Friday, October 29, 2010

Happenings

Sometimes happenings are artistic. Or they are semi-organized events that make a point, but here in Cambodia a lot of things just happen to me. Here's a list of things that have happened to me:

1. I biked about 30 k through floods, rain, and intense sunshine from Siem Reap City to my village, Sasar Sdam. While I did plan to bike home, I didn't realize that the torrential rains everyday had flooded the national highway. I also did not account for the fact that I would encounter torrential rain during my ride. Everytime I got to a cloudy patch I tried to peddle a little harder and get to a dry patch. When I got to the dry patch it would be intensely hot and my clothes would dry only to bike into another rainy patch. My bike was also stuck on a really high gear so near the end of my ride I was being passed by women biking in skirts with 50 pound rice bags on the back of their bike.

2. My job mostly consists of conversing with patients about almost anything. Last week, I talked to this woman for an hour because she was worried I would be kidnapped on my morning runs, which I hope she is exaggerating about.

3. Almost everyday I get asked, "Are you bored?" by at least 3 people multiple times. At first I would always say no because I wasn't bored. Everything was so new to me. Now I admit I am sometimes bored because it's a slow process to find enough projects to keep me busy like I used to be in America, but I also ask people if they're bored. And they are. They are very bored all the time and sometimes I wonder why they don't do something about it. I'll go on a bike ride or visit a neighbor, but some people just watch TV all day.

4. For some reason, really old Jackie Chan movies are really popular on tv. I watch at least one a week and sometimes they have chinese/english subtitles. And let me tell you, Jackie Chan movies are hilarious. It's way better than Rush Hour at combining action and comedy. At one point in a movie, Jackie Chan was dressed as Chun Li and mimicked her mannerisms perfectly.

5. One of my crowning achievements so far came one night while watching the usual werewolf soap opera from the Phillipines. One very short lived character made a joke and for the first time I fully understood a joke on tv, thought it was funny, and laughed because it was funny. It's rare to laugh because I think something is worth laughing. Usually, I laugh because I notice other people laughing. I have only a partial idea why and mostly I just want to fit in.

6. A few days ago I wore a hoodie in a tropical country and it was good. It's weird the things that make me feel at home, but I guess after 4 years in maine heavy clothing makes me feel at home. With my hoodie on I can almost pretend it blizzarding outside and I have a paper due in 5 hours and the campus just lost electricity due to falling branches. To this day, i still don't really understand how so many branches can fall everytime it blizzards. By the fifth blizzard there shouldn't be any branches left!

3 comments:

  1. I like your happenings. My happenings are school related and much more uneventful...
    I like to laugh when someone's being overly arrogant, just to knock them down a peg... having a good sense of humor makes life just a little bit brighter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. heehee i like that comment about only having a partial idea why people are laughing. im working in a mostly spanish speaking clinic in a mostly spanish speaking part of the us and i feel your pain!! hmm...i wish i could visit you... im glad youre having an ok time tho! <3

    ReplyDelete
  3. WEREWOLF SOAP OPERA.

    penciling that in for "helen's first night home, 2012" right now.

    ReplyDelete