Yesterday I started addressing the topic of wood in Cambodia. I revised the table of contents and have restructured yesterday’s content into a new section about deforestation. Click here to go to the main page about WOOD.
Topic: Wood #1
What I call TOPICS are different aspects of Cambodia life and culture that I think deserve a fuller treatment than just one post on this page. Topics will have their own pages and the posts here will point to those pages. This is the start of a Topic treatment about wood in Cambodia, a commodity that is the focus of a lot of society and is much in the news. Click here to go to the main page about WOOD.
“Take an IV and call me in the morning….”
Just like aspirin used to be the one-size-fits-all medicine for the United States so an intravenous injection is the cure-all in Cambodia. If a person goes to a doctor or a clinic and doesn’t get an IV, he/she feels like he’s wasted his money. Need it or not, you’re SUPPOSED to get an IV! People will go to a pharmacy and get an IV and administer it to themselves at home. Here a family returns from a doctor visit for a (not visible) infant the mother is holding and like good parents they make sure the baby gets his IV on the way home!
“You want a straw with that?”
Here’s a truck loaded with about a gazillion straws. It’s part of the culture here—probably because of an assumption that nothing you drink from is hygienic–that every drink is served with a straw. You buy a Coke in a bottle, you get a straw. You get an iced tea in a restaurant, you get a straw. You order a glass of milk, a straw comes with it. You buy a canned soft drink, a straw. You buy a fresh coconut on the street, you get a straw. This same truck loads up at the same shop 3, 4, 5 times a week. They would put more on the truck but notice they are just now under the mass of wires above the load.
Serving Up Hard Cash
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.
Notable Quotes
“Our country is not ‘under danger from immigrants.’ It is under danger from a politician who confuses the presidency with the monarchy.”~ Sr. Joan Chittister, author and spiritual writer |
Deaf Youth Camp #4
The morning was mostly a fun time and then there was the long ride back to Phnom Penh. The bus didn’t get back to the DDP office until 8:15 PM. Click here for the photos.
[The End]
Deaf Youth Camp #3
Today was a full day of activities at the Metta Karuna center and then a trip to Angkor Wat and then a quiet evening back at the center. Click here for the pictures.
Deaf Youth Camp #2
Friday started off early in Phnom Penh. Then after a long bus ride to Siem Reap, the group had lunch and jumped into their camp program. Metta Karuna is a reflection center run by the Jesuits, close to town but away from the noise and hustle of the tourists. Click here to see pictures from the first day.
Deaf Youth Camp #1
The first DDP Deaf Youth Camp was held 3-5 February at the Metta Karuna Center in Siem Reap. Over the next few days stories and photos from the camp will be posted here. Click here to see the camp main page.