Day 3

Today I went with Alan to purchase furniture for the dormitory. Seeing the commerce side of Phnom Penh was very interesting. There are a few streets that sell reputable goods. As you drive down the street there will be 4 or 5 stores all selling the same thing all clustered together. A furniture section, electronics section, cell phone section, food section, motorcycle section, etc. Buying the couches was a pretty funny experience. We thought we bought 5 couches for $150 each. We left to buy desks and told the couch people we would be back for delivery. When we came back, they brought around a motorcycle with a long skinny trailer mounted to it. They loaded a couch and two huge chairs onto the trailer. Alan asked why the chairs were there and they said it was a packaged deal, 1 couch and 2 chairs for $150. This meant we had just bought 5 couches and 10 chairs, none of which would even fit anywhere. Alan said we just wanted the couches and asked how much one couch alone would cost. As the saleslady was telling us $100, two men had unloaded the couch and the two chairs into the middle of the street. They set it up with the couch in the middle and the two chairs on the ends facing the center. Alan asked for $250 back and said we will just take the couches. When he said this, the saleslady said hold on and went in the back. The two men then came out with a table and put in the focus of the living room they had now setup in the middle of the street. The lady came back and said we could have 5 tables for free. As Alan and I where trying not to laugh, he once again said just the couches. Then the two men brought out two foot stools and put them on the other side of the table. Another man ran out with a pot of fake flowers. As he put the flowers on the table, completing the living room atmosphere, Alan and I both laughed. After a few more communications through the translator, we were finally on our way with the 5 couches and $250.

After getting the couches put into the rooms, we had some lunch and Elise and I went to the only real supermarket. I bought some razors and chocolate then took a few pictures of foods I found funny.

That night we had dinner with the creator and head of the Cambodian Literary Committee, Felipe. Felipe was trying to get more Cambodians reading and writing books. It was fascinating hearing him talk about the interests and current state of Cambodians. He said that most Cambodians are unfamiliar reading for nonreligious purposes. He has built a library of secular books inside a Buddhist monastery and published and distributed a book by a Cambodian. He even has grants set up to pay people to write books. Also, he talked about a program he has that brings 15 college students (5 American, 5 French, and 5 Cambodians) together for a month in Cambodia. The 15 students have a project they complete individually. Dinner was also incredible. We had a fried rice dish that I hope to recreate. It was fried rice with light soy sauce and pineapple, served inside of a carved out pineapple. We also had a spicy dish called laab. It was a stir-fry that you eat with sticky rice. You pick up a glob of rice in your hand, press against the laab and take a bite. After dinner I once again went straight to bed and crashed.