Here’s a list of some of ten things that get to me on a
regular basis which I never expected:
1) Children screaming their lungs out saying “Hello, Barang!” as I pass by on my bicycle – Barang translates as Frenchman, and its
usage stems from Cambodia’s time as a French colony. Today the term is used to
describe any white foreigner (not necessarily in a negative light). I just don’t
like being stared at and treated differently for the color of my skin. You’d
think after a year and a half they’d have accustomed themselves to me ignoring
them. Nope. It’s as if the single most important lesson new parents teach their
babies is how to scream “HELLO! HELLO! HELLO!” at anyone who doesn’t look
Cambodian.
2) Wedding and funeral music blared over loudspeakers at
all hours of the day
3) Dust blowing in my eyes as I bike down the national
highway
4) Constant honking from motorcycles, cars, vans, and semi-trucks
– Instead of honking to signal an impending collision, Cambodians honk to
signal that they are coming, they will not slow down, and you’d better get out
of the way. The strength of a vehicle’s horn is a huge selling point in
Cambodia, I would imagine.
5) Eating rice every day twice a day – Although I thought
eating exotic local food might be one of the biggest challenges of Peace Corps,
the real difficulty for me is the rice. Some days I struggle to choke down
spoonful after spoonful of white nothingness. For me, the daily rice is much
more difficult than the fertilized duck eggs, congealed blood, and ant soup
that I occasionally come by.
6) People not understanding my Khmer – Many times when I
speak Khmer, even only a phrase or two, I’m greeted with a shocked expression
and a congratulations on how well I speak (a few months ago my speaking ability
was tested at “intermediate high”), but once in a while I’ll speak to a local
and he or she will have absolutely no clue what I’m saying even though I’m
certain I’m speaking clearly and correctly. I’ve learned to laugh it off as a
joke that the native is the one who doesn’t speak Khmer, but it can be
frustrating because it seems more like the person is unwilling to understand me
than unable.
7) Flat tires
8) Being quoted an unfair price in my community – While I
understand vendors asking inflated prices from foreigners in touristic areas, I
strongly dislike when someone attempts to rip me off in my city where they know
me as a volunteer and see me regularly. It’s worse when they plan out their
scheme to overcharge me when I’m standing right in front of them.
9) “English for Cambodia,” Cambodia’s national English
curriculum – Written by the British, the textbooks are too difficult, largely
irrelevant to Cambodian students’ lives, boring, and… British.
10) Lack of water in my garbage bin – In my bathroom there
is one pipe which deposits water into a large trash can. From there, water is
scooped with a small bucket to shower and flush the toilet. I always take extra
care to refill the bin and ensure there is plenty of water throughout the day,
but sometimes someone in my family will use up nearly all the water before I
even wake up, or I’ll come home from school to find there’s no water left at
all. This wouldn’t be so bad, except there are frequent water shut offs, or the
pressure may be so low that it takes hours to refill the bin.
Many of these issues are related to sound and
transportation, topics that only briefly crossed my mind when Peace Corps asked
me pre-departure how many miles I could bike comfortably in one day and when I
read a warning on the PC Cambodia Facebook group that “Cambodia is loud.” I’m sure
the frustrations of transitioning back to America in five months will be just
as unexpected as those of living here for two years.
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