Siem Reap...finally!

So I finally made the trip up to Angkor Wat (8-9 hour busride on my way up...including 2 hours sitting waiting for the bus to be repaired...sigh)...my motivation was a fellow UNC Sobsey friend, Nicole, who had been travelling through SE Asia and was now in Siem Reap. I'm pretty sure I set a record for the length of time that I've been in Cambodia and not been to the most famous place around. And I'm so glad that I went and will definitely be going back again in the next few months. It's a fun town to hang out in and the temples are amazing.

Here is Angkor Wat in late afternoon, although we did wake up at 4:30 to see it at (a cloudy) sunrise as well... and one of the "libraries" in its foreground.





That's me, face to face with a face at the Bayon temple. And then, the temple made super famous by Lara Croft, Tomb Raider...the Cambodians actually call it "The Tomb Raider" temple...or maybe they do that because that's what all the foreigners know it as...anyway, it was an absolutely stunning area. So picturesque and yet pictures can't capture it.

For you, Mom!

Some recent pictures. The first three are from a couple weeks ago when we took a weekend trip to Kep, Rabbit Island and Kampot. So it's the rainy season here and maybe that isn't the best time to try to go to an island, but we wanted to, so we did it anyway. The first two pictures are from the boat trip...and I guess we do look pretty happy in them, but it's more that nervous giddiness from wondering if we're going to be swimming to shore at any moment. ha. We did make it safely though. The peace sign I'm flashing is because, well, I AM in Asia and that's what they do. :) The third picture is on a railroad bridge in the town of Kampot...a beautiful, peaceful riverside town set at the base of the mountains.

"Preah Anrudh Preah Neang Ossa"

Last weekend we went to a Khmer classical dance performance in Phnom Penh. And in true tourist fashion we thought we'd try ourselves.

Nasty Arm

I woke up one day with a light rash that looked like the outline of a butterfly on my arm. And in about a day, it progressed to looking like it does in this picture. It was amazingly symmetric and really weird- it didn't itch but was a little painful...it actually felt like a burn. Although I didn't burn myself. It became quite the conversation piece because noone, Khmer or Western, seemed to have seen anything like it before. The nurse at RDI gave me an antibiotic shot, and put me on a steroid and antibiotics. We've never figured out exactly what it was...but think it was some bacterial skin infection. It looks a lot better now. We'll see what kind of battle wound remains.

As I’ve mentioned, during the first few weeks of the project, most of my days were in the field. Our project sites are about 1.5-2 hours from RDI so that is a lot of van time. Sometimes it is nice to have this time to take in Cambodia, but with the quality of the roads and the duration of the trips, it can get pretty uncomfortable. So, not unlike what many of us would do, I put my foot up on the dashboard as a change of riding position. In the van I promise doing this is not as obvious as it would be in a car. Despite the fact that I had been riding like this for days, one particular day my staff started to laugh about it. I asked them why they thought it was so funny, and they responded that, it was okay for me to sit like that because I am not from Cambodia, but that Cambodian women do not sit like that unless they are gangsters! I bet you didn’t know I lead a secret life as a gangsta.

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So I had been told and would claim to know that American and Cambodian cultures are so completely different, so I shouldn’t assume that I know much of anything. But as much as I know/knew that, it’s hard to remember it all the time, especially when it comes to really basic things. So my classic example of this is gesturing for someone to come towards you. We would do this with our palm facing upward, opening and closing our hand, or maybe doing a sort of side wave. Well, here…that’s what you do to call a dog over to you. And that’s what I would so nicely do to my staff. Sweet. Instead, your palm should be facing down…now I know.

I remember sitting in a sociology class last semester as my friend, Kate, did a guest lecture on culture. She did an amazing job…mixing facts and stories with ease. She also gave examples of how gestures mean different things in different places! Of course now I remember that!

Here are a few old stories that I’ve been meaning to post…

Once the project officially started, I was in a field a lot for the first few weeks…helping to recruit villages by meeting with village leaders, and then recruiting households through community meetings and household visits. I must admit that I often feel a bit useless when I’m in the field because I can’t speak Khmer. This means that I need a translator to talk to the villagers, and because most of my field staff have limited English, I need a translator to talk to them too. Wow, it takes soooooo much more time to get anything done when everything that is said is translated back and forth. There is still stuff I can do in the field, but I now can really appreciate the fact that learning the native language is necessary to be truly effective. So anyway, the community meetings are largely run in Khmer because I’ve done the spiel so many times that I pretty much know what is being said without actually understanding the language. During the meetings I try to be super attentive and smile despite not knowing what exactly is being said…and I laugh now and then when appropriate (I can’t quite explain how I know this…context clues I guess). At one particular meeting, in the village of Trapeang Kampleanh, many of the women (women and young children attend the meetings because they are often the ones working at home during the day) started laughing and so my project coordinator relayed the joke to me. (Let me tell you, most of the jokes that Cambodians tell are NOT funny…well, at least they aren’t funny to us. I’ve had to work on the art of fake laughing.) But in this particular case, what they said was actually funny, so they got a real Erin laugh. And they thought it was so great that I laughed the same way as them. And they were right. There are so so many differences in our cultures, but there are few things…smiling, laughing, crying…that have no barriers. And it’s pretty amazing what you can communicate with those simplicities.

Bamboo Island

Last weekend, a friend from RDI and I went to Sihanoukville. It's about a 4 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh, which, depending on the busline can be somewhat relaxing or horribly uncomfortable. Maybe I shouldn't quite say relaxing, because there is always the swaying back and forth in your seat from the bus barreling down the road passing people and then slamming on the brakes when a cow/buffalo/child/moto is in the path of the bus. No matter how many times you experience this, it still startles you from whatever you were doing. The rule of the road is that the right-of-way goes to the largest vehicle. So despite the busdriver passing people at any time (curves mean nothing when it comes to passing), because we are usually the biggest on the road, you feel a sense of safety...as false as that may be. Anyway, knowing that you are traveling to the place above definitely makes the trip worthwhile.

Bamboo Island is about an hour boat ride off the coast of Sihanoukville...

Last week Mickey (the director of RDI) and I drove to the provincial rural development office to try to set up a meeting. We arrived to find only a couple of women working. Apparently it was a holiday that we had forgotten about…for good reason. The holiday was International Women’s Day and it was on the previous Saturday (this was Monday). But because the holiday fell on a weekend they thought they should take Monday off. So let me get this straight- the women were at work on International Women’s Day and the men were off celebrating a day devoted to the advancement of women’s rights. Hmmmm, very interesting.

Corruption in the government is rampant in Cambodia. I realize some degree of government corruption happens everywhere. It just seems worse here because it is so much more blatant and the people are powerless. The average Cambodian makes about $1 a day yet Land Rovers and Mercedes are some of the most common vehicles. I’m not talking about the white NGO SUVs, because the ones owned by the government officials are much nicer. The drivers are usually going really fast, honking for everyone to get out of their way…I’m sure they have somewhere very important to go to. So it is up to the pedestrians that are already playing a game of frogger, the motos balancing everything imaginable on their bikes, the tuktuks, the cyclos slowly peddling along, and the venders pushing their carts, to get out of the way of the speeding SUV. I’ve asked a few Cambodians how they feel about the corruption in the government…and the common answer, after a short chuckle, is that they can’t do anything about it. They don’t know what they could do that would result in anything positive…so they just don’t do anything, and accept it for what it is. So this has made me think, and I have no idea what the answer is. How does a stable country develop from this deep corruption? It’s such a far reaching problem, with so many powerful people involved that I understand the Cambodians’ feelings of powerlessness. And yet I hate that the amazing people here have to deal with it, that they just accept that money rolls into their country and no trace of it ever reaches them. A recent survey came out stating that around 65% of Cambodians had paid a bribe in the past year…from my experience already, I’m surprised it’s not higher. I can watch a round about for a few minutes and see money being handed out of windows to police officers. The other day on the way to a kickboxing match in Phnom Penh, the moto that a friend and I were riding on was waved to the side of the road because he had run a red light and didn’t have plates on his moto. After a few short minutes of discussion, the guy I was with gave the cop 5000 riel, and we were on our way again. 5000 riel is $1.25. There are so many things wrong with this situation.

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Here's a copy of the email I sent out:

I just want to give you all an update on where I am and what I’m up to these days. I graduated from UNC in December with my MSPH in environmental sciences and engineering. I was then given the opportunity by my advisor to stay on with UNC and lead a research project. Although this had been in the works for a while, I found out in early November that in 2 months, I’d be leaving the country for about a year. As many of you know, the pace of my life isn’t the quickest…but here is the exception. In that time, I wrote my thesis, defended it, packed for the trip, moved from Chapel Hill and did a million other little things to try to prepare for the move. Oh yeah, and it was the holidays, so I did manage to spend a few days with my family!

So I’m currently living in Cambodia- I’ve actually been here for a little over 2 months now (wow, can’t believe it’s been that long already…) and will be here about a year. Some of you have been very active in this transition, some of you are aware that I moved somewhere for some reason and some of you probably have no idea (thanks to me!)! I’m working on a project that evaluates the health impact and water quality effectiveness of a certain household water treatment filter, called the biosand filter. My focus at UNC was largely on drinking water quality in developing countries, so I’m excited to get into the field and work on something that I’m passionate about. I won’t go into many more details about the project but if anyone wants to know more, I’d love to talk about it. We are partnered with RDI-C (Resource Development International-Cambodia, www.rdic.org), which is an NGO doing some excellent development work for Cambodia. RDI is set up in a way that allows for researchers and volunteer groups from all over the world to stay here and has the accommodations to support that. Currently there are people living here from Australia, Canada, England, Holland, and the US of course. So I’m living in a bungalow at RDI…it’s quite adequate for my needs, although I haven’t been here for long, so we’ll see how I feel in a couple months. Phnom Penh is about a 20-30 minute drive from here which makes for a nice weekend getaway, but not a commute I’d want to do everyday on the back of a moto.

Life has been pretty intense, exciting, and challenging with trying to get this project up and running, while at the same time adjusting to a culture and a country unlike anywhere I’ve ever been…and realizing I’ll be here longer than I’ve ever been gone. I’m not sure if that’s truly hit me yet. But this is an experience that I’ve wanted to do for many reasons, and so far, I love it. Cambodia is a beautiful, diverse country that, despite its tumultuous recent history, seems to be so full of hope. The people that I’ve met are amazingly friendly and gracious. It is, of course, still a developing country, and so I have moments and days when I talk to someone or see something that I have trouble taking in and knowing what to do with the emotion….but that’s all part of it.

I’ve set up a blog that is still very much in the development phase, but if you’re interested in what I’m up to this year, check it out: erinprinty.blogspot.com. The consistency of the internet and power is a large determinant of how often I can post! Anyway, I hope that you are all well, and if you feel like visiting the other side of the world, I’m sure you’d have an amazing trip and I’d love to have visitors. J

I was finally able to do some travelling last weekend...a few of us from RDI went to Kep and Rabbit Island. They are little seaside/beach towns on the southern coast. Kep was beautiful- it used to be the most popular beach spot in Cambodia, before the Khmer Rouge destroyed most of the french villas, etc. so you can see the ruins of what looked like beautiful homes. And it's located on the side of a mountain so there are some great views. We then took a boat over to Rabbit Island, which is pretty much the picturesque tropical island, almost a little too so. I kept having to remind myself that this was reality when I was there...we arrived to white sand beaches, perfectly lined with palm trees, straw bungalows, a couple open air "restaurants", hammocks...it was amazing. For lunch I had crab curry on the beach with a crab that they pulled out of the water to make the dish! mmmmm!

UNC and RDI Staff

So my main task here in Cambodia is to manage a project that evaluates the effectiveness of the HydrAid (plastic biosand filter) water filter. Largely, we will do this by looking at the health impact and microbiological water quality due to filter usage. UNC is funded by International Aid (www.internationalaid.org) to do this trial in three study locations: Honduras, Ghana and Cambodia. The purpose of geographically different sites is to reduce the effect of location and cultural bias in the study in order to make the results generalizable to many areas. In each location, we'll be including about 200 households...so that means collecting and analyzing water samples, as well as interviewing each household biweekly...for about 6-8 months. At this point, I've hired and trained (hopefully) 10 Cambodians to assist on the project, in the lab and field. Much of the initial project setup is complete, thanks to the help of many people(!), so I'm excited to really get started very soon. I'm warned that life will really get crazy soon. So now all I have to do is make sure everything runs smoothly...

The picture above is the UNC project staff. I took them out for lunch...this included snails, a whole fish, some kind of "soup", fried chicken, and rice of course. I definitely wasn't a strict vegetarian when I left, but I grew to often prefer to not have meat. And really, when you live in Carrboro, NC, it is the norm to be a vegetarian so it's very accomodating to that lifestyle. Cambodia, not so much. I learned that on day one when my "vegetarian" plane meals were repulsive, and again when I began living in the village and meat is served 3 times a day. Anyway, I think that my staff are misinformed into thinking that I really like this restaurant because they always invite me to go with them. But I am honored that they invite me, and so I go, realizing, maybe, that there is more to life than good food. :)

(Check out those lovely UNC shirts in the picture.)



Some of the wonderful RDI staff.

The much awaited abode picture

Here is my bungalow, or as I like to call it, the penthouse. I have a nice view of the land, a front row seat to evening volleyball games, a 1 minute walk to work, what more could you want? Hot water is what I really want right now! You know how we say sometimes that we're having a "bad hair day", well here we say we have a "bad hair life." It's true, a constant state of dirty hair that feels like straw, but if that's all there is to complain about, we're not doing so bad. I've started showering in the afternoon to take advantage of the warmer water then and it seems to help. And there is definitely time for that because the lunch break is around 1.5 to 2 hours. They've just accepted in Cambodia what we all fight in the U.S...an after lunch nap is totally normal. How will I explain that to my next boss?

Happy Birthday!!!

Hi Nan,
I hope you have a great birthday! Here's my birthday wish to you from the other side of the world...where I've already been celebrating. It's an extra long birthday for you this year. :) It was great to talk (and see!) to you the other day. I wish I could have been home last weekend, but soon enough...until then, remember I'm thinking of you and love you!

A random addition

So this is obviously a bit out of order, but I wanted to post some recent family pictures. Our family rented a house on the Outer Banks (Nags Head) of North Carolina over New Years. It was my final family time before heading out. So, needless to say, it was a great trip, with a pretty tough ending. After first seeing Ashton and Ethan at a day old, it's hard to imagine that they will have just had their first birthday the next time I see them...

A few minutes ride on a bike leads to a scene something like this, with small raised dirt paths that wind between rice fields as far as you can see. It's beautiful. Apparently the rice fields in the wet season are an amazing site, so hopefully I'll have a before and after picture. It's difficult to see in this picture, but in the distance, people are planting rice by hand, stalk by stalk, that's how it's done...I'll try to remember that the next time I'm complaining about something.

FRUIT SHAKES!!!!!!!! These are my new obsession. 2000 riel (50 cents) for a shake made out of fresh fruit, what's not to love about that?!? Our fun night out is to take a tuk tuk to the little stand on the road where a lady makes these- we like to think that she makes the best ones in Cambodia. The folks in the picture from left to right are Sophie (a Dutch girl that is a constant source of amusement), Caleb (a great guy from Kentucky that has been living at RDI for about 1.5 years- he's fluent in Khmer, which is amazing and also amusing to watch how the Khmer react to that), me!, Hannah (a girl from Vancouver that graciously opens her home to us to watch movies, make grilled cheese...those kind of comforts), and Da (another great guy...he is from Cambodia but is fluent in English, which makes our interactions a bit easier. he's the one that got me into playing volleyball over here, occassionally. i'm now working on getting him to try out yoga.) Anyway, it's a great mix of people, always people coming and going, always something going on...

The view from my front porch. The court looks inactive right now, but there are lively games almost every evening. Occassionally there is a girl that attempts to play with the Cambodian guys...she has fun, and I'm pretty sure they find it rather amusing.

This merry-go-round is also right outside of my bungalow. It actually has a purpose other than a fun place to play. As the kids play on it, and it goes around, water is pumped into a storage tank. The first picture that I apprehensively took of them playing is not included here. Once the kids saw that I had a CAMERA, they immediately struck this pose. The picture that follows, but doesn't exist, is the kids surrounding me after the picture, wanting to see themselves and laughing hysterically. It was great.

A bridge in the village of Kean Svay where I'm living. And the view from the bridge...

An RDI sunset.