Hey all....

Friday, February 06, 2004

Today I went to Cambodia with Thisie, Gwen, Katy, Mirjam, and Katy’s host family. We left at 7 in the morning. It was so beautiful. We spent the day looking at ruins of “wats” (temples) and shopping. Now I’ve been to 3 Southeast Asian countries: LAOS (lao), THAILAND (pahtet thai), and CAMBODIA (kambucha)… maybe it’s just me, but that rocks my face off… not to mention that I can speak Lao and Thai (Lao is the same as Ison)… I really wish I could go to Vietnam but that’s most likely NOT going to happen while I’m an exchange student in Thailand… oh well…back to the Cambodia trip… I bought 2 beautiful silver bracelets—one with a wat on it and one with elephants on it….I bought a shirt that has Cambin vowels on the front and consonants on the back… a pair of earrings… and two beautiful sticks for my hair. Ma Quan (Katy’s mom) bought us all postcards and hats. We also took our own pictures all day long. Since we spoke Thai, we made friends quickly with the Cambin children because they also speak Thai because they live so close to the border.

After we started exploring the ruins we kinda broke up into groups…and Miriam, Gwen, and I all went off together… we were joined by two little girls: Noht and Watanacha… they were SOOOOO beautiful. They walked and talked with us all day… if we had any questions we just asked them… they were about 10… too bad they couldn’t be in school. Cambodia is so beautiful and so sad at the same time. It’s such a startling reminder of how lucky I am to be Thai—or American for that matter. While we were walking, we stumbled upon three open graves dug for children…it was sooooo sad…but that’s the reality these kids live in…the ruins of genocide and civil war… we took a beautiful picture of a cannon in front of the ruined wat… it’s so strange to think that not many years ago—on this holy ground--people were dying where we stood. But there were many more frightening reminders… for instance… on every tree that led into the woods, there was a sign warning of live land mines…

We stood in the Emerald Triangle… but it was too dangerous to enjoy. The Emerald Triangle is where Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia meet with beautiful wooded mountains… The greens of the forest were absolutely beautiful…We had breathtaking views of places people in our generation may never be able to explore because it’s too dangerous. At the end of the day we decided to buy postcards from the girls… not because we wanted or needed them… but because it was our little way of saying “thank you”… we ate dinner and bid farewell to Kambucha…. I was home by 6pm… quite a lot to take-in in a day… but… that’s exchange for ya… well, I’m outtie… I hope you all have an amazing day!

-Kati Kimmer-

PS- I was recently asked what the weather is like here. Thailand has three seasons: hot, hotter, and hottest. Right now, I’m experiencing “hot” or “winter”… the coldest it’s gotten all winter was about 65 F and it felt so cold that I thought I was gonna die… The end of February starts “HOTTEST” which is when we start summer break from school… we don’t go back until May. Starting soon, the average temperature will be about 105 F… now that’s HOT!! Yeah… that’s what living on the good ol’ equator will do to ya… and it’s MAD humid here too…

I also had somebody ask me if elephants just wander around the streets of Ubon (my city)… the answer to that is “no”…but it IS a fact that Thailand has the most Indian elephants out of any country in the world. Although I do see many elephants, there are always people with them… just sometimes it’s easier to just go around them…so that’s about it… any more questions, just let me know… I’ll try to answer any FAQs as much as possible.