Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
Last Friday, Dr. Raymond Leos, vice president of American University of Phnom Penh, died suddenly. Today at the school there was a funeral service in English. Tomorrow there will be a Buddhist ceremony at the pagoda. Raymond was a member of our Sunday English Catholic Community.
It’s not unusual to see something new and different in Cambodia, something that isn’t so common in other places.
Every morning, starting about 6:00 AM, this woman steams a little dumpling-like concoction on a charcoal burner on the sidewalk.
And the customers come!
If you’re thinking about lunch, Street 143 might be able to help.
Cambodia has been a least developed country but the government is pushing aggressively now to move the kingdom into the moderately developed category.
There is progress but there is still a long way to go. The GDP of the United States is $85, 370 per capita. Cambodia’s GDP is $1,553 per capita although it is expected to jump significantly in 2025.
Today I moved all my stuff from Street 410, from the Maryknoll office building which we are closing, to a flat in the Boeung Tum Pun area. I had way too much stuff that had to be moved but our small crew got it moved within five hours. Now it is going to take WAY more time than that to sort it all out and find a new place for it in my new home.
Today is the actual 20th anniversary of King Sihomani’s coronation in 2004.
This is the most frequent face of King Sihomani as seen by the Cambodian populace. He is always smiling the same tight-lipped smile. It is almost as if he had plastic surgery and cannot do anything except smile. But smiling is probably his most important responsibility as king. He has no legislative or jurisdictional power but is a symbol of the royal family and in that role he gives a human–smiling–face to an otherwise dour government.
Tomorrow is a public holiday to celebrate the king’s coronation day and tonight there was a fireworks display to note the occasion. This is a view from the 33rd floor of an apartment building. The fireworks are launched from a barge on the Mekong River.
