Toilets can not play baseball here.
Experiencing the Christmas season in another culture is a very surreal experience. Never did I really get into the holiday spirit and seemed to miss the Christmas chills that usually tingle through my spine on Christmas morning. I was very happy to get a package from both my mom and grandma this month so big thank you for those efforts and tolerating the ridiculous postage costs :D For the most part we’ll just say the traditional Christmas experience was skipped this year and I’ll have twice as much cheer for the next one. Although who are we kidding – spending a week on the beach and celebrating the New Year on the streets of Siem Reap isn’t a bad way to do things.
Us with Vietnam SALTer Bryn.
Since I’ve already been to both Sihanoukville and Siem Reap before I don’t have any reason (or desire) to talk about these cities anymore. Instead, I’ll share a few of the highlights of the trip.
1. Bro-ing out.
Not following? Let me break it down for y’all: I am a bro. Bryn is a bro. The female SALTers that I’m always around are like family to me, but they are not bros. In order for a bro to function properly there is a certain demand for other bros to be around. Making poop jokes, talking about different Pokemon types, discussing different levels of ‘awesome’ in relation to dragons, and quoting immature YouTube videos from sunrise to sundown are all examples of Bro-ing out. I don’t want people to think I don’t enjoy and value the relationships I have with the other SALTers, because I definitely do, but having 1 guy and 4 girls isn’t exactly the formula for an in-depth conversation about which Starcraft II race is the best. Let me give you a good example: in the package that came from my grandma I found a very special item that was a very important part of my childhood – it’s called a “Whoopie Cusion” (Probably credited to my cousins Cade and Caleb and not grandma, but who knows). Sitting in a circle with the others, I couldn’t wait to put it to good use. Time and time again I blew it up and sat on it, working on different variations and speeds I got some fantastic fart sounds going. Some long and squeaky, others in short successions; I was laughing pretty dang hard. While most of the others were reluctant to laugh at first, Bryn seemed to understand the humor as instantly as I did. Let’s be honest I’m kind of a super dork – so it was nice to end 2010 with another bro.
2. Snorkeling
We spent one of our beach days on a boat and jetted over to three of the neighboring islands for some sand time and snorkeling. I’ll be honest to say the Snorkeling really wasn’t super great, the water was pretty muggy, the fish not too various, and a few too many sea urchins for my taste. However it still was snorkeling and a day trip on a boat, so pretty great. I did a lot of cannonballs.
3. Some interesting people
The vacation wouldn’t have been complete without the funny characters we ran into on the way. Bren and I saw some hip old dude dancing around his cycle, which had a boom box mounted on top of it. Apparently he just rides around Sihanoukville and just decides to dance wherever the heck he feels like it. Swaying from left to right and bobbing up and down like in a manner that makes you say, “I kinda wish I was more like that guy,” he pointed to passerbyers and even gave Bryn a high-five. I was totally jealous. Hours later we found ourselves in a restaurant where an old man behind the bar resembling a Japanese monk from some sort of awesome Samurai flick gave us a huge smile and double thumbs up. Afterwards he pulled out a jug that appeared to contain a scorpion, several snakes, a spider, and whatever else you could guess, and then poured Bryn and I a drink of whatever was inside explaining only men were supposed to drink this as he raised his arms and flexed with a slight barbaric grunt. It didn’t taste good, but I think it may have increased my life span by a few years. When we got into Siem Reap we went to see the free Apsara show which features a range of traditional Khmer dances complete with costumes. During ‘The Fishing Dance,’ one of the male dancers was in a rather giggly mood that night and just couldn’t manage to keep from laughing during the entire show. This was particularly entertaining as it was a public performance and everyone else was trying to be serious, but like us, couldn’t stop giggling at this guy the same way people do on a really funny SNL skit. The best part of it was when we ran into him on the street the following night, which also happened to be the New Years celebration. I gave him hug and got a photo with him.
Fish Dancer (right) for the New Year.
Other than that I did a lot of butt-sitting and forgot about the world for a week. It was nice but I’m glad to be back. Coming home and saying “Happy New Year” to my Khmer family reminded me of the comfort I have in family and community.
