a gecko pooped on my shoulder yesterday.
It came back later and apparently it's worth a lot of money and Phia says I should have "raised it like it was my baby" and to "put two and two together". Not sure what that means, but I told her that she's freakin crazy.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
ummmm are we in the same country?
I am beginning to think that Khmer people here don't think it's hot...
just as hot as ever, but I've seen quite a few layered looks, some leg warmers on the arms, and thermals. I, meanwhile, am sweating so much that it has been impossible to stay hydrated since I've gotten here. Creeper pics to follow. (Of the freakishly un-sweaty layered folks, not sweaty-and-shiny me).
just as hot as ever, but I've seen quite a few layered looks, some leg warmers on the arms, and thermals. I, meanwhile, am sweating so much that it has been impossible to stay hydrated since I've gotten here. Creeper pics to follow. (Of the freakishly un-sweaty layered folks, not sweaty-and-shiny me).
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Perfection?
I know I said I wasn't gonna post again, but this can't wait. Tell your neighbors, tell your friends. Before we start, I should say that there's nothing wrong with having fair skin, if that's what you have. We got what we got. Also, if you are a Korean pop star, no offense (and can we talk? I have questions).
Phia and I just got really worked up about something that has been bothering us for a while: the widespread use of skin whitening creams in Cambodia, and the large companies that endorse-- no, encourage it.
Olay has a huge "love the skin you're in" campaign in the states... Here, "lay" (as in Olay without the O) is how you say lotion, and lotion is how you say skin bleach. Seriously, the very first thing that Phia (and quite a few other women who have spent extended time in Southeast Asia) told me was, "BRING YOUR OWN MOISTURIZER!!! All of theirs have bleaching agents in them". What was that about the skin I'm in?
Dove is on a very serious "mission", a "movement for self esteem". We've all seen those Boticelli-esque women in granny panties lookin all stoked that they're half naked on a bus stop. Unfortunately that love yourself, "Campaign for Real Beauty" has not reached srok Khmer (that's how you say "Cambodia" in Cambodian). In fact, Dove is one of the biggest perpetrators of the skin bleaching fad that is fairly new here. Deceiver has a pretty good article about Unilever (Dove's parent company who actually got so offensive with its wildly popular Fair and Lovely skin lightening cream commercials that they got banned in India... but that hasn't made the cream any less popular). At least in India, Unilever had the decency to pretend to be another company. Here, RealCampaignForBeautyDove is the exact same as MakeYourUglyDarkSkinLighterSoYouCanBePrettyDove. Same font in the same blue color with the same white background. Same occasional swooshy light blue accents. Khmer people in the past have "preferred" lighter skin, and there was a lightening or preventative (read: SPF 8 billion and long sleeve shirts and pants AND socks AND a hat WITH a scarf AND gloves in heat that literally sometimes just makes me angry for no reason other than its freaking HOT) culture has been around for a while, but it wasn't quite as widespread until....
K-Pop.
(cue villian "dun dun DUN" here)
Which brings me (us) to my next point. Korean pop music and pop culture have become very big here. Very big. A little fact about the general Korean population is that they have a tendency to be somewhat lighter complected than the average Khmer person. This fact has not escaped Khmer youth. With commercials on a television channel watched by most Khmer youth that literally say:
Korean stars, don't you just love them?
Porcelain skin, countoured body lines. Irresistible features. Unbelievably perfect.
Catch a 360 degree look at Korean Perfection. From all directions, all angles, and all dimensions...
(Field Notes Productions has a good post on SEA's obsession with K-pop)
it's no wonder that there's such an issue. Seriously? Seeeeeeriously? I'm not saying that Korean people aren't awesome, but this is going a bit far. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned with my nationalism and ethnocentrism, but shouldn't everybody kind of just think that their country is the best, and their people are pretty much better than other people? It's how countries roll, how they stay nations and how they engage in wars*. It hurts my ego when the photo place lightens my skin with photoshop before printing my picture (for my school ID, pictures to come when I work that out), but it hurts my soul when the future of a country** lightens its skin with toxic chemicals so it can be more like someone else. Below, enjoy a comparison of pictures that almost made me punch the computer screen.
Caption for the website: "Do you see skin the way we do? Your skin is amazing"
what the picture says:
The Vaseline Skin Fund works to improve the lives of those affected by skin conditions by providing them with better access to the specialist knowledge, advice and support they need. Our aim is to benefit at least three million people worldwide by 2012.
The VSF works in partnership with non-profit and charity organisations to provide vital information and advice on skin health to people suffering from skin conditions. We also fund projects that offer support to people who are dealing with the daily challenges a skin condition can bring.
In this way we aim to help make life better for millions of people with clinical skin conditions around the world.
Uhhh really Vaseline? Cuz I heard (in the local Khmer shi-shi grocery store) that you want to help bleach the shit outta my "amazing" skin, sometimes with chemicals that have been outlawed in western nations. I wonder if their products ever cause some of the skin problems that their foundation is setting out to help. Funny how it's in Khmer, but I do understand "85%" and that color wheel in front of the woman whose arms turn from brown to bleached by the time they turn into shoulder.
Wait, that's not funny at all...
Okay I would rant some more, but the first day of class is tomorrow so I should go rest up! It's gonna be a 15-hour day...
*This does not mean that I support (or oppose) war in any way. Just sayin' that they've happened.
**And possibly the entire region of Southeast Asia
Phia and I just got really worked up about something that has been bothering us for a while: the widespread use of skin whitening creams in Cambodia, and the large companies that endorse-- no, encourage it.
Olay has a huge "love the skin you're in" campaign in the states... Here, "lay" (as in Olay without the O) is how you say lotion, and lotion is how you say skin bleach. Seriously, the very first thing that Phia (and quite a few other women who have spent extended time in Southeast Asia) told me was, "BRING YOUR OWN MOISTURIZER!!! All of theirs have bleaching agents in them". What was that about the skin I'm in?
Dove is on a very serious "mission", a "movement for self esteem". We've all seen those Boticelli-esque women in granny panties lookin all stoked that they're half naked on a bus stop. Unfortunately that love yourself, "Campaign for Real Beauty" has not reached srok Khmer (that's how you say "Cambodia" in Cambodian). In fact, Dove is one of the biggest perpetrators of the skin bleaching fad that is fairly new here. Deceiver has a pretty good article about Unilever (Dove's parent company who actually got so offensive with its wildly popular Fair and Lovely skin lightening cream commercials that they got banned in India... but that hasn't made the cream any less popular). At least in India, Unilever had the decency to pretend to be another company. Here, RealCampaignForBeautyDove is the exact same as MakeYourUglyDarkSkinLighterSoYouCanBePrettyDove. Same font in the same blue color with the same white background. Same occasional swooshy light blue accents. Khmer people in the past have "preferred" lighter skin, and there was a lightening or preventative (read: SPF 8 billion and long sleeve shirts and pants AND socks AND a hat WITH a scarf AND gloves in heat that literally sometimes just makes me angry for no reason other than its freaking HOT) culture has been around for a while, but it wasn't quite as widespread until....
K-Pop.
(cue villian "dun dun DUN" here)
Which brings me (us) to my next point. Korean pop music and pop culture have become very big here. Very big. A little fact about the general Korean population is that they have a tendency to be somewhat lighter complected than the average Khmer person. This fact has not escaped Khmer youth. With commercials on a television channel watched by most Khmer youth that literally say:
Korean stars, don't you just love them?
Porcelain skin, countoured body lines. Irresistible features. Unbelievably perfect.
Catch a 360 degree look at Korean Perfection. From all directions, all angles, and all dimensions...
(Field Notes Productions has a good post on SEA's obsession with K-pop)
it's no wonder that there's such an issue. Seriously? Seeeeeeriously? I'm not saying that Korean people aren't awesome, but this is going a bit far. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned with my nationalism and ethnocentrism, but shouldn't everybody kind of just think that their country is the best, and their people are pretty much better than other people? It's how countries roll, how they stay nations and how they engage in wars*. It hurts my ego when the photo place lightens my skin with photoshop before printing my picture (for my school ID, pictures to come when I work that out), but it hurts my soul when the future of a country** lightens its skin with toxic chemicals so it can be more like someone else. Below, enjoy a comparison of pictures that almost made me punch the computer screen.
Caption for the website: "Do you see skin the way we do? Your skin is amazing"
what the picture says:The Vaseline Skin Fund works to improve the lives of those affected by skin conditions by providing them with better access to the specialist knowledge, advice and support they need. Our aim is to benefit at least three million people worldwide by 2012.
The VSF works in partnership with non-profit and charity organisations to provide vital information and advice on skin health to people suffering from skin conditions. We also fund projects that offer support to people who are dealing with the daily challenges a skin condition can bring.
In this way we aim to help make life better for millions of people with clinical skin conditions around the world.
Uhhh really Vaseline? Cuz I heard (in the local Khmer shi-shi grocery store) that you want to help bleach the shit outta my "amazing" skin, sometimes with chemicals that have been outlawed in western nations. I wonder if their products ever cause some of the skin problems that their foundation is setting out to help. Funny how it's in Khmer, but I do understand "85%" and that color wheel in front of the woman whose arms turn from brown to bleached by the time they turn into shoulder.Wait, that's not funny at all...
Okay I would rant some more, but the first day of class is tomorrow so I should go rest up! It's gonna be a 15-hour day...
*This does not mean that I support (or oppose) war in any way. Just sayin' that they've happened.
**And possibly the entire region of Southeast Asia
Monday, June 13, 2011
Bad news, ADORABLE kitten
Hey, world (small group of people who indulge me and read this)
I have so much to show you! Monsoon! Wedding crashing! Me pretending to fall off things! Wild animals! Weird food! Royal palace (aka Phia's boo's pad)! Phia and me with weird stuff on our heads!
But you don't get to see any of it, because I can't figure out how to get it onto this computer. I know, I did it once, I should just do the same thing again, but somehow that is not the way things work. Until I: a) can get a new power cord b) get a power cord from Phia's cousin c) ask my parents to send my power cord (which I'm not doing yet because the postal system here is pretty faulty and Phia's cousin is maybe saying he can get one? I don't really know, I'm not sure what's going on with that), you can look at this adorable kitten video I found on the internet:
I like to narrate and say "streeetttch!" (like you would to a baby when it wakes up)when it stretches, then "OHHHH NOOOO!" (like the voice of an ant village as it gets smashed, but more adorable) when it covers its head.
I have so much to show you! Monsoon! Wedding crashing! Me pretending to fall off things! Wild animals! Weird food! Royal palace (aka Phia's boo's pad)! Phia and me with weird stuff on our heads!
But you don't get to see any of it, because I can't figure out how to get it onto this computer. I know, I did it once, I should just do the same thing again, but somehow that is not the way things work. Until I: a) can get a new power cord b) get a power cord from Phia's cousin c) ask my parents to send my power cord (which I'm not doing yet because the postal system here is pretty faulty and Phia's cousin is maybe saying he can get one? I don't really know, I'm not sure what's going on with that), you can look at this adorable kitten video I found on the internet:
I like to narrate and say "streeetttch!" (like you would to a baby when it wakes up)when it stretches, then "OHHHH NOOOO!" (like the voice of an ant village as it gets smashed, but more adorable) when it covers its head.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
this is worth like, a bajillion words...
Okay, so... pictures. These are kind of organized in little groups, like mini-stories, through picture.
"No sleep til Phnom Penh" this is the progression of my room at my parents house, during packing
"How delicious. Make you taste back!" the beginning of my Khmer food adventures
<<My first Khmer meal! Finger lickin' good....
Just kidding, I had this (below) with some pho for breakfast... those fried bread things are awesome, it's like a donut but without the sugar so you can eat it with soup, or dip it in sugar (or coffee) if you want something sweet
<<The infamously stinky durian is in the styrofoam container. I'm not gonna lie, it really does smell like garbage. It tastes really great, though!
(below) The first "exciting" Khmer thing I ate (if you don't count the durian) was these ants... you can't really tell, but there's small ones, GIANT ones, and their larvae, all mixed with beef and some cilantro, etc. It was actually pretty good, kinda sweet.
<< A super yum (green) pumpkin and egg custard dessert!
<<<I've heard so much about mangosteen, but I'd never seen a real one or eaten it... til now! Pretty tasty...
In the ex-pat grocery store that has butter, hot cheetos, and ribena, we found this:
I guess the marketing tactic is that they don't want there to be any confusion about what you're getting.
Unlike the package we found (below). Nothing about the label tells me what that food is, not even in an animal-vegetable-mineral sort of way. Maybe the script in the other language has a clue in it?
"Them" bugs are a part of life, here. In a place where everything thrives, every thing thrives.
I interrupted Phia doing some work in the office with a dilemma...
There was a GIANT bug in my shoe! It might not look that big in this picture, but if you know how big my feet are, you can imagine how huge that bug is (think Edgar from Men In Black).
Phia kind of laughs, but admits that she's also scared. But then she says, "wait, where's your other sandal?"
Did she not understand? There was a GIANT bug in our room! Look back at the bug picture. Clearly my other sandal was in the same place where it was when I took the picture, next to the shoe with the bug in it. Who's going that close to that thing, just for a sandal?
Phia's aunt agrees to get rid of the bug for us, since clearly I am ready to just move out of the apartment and find somewhere new to live.
But wait... she says something in Khmer and comes towards me WITH THE BUG IN HER HAND!
I refuse to go anywhere near her and am trying to pry the metal lattice off the window so I can jump out. We're on the 8th floor, my fall can't be worse than whatever she is attempting to do. Phia says her aunt is laughing because it's a cricket. Apparently, crickets are good luck. They want me to play with the cricket. I continue to work on the window...
<< My little cricket friend (yeah, that's what they look like here)
Just kidding! (about the last part, the rest was true). That thing is some crazy fruit that's kind of like lychee. It's called a rambutan.
"No sleep til Phnom Penh" this is the progression of my room at my parents house, during packing
"How delicious. Make you taste back!" the beginning of my Khmer food adventures
<<My first Khmer meal! Finger lickin' good....Just kidding, I had this (below) with some pho for breakfast... those fried bread things are awesome, it's like a donut but without the sugar so you can eat it with soup, or dip it in sugar (or coffee) if you want something sweet
<<The infamously stinky durian is in the styrofoam container. I'm not gonna lie, it really does smell like garbage. It tastes really great, though!(below) The first "exciting" Khmer thing I ate (if you don't count the durian) was these ants... you can't really tell, but there's small ones, GIANT ones, and their larvae, all mixed with beef and some cilantro, etc. It was actually pretty good, kinda sweet.
<< A super yum (green) pumpkin and egg custard dessert!
<<<I've heard so much about mangosteen, but I'd never seen a real one or eaten it... til now! Pretty tasty...In the ex-pat grocery store that has butter, hot cheetos, and ribena, we found this:
I guess the marketing tactic is that they don't want there to be any confusion about what you're getting.
Unlike the package we found (below). Nothing about the label tells me what that food is, not even in an animal-vegetable-mineral sort of way. Maybe the script in the other language has a clue in it?
"Them" bugs are a part of life, here. In a place where everything thrives, every thing thrives.
I interrupted Phia doing some work in the office with a dilemma...
There was a GIANT bug in my shoe! It might not look that big in this picture, but if you know how big my feet are, you can imagine how huge that bug is (think Edgar from Men In Black).
Phia kind of laughs, but admits that she's also scared. But then she says, "wait, where's your other sandal?"
Did she not understand? There was a GIANT bug in our room! Look back at the bug picture. Clearly my other sandal was in the same place where it was when I took the picture, next to the shoe with the bug in it. Who's going that close to that thing, just for a sandal?
Phia's aunt agrees to get rid of the bug for us, since clearly I am ready to just move out of the apartment and find somewhere new to live.
But wait... she says something in Khmer and comes towards me WITH THE BUG IN HER HAND!
I refuse to go anywhere near her and am trying to pry the metal lattice off the window so I can jump out. We're on the 8th floor, my fall can't be worse than whatever she is attempting to do. Phia says her aunt is laughing because it's a cricket. Apparently, crickets are good luck. They want me to play with the cricket. I continue to work on the window...
<< My little cricket friend (yeah, that's what they look like here)
Just kidding! (about the last part, the rest was true). That thing is some crazy fruit that's kind of like lychee. It's called a rambutan.
Friday, June 3, 2011
A day in the life...
We went to the beach on Wednesday, on "Silk Island". Pictures to come. For now, you get words:
Just sayin.
Hey, where'd that little boy come from? And what's that sound?
20:59, Wednesday 01 June 2011
Bugs here do weird things. Seriously. I just saw one rocking back and forth, then do a somersault. It reminded me of something I did when I was little at Scott Center. I don't have a clear idea of why we were doing it, or what the point of learning to roll around head-over-seat was, but I do recall being pretty good at it. This bug was only so-so. If this was his "talent" on America's Got Talent, I would not send him to the next round.
18:27 Wednesday 01 June 2011
At the beach today, a little boy materialized just for the purpose of staring at me. Phia teased me about my "new little friend", but that did not discourage him. He didn't speak any English, but I feel like he could still tell what she was saying, and still was unaffected. Later, we saw him on a coconut party boat. The Coconut Party Boat. No, this is not a Khmer fad or saying, it is a boat from which people sell coconuts. A boat that, for some reason, was blastin tunes. It could be that coconuts are the happenin' fruit and that all their vendors party in order to display how glad they are to be on a boat, and not earthbound like those poor jackfruit folt (or even worse, with a cart like the papaya salad lady). Either way, we divined that my new friend is with the band-- that is to say, he probably lives on Coconut Party Canoe. Which, I'm pretty sure, by some Cambodian common law, makes me the heiress to the Coconut Party Kingdom (as his nearest and dearest closest friend who gave him a coconut waffle to share with his brother). Not laughing so hard any more are ya, Phia???
16:18, Wednesday 01 June 2011
The king of Cambodia is single. So is my friend, Phia. I've taken to calling him her "boo". If you know Phia, this is not much of a stretch.
15:58 Wednesday 01 June 2011
Silk is kinda gross. From what I understand, it's some sort of worm excretion, and the worms have to be pampered and fed special stuff, and when they get fat from being lazy and pampered, and just sitting and pooping out thread, some one eats them.
I know right? Totally gross.
13:10 Wednesday 01 June 2011
IT
IS
SO
HOT
It's clearly some sort of cruel and unusual punishment to be in a country this hot, whose women dress so conservatively (let's be real, who doesn't dress conservatively by my standards?), at a beach, whose water will make me sick if I even so much as wade in it.
12:00 Wednesday 01 June 2011
Ahhhhhhyeah! We're going to the beach! Mmmm, I can't wait!
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