For $0.25, you can purchase your worst nightmare. Fortunately, I was offered it for free.
I
had only been in Siem Reap for thirty minutes and I befriended some
expats at the bar below our guest house. Along with my beer, I was
immediately offered a delicate piece of deeply fried meat, or should I
say, arachnid. This wasn't your everyday spider that creeps along your
walls and casts a half an inch shadow. When crushed, this creature
would cover an entire square foot of surface area. It was gnarly!
Nobody else in the bar would lay a hand on the spider, so I decided
to give it a shot. Living by my philosophy of "trying everything once,
and if doesn't kill me, doing it again." I wasn't brave enough to chomp
down on the body, so I snapped off it's front leg and slowly inserted
it into my mouth. Not bad, not bad...a little to crunchy for my liking,
but it made it's way into my tummy without any complications. I
couldn't believe it. I had just consumed a spiders leg. Next time, I'm
going for the whole thing.
Siem Reap was full of life, beauty and history. The main attraction
are the ruins of
Angkor Wat, an incredible palace built of sandstone in
the 12th century. There are hundreds of temples scattered around the site but the most
known is the central structure that boasts three symmetrical towers
resembling lotus buds or dried corn husks. The most spectacular view of
the ruins took place at sunrise. The 4am wake up calls Hannah, Molly
and I received from our cell phones was well worth the it. We arrived
at Angkor Wat with the thousands of other tourists wanting to capture
the beauty of the sunrise. There were signs posted EVERYWHERE that
clearly displayed "no talking."
How does is a symbol of a big red cross over a head with its mouth
open, talking, not translate into a universal symbol of "please be
quiet?" Once I plugged my ears with Sufjan Stevens and looked up, I
was at peace. I couldn't deal with the chaotic chants, songs and
chitter chatter from the tour groups. The moon and the stars danced above me until they slowly started to fade into the
sunrise.
Yes, Angkor Wat at sunrise was stunning and I would highly
recommend this $40 ticket to anybody, but it wasn't the highlight of Siem Reap. It
didn't touch on any emotion. It was an empty feeling of beauty.
I was mostly intrigued with the locals and the children. They were running around everywhere.
Many of them would approach me with baskets of knick knacks, bottles of
water or just empty hands begging for money. Yes, the saw me as a dollar sign, but I wanted them to see more than that.
"Lady, lady, you thirsty. Cold water for you, one dollar."
"You want bracelets. Special price for you."
These children were persistent and refused to back off until they successfully made
a sale...unless you catch them off guard. I found it quite entertaining
to beat them at their own game. Instead of saying no, no, I don't need
a watch, I would ask them their names, how old they were. If they were
responsive, I would joke around with them. Their English is superb,
even their accents are accurate. These children learn English from the
tourists. Since many of them are forced to sell trinkets everyday, they
have lots of exposure to the language.
I even taught a seven year old boy the game of basketball. He was
wearing a Michael Jordan jersey and I kept asking him if he liked
basketball. I could tell he was a bit confused with the word so I
started acting out the sport. I even grabbed my Blazer Jersey to show
him that we had similar tastes in fashion. I passed an invisible ball
to myself, dribbled back and forth, positioned the ball over my head,
snapped my wrist and....released. Score! 2 points! My act of sherades
turned into a game of pictionary, and finally, a game of one on one. I
crumbled up a piece of paper from my journal, had the boy hold up his
arms for a hoop, and passed the wad of paper back and forth. He had
potential to be the next Michael Jordan, or should I say...the next
Brandon Roy?!
Just spread'n the love of the game...on the other side of the world. Go Blazers!
