Dela Frijoles: Warning . . . . . Lots of Stories

The driver I used yesterday picked me up at the hotel at 8:00 and we were off. The places I went to today were further away and it took us just over an hour to get to the first temple. It was nice to take a ride in the countryside and see a bit of how Cambodians actually live. Siem Reap is the second largest city in Cambodia, but this is only because of the tourist population (2 million last year). As a result, it’s a touristy town where you don’t really get a sense of what the country and culture is actually like.

My first temple was definitely a different experience than the temples yesterday. I assumed because this temple was further away, it would seem as quiet or quieter than it was yesterday. It was the exact opposite. This temple had full services including an interpretation center, a cafeteria and stands selling tourist trinkets. It also wasn’t quite as spread out and I must have hit the big bus tour arrival. It was pretty crowded in there - I hated it!!

My second stop wasn’t a temple, but a museum. It’s a small little place called the Cambodian Landmine Museum. It was started and run by Aki Ra. Aki Ra is a Cambodian whose parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge. When he was around 10, he became a child soldier with the Khmer Rouge and his main job was laying landmines. He was later captured by the Vietnamese army who had him continue his job of laying mines. When the UN came in to restore peace in the 90’s, Aki started training with them to learn how to clear the mines. He began working on his own and clearing any mines that villagers told him about. He also opened up an orphanage for children who were injured by land mines. It is a pretty amazing story!

My last stop for the day and my last temple on this trip ended up being the best experience I’ve had! The name of the temple is Banteay Samre, and it must be off the tourist track because there was hardly anyone there. It was awesome. At one point I just sat on one of the steps taking in the whole scene. There were a ton of butterflies around, and I was by myself. It was truly amazing. After awhile I decided to explore the rest of the temple. I got to the middle portion and there was someone sitting in front of a shrine. They told me to sit down and started speaking to me in very broken English. My ESL teaching background came in handy as I kind of deciphered (through body language and interpreting a heavy accent) that they were going to give me a Buddhist blessing. I’m not the type of person that is offended or scared by something like this – I see it more as an individual spiritual thing than a religious one, and I kind of took it as a sign that if this opportunity had presented itself to me, it was something that I needed in that moment. I noticed not everyone was given this opportunity. Incense was lit, a chant was said then a water ritual happened and a yellow string was placed on my wrist. I went to look it up later and I believe it is a Buddhist water blessing. I couldn’t find much specific information, but one person wrote on their blog “ a yellow string was tied on my wrist by a 73-year old Buddhist nun “guarding” a Buddhist shrine in a temple in Angkor” I’m assuming this is the same temple! It was really a good way to end my temple tour.

Back in town, I decided to head to the hospital (don’t worry, nothing is wrong with me, however if Piddy is reading this, she may want to make sure she is sitting down!) When I went to the cello concert the other night, the doctor had of course appealed for money, but he also appealed for blood donations. It is starting to change, but most Khmers are a bit scared to give blood (they don’t have this custom), so they often only do so if their relative is in need of a transfusion. As a result most of the blood in their blood bank comes from foreigners. Currently it is low season, and with dengue fever season here, they are desperately in need of blood. Your first thought may be the same as mine was – get a needle put into my arm in a third world country? No way!!! But, I did a bunch of research, and hearing about others experiences doing this reassured me that the standards being used are all good. As I walked through the halls, seeing the number of sick kids and hearing them crying while I was laying on the bed, I definitely didn’t regret my decision.