The Democratic Republic of North Korea is a mess. That is no secret. The regime there has to scramble to keep their elite well fed and produce nuclear weapons. One of the strategies is setting up North Korean restaurants around the world, in sympathetic countries. This is one of them in Siem Reap. The restaurants all follow the same model: a bevy of young, pretty North Korean women who take the orders and serve the food, and then come back near the end of the meal to perform a medley of songs. And then all the hard cash goes back to Pyongyang.
First, sorry for not being able to post yesterday. We had to get fingerprinted in the morning and the plan was afterwards to update this website before heading to Siem Reap for a deaf youth camp. But it turned out the whole morning was spent with the fingerprints so that I had no time to do anything before heading north to the camp.
A recent directive from the Ministry of Social Affairs said that all the Maryknoll project directors need to get a criminal record check. Probably that is the result of international NGOs pushing against the trafficking and abuse of children here.
I thought it would take maybe 15-30 minutes for the seven of us to be printed but it took 2 1/2 hours. We had to fill out a form for the Cambodian police at the Ministry of the Interior and that took a while because they wanted all our heights in centimeters, etc., and then eventually we each were fingerprinted twice.
The original plan was that we would get fingerprinted and then we would send the copies of the print and our payment to the FBI in Washington, DC., they would do a criminal check, and then send us a record of their findings which we could submit to MOSVY. But it turns out that the police here have some sort of working arrangement with the FBI and the US Embassy so the time spent on all the paperwork was to send that to Washington for us. We had to pay $30 each for that, plus $2.50 for new photos, but if we understood correctly what they were telling us, we don’t have to do anything more.
Sr. Mara Rutten, who used to work for the FBI in Washington, has her height measured in centimeters.Sr. Helene O’Sullivan has her fingers inked for the printing. For some reason, two other officers both took photos of each of us being fingerprinted.
Some people say there’s no global warming, no climate change but it’s hard to accept that here. When I first came to Cambodia, I was told that the rainy season ended in late September. Then the last few years it seemed to finish in November or December. This year it was raining into mid January. Finally last week we had a full week with no rain and I thought “It’s finally over!” But then today we had a sprinkle in the morning and then a real light rain this afternoon! When will it stop?
Recently there has been a flurry of street paving in our part of town. It’s getting close to local elections and the ruling party wants to show its best side. Before the pavers got to Street 105, though, two really deep holes had developed on two successive street corners. Apparently water underneath the pavement had washed away whatever foundation there was and a hole developed, straight down, at least eighteen inches deep and ten inches wide and extending who knows how far under the pavement. When they first appeared, the populace did what they usually do, stick a tree branch into the hole to make it more visible.
But then the street pavers came along. Now their job is to pave the street, not repair it, so they just paved around the hole.
A DEEP hole in a busy street. With no more tree branches around, someone covered it with a piece of cardboard, perhaps thinking the contrasting color might alert motorists to the danger.Probably after some motorcycle or bicycle crashed into the hole, someone then put these bags of trash on the edges of the hole as a warning.
These three (probably from the same family) earn a little extra money by spreading out an assortment of shoes along the street near the riverfront and the Royal Palace, a place frequented by thousands of Cambodians on Sundays.
I have often wondered why advertisers pose models in stances or with facial expressions that seem to indicate physical pain, mental illness, dyspepsia, or just boredom. Wouldn’t you want people to associate some happiness with using the product?
Just to be clear, the original of this Cambodia Beer ad did not have this English caption!
Here is an old man selling towels and similar goods from a sidewalk near the Maryknoll office. Is this his own initiative, earning a little something to keep him alive? Or is this the idea of his children he lives with, asking him to make a contribution to the family? Or????
A few weeks ago, I posted an article about some mysterious fruits that I saw being sold along the side of the road. Lo and behold, Bishop Olivier was reading my website and sent me an SMS telling me, Those are not fruits but SNAILS! Big snails…. So now the record is set straight.
The celebration of Christmas in Phnom Penh is quite different from what most people would experience in places where there is a large Christian community and long-standing Christmas traditions and customs. Here Christmas is almost universally not understood and largely ignored except by the shops and stores that can profit from it commercially.
Christmas Day in Phnom Penh
Here are some glimpses of Christmas day here in Phnom Penh this year.
Even on a regular Sunday, much of the normal commerce continues in Phnom Penh. Here is an auto repair shop at the end of our street. These guys never get a day off–and they haven’t a clue about Christmas.
This man is stopping to get his morning coffee, probably like he does most other days of the week and of the year.
One sign of Christmas: the new Carl’s Jr put up an ersatz Christmas tree in the front of their franchise.
Down on the river front, a woman sells sparrows from her cage to Cambodia people who release them to gain merit for the next life. Seems to me there would be more merit gained by not capturing the birds in the first place.
A Christian NGO arranged a Christmas giveaway, handing out bags of goodies to the crowd that quickly formed around their tuk-tuk. I’m not sure what all was in the bags but I could see cans of Coca-Cola through the plastic.
A disabled man begs for money along the river front.
Two monks make their rounds begging for food for themselves and the poor people they support.
A husband and wife take a river front tour in cyclos.
An enterprising shop along the river sells little Santa Claus outfits to the tourists and locals who think it’s cute for their kids.
This crew repairs a flat tire on their garbage truck.
This coffee shops and bar goes all out for the Christmas spirit with a large snowman.
Here is an old man selling towels and similar goods from a sidewalk near the Maryknoll office. Is this his own initiative, earning a little something to keep him alive? Or is this the idea of his children he lives with, asking him to make a contribution to the family? Or????
A few weeks ago, I posted an article about 
