Day 8 - Phnom Penh 9/17

We got up in the morning and got breakfast, and then went to the market so I could buy some things for myself and gifts for others. Then we went and got pedicures – one of the things I absolutely wanted to do over there because they are SO ridiculously expensive here in the states…so I enjoyed my $5 pedicure and now have cute toes :)

Then we went to a yummy Indian place for lunch and then took a moto to Wat Phnom, which is basically a city park with one of their Buddhist temples in the middle.

There was even a very old elephant there that you could feed if you wanted to – one that was taken away during the Khmer (kuh-MY) Rouge to work and then afterward the owner – who amazingly survived – went back and found his elephant and has been back in the city park with him ever since!

People stashed money everywhere with these idols - which are EVERYWHERE inside these places. Kara and I thought it just looked like a room full of junk, but maybe that's because we aren't Buddhist (and I am not trying to offend any of you out there...just stating what I thought)

One of the guards/policemen...you know...hard at work playing a game

I have no idea what this building is, but I thought the little elephant statues were cute :)

Next we went to a place called Bloom…which is a cake shop that an Australian women started (fondant cakes), and has cake classes and that is how she finds her employees. The girls do AMAZING work! In fact, the daughter of one government official ordered a cake for her 30th birthday party from them – and it was HUGE. Kara and I split a 6 cupcake sampler and it was $7.50 – so expensive, but SO good and very cute. They want to be high end and high quality to attract the upper class (there really is only poor or rich in Cambodia). She calls it the Robin Hood mentality :)

Don't these just look amazing?!? Let me tell you, they were even BETTER than they looked :)

As you can see, we enjoyed every bite...

These pictures are mostly for you, Tara...I couldn't help but think of you the whole time we were there...all fondant cakes...

The flowers are even handmade and painted...this is a "normal" cake


How cool is this cake?


ADORABLE...and so detailed...see the bees all the way up on top?!? So cute...


You can't really tell, but this is so tiny and detailed...


This was just amazing to me...


They look so real!!
(some of these have a sign for no pictures, but we asked first, don't worry!)

Some of the tuk-tuks were decorated - like one was batman. Can you guess what this one was :) :) And, this guy must have been desperate, because he gave us the moto price instead of the tuk-tuk price to our destination.

I wish I had more pictures like this. People carry SO MUCH STUFF on their bikes or motos. It is absolutely ridiculous and amazing at the same time. My sister has a book called "Carrying Cambodia" that is a perfect little book filled with pictures of examples of what you would see. I wouldn't even know where to start :) I saw people on a moto with their IV bag, families of 5 or 6 on one tiny moto (I thought three of us was full!), a huge bubble of supplies that the whole vehicle was completely surrounded on almost every side but the front, a huge 6-7 foot hog on the back of one bike, and so much more.

Next we went to another salon where the girls that work there are ones taken out of human trafficking and they are teaching them a trade so that they do not wind back up in that situation. It was 10 cents for each toe for us to get a cute design painted on.

Driving there is crazy like I mentioned when I talked about our trip on the fast bus. I tried to capture examples while we were riding, but unfortunately I didn't get good ones. Oh well...here is a very tiny idea of what it was like:

Example 1

Example 2

Then we went back to Kara’s house, ate yummy new fruit that I had never even heard of, had a good conversation, and then I packed and got things around to fly home. Then we went to a Lebanese restaurant and met one of her other housemates there, Mary (plus she has three other housemates that I haven't mentioned - Sochea, Ra and Cath), which was once again amazing food. Then we went back, said goodbye to all her housemates, and headed back to the airport in a tuk-tuk (my last ride :( ) and said our goodbyes...so bittersweet.

If only I had a $1 for every time I was solicited to buy something, or the times I heard "tuk-tuk, lady?" I would be a rich woman. It was such a fun experience. There is just so much about Cambodia that even with pictures and me explaining things still does not do their culture justice. Their strong ties to the concept of community, bargaining in the market, their looks when we told them we were walking for fun (no one does this over there), a lot of women wearing pajamas all day (think cotton, long sleeve pants and button up long sleeve shirt – and the picture in your mind is exactly correct), cutting grass by hand (how can they think having grass is lazy?!?), stray, mangy dogs everywhere, the fact that you never know what you might see driving around (with how much and what they carry), the warmth not only of the climate, but the people that live there. I loved it – and hope that someday you will be able to go so that you can experience it as well.

My plane left at 11 PM Friday night, so I tried to get a little sleep knowing it was my only real chance until I got home. At some point on the plane during the 5 hour flight I caught a cold, though...

Saturday 9/18
I didn’t really talk to anyone on the flights home...one because I didn’t sit by anyone quite as interesting as my flight there, two because I was feeling more introspective, and three because I was tired and sick (by the time I got home and got to bed I had been up 50 hours other than the brief sleep on my first flight). I still can’t say enough about Korean air...super impressed – even their food was amazing. Anyway, it was kind of strange to get back into a culture where I was surrounded by people that I can understand their language, and yet it was exciting coming back to things that were familiar. Stephen met me at the Detroit Metro Airport with the kids – all three very excited that I was home. By the time we drove home, put the kids in bed, and I showed Stephen some of the things I bought in the market, it was time for bed – which was WONDERFUL. I slept good and really had no jet lag – which wasn’t a huge surprise to me since I didn’t have it that bad on the way there – I kind of assumed it would be easier coming back into my own time zone.

So many people while I was there, and even when I got back, have asked me if it was a lot different, or what I thought about all the differences, and my sister even prepared me for culture shock that some people experience...and I don't know if it is because I am unemotional, take things in stride, and am pretty laid back on most things (notice I said most...I know I can be intense about some things), but I really wasn't shocked by what I saw and experienced. Yes, I knew what to expect because of Kara, but still...life is life...humanity is humanity. They have grass, trees, clouds and the sun just like us. The people there live and work and eat and sleep, they marry and have kids, just like us. There are the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick. Of course there are differences - there are difference just going state to state here in America - but I think what I realized more from this trip is how small the world really is, how truly connected we all are at the core of humanity, and the fact that you can feel at home and see glimpses of "home" no matter where you are in the world.

This was a great experience, wonderful to see Kara, and I had a good trip – full of all kinds of "firsts" - all the way around!