Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

Not much in Cambodia is like what you would expect to see in developed countries and electricity is a good example of that. It was less than five years ago that only 27% of Cambodia had electricity. Now there is a push to get the whole country wired.

Electricity not being available meant that houses built in the past were constructed without much consideration for wiring so you can get some really odd (to a western mind) scenarios. I want to give some examples in the next few days.

This is the door of my second-floor bedroom. The only electrical outlets in the room are the two sockets mounted on the light switch at shoulder level by the door. I need outlets for two alarm clocks, a floor lamp, a fan, a noise machine, two phone chargers, and five pieces of computer equipment so I have strung two thirty-foot extension cords to opposite walls. One goes over the door to the left, the other goes down to the floor and to the right.

This is the socket by the door with the two extensions plugged in. There are two switches in this switch box. Only one is wired up. That is the pattern through most of the house so I put a red dot on the switch that is active.

This is a switch out in the hall. It is unusual in that both switches are active. It is less unusual in that the left switch is for the room to the right and the right switch is for the hall to the left. The red arrows serve as reminders that the setup is not what you would expect.

[More to come….]

It’s early morning and a group of collectors of recyclables gather outside a wat (pagoda) near the Maryknoll office. I’m not sure why they come together. Maybe they consolidate their loads, i.e., all the metals in one cart, the paper and cardboard in another, before they go to the recycling hub to collect the pitiful amount they have earned.

Today I had an article appear in The Record, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Louisville. This is the link, if you’re interested:

https://therecordnewspaper.org/living-mission-the-kingdom-of-wonder/

It is about the way people drive in Cambodia, where anything goes. Look at this guy in the dirty car above. He wants to get some food so he pulls in the wrong lane–with a really major intersecting street behind him–and sits in his car while he waits for them to bring his food to him. Totally oblivious to politeness, courtesy, concern for the common good–not to mention the law.

Today I went to the airport to repatriate one of our St. Vincent de Paul clients who has been stranded here. We finally were able to get medical clearance and an exit visa for her. While I was standing in the check-in line with her–suitably distanced, of course–I saw three different young men checking into the same flight–with their stuffed animals hooked on to their carry-on luggage. Seeing three of them surprised me a bit.

Most Cambodians are less heavy and more limber than most Americans because of a more active physical lifestyle, but they still want to get exercise.

Two energetic morning walkers…

Many of the tuk-tuk drivers come from the provinces to earn money when not planting or harvesting rice but they have no place to stay and sleep in their tuk-tuks. They often gather the tuk-tuks together at night for protection and at first I thought this was such an encampment. But noticing that all the tuk-tuk seem to be the same, I’m wondering if this finance company has their own fleet for their business?

Last year this intersection had each of the four corners sequentially fenced off as these stanchions were created for a major pedestrian overpass to give students safe access to a large secondary school to the right of the photo. Then Covid-19 came. The school is closed but they could have finished the work on the overpass. For some reason, they didn’t.

Hey, Cambodia has reached the Big Time now–we opened our first 7-Eleven store yesterday. People—spacially distanced–stood in line out in a pouring rain to be part of the first-day crowd. There are plans for another 5-10 stores in the kingdom in the near future.