My Last Stay at Wat Opot

Sorry for such a delay with blog entries. I never had a chance to make a post after my birthday (slash I was too hungover to do so, but pretend like you didn't read that). Anyway, my birthday was pretty amazing. Susan organized a small dinner for me with about 5 or 6 people that I have met throughout my stay. We ate at a nice Middle Eastern restaraunt which was great. After dinner, about 10 people from the guesthouse and myself went out to some of the local bars and clubs. At about 3 am, we capped the night off at a notorious club called Heart of Darkness. This place is known for its eccentric crowd consisting of westerners, locals, gang members, trannies, and gays. I immediatly made it clear that I refused to talk to any "girl"who approached me who was taller than me, or who even remotely resembled a man. Regardless of the ambiguously gendred people, we still had a blast.

I also caved in and got my much needed Cambodian haircut. I was putting this off for so long, but it was inevitable. I went to a local place that was surrounded by 5 or 6 female employees. After first assuming I was walking into a brothel, I was pleased to find out the the "saloon"was in fact a real barbershop. The man who eventually cut my hair, which by the way was only $3, took the time to meticulously cut each of my individual hairs (or so it seemed). After the 45 minute haircut, my hair looked perfectly normal. For another $2, one of the female workers gave me a 20 minute shampoo, which was essentially a 20 minute head message.

My last week at Wot Opot was probably my best stay. There was a slew of Japanese volunteers who came through, and they were pretty cool to work with. One night, a bunch of the girls were shrieking because an enourmous blue gecko had invaded their room. It took 3 of us to finally force the monster into a hole and seal it with duct tape. What goes around must come back around, because the following evening I woke up to the sounds of the very same gecko resting only 2 feet above my head.

It was pretty difficut saying goodbye to everyone in the community. The head monk who I had been working with, Poohr (sp?), inproved considreably with his English proficiency. Wanye approached me on the last day to tell me that the once very shy Poohr was openly speaking to Wayne in English, something he had never done before. It is very nice to see that my efforts have benefitted some. There is a small coffee shop along the edge of the community that some of us would frequently hang out at. Many of us have a running joke that I am in love with the woman who runs the stand. She is a 40 year old widow who does not speak a single word of English. On my last day in the village I gave her a passport photo of myself and told her to never forget my face. She happily put my picture on her wall.

Now that I am back in Phnom Penh, I am leaving for Tailand tomorrow. I met a couple of guys during my last stay here, and I plan on travelling with them while there. I have no idea where we are going or what we will be doing, but that is have the fun of travelling. I will be back in Phnom Penh with about 2 weeks before my final departure, yet I have no idea what I will be doing (except for a 4 day visit to Siem Reap). I might volunteer with a local organization here, or I might even go back to Wat Opot for a few days. Who knows.

Anyway, thats all for now and I will make another post whenever.