Vanne's Wedding Continued

Saturday morning, the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony began at 6:00 am with attendees lining-up in the street to enter the wedding tent. Andreea (the new volunteer) and I, didn't make it to the wedding quite that early. However, we did arrive early enough to see most of the ceremonies. Below, we're in a Tuk-tuk (which is basically a small carriage pulled by a moto) in our wedding finery ; )When we arrived, my students were excited to see me dressed-up (they are always good for a confidence boost!) and rushed to make sure a had a good seat. I was really glad they were nearby to help explain some of the different rituals that took place. The family was also extremely welcoming and treated Andreea and I like honored guests. Even including us in family photos!
Below, the hair-cutting ceremony begins. Individuals take turns pretending to cut a lock of hair from the bride and groom, symbolizing their new begginning together.
When we weren't with the family, Andreea and I spent time with the students at the wedding, who had earlier performed a special blessing dance (led by Dimang).

Here we are! Called in specially to take photos with the whole family!
Unlike home, where brides search for the one, perfect wedding dress, a Khmer bride changes into multiple dresses throughout the day. Vanne had around nine different outfits on Saturday (I have pictures of most, but not all!). Luckily, the majority of these dresses can be rented.

Pictured below is the begginning of the hand-tying ceremony, which symbolizes the union of the bride and groom.

After many ceremonies and pictures, the bride was able to take a break and rest in the early afternoon before her reception began. The family was incredibly sweet and invited Andreea and I to nap at there house until the reception. It was fun to see the girls in between outfits. During their small slumper party they gossiped and giggled. It was interesting to note that while there were many differences in traditions some things are exactly the same acroos cultures.

Around 4:00 pm, the reception began. Vanne donned her newest dress to head-up the reception line (which she would change a few times before entering the reception herself).

Here is Andreea and I with three of my students (who were Vanne's bridesmaids).

Dimang and I

Another dress...

Three more of my students, who Andreea and I sat with through the reception. They all looked so different then they normally do in their school uniforms. Especially Gakleang (who is in the middle). You wouldn't guess it from the picture, but she is such a tomboy!

And another...

Andreea, Phirun (our school secretary) and IThe final dress! Which Vanne wore when she sang a Khmer love song. She is quite the performer and a beautiful singer. She had the whole crowd captiaved!

Vanne's Wedding

In December I went to my first Khmer wedding. It was the wedding of one of the teacher's at my school, Vanne, whose younger sister is also my student. She and her husband had met at a church function and dated a number of years (in the traditional Khmer sense...with little time on their own). But they seem perfect for one another. The wedding festivities took place over two days. The church ceremony was held on Friday and the more tradional Khmer celebration on Saturday.

The whole school was invited to the wedding on Friday. Below, you will see me with some of my students.
Here I am with Vanne's sister, Dimang. She is one of my top students; incredibly bright and such a pleasure to have in class! She is also a very talented Khmer dancer. She has trained some of the other students in our school, and they are the ones who always perform at school functions. She was rushing around the wedding ensuring that everything went smoothly, the dedicated younger sister, but found time to snap this photo with me.
The bride and groom enter, followed by their parents.

The ceremony begins. While a Catholic wedding, it was interesting to see how the local culture played into the ceremony, with everyone sitting on the floor and of course, the colorful dress!Below, Vanne and her husband are about to begin the foot-washing ritual.

All in attandance bless the newly-weds by showering them with flowers three times.

The couple thank Sr. Malen (our school director) for coming to the wedding. The couple proceeded to thank everyone, before processing from the church (only to begin preparing for another big day)!

Natalie!

Just before Christmas, I got to see my cousin Natalie. She was in Cambodia for a mission trip, volunteering at an orphanage. It was so wonderful to see someone from home (although completely surreal!). We spent the morning together, and were able to show her around Christine's school. After having been in Cambodia a few months, I had mostly adjusted to the way of life here. So it was fun to see everything a-new through the eyes of someone who had just landed in the country (albeit for a second time). Even though our visit was fairly brief, I was really sad to say goodbye! However, I think we are both doing work that is perfect for each of us!

A Special Welcome

So, back in November, Sr Carmen (one of the Salesian Sisters on the Provincial Council) paid a visit to Cambodia from Italy. While most of the students at our school are Buddhist, a couple weeks were spent preparing for the welcome of Sr. Carmen. The girls learned welcome songs, prepared special dances, and decorated colorful signs. Of course, all of this meant time cut from class. When I first arrived in Cambodia, I wondered if I would have enough material to fill up a class period. Now I find that there is never enough time to cover what I would like too in class. However, even though I lost class time during the weeks leading up to Sr. Carmen's arrival, and even though most of the girls probably didn't really understand the significance of her visit, I had a lot of fun the actual day of her visit.
Here is a picture of some of my students lined-up waiting for Sr. Carmen to arrive.
Here, the students are taking a break, resting in the shade after running through the program for what felt like the 100th time : )
While most of my students are 18-22 years old, they are often adorned with large plastic or sparkly hair-clips and Hello Kity can be found everywhere. So, it shouldn't have been surprising to see them pull out pink pom-poms to dance to one of the Welcome Songs! : )
Here are the teachers being silly with a few of the students.Central to cambodian culture is Khmer dance. The Cambodians have a unique classical dance style, which originates from the 7th century; the placement of the hands and arms is very important, and each gesture has a particular meaning (such as flower, love, etc.). There is a small group of students that are absolutely fantastic dancers, and they prepared a special dance for Sr. Carmen. One of them has been teaching me a few movements, and while I can't compare to the students I'm starting to pick it up!

Christine's students also performed a dance, in which she was included! She got a number of delighted comments when she made her appearance in Khmer clothes!

The day before Sr. Carmen arrived, a new volunteer Andreea also arrived. She is from Montreal, but has been traveling around the world for the past year (well, through Africa and S.E. Asia anyway). She had most recently come from nepal where she climbed Mt. Everst. The students were all fascinated with her short hair (every single one of my studenst has long hair).

This is a group of Christine's students with one of the Sisters who also teachers at her school.

Not only is Christine teaching English, but she is also teaching recorder to 5th grade students. Below, she is with a few of her students who she was teaching songs to for a special Christmas performance.

Bonn Om Touk

While the beach was beautiful, Christine and I were determined to return to Phnom Penh for the three-day Water Festival (Bonn Om Touk), for which over two million people flood the city each year. We could already sense a change in the capital as our bus slowly made its way back into the city Sunday night, as traffic had picked up considerably. I got the biggest kick out of seeing Tuks-tuks pass by with families of ten or more inside (which would usually only seat four people).

I had been excited for the water festival ever since I arrived in Cambodia. The festival ushers in the fishing season and marks both the end of the rainy season as well as the reversal of the Tonle Sap River’s current. Thousands of people (from all walks of life) flood the city to watch jubilant boat races, fireworks and a flotilla of lighted ships under the full moon.

The riverside was transformed for the festival. Crowds and crowds of people, vendors and police lined the streets and banks…bright colors, shouts, and pounding music flooded the senses. I enjoyed moving exploring the different booths, and vendors, but the Tourist Pavilion (an area roped off and guarded for tourists) turned out to be a welcome haven from the masses. As the day progressed and the crowds grew, it was a relief to duck into the Pavilion (which also guaranteed a great view of the races). At first, Christine and I had hesitated about entering, until the guards OK’ed Vuthong’s (a Cambodian friend) entrance as well. While I understood that the pavilion was there to promote tourism and development in the country (which certainly worked in my case), it still felt strange to be roped off from the majority of the Cambodians (who the festival really belongs too).

I had only made plans to attend the first day of the festival, but ended up returning the following two days. I couldn’t tire of the beautifully colored boats, the cheerful shouts of “Hello, Hello!”, or the high energy running through the participants. I was drawn back each day to become a part of the masses joyfully celebrating life.
One of my favorite parts of the Festival was the procession of Illuminated Floats, which celebrates the full moon and is believed to bring great merit and prosperity to the country. The procession begins when the King lights the first float. Amazingly, the Tourist Pavilion was right next to the Royal Pavilion. So, guess what? I saw the King of Cambodia!!! Granted, it was at a distance, but still! Even better than seeing the King Sihamoni myself, was watching Vuthong’s reaction when she saw Him. While I was excited, she was absolutely thrilled (jumping up and down, clapping her hands and squealing). Her delight was absolutely catching : )

Kampong...ummm, something or other

I recently began reading “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, detailing her journey across Italy, India, and Indonesia. I absolutely love this book so far; probably because I can relate to so much of what she writes about traveling and living in another culture. During her time in Italy, an Australian back-packing through Europe asks Gilbert for directions to the train station, Gilbert writes of this encounter:

"When I heard her plans, I was stricken with such a dumb spasm of jealously, thinking, I want to go to Slovenia! How come I never get to travel anywhere? Now, to the innocent eye it may seem that I am already traveling. And longing to travel while you are already traveling, is, I admit, a kind of greedy madness. But the fact that this girl asked directions from me (clearly, in her mind, a civilian) suggests that I’m not technically traveling in Rome but living here. However temporary it may be, I’m a civilian".

However temporary it may be, I am living in Phnom Penh. While I’ll never pass as Khmer, as Gilbert says, “traveling-to-a-place energy and living-in-a-place energy are two fundamentally different energies”. I’ve settled into a new way of life (complete with routine responsibilities) and I sometimes find myself longing to travel…something I couldn’t quite explain until I read the above passage from Gilbert’s book.

This past week, I had a week off from school (thanks to the King’s birthday, Coronation day and the Water Festival) which presented itself as the perfect opportunity to travel! I started planning a trip to Sihanoukville (a lovely beach town); but soon discovered that Christine had been invited to one of her student’s homes in Kampong…umm, something or other. All she needed to know was that it was on the beach (really, who needs to know the name of where one’s going?). After some confusion, I finally discovered that she had been invited to Sihanoukville in Kampong Som Province. Christine’s relaxed-go-with-the-flow attitude and my let’s-have-a-plan-and-be-prepared approach clashed somewhat during our trip. However, it was still an amazing weekend and I think we appreciated each other more by the end of it.

It was with great anticipation and excitement that we set off on Friday morning, hailing a Tuk-tuk to take us to the bus station…and at last, I was traveling again! Sihanoukville really is a small paradise which is just now being discovered by the rest of the world. The beach was gorgeous with crystal clear water and sand beaches. We strolled along the beach, munched on mangoes, swam for hours, soaked in the view, and watched the sun set. Not as enjoyable are the vendors and beggars that are constantly approaching you on the beach. However, certain things about Christine and I alert them to the fact that we aren’t simply tourists (such as when we are able to speak to them in Khmer). The two of us always take delight in the things that reveal that we are living in Cambodia. Such as when Christine rides side-saddle on a moto, or when we buy food from Khmer vendors, haggle moto-dubs down to a fair price, or when we run into Cambodian friends while we are out and around the city. I think our enjoyment stems from the fact that we are indeed adjusting to the culture and making some sort of impact on those around us. While it may seem like some sort of “greedy madness” to want to travel while I’m already abroad, and while I’m very content with living in Cambodia I hope to continue to travel whenever the opportunity presents itself!

Around Phnom Penh

On the weekends, Christine and I have time to explore Phnom Penh. As we strolled down the street last Saturday, I exclaimed “Saturdays are my favorite days!” That said, I’m so glad I’m not experiencing the country simply as a tourist passing through. Living in the country for a year gives me the chance to more fully experience the culture and way of life. Below are some pictures from our explorations.

The Royal Palace, the official residence of King Sihamoni: Wat Phnom, is a temple in the center of Phnom Penh, occupying the highest point in the city. According to legend, in 1373, a woman by the name of Penh discovered four statues of Buddha on this hill, placed there by the Mekong River. Thus the city derived its name Phnom Penh (literally "the hill of Penh").
The entrance to the temple is guarded by seven-headed serpents and lions. Many Cambodians come to pray for luck, success and good health and to make offerings.
Inside Wat Phnom:
Vutong makes an offering of incense as she prays:
The Riverside in Phnom attracts many tourists but is also a favorite local hang-out:
The Independence Monument was built in 1958 and today is also a memorial to Cambodia's war dead.
On a more somber note, we visited Tuol Sleng museum aka S-21. A mere thirty years ago, the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia from the rule of Pol Pot. Under Pol Pot's regime S-21 was a center of torture and execution adding to the mass genocide happening throughout Cambodia at that time. Walking down the halls of the museum (which was formerly a high school) I got chills down my back. This building could be any school in Phnom Penh, but for the blood stains, rusted torture equipment, and the pictures of the many lives lost at the school attest otherwise. Particularly disturbing, were the pictures of the children.

Stepping outside of the museum, into the warm sunshine felt surreal. The beauty of the day came in stark contrast to the horrors that had taken place at this site in the not so distant past. While it was incredibly difficult to visit, it is always important to remember the attrocities of the past in the hope of preventing such things from happening again.