?

Let the betting begin!

A Traveler Is

There is something about the idea of a traveler that has always appealed to me. To me, the traveler is akin to the explorer's of yesteryear, and while there are certainly true explorers left, those who dive into the dark and unknown places of this earth, their possible terrain must certainly be dwindling. What makes the traveler their heir is that he seeks lands unknown to him and in this way explores; the traveler leaves friends, family, and the familiar behind in search of something ineffable; the traveler gives up routine and the comfort of his own couch; the traveler seeks out the unfamiliar and the close sweat of foreign bodies in favor of his own sterilized world. Beyond this, the traveler must also share some of the qualities of those great charters and mappers of history.

The traveler is patient. He has to wait, to be able to work on the timeframes of others and accept the fact that different cultures have different perceptions of timeliness. When I lived in the Caribbean, I learned that soon could mean 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 days depending on what it what the speaker was referring to. If it was a car part that had to come from off-island and the mechanic said everything would be alright "soon," he meant about 5 days; if it was some paperwork that needed governmental authentication and the woman at the desk said things would come back "soon," she mean 5 business hours. If it was . . . well, you get the idea. This drove the American in me bat-sh#!, but it taught me patience because the worst thing you can possible do when you have no control or recourse it to pretend that you do.

The traveler is watchful. He is amazed that so many fantastically different cultures inhabit the same globe, that so many different peoples walk this wonderful earth speaking a myriad of languages. The traveler watches in awe and tries to appreciate that he may never again experience these same things again, so he watches carefully so as to remember them "someday day ages and ages hence." I felt this way yesterday as I stood outside a temple and watched a band play while dancers writhed on a wooden stage (see background photo) and the supplicants brought flowers, coconuts, and little birds to the alter.

The traveler is respectful. He does his best to learn the language and customs of his host country. In some cases, this may only be "hello" or "thank you" at first, but he realizes that these small tokens are a way of showing his host people that he does not expect them to know his tongue. Here in Cambodia, this is a daunting challenge because many of the pronunciation keys are even beyond my scope. Try to wrap your head around "cheh niyeay pia'saa Anglais baan the?" That's "Do you speak English?" Somehow it doesn't seem as facile as "Habla ingles?"

The traveler is equanimitous. He must always have a certain level of calm and surety that does not rely on events or circumstances. When working properly, mine comes from the incredible gratefulness I feel at even having the opportunities to explore that I do. These opportunities are not readily available to the woman in Arequipa, Peru, who works 10 hours a day, 6 days a week and earns little more than $150.00 a month. Try saving up to head to Miami for a weekend! The traveler must be equanimitous to face such daunting challenges as when my mother was calmly told at a major fast-food franchise in the Caribbean that there was no iced-tea because "da mon who
make de ice tea ain't come in yet today." Oh, well. I guess there's no iced tea then, is there?

The traveler is adventurous. This above all, I think, for without an adventurous spirit, who would want to venture beyond the Americanized resorts and hotels? And, if you're going to stay at some four-star hotel the whole time you're in Bangladesh, why even bother? The traveler braves dysentery and other ailments in an almost futile, certainly fleeting and far-between, effort to experience something real, something authentic, something that shifts his perceptive lens and challenges his gods.

This is what being a traveler means to me. These are the qualities I try to cultivate and practice (though to varying degrees of success). Do you have a story that brings these to mind? Is there something else that drives you to travel?

A Traveler Owes

The 17+ hours of flight time en route from LAX to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, yesterday afforded me ample time to reflect, and I could not help but think of the many friends, acquaintances, and sometimes strangers who have made my travels possible over the years, so I thought it only appropriate that my first post be an acknowledgement to all of them because it is to them that this traveler owes many a debt.

I want to thank them--you--for all of kindnesses great and small: the stored bags, the airport runs, the refrigerator and pantry space consumed by random foods and beverages (some better than others), the borrowed cars, the last-minute necessities poached from some closet or cabinet, the random articles left for whatever reason, the cars bought and campers sold on my behalf, and the small and large disruptions that I can only repay with stories and the occasional postcard. If you are one of those friends, you should know that your generosity and hospitality mean more than I say. You make my travels possible. Thank you. This blog is for you.

If you are a traveler and know what it is to have such friends, I would love to hear some anecdote about a kindness that helped you on one of your journeys.