New Year count down!

It's April 12th and the Cambodian New Year is right around the corner.

It was crazy today. So many people were out making last minute gifts/offerings purchases. The busy road kicked up more dirt than usual causing the already cramped roads to be a bit more difficult to walk in. I can't imagine what New Years will be like. My family says everyone comes to Battambang to celebrate the New Year, so the traffic we experienced today probably does not compare to what is coming in the next few days. Someone compared today to 'America's Christmas Eve shopping day.'

We are realizing how big of an event the New Year is for the Cambodians. We had an idea since we knew the celebration lasts for three days. Though we learned that most businesses will close shop for all three days for the holiday. Some have already closed their doors today. As Laurel, Susan, Saran and I went to the Tourism Department to get more traveling information during the holiday, a women who lived there told us that the person who worked there already left their shift. We made it there before they closed, though the woman clarified that the person has already left for home to celebrate the New Year and that the person would not be back until next week.

The hype continues to build and we are all anxious to experience the New Year with family and friends.

Some cultural experience

Saran and I grew up with some  Cambodian tradition and culture in the US and as we got older we wbecame agaisnt a few of them.

After seeing our family, there are still things I'm against but understand a bit more after seeing it on this end. We were lucky to had grown up with parents less strict than other Cambodian parents in the US. The Cambodian culture is still very old fashion. The women and children do all the household chores, cook and clean and serve the men. My mother often told my sisters and I how we would not be suited for wives since we were tomboys. Instead of cooking and cleaning and acting as servants, we played outside: 'kick the can', football, etc., with the boys. We were barely tweens when our mom talked to us about getting married. She said girls in Cambodia get married as early as twelve years old. The idea was crazy for my sister and I, because we were just kids. Though what my sister and I noticed through our cousins and thier neighbors, the kids here are a lot more mature at a younger age and their minds seem to grow up a lot quicker. My sister and I get thrown off when we see a little girl speak with adult language and vocabulary and how their mannerisms are. Their mindsets at 12 years old seems a lot more serious than Saran and mine put together.

It becomes difficult to joke around and wonder if they would understand our sense of humor. The men absolutely does, though the women and girls are questionable and just too serious sometimes.

Our older aunt from my mother's side has no husband or children. Saran, who never wants to marry looks up to this aunt a lot. Though all our Cambodian family members feel bad for her. She is all skin and bones and looks almost more like she can be our grandmother than our aunt. It seems that in Cambodia, without a husband to reproduce children you wouldn't have food on the table since there aren't any kids to continue the work and bring income. Also, you cannot have children without a husband, or you'll get frowned upon.

My mom and dad visited her home in Moung. Unfortunately, I was sick with a 24 hr flu and did not make it out. Saran stayed behind to accompany me. My mother told me how it small it was and how poorly built it was. Our uncle and cousin's home is considered well-off. My aunt is no where near, according to my mother. Her eyes had tears when she talked about her sister. A couple sniffles and a few blinks later she changed the subject. Emotions is also something you keep.

So as much as Saran and I have the choice in the US to be independent women and be able to support ourselves. In Cambodia, it's a choice of survival.

Living in Battambong: Continued

I feel the same way as Sarrut feels. We are very fortunate to grow up in America. My heart breaks to see how poor our families really are. I've heard how poor they are from my parents and seen pictures of hut houses but until you actually see and experience it for yourself, it is almost impossible to grasp. Yesterday,  one of our cousins who works in the "beauty shop" straightened me and my sister's hair. I have beauty shop in quotes because she does hair anywhere she can find space in the living room/bedroom. And when she needs to wash our hair, we had to go outside and squat while she pours water over our head using a bowl. I am happy to hear that some are able to work for a living yet sad to know how much they make. My cousin tells me that she charges 500 riels for a haircut. Which equates to about 15 cents in US dollars. As I sat in the slightly broken chair while my cousin worked on my hair, I had more time to observe the room I was in. I noticed other slightly broken furniture,  sheets and pillows that were ripped, and cobwebs in every corner. But no matter how little they have,  they always have a huge smile on their faces. 

Living in Battambang

Saran and I have only spent about two days with our dad's family in their homes at Battembong. Every night we return back to our hotel for our rooms with air conditioning and a bathroom with a sink, shower and regular toilet.
Our younger uncle is our host. His home, like many others here in Battembong, has the family business in front of the house. Our uncle's family runs a beauty salon and moto repair shop. Next to the salon is an open space where the cars and motos park. In the same open space is where the family gather around for their meals. There aren't any dining tables or chairs. When it's time to eat they lay out a few mats on the ground in front of the cars and motos and squat or sit around the dishes our aunts and female cousins prepare.
When in their homes, it still feels like we're outside. There are very few doors, or maybe it seems that way because of how the rooms are connected. There are barely any depths to the walls with cracks at every corner.
Electric fans are everywhere but does little for the American Cambodians. My parents, Saran and I are constantly sweating. Our hair and clothes would be soaked and look as if we got rained on. Our family - dry, not one bead of sweat in the 100 degree weather. What's even more crazy is that our cousins wear long sleeves and sweaters in this sauna temperature. Still no sweat.
The kitchen is next to their dining space. Barely the size of a walk in closet, multiple pots are always found sitting on an open flame they created. Dishes and bowls are all stacked along the walls. All cookware dented with char marks here and there. And only ladies are found in the kitchen.
The shower room and toilet room are found along side of the house. Like an outhouse, it sits on its own. I'm not sure what the shower room look like inside, but it's about the size of a telephone booth. The toilet room gave us a bit of a culture shock. The toilet was just a ceramic bowl with a hole at the center built right into the ground. Yes, we had to pop a squat. Though after learning that the first night we were there, we learned to go at our hotel.
In the back of the house sat two giant clay pots with water filled all the way to the top. Not sure what the area is, I'm thinking maybe it's where they wash their clothes.
It's crazy to see family like this. It's made me feel a lot more fortunate even though we grew up under rough conditions in the US, it just doesn't compare to how my family in Cambodia is living everyday.

Pictures of our uncle's house

Pictures from our cousin's salon

Pictures from Phnom Kulen