days events -

we woke at 6:00 this morning to take a 6 hour, 4 dollar, bumpy-as-all-get-out bus from siem reap to phnom penh. we took the dancing road the whole way, stopping at an out-of-the-way farm every so often to let someone off. our gigantic, filthy tour bus was full of natives and foreigners and made horrible cranking sounds like we had just scraped off the metal wall of a building. this is not unsafe but it is a powerful examply of the "Everyman" here. everyone (passengers and bus-driver included) was very relaxed and we got here in one piece except for me and j who have had terrible stomach aches - not sure if they are related tho... sr. louise took us to a kroma textile workshop. it was begun by two japanese brothers who wanted to preserve the tradition of silk weavings that is centuries old. the craft is passed down from teacher to apprentice and so many lives were lost during the wars that the art was being forgotten. they searched through many villages and found a woman who had been taught and employed her to teach girls how to harness the materials, turn them into silk, make dyes, weave. the men build the looms. many are orphans or children of very poor families, and are allowed to keep their children at the shop with them. they are taught first to appreciate beauty: a value that had also seemed to have been lost after almost 3 decades of war. all students begin by replicating flowers out of art books so that they understand the importance and appreciation of beauty. the whole operation, from start to finish, was motivated by such good principles. they also took the opportunity to raise awareness about effects on the environment and use only natural fibers and dyes. when they began there were 7 employees. now they employ 500 and have a waiting list of 1000! it is a major opportunity and chance at a future. when the children are there they also learn all of the workings of the place so that they are already learning a way of making a living and of being self-sufficient. supporting "self-sufficient women" is part of the goal. feelings of admiration for the women; guilt; naivete; a need to do something. the fact that still, people are happy.


we are staying at "lakeside hostel" which is literally a dock with rooms on either side. there are hammmocks and chairs literally on the water with a diamond lake-like view - totally calming! when we got to the hostel and tried to lock our room for the first time we couldn't close the door. in the minutes since it was unlocked, we walked in, said yes, and put our bags down, the door ceased to fit into its frame... immediately a young dock-resident was employed to chisel away the frame of the door (the hostel seems to be run by an entire family, all of whom are involved). he returned with an ax. he began to chip away and we sat down to watch. some more family members walked by and contributed their two cents. this continued until one guy a bit older came with a machete and began to hammer shavings of the door frame off with the machete using the blunt side of the ax. let me tell you: he made the door fit.

we are planning on celebrating molly's birthday tonight. her birthday (july 29) actually didn't exist in my and j's world. we started flying on july 28 for 22 hours. but it was miraculously july 30 when we landed. m spent the b-day in japan closing up her life and being generally rushed and sad. so now... we slooow dooown, and celebrate the fact that she is. we are glad she is and we give thanks. tomorrow we visit the famous khmer rouge killing fields and s-21: a famous jail from which only seven people survived; then off to the silver pagoda.

cambodia has been enlightening. it is a hard place to be. important, but a dead-serious reality check.

big ups to readers who also comment - thanks gules! love u.

peace.
s