Journey To Cambodia

I'm back in Phnom Penh. Actually, since yesterday. It's about 2:30pm here on Tuesday, December 13th. Last Friday, we left early in the morning to go to Battambang. The drive took about five hours. The roads weren't too bad either. I noticed there were less palm trees to Battambang than Kampot, but there seems to be more rice fields. When we got to Battambang we stopped by my sister-in-law's parents house for lunch. Then it was about another 30 minute drive to the countryside to an area call Tmaw-Koh or at least that's what I think it's call. If I have it right the translation is something like "cow rock". The road was horrible. It was dirt and full of dips and potholes. We were lucky it wasn't raining because the car would've definitely gotten stuck. We went to my aunt's (dad's older sister) house for a pre-bonn ceremony. I met many of dad's cousins, aunts and uncles. I also met my dad's remaing siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. My dad have a total of seven brothers and sisters. Three past away and as of last Friday I've met all but two of the ones whom passed away. Meeting my dad's family was very overwhelming. I got teary-eyed meeting some of them. I wish my dad was able to come. His family misses him a lot and want more than anything to see him again. It's been over 25 years and maybe even more for some of them since they've last seen him. I forgot to mention that I have many, many first cousins here. I spent Friday night in Battambang mainly for two reasons. I didn't want to bother with the out-house or showering outside. Plus my sister-in-law's mother really wanted me to sleep over at their place. I wasn't sure at that time if I had made a bad choice since I have family whom I just met at Tmaw-koh. That night in Battambang there was some sort of festival going on. It happens once a year for a duration of one week. It was like a carnival with booths, food vendors and even a concert stage. I didn't really have a good time. It was hot and crowded and I wore a long sleeve jacket to keep getting bitten by bugs, which I had a lot from my stay in Battambang and Tmaw-koh.

Saturday was the final day of the bonn. I was busy sitting in on the bonn that I didn't really get to take much pictures or videos, which I really regret. After the bonn my in-laws tried to drag me back to Battambang again, but I knew I had to spend time with my relatives. My mom told me that everyone asked for me the first night. I was caught in a delimma because I wanted to stay, but all of my clothes were back in Battambang. One of my cousins decided to ride his motorcycle to pick up my backpack and small carry-on luggage. I have to say he was one of my favorite male cousins there. He was the only one to keep me company and actually made me want to stay in the countryside longer. He even slept with me at my great aunt's villa, which has an indoor bathroom/shower. He told my mom that he would watch after me. He slept in a hammock and I slept on the ground with two of his sisters with the misquito net around us. Several times throughout the night rats were in the kitchen making a lot of noise with the pots and pans. He got up to scare them away. I was glad he was there to do that, haha. My dad's younger brother have eight children ranging from 12 to 30 something years of age. My younger cousins are all so cute and adorable. I just felt like they were admiring me. They would follow me around and smile at me whenever they catch me looking at them. They made me feel really welcomed. I miss them all terribly.

My impression of my dad's side of the family on the second day was a complete 180 from the first day. As I said before the experience was a very overwhelming. I forgot to mention that the second reason why I didn't want to stay in Tmaw-koh the first night was because I was kind of fearful of my relatives. There were just so many of them, both young and old. Remember how I said I didn't feel like a foreigner in Phnom Penh? It was a totally different sotry in Tmaw-koh. I felt scrutinized and judged, but not too much in a negative way. None of them has seen me before or even knew of my existence, except for those who have seen pictures of me that my mom have sent. I didn't get too comfortable or grow close with my dad's older sister's kids. I think there are seven of them. Many of them were much older and married. My dad's younger brother have younger children and they were easier to like because I didn't feel judged by them. For example, I overhead one of my older married cousins asking one of my dad's older cousins if I spoke Khmer clearly and fluently (just within feet from me). Later on I got the chance to have a conversation with him and I'm sure he was quite surprised. He's my brother's age, married and have such a cute little boy! He also looks a lot like my older brother.

So, in one day I got to know my cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and yeays. Yeay means grandma, but also include great aunts and elder folks in general. I regret not spending the first night with my relatives because my mom wanted to leave after the bonn. I wish I would've tried to convince her to stay at least one more night. I mean I totally forgot about the inconveniences of the out-houseses, cold showers and no electricity, which was only available from about 6:00 to 9:00pm. That night it went out around 10:00pm. I just wanted to spend more time with my cousins. The cousin who kept me company wanted to take me fishing. Not fish pole fishing, but fishing with our hands and nets. He also wanted to show me more of the countryside (rice fields and orchards). I really wanted to see it too, but couldn't because of the time constraint. However, I did get to tour my uncle's mini farmland. He has a small rice field, sugar cane field, egg plants, variou pepper plants, various tropical fruit trees and chickens and pigs. All of my relatives live within walking distance from one another. It's really nice to know that I have so many blood relatives as oppose to distance relatives or in-laws. I'm really looking forward to visiting my dad's homeland longer. Maybe for a week or so and this time with my dad. I really wish he was there and I would really love to be there when he finally get to go. I can't begin to explain how much I miss everyone already. For the first time during this trip I forgot about missing home.