row1(L to R) = (1) trina and phil (2) elephant rides (3) angkor wat
row2(L to R) = (1) crazy monkey! (2) ta prohm (3) enjoying the sun
row3(L to R) = (1) preah khan (2) phil sketching (3)wall carvings

October 14

Pchum Ben holiday is the celebration of dead spirits, and is the second biggest holiday in Cambodia. The Buddhists go to the temple and scatter rice around the entrance steps, and Phnom Penh empties out and all the shops close down, because everyone travels to go see their grandparents. Because of this holiday, we had Wednesday to Friday off from school, and my good friend Phil Gray (From Walla Walla) came to Cambodia to see me (he is teaching in Chiang Mai), so it was a good break from teaching and an ideal time to do a little traveling.

He arrived mid-morning on Tuesday, where I had the majority of my classes still to teach. I arranged to have Sokcha's landlord pick him up from the airport in a Teuk Teuk, and he helped me the rest of the day in my classroom. My students absolutely loved him (like I knew they would). They waved to him, gave him high-fives, pointed at him with mouths wide open, saying repeatedly to me, "Teacher, he is so tall! He is so big!" Thida ran up to me with a corner edge tear of paper - "Fill" was written on it in big letters- She giggled and pulled on my arms, saying "Teacher! Look! I wrote Phil's name on a piece of paper!" After library period, he literally had 4 little boys on his lap at once, reading them stories. They were ecstatic to be in his presence and have his attention.

Thursday morning we took the bus to Siem Reap, a 6 hour trip, bus full of European tourists, Asian bohemists, old field workers, families with screaming children, etc. We arrived there about an hour after sunset, and thanks to my handy Lonely Planet Traveler's Guide to Cambodia (that Phil read on the bus), we went to a restaurant called the Dead Fish Tower (the author's recommendation). It was a multi-level restaurant with wooden ladders, tree-house style and enormous, low tables and big cushions on the floor to sit on, good lighting, a laid-back ambiance, with a huge menu and delicious Thai Soup (Tom Yham, yum!).

The next day we explored the famous temple ruins of Angkor Wat (one of the 7 wonders of the man-made world, along with the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, etc...). Early morning we went to the main temple of Angkor Wat, mid-morning took a Teuk Teuk to Angkor Thom, to the temples of Bayon and Bephuon. Early afternoon we went to Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed), beautiful and crumbling, the temple walls were cracked and swallowed by enormous tree roots. And last, late in the afternoon, we went to Preah Khan. The temples are ruined and magnificent, fragile and mighty. Enormous statues guard the temples' entrances, and the stony gray walls are intricately carved with religious symbols and battle scenes, wounded by bullet holes and tragic history.

I'm horrible and soft when approached by impoverished, beautiful children with big, sad eyes and dramatic stories. Children tugged at my clothes, "Lady," they say in whiny voices, "Please buy these postcards, so I can go to school. I want to go to school." I hold their hands in mine, "It does not cost any money to go to government school," I say, "Why don't you go to school?" A child selling postcards at Preah Khan looked at me, big eyes wet and solemn, "I want to go to Bible school. I raise money to go to Bible school. It is very nice there." (I teach at a bible school, i'm falling apart) Children wandering the streets ask me to buy them ice cream, and so I take them and let them pick any flavor they want. They just look at me, ask, beg, and my heart breaks. I'm a sucker. Sucker. Ask Phil. A boy asked me to buy powdered milk for his baby brother at the marketplace, I cannot say "no", and I found my money rapidly vanishing, with barely enough for the bus fare home. Curse my over-optimism and trust in all people (i.e. beggars in the street), and my refusal to question or assume anyone's motives as anything but good and pure. The people of Cambodia are wonderful and friendly and annoyingly persistent. I wish I could take them all home with me, clothe them, feed them, give them a place to live and learn and thrive and be.

Phil left this morning and I'm back to my lesson plans and my normal, wonderful, horrible, stressful life. I’m currently at Tea&Coffee with my roommates, pretending to be working. Thank you friends for all of your words of encouragement and prayers.