It was probably a mistake but the first thing I did was to take a Tuk Tuk out to the Killing Fields, 13 or so kilometers outside of Phnom Penh. I was emotionally exhausted after it. For anyone that doesn't know, the Killing Fields were the places (about 300 in total throughout Cambodia) where during the 70's the Khmer Rouge government tortured and executed more than 2 million of its own citizens including, students, religious persons, opposing parties and then all their families too in case they might want revenge in the future. That would have been one person in four slaughtered in the space of three years. Why? Oh you know, just a small sacrifice to create the perfect peasant society. I usually detest audio tours but in the case of the killing fields it couldn't have been done better. For two reasons; 1. To paint a clear picture of the situation. 2. To keep the grounds quiet and respectful and 3. (I just thought of this reason) to let everyone take in the horrible details and process them in their own time. I know for me it was incredibly difficult to listen to how children were killed by having their heads smashed on a tree, swung around by their ankles because bullets were too expensive. And then just to bring it all home, when we visited the S-21 museum in the city, there were pictures of each and every single person tortured and sent to die in the killing fields. It seems the Khmer Rouge were as meticulous at keeping records of their crimes as the nazis were. I had zero energy after that and just spent the rest of the day reading. The picture just below is of the memorial stupa at the fields. It's filled with the skulls of those who were murdered here.
Then there's the blatant sex tourism. Maybe I've been going around with blinkers on for the last two months but I am genuinly shocked here. I went out with the other volunteers from the school on Friday night and we ended up at a night club. Before we could even see the doors of the club the pavement was packed full of horrible, wrinkly, old men salivating over gorgeous, young Cambodian girls dressed up to the nines. I spotted one fella on the street, I'd say he was in his sixties at least. He was giving a hard time to a young girl who couldn't have been more twenty. She was doing her best to get away, him holding her wrist. Once she was free she dashed passed us with him close behind. Me being me, I stuck my foot out and tripped him up which was risky because the potential was there for him to break a hip or two. Himself told me to be careful and watch my temper and I know he's right. I'll have to get over it a bit here but it made me sick to my stomach. Actually, I don't know who I feel more sorry for; the auld lads who come half way across the world to feel wanted by a woman or the girls who are looking for a few extra dollars. I think the girls are doing the most logical thing. The auld fellas are just pathetic. You know, the average factory worker here gets 75 US dollars a month for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. It's the bulk of their family income and they are 'lucky' to have it. If you were struggling to feed, shelter and educate your family, you can't say you wouldn't do the same.
I went out to visit the school and apart from everything else I wrote above, it's the reason I'm here and I already love it. The village is beautiful. It has a massive Buddhist temple where I think the most senior monk in Cambodia lives. It's incredible. And then on one side of the village there is a lake and on the other side are flooded rice fields, so actually, I can't tell the difference between the two. The children all run out of their houses to shout 'hello, hello!' along with any other random English words they can muster up. The women in the village all give you massive smiles and seem genuinely delighted to see you. The school building itself is quite nice. It has a few classrooms, a back kitchen and bedrooms for us volunteers. The best bit is the roof with its incredible view of the village. Apparently there's no water though and I'll have to wash my clothes by hand. More about that in the next few days.
The group of volunteers seem like a great bunch. There's just one thing though...when I was working in Amsterdam I was the youngest in the company, apart from the interns but they don't count, ha. Well, here I'm the oldest and I don't like it. I'm with a few other Irish who are in their early twenties and then a million German students who are no more than 19, on a gap year between school and college. Anyway, one of the German girls asked me what age I was and when I told her I was 26 she said 'Aw great! You can be the mommy of the group!' Eh yeah...no thanks.
Other items of interest would be the following list. But for the love of god, don't mention any of it to my mother.
- two girls from my hostel had their bags snatched in broad day light,
- two of the volunteers have small but painful injuries from mopeds,
- another of the volunteers had his laptop robbed,
- a poster in my hostel advertising a shooting range that says 'decide what you want to shoot'.
And then that's me for the last couple days. I don't want you to come away with a bad image of Cambodia. If anything, this country is amazing. It's been to hell and back and while it has a long, long way to go the people have proved they won't be dragged down by the past. They are extremely loving. If you smile at anyone on the street you will get the most heart warming smile back in return, whether it's a child, a woman or an old man. I can't wait to start work there.
