A Somber Day

For those of you who don't know, a horrific genocide took place here from 1975-1979. The Khmer Rouge, a revoltionary extremist regime under Pol Pot, took power and began killing all oppressors. In the 4 year span, nearly 1/3 of Camdodia (roughly 1.7 million people) was killed off. Early Sunday morning, Susan and I visited the Tuol Sleng geocide mesuem located at the former prison camp. In 1975, The Khmer Rouge took over a local high school and turned it into a prison. In the camp, men, women, and children were shackled, lased, electricuted, then shipped away to killing fields (that is of course if they had already survived). It is pretty outrageous to think that this type of genocide took place only 30 years ago. Everybody that we talk to seems to be affected by this time period as all families were torn apart. In the exhibit, there are still blood stains on the floors and torture tools are on display. After a quick bite to eat, Susan and I took a tuk tuk to the nearby kiling fields. Only a few kilometers away, prisoners were taken to the fields blindfolded and told that they were to be "re-educated." However, thousands and thousands of innocent Cambodians were killed and thrown into mass graves. Today, the fields serve as a memorial, whith thousands of skulls and bones on display. There are still bones bits and clothing shards along the walking path of the fields....very very sad. To make matters worse, small children continued to approach us begging for money. While it may seem tempting to support these kids, the money that they raise goes straight to a controlling boss (much like Slumdog Millionaire). It is better to give these kids food or water.

After resting at the pool for a bit, a former student of Susan's and a new friend of mine, Cchivleng, called me and invited me to go dancing. While clubbing at 5:30 pm seemed a bit strange, I decided to go anyway for the experience. When she and I pulled up to the location, I saw thousands of people dancing along the periphery of the futball stadium....by dancing, I mean doing aerobics. Thoughts of mandatory Zumba and step aerobic classes at Emory continued to race through my mind. Regardless, I decided to take part anyway. The first parts of the dance were easy, but after a while I was falling far behind. 3 little girls tried to teach me, but I was useless. It is funny, because at one point they played Lou Bega's "Mambo Number 5," but the dancing did not follow the instructions of the lyrics. I was probably the only person in the stadium to notice this.

After dinner with Cchevling at a traditional Cambodian restaraunt (I had pad thai and fried ice cream), I decided it was time to call home. I was able to make a 20 minute phone call to the states for only $1.00. Internet access is only 50 cents/ hour. Other prices are very very inexpensive...cigarette cartons for a quarter (Fouty wuold be in trouble), motorcycles for $400 dollars, nice tvs for $60, etc. etc.

Thats all for today, but I am still a bit behind with entries. Ill try to post some pics at some point.