Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

End of the Shift

This is in front of a furniture factory across the street from the Maryknoll office, early in the morning. The guard is probably finishing his overnight shift and getting ready to head home but some woman vendor comes along and he decides to eat breakfast here instead of on the way. I wonder what it is she has to offer?

Trees: Former Glory

Cambodia has a strong relationship with its trees. Most of the population still cooks using charcoal in open pottery braziers. Heavy wooden stylized furniture is an affirmation of a family’s status or the viability of a company. In the colonial days beautiful tree-lined boulevards graced Phnom Penh. Today much of the urban glory provided by the trees is gone but there are still glimpses in some parts of the city.

Decorative trees in the park-like median between busy lanes of traffic.
Another urban open area with trees.
Some businesses create a welcoming environment with trees.
A remnant of a former beautiful tree-lined boulevard.

Another glimpse of what used to be but now is mostly gone.

Watch what they’re doing…

Everybody in the city has to have a little business. If you have a regular, formal office job, you still have a little business enterprise on the side. Every little bit helps the family survive. These two men, one maybe retired from another job, have little carts for working on watches–changing batteries, replacing watchbands, maybe even a simple repair. An important part of this endeavor is finding where you can keep your cart overnight and finding a good place to set up on the street.

It’s a new era…

When I first came to Cambodia more than twenty years ago, there were no used washing machines or used refrigerators. There WERE NO washing machines and very few refrigerators. People didn’t have the money to buy them, they weren’t sold here, and electricity was very expensive (it still is!). But today it’s common to see used appliances for sale in front of appliance shops.

Used refrigerators
Used washers. Dryers are still not commonly sold here.

Processed meats

In some ways Cambodian eating is quite healthy: people going to the market each day to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, not eating a lot western-style junk food. But there are also less healthy parts of the local cuisine, such as this processed meat cart which has hot dogs, sausages, blocks of probably every sort of meat available. They’re warmed by the sun while sitting on blocks of ice covered with cloth.