Day seven in Cambodia: Orange is a reminder of the autumn leaves

I have the worst heat rash of my life. My neck and face are covered in little bumps that are extremely itchy. I have pink dots all of my body, marking the place where mosquitoes made meals out of me. My body is sore, my vision is blurry, and I'm exhausted.

The last three days were anything but magical. We stayed in the house of a very generous local elderly woman, just 25 minutes from Siem Reap. Even though we weren't that far from one of the most saturated tourist areas, we were still in the remote countryside.

We had foam beds and small pillows, with one sheet and one towel. But the three nights we spent were the hottest it has been since we arrived in Cambodia. Surrounding our beds were mosquito nets, and we had four small fans oscillating in the room. However, bugs still managed to find their way into our nets. And I found my "all creatures deserve to live" philosophy being challenged. I killed a beetle, some mosquitoes, and a couple other insects...and I feel very guilty about it.

Our home stay living arrangements

The "shower" situation

In order to clean off, we had to use metal and plastic bowls to splash the rainwater in the cement cylinder onto our bodies. It was a pain to shampoo or use body wash because it took forever in order to get it all off. Needless to say, I only conditioned my curly afro hair once...so it was wrestled into a bird's nest on the top of my head by the end of the stay.

We were originally supposed to do the home stay for four nights, but our professor realized that although the home stay was a good struggle for us to work through, pedagogically, it wasn't doing anything for our writing. So he, and our wonderful tour guide, Vuttha, made arrangements with the hotel for us to come earlier. Even the bumps covering my neck and my face were screaming for joy at the excellent news.

Although I have painted my experience at the home stay as miserable, and I just seem bitchy and whinny, just give me a chance to redeem myself. I recognize that despite the rough conditions, our arrangements were considered better than how the majority of the impoverished in Cambodia live. We had medicine to help us sleep and to remedy any stomach or bug bite issues. We had beds with sheets, a blanket, and a pillow, as well as mosquito nets. We had bug spray and toiletries. We ate incredibly well since the village chef cooked our meals, and we had plenty of food and bottled water. We were allowed to rinse off as often as we wanted. Although we didn't have a toilet that flushed, it was still sit down and we had toilet paper. We were still living better than the majority of Cambodian people.

According to US standards of income, my household is qualified as impoverished, but yet, this home stay was still a slap in the face for me. My family receives a lot of government assistance, but in Cambodia they don't have government aid. Their government wants them to be poor and ignorant so they can control them and be powerful and rich. There's a different type of poverty that Cambodia is dealing with in comparison to places like the US, and other countries that have governments who try to help their people. Cambodians don't have that luxury. They just have a government that wants to take advantage of them.

Despite the unforgiving cycle of poverty, the Cambodians we encountered in the villages we visited were the sweetest and kindest people I have ever interacted with.

People from one of the nearby villages we visited

The elderly women jokingly told our tour guide in Khmer that we should help her build her brick kiln.
This was $3,000.00 to build, and that's without the price of labor. She saved up for a very long time.

Although these people live in hard conditions and are stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty, they are unbelievably happy and friendly. Despite the language barrier, the people would still wave at us and some could even say hello and goodbye. Even those who couldn't, would still smile and joyfully laugh at our presence. The happiness the Cambodian people share is unlike any happiness I have ever experienced. As Americans, we have all of this luxury and wonderful opportunities, and yet, we are not as nice or peaceful as the Cambodian people are. They have a government that wants to oppress them, but yet, they still continue on with life, work hard, and smile.



This village usually can only be reached by boat, hence the reason why the houses are on stilts. But because of the lack of rain, it is not covered in water currently.

Cambodian children are the cutest!

Washers and dryers: another luxury I have taken for granted

This women claimed these were all of her children, but our tour guide was skeptical

It was difficult for our group to adjust to the lifestyle. I think it is especially hard going from an air conditioned hotel with showers and clean towels every day to sleeping in the heat and cuddling with the insects at night. I think this is a useful lesson everyone could really benefit from. We have more than the majority of the world, so we should take the time to appreciate our lives and the people around us. We should eat slower and stop complaining about the small things. The home stay really put things into perspective, and we can all learn from the happiness the Cambodia people are capable of maintaining.

Despite my heat rash that makes me look like I stuck my head into a red ant hill and how badly we all reeked when we walked into the hotel in Siem Reap, I don't think I have ever laughed as hard as I did playing soccer with some of the village kids while waiting for the paint to dry on the latrine we were helping to upgrade for one of the local primary schools. Or learning how to do the "coconut" dance or the "fish" dance while having the community watch us make fools of ourselves.



One of the kids I played soccer with

The bathroom we worked on for three days at the primary school

I wasn't very good at the coconut dance...or the fish dance...or any dance we did.
But it was still very entertaining and hysterical.

Our audience that kept getting larger and larger

I think it is the small moments and the little things we need to start appreciating, and this home stay really made me aware of how fortunate I am to be born in a country that has at least given me the opportunity to rise up out of my poverty. Life is too short, and as the orange monk robes remind us all, some day, the autumn leaves will fall. I would rather live a life of appreciation and compassion for all living beings than one in which I take everything for granted.