pampering ourselves in phnom penh

Cambodia is a really crazy country, a "shit storm"as David cleverly and accurately termed it our first night in Siem Reap. It's a mess, totally underwhelming. For one thing, everybody wants a piece of the Westerner's money. And they do not take "No" "No way" "Not a chance" Absolutely not" "Not on your life" or "No way in hell" for an answer. I told David they needed rape prevention classes here, because the Cambodians need to realize "no means no." He didn't laugh.

Also, the driving. Tom will nod his head and agree, because it's a total fucking mess. When we arrived in Siem Reap, there was this mob of bikes, motos (like passenger motorcycles), tuk-tuks (motorcycle pulling a bench for 2-3 people) and few cars, all swarming in teh street. I couldn't figure out was was so off-putting about it, other than the road was dirt and they were all going so fast. then it dawned on me: there were no stoplights. No street signs, no stop signs, no stop lights. Nothing regulating the flow of traffic. The people just...drove. And prayed they didn't hit anything.

The flip side of this, of course, is that we're really in the third world. The country is filled with abject poverty and child malnutirtion and victims of land mines and people desperately trying to stay alive on a daily basis. It's incredibly harsh. It's very upsetting. And so, like most Americans, I pretend it doesn't exist and focus on the food and the temples and counting the days until I'm back in the west (from today: 7 to Israel; 9 to California).

Siem Reap, the springboard town into the Temples of Angkor, is fun. It's a little crazy, as the people here have made tourism into a true industry. There is a whole stretch of Vegas-style hotels of brobdignagian proportions, and then streets and streets of more "modest" guesthouses and hostels (like the place David and I stayed). The town itself is very cute and touristy; by our third night I was bored with the options. It was fine, for a night or two, but I couldn't imagine staying here for more than a few days. If you love bars and clubs, then, yes, of course, but otherwise, eh. They had very, very good iced cream though.

Angkor Wat is truly spectacular. I'd learned about it in my archeology of cities course my 4th year at UCLA, but not really in great depth. But it's amazing! Angkor Wat is really a misnomer, it's really the temples and cities, spread out over many kilometers, of Angkor - Angkor Wat is the biggest and most central Temple; it's the biggest religious building in the world. How about that, huh? They are these huge, immense, grand, monumental limestone buildings, with huge staircases and stepped towers and moats and carvings and corridors, all in the middle, the random middle, of the Cambodian jungle. It was wild. It was so wild, and so much in the middle of nowhere, that before we started David and I decided we needed an extra day here, so we ended up spending three nights here, with two full days on the temples.

I have hundreds of pictures (If possible, I think my photo collection of Angkor stone rivals Ari's pictures of Turkish tile...) up the wazoo and will show them when I get home (to the brave and the very patient). The highlights, for me, were many: the Elephant terrace of Angkor Thom, which was a huge, long terrace with hundreds of elephants carved into the wall; Angkor Wat itself was magnificent, so much so that we went twice, once in the afternoon and the following morning; a temple called Bankong, one of the first temples, the Rolus Group. about 12 km out of the way, which was very stirring and peaceful and beautiful in its (comparative) simplicity.

Phnom Penh is kind of like Siem Reap, if it was a city of 1.5 million instead of 100,000. The roads are paved, there is a plethora of restaurants and really big day and night markets, with a lot less tourism (but it's the off-season). Whereas walking in Bangkok smelled of a Thai restaurant, Phnom Penh smells of rainwater, rancid fruit, and trash. It's not particularly pleasant. Our hotel is fine, probably the nicest places we've been in (it has a TV and I watched an episodes of The Wire this afternoon while David napped). We walked around and sweated (I decided I really need a Dune stillsuit in this weather; it would save a lot of hassle dealing with the buckets of sweat and sontinually buying bottled water) and we saw the sights, from afar. Tonight we had dinner on the river. Tomorrow we're going to the killing fields memorial in the morning, and then the national palace, silver pagoda (oo!) and maybe a temple or museum in the afternoon. And the next day we fly to Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand.

In case you're keeping track, I finished The Audacity of Hope, and really enjoyed it, and then moved onto The Beach, which is about backpacking culture in Thailand in the mid-1990s. It was also made into a Danny Boyle-Leonardo DiCaprio movie in 2000. I'm now onto Dune: Messiah (see refernce above), which is good, not as good as the original. The only book I have left is finishing The Poisonwood Bible, and at the rate I'm reading, I may be forced into doing that. I guess there are worse things in life.

say hello to siem riep!

David and I arrived today in Siem Riep, Cambodia, the gateway town to Angkor Wat, a marvel of archaeological and historical and architectural temples and city, that we'll be exploring over the next 2 days, before heading to Phenom Penh, where we'll regroup and probably continue on to Chiang Mai.

Anyway, yesterday we explored Bangkok. It's a crazy city. In the morning we walked a lot, and found ourselves in the old, fortressed part of the city, where the Royal Palace and many central wats (really just a southeast Asian temple) are. We walked through Wat Po, where there was a huge reclining gold Buddha, and then onto the Royal Palace and the Shrine of the Emerald Buddha, which David had read a lot about. David is actually quite the expert on Buddhism - not specifically Thai Buddhism, which is Theravada Buddhism, but Japanese Buddhism, which is Mahayana Buddhism. Apparently Therevada is like Tibetan Buddhism and is very esoteric and monk oriented. Anyways, he was educating me quite a bit on what the towers and figures of the Buddhas and shrines represented. It was all very interesting, although I haven't really retained much. It's the stupid heat.

All of our walking was accompanied but any street vendors and food carts, hawking their wares and thrusting beggars in our faces. Walking the in city is a bit overwhelming, and I hoped that the rest of SEA wasn't as "in your face." We then hopped on a river taxi and rode down to the center of the city, and along the way saw some barges, the ferries, and many, many tall buildings. It's a really big city; according to wikipedia about 8 million people. We disembarked and then hopped right on a skytrain, which, during rush hour, was packed, especially with families and school children, all dressed in the same navy blue shorts/skirts and sky blue shirts, all heading to the mall for an after-school snack and hang out/cause trouble/run amok time. Some things, some cultural elements, are pretty universal.

The skytrain was neat, really just an elevated metro. We got off at Siam Center, a really, really big complex with three connected malls. They have Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Coach bags, Swensens, and movies theaters. This part felt super westernized.The mall was air-conditioned, and so we bummed around for a bit, exploring the basement level "Gourmet Food Market," which is basically what the San Francisco Shopping Centre basement food hall/Gelson's wants to be. It was super neat and, again, a bit overwhelming. We left the mall and explored the shopping and street vendors below. David really wanted Curry, I was just hungry. Eventually we found some non-curry chicken-rice-bowl. Then we walked. And walked and walked and walked, heading back in what we thought was our hostel, but it turned out was south, instead of west. We decided to keep walking, towards the nearest pier in order to catch a river taxi. By the time we got back to the pier, it was around 730 and the taxis stopped running at 6. So we ended up taking a tuk-tuk (like a covered motorcycle with a bench for two) back, and got to see some definitely non-touristy Bangkok along the way.

Early this morning we got up to take a bus to the Thailand-Cambodia border to cross over and then take a taxi to Siem Riep. The whole thing was fairly cheap, but still more than bus-bus, and until we got up, seemed a bit dodgy. But the first bus was like a super shuttle, or a sherut. It was large and ACed and has comfy seats and sat about 10. It filled up with a brazilian couple, a french couple, a few very non-friendly israelis, and some unidentified asian women. We bonded with the french couple, who had been traveling for about 8 months and marveled at our ability/willingness to see places in a few days - for them, at least a week in Siem Riep would do. Anyways, once we got to the border, we waited. And filled out visa paperwork. And waited some more. And waited some more. And then drove to the border. Where we waited. And waited. And waited. And crossed from Thailand into liminal space. And then waited. And then crossed over into Cambodia, and then waited in line. And then waited. And waited. And waited. And finally got in our taxi.

Eventually, we made it to Siem Riep. The whole process, in retrospect, was farcical (David would like me to note here that he thought it was farcical the whole time, whereas I was just annoyed and frustrated). And incredibly frustrating. But, it's now over, and probably when we cross over back into Thailand it will be via plane, so maybe a little smoother? But the Thai, and especially Cambodia countryside are beautiful. Really gorgeous. And Siem Riep is a neat city, with a fun touristy but cute downtown, and a wide, brownish river and big trees (it feels very southern), and large wide streets, tuk tuks and bicycles and motos chaotically filling the roads.

Anyways, we're going to spend 2 days exploring the Temples and city of Angkor and then away we go!

blistering barnacles in bangkok!

Well, I made it. Anxiety and packing and ridiculous sherut drive to the airport, and really long flight over the Indian Ocean (I think because El Al can't fly over the Arab states, it flies down the red sea, and then turns directly east towards Thailand), I made it.

Bangkok is a very weird city. Bizarre and weird. My friend Tom described it as the Los Angeles of Blade Runner goes tropical, which is a pretty apt description - theres street vendors everywhere and multi levels to everything and I havent even seen the skytrain [Im writing on a funny, Korean-English keyboard and cant find the apostrophe key, which is why my grammar is really, really bad. It isnt intentional]. It's a bustling city, filled with life, but, as much as I've seen (which is very little), very touristy.

I had a bizarre taxi ride over here; i picked up the taxi at the airport and told the counter where I was going, they wrote it down on the slip in Thai - so I couldnt read it to check it - and we were off. It was mid afternoon, so lots of traffic in the city and the driver pulled over and from my limited sense of where the airport was and where my hotel was, I knew we were in the wrong place. The street was wrong and the hotel was wrong. I tried explaining it to him, but my Thai is non existent and his English was poor, so I showed him on my Lonely planet map, but after a while I realized he couldnt read the English characters. I made a total novice traveler, totally orientalist, faux pas. Eventually, once I realized that "ph" was pronounced "p," and we sat in another 45 minutes of traffic, we made it. So, next time, take the bus.

The heat is evident. It's currently about 10:30 PM (which is 6:60 PM in Jerusalem and 8:30 AM in California) on Tuesday and probably around 75 degrees. Which is lovely, except that the air is thick with humidity and walking around feels like walking through linen. [I sweated a lot walking around just now, so I can't wait to see how things go during the day]. My afternoon started with a shower, a brief nap (in our A/Ced room), and then a lot of walking around the neighborhood of Banglamphu. I didnt go too far because once I started out it was getting dark, but we're next to the river and in the middle of the backpacker central. The streets are filled with non-Thais: many, many white people (but not just Anglos; I heard French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Geman, and Dutch) and other Asian tourists. But the Americans, though, man do they stand out. And in an obnoxious way. Hopefully once David and I start engaging with the culture, we'll do it in a respectful, mildly orientalist way (David will be the mild and I'll be the orientalist).

The food here, so far, has been delicious. I wasn't hungry when I started my walking exploration, so I walked and walked until I was. My street-vendor dinner consisted of two chicken/onion/pineapple skewers and (you ready for this Mer?) corn on the cob, grilled right in front of me, a whole fresh mango, a crunchy fried "pancake" drizzled in chocolate, and a bottle of water. All tasty, all leaving me wanting more, and all totalled less than $3. If only street food in the US were this good and cheap.

Tomorrow David and I explore Bangkok. After that, who knows? I'm thinking now about staying an extra night here, and then heading on to Cambodia and then either Veitnam or Laos or maybe other parts of Thailand. I will say that I will e-mail again, but I can't say they will be tediously detailed as this one. I'm really just killing time now, keeping myself awake before David arrives, hopefully in the next 2 hours. So now I'm off to read some more - I started The Audacity of Hope on the plane ride over. It's very good, very funny and well written and it's, unsurprisingly, reeking of Barack Obama. It's really his presidential campaign, in book form, written 2 years before the campaign. And particularly relevant to today is his section on the judicial system...

the end?

So, my year has ended. Last week was finals and this past weekend was saying goodbye. I'm having a hard time thinking about, reflecting on, and talking about the past week, and in many ways the past year. I hesitate to use superlatives, but the word that keeps popping up in my head is "transformative." And I think, in many ways, it was. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's ending right now. I've been in a funk, then and now, with all the stress of finals (which were a breeze, mostly), the packing, the organizing, the farewells (ranging from casual to truly, truly heartbreaking), and the getting ready for Asia. 

Yes, I am leaving tonight (in a little over 6 hours) for Bangkok, where I will meet my brother and we will travel around southeast Asia for two weeks. Then I'm returning to Israel - for about 30 hours - to collect my stuff and head on home. So, yes, the year is ending. 

I'll try and post about my travels and adventures with David in Bangkok, Angkor Watt, and Vietnam. If not, I'll give a rundown upon my return to the US of A! 

is the Pope Catholic?

You betcha. 

And he's definitely in Jerusalem right now.

He's in Jerusalem so much that the entire city center area, an area than encompasses my campus, most of my friends' apartments, and even, really, my apartment, was totally shut down to cars and buses this afternoon. And that's only day 1 of a 5 day visit. 

We've been told that any plans this week involving any sort of mechanical transportation (cars, buses, taxis) - which include our class trip to see Star Trek tomorrow night, or the end of year barbecue Wednesday afternoon after the student-faculty football (read: soccer) game - are all tentative until they actually occur. Because of the Pope. And his entoruage. And the ensuing traffic. 

It's a doozy.

In other news, tonight starts Lag B'Omer, so in order to celebrate I got my haircut (thanks to Meredith and my hair clippers) and then walked by dozens of bonfires in the park (a nice term for the desolate, Mordoresque barren weed-land) by my apartment. The whole city smells like smoke. I've got 14 days left until I leave for southeast Asia, 29 days until I'm back on American soil. Oh boy.

definitely an alarmist

or am i?

We received a letter yesterday from our illustrious president saying, after a board of governor meeting, that HUC is fully committed to both "financial sustainability" and maintaining their presence in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, New York. But they are still looking for radical, structural changes to be made to the college's operation in order to maintain the high quality of education to which we are accustomed to receive. It's a relief, although the final plan will be voted on in late June. 

So, basically this means, reading between the lines, that for me, I'll spend my next two years in LA and then graduate. For my current students, who knows. They'll probably have a few years at their respective campuses, and then maybe relocate, or not. Whatever plan happens may not affect their course of study. What still makes me uneasy is the looming potential for layoffs: staff, custodial and administrative, and faculty (probably the non-tenured ones). That's worrisome and hopefully nothing will be done hastily and without great kavanah (intention)...

A visiting faculty member, who's a congregational clergy in LA, thinks that the LA property is definitely going to be sold to USC and perhaps some of the land in NY and Cincy as well. But we'll see. 

In other words... I'm an alarmist.