Holiday in Cambodia

Yes, I know the reference to the Dead Kennedys might be a bit dated, but we really had one. Actually, two!

This past weekend was the largest holiday in the country, centered in Phnom Penh and drawing around 2 million villagers from the countrysides in addition to lots of foreign travelers. The "Water Festival" consisted of 3 days of long-boat races with men from several Southeast Asian countries vying for top spot. It was an unexpectedly colorful spectacle by day with rowers in gem-colored jerseys. Foreigners were blessed with a cordoned-off area where we could get close to the action and cheer the winners as the rowed back upstream, full of playful bravado. By night, a parade of lighted floats moved up and down river with fireworks bursting overhead.

Check the "link" for more photos

On a totally DIFFERENT note, we've had some long-awaited friends, Eric + Maggie (who also quit their jobs and are on extended holiday), come visiting in Cambodia. We've spent several days together, mostly chatting and catching up as we strolled through the streets and markets of Phnom Penh. They brought with them lots of enthusiasm and news from home to our eager ears. We sent them off to Angkor during the week while we were busy at work, but they were back in time for the holiday weekend, which also happened to coincide with... Thanksgiving. Seems appropriate, huh?! Darin wrote a very nice blog about Eric + Maggie's visit and why they're in Asia - Check it out "here".

If you know us, you know we LOVE to entertain, and particularly to host dinner parties. Being that Thanksgiving is the mother of all dinner parties AND we had friends in town, there was no chance on us passing up the opportunity. We've also made a few local expat friends during our stay here and decided the more the merrier. Darin + I spent all day chopping and prepping and were ready to roll by 4 pm. The whole gang arrived soon after bearing gifts of wine, beer, orchids and a framed photo (from a photographer friend) - We were off to a good start! We spent the next couple hours swilling bevies, talking and enjoying the sunset before finally diving into dinner. What a FEAST - Veggie roast with rosemary + thyme (mailed from my mom), garlic mashed potatoes, shitake + oyster mushroom gravy, green beans with toasted cashews, candied yams with palm sugar + orange zest, green salad and a coconut-tapioca-pumpkin-jackfruit dessert. Mmmmm! We made a LOT and didn't even have leftovers :(

Check the "link" for more photos

It just keeps getting more and more interesting

It seems like every day in the field is a learning experience, specifically, about how the other half lives. Being out and about, visiting people in thatched, stilt homes as we sit barefoot on the floor and smile at each other just seems too good to be true sometimes. We LOVE our work!

Darin + I were saying to each other the other day, "Why didn't we do this sooner?!" There's no real answer to that except that we didn't know how right up our alleys working with a microfinance organization (MFI) would be. The concept is great - Giving the poor access to just a little bit of capital at a reasonable interest rate so that they can better their lives. And Kiva has really latched on to something profound - A medium by which lenders from rich countries can lend to those in poor and make them feel like they can reach right out and touch these people. I was looking at comments to my posts the other day and found that people actually write personal messages to the borrowers. I was shocked! Of course there's no way that someone living in a village with sporadic to no electricity is ever going to get the message (and the loan officers are way too busy to become a message service on top of their normal workload), but that's the power of the concept that's been created! (Photo: Siem Morm picking long beans)

Just yesterday I wrote in one of my journal that "Previously she(Saran Rous) had purchased both her loom and materials on credit from the middleman and received minimal compensation when she provided the finished product. Now she is able to earn around $1.50 USD per day for her labors." Can you believe that?! I write it as if - WOW, look at how much she makes now! But it's TRUE, these are the kinds of incremental changes we're dealing with that improve people's lives. Daily, I continue to have my mind blown over details like this. Most people we speak with use the loans for these kinds of small improvements to their businesses. Many never had capital to purchase things upfront and had to work on credit for which their end profits were much reduced. These loans really only give them a slight edge, but it's enough. The truth is that many borrow repeatedly because they are never able to save enough. Really, it's not so dissimilar from the way a credit card works. The borrowers also have to put up considerable collateral (like the deed to their land) so they don't default, and it seems to work. Maxima says their loan default rate is less than 1%! Not bad in a country where most people only earn around $2/day. Darin's wrote a great detailed description of how it all works "here". (Photo: Hand-woven silk on the loom)

Besides actually digging the work, we've also been blessed to have been placed with an MFI as stellar as Maxima. They're not all run as efficiently or by people as sharp. With a staff of 23, even all the loan officers at Maxima have degrees in finance or business, or are going to night school to get them. On top of that (more for our benefit than anything) several speak English fluently, a half dozen are much better than average, and most of the rest can at least speak as much English as we can Khmer. This has made our field interviews so much deeper than we ever would have hoped because we can just wing-it from person to person to gather lots of interesting information.

Every time we interview, I'm impressed at how sweet, gentle and open the Khmers are. They smile with their whole face and most seem, dare I say, "tickled" that we're interested in them and downright AMAZED that people from all over the world can see their photo. They have pride too, and most women want to clean up and/or change clothes before I take another photo of them once they realize so many people will see it. Almost everyone in Cambodia works where they live so that our interviews all happen in people's homes. They're modest homes, mostly wood or thatched, raised on concrete stilts with an open living/work area on the ground floor. I've found myself both amazed and appalled sometimes at how many people live in such a small space. (My most extreme example so far is 10 people in a 10'x 12' space. They all sleep on the floor.) For most, their children are their biggest concern and hope for the betterment of the family's future. Remember that not so long ago, 30% of the population was eradicated by the Khmer Rouge genocide so that now a huge portion of the population consists of young families and their kids. And what cute kids they are! Their wide-eyed, full-lipped, little faces combined with the sing-song way they have of talking makes even ME want to take them home. (Photo: Ny Sith with children)

As you may have guessed, the work is not without it's flaws. The truth is, we get REALLY dirty - Covered head to toe in dust with racoon circles around the bit of skin our sunglasses and face mask don't cover. And we really ARE taking our lives into our own hands every day we hop on the back of that moto. But besides that, I've found my dream job :) (Photo: Darin + loan officer interviewing Kiva borrowers at home)



Check the links for more detailed posts as they appear on the Kiva site -

Ny Sith, Pig Farmer
Sothea Dhim, Ice Seller
Saran Rous, Weaver
Pon-lork Yun, Producing Scarves
Siem Morm, Farmer

You can also check the "link" to our Khmer Portraits album with lots of great shots from the field.

Our First Khmer Wedding

Phnom Penh, Cambodia


Tuesday, Nov. 6

So, we've been invited to a wedding. We've seen a ton of them in Asia over the course of our year here, but only from a distance. The "Big Day" in question is for one of the loan officers at Maxima whose been one of our greatest translators and answerer of endless questions about Cambodian culture, weaving and microfinance. We've known for a couple weeks that the wedding was upcoming, but as short-term visitors/office assistants, we weren't expecting an invitation. Yesterday we were given our bright red envelope with gold lettering and told how happy they would be if we could attend. Today, with our assent + thanks we were told we'd be picked up at 6:30 AM on Sunday to be sure we saw the entire ritual from beginning to end. 6:30 AM 'til evening?! Should be memorable. More to follow...


Sunday, Nov. 11

It was an all day affair - Beginning for the bride + groom at 5 AM, and 6:30 for the guests. (It used to be a 3-dayer, but has been cut down in recent times with peoples increasingly busy schedules) We assembled at a banquet hall, echoing with excited voices and the sound of traditional musicians. At around 7:00 the assembled guests were all given symbolic gifts, wrapped on silver platters. There were 37 different kinds, each with it's own symbolism regarding ensuring the couple a bounty of food, prosperity + luck in their future lives together. We walked outside with the groom and both family's relatives + friends and assembled in a procession line around the corner. Darin + I were given places of honor near the front of the line as it's auspicious to have barangs (foreigners) at your wedding. When everyone was in place, attendants opened gold umbrellas over the groom and his family as we walked back to the hall, bearing the gifts which were presented to the brides parents who stood waiting, ready to welcome us. (Photo: The bride + groom receiving gifts of money from the family)

What followed was 5 hours of formal ritual - Seven distinct ceremonies, each with costume change for both the bride, groom + each of their three attendants. What a spectacle! Our Maxima hosts would continually pitch in with the meanings of different rituals. My favorite was the "Hair cutting ceremony". Beginning with the parents , grandparents, then family + honored guests (including us) - People went up behind the seated bride + groom and symbolically cut some hair with scissors as a gesture of cutting away the old and making room for the new (good luck). In the past, we were told, both actually got ALL their hair cut off! In the middle of the mornings festivities was served both breakfast and lunch. After all this, we then had a few hours free. As we said goodbye to one female co-worker and asked what she would do with her afternoon, her answer was "Go home and get ready for the evening". We just looked at her quizzically and figured something must have been lost in translation. (Photo: Khmer-style Glamorama)

Later that evening, we arrived at one of the mega wedding complexes in town (An area which can host scores of weddings at a time). The scene was loud and festive - VERY loud, as Khmers seem to prefer large crowds to an intimate celebration. Our reception alone held 500 people! And there were DOZENS in progress. (Photo: Darin performs the symbolic hair cutting)

The wedding party greeted us at the door with bows all around. As we ascended the stairs and came to the first landing, we were welcomed by a group of ten girls from the office. All were completely transformed and it literally took us a few minutes (and up to an hour) to recognize who was who. By day, all pretty sans makeup and with hair pulled back simply into a ponytail. Tonight, they were vamps! The hair - with glitter, curls + extensions; The makeup - blush, eye shadow, mascara + lip gloss in prodigious quantities; The clothes - jewel colored gowns with ruffles + sequins galore. I was feeling like I'd stepped back in time to my 80's prom! We took a seat at a table with a bunch of guys from the office and our boss (of sorts), who's such a gentlemanly host and always wanting to be sure we're taken care of. First the sodas, beers and a bottle of Jack were placed on the table. Then the ice girls arrived, as they would every 15 minutes or so throughout the evening, to be sure our glasses were topped off (drinks are rarely refrigerated here). The young guys dove right in, and it quickly became apparent that they don't drink much because things got silly very quickly after a few rounds of toasts. Nothing messy though, and it was good entertainment for the rest of us. Next, the food arrived. Big, flaming cauldrons of beef, and platters of fish, and even a veg-noodle salad + roasted cashews especially for Darin + I. As everyone was finishing their meals, the wedding party came in and everyone gathered around, cheering them on. Next, a western-style cake cutting. And then, the fun REALLY started. Dancing.

Our co-workers had been asking us all day if we would dance. Being quasi guests-of-honor we certainly didn't want to disappoint, so we were up with them from song one. Singers varied between guests singing karaoke and a couple of hired singers - One woman singing traditional style, and a twenty-something dude belting our Khmer rock n'roll. What we hadn't really betted on was that we'd have to dance traditional-style. Sure, we'd seen the backward-bending finger moves on TV, but we didn't think "normal" people danced like that. We were wrong. Not only that, but each new song requires a unique dance. Huh?! We were pretty good for the first few, but had to tell them we'd had enough by the fifth new dance. We wanted to show them "our" style. By the end of the evening, the 500 had dwindled down to just 50, and our coworkers were half that number. What a fun group! Now WE'RE the ones that feel honored. (Photo: Our co-workers teach us traditional moves)

Check the "link" for more photos from the Wedding day.

Which do you prefer?

That's how it started. The loan officer and I were waiting for the ferry to return to Phnom Penh.

Cambodia or USA? In regards to WHAT, I thought. They're really so different it's hard to compare, is what I said aloud. But Paeng's a nice guy and he was asking in all innocence. Well, I began... It's nice that Cambodian families are so close. You really take care of one another. In America, many families aren't so close. In fact, some families HATE each other and don't even talk! I continued with my next point - In America, one thing that's good is that almost everyone has access to free education until the end of secondary school. (In Cambodia, many people only have a 6th grade education and teachers are so poorly paid, $40-60/month, that they make students pay an extra fee per lesson as necessary compensation). After that, if you're clever you can probably get an o.k. job. (In Cambodia, many don't have access to education because of the expense and are destined just to get by the rest of their lives. I know, not as simple as that, but with the language barrier I need to make my points simply)


Another thing, Khmers smile ALOT! (And seem much more in touch with childish youthfulness than many other cultures we've explored) Americans, on the other hand, are much more serious and focused on their work. And many people don't seem happy. Maybe it's because you have a more relaxed pace of life. I like that. As far as government goes, both countries are corrupt. Ours is just better at hiding it, but neither try to help the middle class or poor. The people that benefit are those in the government, military, and their friends. That was as far as I got before our ferry arrived.


Whenever we've been approached by someone here in Asia who speaks passable English, they invariably want to know what life is like in America. Some seem to think it must be AMAZING - Just like in the movies! Others are more practical, but they KNOW we have it good. Case in point that we have the opportunity to TRAVEL. Most people here, even in the middle class, will be lucky if they EVER get outside their own country. For us, it's a matter of choice. And when you boil it all down, maybe that's my biggest preference about the U.S. - That we actually DO have freedom of choice.