Another question answered!

One of the questions I fielded as I was preparing to move here was 'Isn't it dangerous?!?'. Today, I thought I might answer that question.

The answer isn't so easy as a yes or no. Yes, it's dangerous, but no, there's no more and no less danger here than anywhere else in the world.

To that end, let me show you what I mean.

Courtesy of wikimedia commons. Yeah, like I'd let one bite me just to get you guys a photo... ;)

The primary source of health issues here lies with the much-loved mosquito. Yes, that thing that nibbles on you in your backyard during barbques is the cause of many deaths and lots of sickness here. The one pictures tends to carry Dengue fever, which is a nasty bit of a virus that will likely land you in a clinic or hospital. There's 4 types of this virus, and being exposed to one give immunity to that one. However, getting a second type can make you sicker than the first.

Solution: Bug repellent, stay indoors at dawn and dusk, and don't drink from impure water sources (mosquito eggs).

Another hazard one can run into is, like I mentioned, impure water. You can get a nasty bug from the water here, so buy bottled, get it from a trusty source, and it's not a bad idea to clean off the bottle first in many cases.

Moo.

Being trampled by cows - ok, this really isn't a danger, but I like cows. Still, be careful of herds moving down the street as motos go anywhere they can to get around them.

This gentleman hangs out near the king's palace. It's sad to see all the people like this.

Landmines can also be a concern. Wandering around, you are likely to meet many who have lost limbs to one of these reminders of the Khmer Rouge. They're here. They're real, and you shouldn't step on one.

Solution: Stay on the path, use a local guide if you have to go off the path, and really, just don't go off the path.

Ok, so it's super dangerous, yeah? Right. So what don't we have?

Meth house explosions, children shooting up schools (my heart still hurts for Columbine), crazy postal workers, mad cow, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, volcanoes, earthquakes, mean lunch ladies, and tampered-with Halloween candy. We also don't have zombies (*cough* Miami *cough*), bigfoot (bigfeet?), hail, and lots more. We also don't have a lot of illnesses related to genetically modified or tampered food... unless you count the rumors about one of the neighboring countries.

In summation - stay on the path, drink clean water, and use bug repellent. Oh, and don't stand in front of a moving cow.

Which place is more dangerous again? ;)

There is one interesting thing to note. If you come here, be cautious about soap. Yes, I said soap.

Healthy fairness = skin whitening.

Just read the labels. Avoid anything with 'fairness', 'imperial', or 'whitening'. People here want to look like the prosperous foreigners (it's sad. God doesn't make mistakes, and you're beautiful the way you are.), so companies cater to this by promising to 'lighten' their skin tone.

Yeah, not that there was a famous pop-star who had something like that happen to them. You guys remember how his skin looked? What's worse is that the formulas here are imperfect, so you wind up with blotchy, permanently damaged skin. :( Not cool.

Clinic. You'd be surprised how many there are.

What do you do if you get hurt? Well, there's antiseptic, and bandages available anywhere, pink liquid for the ah... traveler's upset stomach, and aspirin. For serious stuff, you go to a clinic where a doctor can stitch you up or set a bone. However, I have no recommendations for a good doctor yet, so it's a coin toss. Also, they may not - ok, usually don't - have numbing agents (!!!!), so bring something to bite down on.

We do have hospitals, but they are more of a drive. If it's serious, use the travel insurance you should have bought before coming here to go to Bangkok, which has a hospital so nice it looks a bit like a hotel in the rooms.

Pharmacy #1 of 27 on this street. Ok, maybe it was more like 5.

Curiously, doctors here do not diagnose you. You need meds? Go straight to a pharmacy and tell them what you need. The techs are trained to diagnose your condition and dispense medication. They'll also just hand you what you ask for. Yes, it's a little scary, but the lack of the whole prescription system makes medicine much, much cheaper.

Cure all!

Lastly, for just about everything else - aches, pains, bug bites - there's Tiger Balm!

Yeah, I know. Surprisingly though, it really does work well. It's like the duct-tape of the medicine world!

Well, that's a nice glimpse of life here. Less dangerous than America, and an easy to work with pharmaceutical system. We'll have to see what adventures come next!

Market! (or, Aidan randomly alters text!)

Hello it's me Aidan!

Cutie!

 I am going to take over my daddys blog again, ok?  Now...

Mara is awesome!

Mara is a funny duck. She is nice! She hugs me a lot. 

Evidence of Mara's sense of humor. This was Jess' pillow! :)

I like Ming Mara like a best friend! (Editor's note: Ming means 'Aunt')

Can you guess which one was Daddy's?

I like Lego star ships. They're nice. They're fun.

I made three of them my self. 

Another unusual Hello Kitty find.

Me and my daddy walked to the market. 


I met two new people. they are nice.

I bought candy. 





We spent 10000 Riel.



 

Aidan and I out and about.

Ok, so I promised you a shopping trip with me and Aidan.

The Coke vs. Pepsi war continues to rage, even here...

Aidan and I ventured out to the market to get some supplies. You may remember from his post that we went to a bookstore that had no books. Well, that was one stop. The other was to where we get a lot of our groceries and such.

What? Grocery shopping is boring? Did you see some of the stuff I keep finding here? Panda fish?? Would you rather me do a whole post on Hello Kitty? :)

There! Happy now? Have some ice cream. :)

So we called our tuctuc driver ourselves and headed out. Along the way, of course, we enjoyed the lovely scenery of Phnom Penh, which primarily includes shops and people trying to avoid getting maimed by other drivers.

This place is awesome.

One of our stops, Psat Bayon (Bayon market), is a place our family frequents fairly often. It's a good place to buy meat and other products, like dairy. It's also a source of random American cereals.


Of course, the cereal, and even the snacks, aren't actually imported from America. Most come from New Zealand, Thailand, or Singapore. This leads to some interesting discoveries, such as the hint of ginger in the Diet Coke or the complete and total lack of corn syrup.




Anyway, as usual, Aidan wanted some treats for getting dragged to the market, and I didn't mind obliging.

The goodies just keep coming! Yum!

When we're at the market it's pretty easy to note some of the differences between American shopping and Cambodian. For starters, everyone is very friendly. The workers love to come up and say hi to Aidan, or touch him on the arm or hand. Sometimes this annoys Aidan, being that it can be a bit odd to have so many strangers staring and poking at you, but mostly he takes it in stride.

Smiling, but still with tuctuc hair. :)

Another difference is in the products. You don't see a lot of things like Marshmallow Fluff, grape jelly, or Tang, but there are some goodies like the Panda Fish, Durian (mostly in a different market), Jackfruit, and unusually-flavored Mentos.


Milk is a big one. The milk here is imported from Thailand (at least the stuff we drink is. I've heard stories about some of the other places.) It also sells out quickly - usually within a day - and doesn't come in again till the next week.




With Election Day, this was a bit of a problem as people knew businesses would close. Think shopping just before a blizzard or hurricane and you get the idea.

It sold everything from paper to Angry Birds to high-end electronics. I didn't see one book though.

Then of course there's the aforementioned bookstore. I've since been told the books are hidden upstairs. Of course, I also didn't see any good markings that would have led me upstairs, so...

Looks pretty normal, yeah? It's kind of a nice change.

This was Aidan's favorite stop thanks to a cow-shaped pencil sharpener, and some Angry Bird erasers that look like sandals. He loves little things like that, and for 1500 riel (40 cents, roughly) I figured we could splurge.


We spent a little more time in here than we planned just to have a look around and get a feel for someplace familiar-looking. It also took us that long to investigate all the little knicknacks and such.


I tell you, when shopping in Cambodia, always look at things closely. Even the little mom and pop storefronts sometimes have unexpected items you would never even think to find. In a way, it's almost like treasure hunting... except when you buy, you're supporting that family directly. It's nice.



Well, we didn't go anywhere else that day, but as it got nearer to Election Sunday, we actually took a walk down to the local gas station.

Hard to capture this moment. Aidan was too busy running away!

You have to understand something. Walking outside is really an adventure on its own. Everytime I leave the house, something new or interesting happens. That said, walking outside with Aidan is like walking around a crowded city wearing a turkey on your head and a toga. You get paid attention to by everyone. This time around, it was a small flock of children.

As we walked, they came in 1's, 2's, and 5's. In the end, he had no less than 7 children all trying to hug him at once! Aidan of course, sensing this wasn't prudent to being able to move or breathe, fled quickly. The Khmer did think this a bit rude, and one or two punched him on the arm good naturedly, but in all it was a cool experience. A few even hugged me (I was smart though. I did keep a hand on my wallet and phone).

We got to have a peek at the door-to-door clay pot vendor.

We made it down there after a nice jaunt past many, many people, and Aidan got to enjoy himself in the manner which all kids do...

Paradise!

...by sticking his head in a freezer full of ice cream.

Yeah, no surprise there.

We also got to see people dancing in the street, and a motorcycle parade. The pictures are in with all the political stuff you saw on the last post.

Well, that's it for now. I had hoped to show you the American Embassy, but that's proving to be more difficult due to paperwork issues... not that Americans love red tape or anything. I think tomorrow will be Aidan's turn if he can stop playing with all the font and editing buttons long enough.

A day of choices... sorta

Hi all! I'd love to tell you how this weekend was a big adventure, and how I went out into the wilds on an excursion... or at least to the city to get some pizza.

Unfortunately, that's not the case, but at least I have an interesting reason!

Did you remember to vote?

That's right - it's election day! Hmm? What are elections like here?

Vote for Aidan!

Well, for starters, they do things here a bit like they did in the Bible. You know, go to your home town and such? Here, you must return to your home province to register and vote. Here's some good highlights you will like:

-The prime minister declares that all business must close for voting day and give their employees the day off to vote.

-The sale of alcohol is prohibited starting the day before elections.

-Large gatherings of any kind are prohibited to prevent another mess of an election (read: to prevent more killings and riots).

-Women can vote.

Party representatives inbound.

 Yes! You heard me right. Women can vote here. That's good, right?





Why yes. Yes it is.





What are the downsides? Well...




-The ban on alcohol caused an apparent run on partying, as evidenced by the loudness coming from down the street the day before the ban. Too bad about that rainstorm... it kinda spoiled pretty much all the parties nearby. ;)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled drunken revelry and mischief with an important message from our sponsor...

-It's not really all that safe to walk around. Previous years were marked by casualties, and if you head back about 13 years or so you'll find info about a fairly bloody coup that took place. I won't name names, but that political party still holds a majority vote here.

-To the Khmer, voting is sometimes based on "Hey, you mean there's more than one candidate?" and other times based on threats of violence by a certain party (seems to have been toned down this year as far as I can tell). Remember folks - a threat that peace will disappear if you lose is still a threat, and it makes you a bully, not a politician... especially to a wounded people (see: 'Hope in the dark places' post).

-There's a lack of definition between parties. Platforms are nearly identical, and even campaign colors match. For instance, the pics above were one party, and here's a different one:

This candidate is also currently serving a prison term right now. He's the second place guy right now.

This election was for controlling votes in what might be considered the Senate or Electorate here. I haven't been doing this much, but here's some good reading if you want to see what I mean about lack of choices:

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012060156541/National-news/ten-parties-little-choice.html

A party in the streets with stage and all.

What does it mean for us?

Well, due to the business ban, no work can get done. This means a bit of a day off for my family and I. It also means Eric and Ginny have extra work to do on Tuesday (the ban was supposedly through Monday).

It also means no pizza. :)





Still, it's great that a country so war-torn can now hold democratic elections, even if they are full of shenanigans.

The winners will have a majority vote for awhile, and probably affect the big election for the high-up offices in July 2013. I hope to be able to cover that one too, cuz I really like this place, and plan on still being here... unless it's really dangerous, in which case, we'll go have a nice vacation in Kuala Lumpur or Thailand or something.

What happens to the losers? Well, they go home, sulk, and maybe stop at the market to grab...

...from those parts of the 'Deadliest Catch' you don't get to see. :)

...Panda Fish!

What? You know I couldn't resist. I mean, it's fish... shaped like little pandas... it's cute!

Trust me. There's lots of fun things at the markets and stores here. Maybe next time I'll take you with me and Aidan on a shopping trip.