It Begins

Twenty-seven hours, three continents, and twelve time zones after saying goodbye to my mother at the airport, I arrived in Phnom Penh. After two weeks of sleep deprivation, with not one but three seats over which to spread myself on the London to Kuala Lumpur leg of the trip, and a flight staff who not only didn’t take offense, but even offered to wake me up for meals, Malaysian Airlines has now surpassed Sri Lankan airlines as my favourite air carrier.

Was greeted at the airport by Krissna, one of my colleagues at IDE. The reception I received from this point onwards was very warm. Krissna drove me to the office where another IDE worker, Kimsan, greeted me and gave me the grand tour, introducing me to all of the IDE office staff, including Liz, an Australian and one of only two other non-Cambodians in the office, and Sunday, director of Research and Development, and in all likelihood, someone with whom I will be working almost constantly in the next several months.

Everyone was extremely friendly, smiling and greeting me enthusiastically. I quickly came to remember why the Khmer have a reputation for huge smiles. Whenever there was a lull in conversation big smiles would inevitably ensue. Much to my delight, I also discovered that Selena, EWB’s previous volunteer with IDE Cambodia had left me not only two new bike helmets and a motorcycle helmet, but also a hammock, a mosquito net, and better still, a bike!

Going to lunch with Sunday and Liz, the conversation soon turned to our families. Sunday discussed his recent divorce and the custody problems he is having with his ex-wife and her family. He also talked of the family members lost under Pol Pot’s regime. It was during this lunch that I began to realize that the Khmer smile and chuckle is used not only to convey friendliness but also to smooth over awkwardness. Sunday laughed awkwardly as he spoke of the loss of family members in the genocide. Of all the possible reactions to a genocide I could have expected, anger, sadness, denial, etc., laughter to me seemed unusually disturbing.

At the time, it seemed that Sunday didn’t want to be rude by burdening the conversation with something as unpleasant and embarrassing as the years under the Khmer Rouge. In the week since, I’ve noticed that when mentioning the genocide, Cambodians always use the name of the former Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot. The Khmer Rouge themselves are never explicitly mentioned. It’s only an initial impression, but I now wonder that with so many former Khmer Rouge still involved in politics, including the dominant figure in Cambodian national politics, Prime Minister Hun Sen, it is considered politically inappropriate to blame them for the atrocities. Culturally, there seems to be a desire to move on with life, continue to build, and in some ways try to ignore the nasty history of 1975-1979. Hence the awkward laughter. Why discuss the genocide? It’s something of a national embarrassment. From what I’ve read, initially Jews acted similarly after the Holocaust as have Rwandans since the events of ten years ago in their country.

On a lighter note, after lunch, Liz and Sunday took me shopping in a Western style supermarket for food and supplies before helping me into my new place. I’m now living a block from the office in a flat that is by Cambodian standards large enough for a whole family. I know this because I’ve met and chatted with my neighbours using my limited command of Khmer. It’s also equipped with air conditioning, a fridge, a TV, and a stereo. Thus far I’ve avoided using the A/C on general principle. I’m still a romantic idealist at heart and I’m having a little trouble coping with my sudden excessive affluence.

My boss, Mike, an ex-pat Canadian who doubles as my landlady’s brother-in-law, is on a trip to Sri Lanka and won’t be back until Monday. I’ve been given Thursday and Friday off to acclimatize myself but luckily have discovered an opportunity for a field trip. Liz, Krissna, and Kimtheng, a Project Manager with IDE, are making a trip to the field on Thursday and Friday. They’re hoping to promote our ceramic water filter project in three small villages in Prey Veng province. They’ve agreed to let me tag along and observe. One day in Cambodia and already an opportunity to see some of the folks for whom we’re working. Without being able to speak Khmer, there’s only so much that I can learn from this first visit, but still, I’m really looking forward to it.