i am in KL (Kuala Lumpur, but known as KL to everyone who knows, i guess) and the internet situation is not good, nor was it during my last week of travel. i'm writing from starbucks where i have either fortunately or unfortunately stumbled across something called a raspberry frappucino which is frozen and fresh and delicious.
the last bit of my travel, since i last wrote, included a short visit to saigon and then cambodia. it was very easy to see the french influence in saigon (ho chi minh city)....it felt very european in lots of ways. it was MUCH more developed than hanoi, but i still liked hanoi better. rough around the edges can be charming.
cambodia was WONderful. we stayed in siem reap beause this is where the angkor temples are (ankgor wat, ankgor thom, etc). i had assumed vietnam would be fairly undeveloped, even in the cities, but it turned out to be up and coming. cambodia was not. it was as i had expected vietnam would be, a small cluster of restaurants and then nothing else. it was quite primitive. if the temples weren't there i don't think it would even exist. but the presence of the temples is oh so big.
they are unbelievable.
our first full day there we started the morning off by riding elephants (which kind of makes me sad, but it was so cool!) through some ruins. elephants are amazing. so much personality in one trunk! for 1 USD (in cambodia they use american money, with the exception of change, which they give to you in their money because quarters are precious and hard to come by) i bought two bunches of bananas and fed the elephants! they slobbered all over me but it was totally worth it. i could have hung out with them all day.
then we walked over to the temples. the first one we saw was bayan and it was breathtaking. i have always wanted to explore (legends of the hidden temple, anyone?) and this felt like i was. there were no restricted areas and it was a complete maze of fallen stones and old carvings. what an accomplishment to make such a huge structure. it looks like a solid chunk of stone. being somewhere so significant gives me chills, even now as i write about it. the ability of humans to come together and create a structure so beautiful is really inspiring. (unfortunately, it's not quite that simple or lovely, but sometimes it's nice to pretend.)
we walked through several other temples and climbed incredibly steep steps and then finally got to see the jungle temple in ankgor thom. (this is the temple angelina jolie appeared in in tomb raider, which brought her to cambodia and began her love affair with the country, led her to adopt maddox, and three adopted children later she is a huge celebrity there.) anyhow, this temple is particularly remarkable because trees have managed to become part of it. they have grown in and through the stones, sending out roots until they at last reach dirt. it's pretttttty cool - and what i had been looking forward to the most. it feels like time.
after a wonderful siesta (yes, we got siestas while we were in cambodia) we went to ankgor wat. it was remarkable because of it's sheer size. the perspectives had been carefully thought out by it's creators, which was pretty cool too. there are large bodies of water in front of it, meant to reflect the temple and it still works perfectly. the sky was unbelievable that afternoon and made for some amazing pictures (before my camera decided to hate me and stop working). i like it here a lot, but the morning was still my favorite.
the next day we visited another temple known for its detail (it was VERY detailed). after siesta, we went to visit the site for our studio project. we are getting involved with a small school south of siem reap that is over crowded and in need of new facilities. the goal is to raise money (they anticipate it will cost 10 - 15,000 dollars) and build one of our projects. it was really an amazing afternoon and i am still really sad that my camera wasn't working because i have wanted so badly to be able to take pictures of people and since it's kind of rude to get in their faces i haven't gotten to. THIS was the perfect opportunity and now i only have other people's pictures. either way, it was pretty cool to get out of the town and see what it's like to live in a rural area. it was SUPER rural. pigs in their mud ponds in front yards...people sitting in hammocks underneath their raised houses, feet away from their two cows....rice fields everywhere. the children were beautiful.
the whole thing was exciting. i think our project is going to be incredibly challenging with all of the constraints proposed by our site (open air, tiny budget, large occupancy, multi functional, culturally appropriate), the very short time we have to design (one month), and we are to be working with a Universiti of Malaya student (which i think will work VERY differently than we are accustomed to).
(my friend tom took the picture i'm posting, i think it's really beautiful.)
my friends and i took a side trip to phnom penh to see the killing fields and genocide museum there. it was...scary to see what humans can do to other humans. PARTICULARLY when they are exactly like you.
it's a really heavy thing and since i'm about to start crying in starbucks, i'd rather not discuss it.
i knew nothing about it before this trip and i don't understand why. why doesn't school teach us about genocide?? it's important to see what humans are capable of doing to each other -- it's important to understand so we can stop killing others.
then KL.
thus far it seems...not that cool. none of my friends are complaining (those third year students that are with us are miserable and whiny and obnoxious and left this weekend for a resort elsewhere), but the general sentiment is there. our living accomodations are not that great, though definitely fine for two months (and very cheap -- 8 dollars a day). my roommate (who i didn't know anyway) dumped me to live with this boy on our trip and so now i am roomming with my friend niner, a boy, and it's kind of funny. (why can't boys put the toilet seat down???) the last time i spoke to him, miles said it sounded like a sitcom waiting to happen. back to the point, we have ants and i shower over the toilet seat. yes. the whole bathroom is the shower. to speak more about toilets, toilet paper is rare here. instead, there is a HOSE. one is expected to HOSE themselves off afterwards. this makes bathrooms wet and no surface clean. also, we live in a hospital. we direct cabs to the trauma unit of the hospital (though not one has offered to hurry or bothered to ask us if we're okay) and walk through the VERY long halls. it's weird, but strangely enough makes the whole situation better because it's SO funny. who lives in a hopsital? I DO! it will always be something to laugh about.
these are just the messy portions of the briefing.
what is great about this place, or fascinating anyway, is the large islamic population. it's interesting to observe and i'm still getting accustomed to it.
i will have to write more about it later, as i figure out more...
but i think i need to break for now.
i will be writing more frequently, though not every day since internet is spotty and life is slower.
to digress, today is my wonderful cousin Christie's wedding day and i'm missing all of the festivities and my family and i am sad and wanted anyone and everyone to think wonderful thoughts about her! it will be wonderful and i'm missing it :(
off to do some schoolwork.....
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