Today our group returned to Phnom Penh, Russ Brine and I in the morning, and the rest in the afternoon. Click here for final views from Meraki.
MKLM Retreat (Wednesday)
MKLM Retreat (Tuesday)
This was the second day of our retreat. Click here for pictures from the activities and from the beautiful surroundings.
Notable Quotes
“This is a person out of control…He is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the land. He encouraged people to lie for him. He lied. I think he obstructed justice. I think there’s a compelling case…that [it] would be better for him to leave office than stay in office. ”
~ Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (1999)
MKLM Retreat (Monday)
Today was devoted to some serious study of Buddhism and the practice of meditation but there was also time for just enjoying the beautiful surroundings. Click here for scenes from today.
MKLM Retreat (Sunday)
Our Maryknoll Lay Missioners group in Cambodia has a retreat together each year and this year we went to a center in Kampot Province on the coast. Click here to see pictures from this travel day.
Selling in the Street
The streets are crowded in Phnom Penh and the situation is made worse by all the vendors on the edge of the street, occupying what would be a sidewalk. Click here to see one stretch of street beside a school.
Another fruit
Here’s still another fruit–now in season–for which I have no name.
Is it the rainy season yet?
Our power has been going on and off daily for quite a few weeks because the dry season has lowered the water levels in the reservoirs which generate 60% of Cambodia’s power. This week we have had three one-hour downpours, though, so maybe the rainy season is just about here. The government newspaper says it will begin the third week of May. This is what the street looked like yesterday when I came out of a hamburger joint after a lunch meeting.
Another fruit of the season
Mangoes are definitely in season now but they are just the predominant fruit available now in the markets. There are lots of others. One is this fruit for which I have now forgotten the name! It is a big fruit with a large hull, almost like a coconut, but there is just a small amount of soft creamy colored fruit inside (in the upper plastic bags in the picture). I’ll have to ask the name….
Incompetence
One of my favorite sayings that guides my reactions to people and events is “Never attribute to ill will what can be explained by stupidity.” Many things in Cambodia can be explained by corruption, greed, malfeasance, theft, the desire for power, etc. Other things are the result of the failure of thinking or common sense, or maybe their absence.
Look at this STOP sign (yellow circle). That fact that no one in living memory has stopped at a STOP sign in Cambodia is another story. Here we are talking about the sign’s location. Most STOP signs are located 3 to 6 feet from the intersecting street where you are required to stop. The intersecting street (red circle) in this picture is probably close to a tenth of a mile ahead. Notice how small the car is in the red circle. It’s hardly identifiable as a car because of the distance. Some road crew without a clue about traffic signage, traffic law, etc., separated this sign from the intersection it controls. That’s incompetence.