4/8 Easter Sunday- A farewell to Cambodia

Final Reflections:  A Farewell to Cambodia

4/8/12 Easter Sunday- On a plane flying back from Phnom Penh

Well, I’m writing the last entry as I did the first blog entry- on the airplane! As I look at the map and follow our route across Japan, the Pacific Ocean, and the continental US, I think what a long way it is to Cambodia from Texas- it will take me 32 total hrs of travel to reach home!  Even though it is such a long way geographically, all the wonderful people I’ve met in Cambodia will remain close to my heart.

When I started out on this journey, I remember feeling excited, scared, and a bit overwhelmed.  On the way home I’m feeling very fortunate to have had this wonderful opportunity!   Oh, there were a few “bumpy” times and it took me a lot of adjustment just to get used to crossing the street in the crazy traffic! (ie- you are like the frog in the game Frogger) and overcoming the “digestive challenges” had its moments,  but I’ve learned so much and met so many wonderful people, that all the challenges have been worth it!

Thinking about all the things we did in our CSC assignment, and traveling around Cambodia learning about the life and culture, the thing that comes back to me the most is how wonderful the people are!  From our Clients, to the Staff at the Bohhdi Tree, to our Drivers (car and Tuk Tuk), to the children we saw as we were biking,  everyone was open and friendly and so much fun to get to get to know!  Cambodia went through some terrible times in the 70’s and 80’s, but the people are resilient and are looking to the future with hope. One person told me, the worst times are behind them now and they are optimistic about the future, and he was very happy that we had the chance to experience Cambodia as it is today and not only hear just about the bad times.  Even the Cambodian person I met on the plane ride home invited me to come back and visit again!

I’ve also made some great new friends from IBM!  It was fantastic to be able to work with a team from so many countries and cultures.  I hope that I will be able to visit all of them in their home country at some point and I’d love to see them all in Austin if they can come!  When we started, we had talked to each other on the phone a couple of times and knew a little about each other’s background, but in a very short time as we shared adventures, challenges, and good times together in Cambodia, we became friends and trusted colleagues!  Thank-you Elke, Diego, Rolland, Harinder, Daniel, Sonia, Fernanda, Niraj, and Christian for all your help and support and for making this assignment such a wonderful experience!

Here are some more of my favorite pictures!

Young Monk in front of Angkor Wat ( photo by Christian Hunt)

CSC team in front of Angkor Wat

Riding around in a Tuk, Tuk in the countryside!

   

Butterfly at Angkor Butterfly Center

Team at Byon temple with traditional dancers

Lightning at pass ( Fernanda)

 

Cambodian Boy ( Fernanda)

#ibmcsc cambodia

4/6 Celebrating the Khmer New Year!

On Friday we arrived back in Phnom Penh in time to join the clients at NUM (where Mary worked) for their Khmer New Years celebration.  It was lots of Fun!  Cambodians celebrate 3 new years- January 1, Chinese New Year, and Khmer New Year.   We sat with my colleague from France, and some people from the ministry of finance. There was much toasting and lots of good food!   The dinner was outside under tents and they had traditional Khmer dancing and then a rock and roll band!  David thought it was a cool mix of the new and the old.  We even tried a little of the Khmer dancing to the rock and roll band- there are a few simple steps and then lots of weaving of the hands back and forth.

 Celebration tents and tables- toasting in the New Year!

Friends and Food at the table

 Traditional Coconut Dance













On Saturday we were able to meet Diego and his girlfriend for one final shopping trip to the central market and then a wonderful lunch on the Mekong- they headed up to Siem Reap and the we headed to the airport in the evening to return to the US.  All in all, a great experience for both David and I.


#ibmcsc cambodia

3/31- 4/7 Vacationing in Cambodia with son, David

David and I  had a Wonderful week in Cambodia!   I’ve really enjoyed taking him to see some of the places we visited with the CSC team. Many things were better the 2^nd time around and I’ve had a chance to experience some new things as well.  For Sunday & Monday we saw the sites around Phnom Penh so he could adjust to jet lag.  He had no issues and so we were able to do a lot.  We did a tour of the city, went to the Killing Fields, took a boat ride on the Mekong, and visited the Central market and the Royal Palace. 

Memorial Stuppa to the 1000s that were killed at the Killing Fields during the Pol Pot regime

                                                                                   Monk at walk around killing fields

  

Boat on the Mekong while on the river boat tour

Tuesday to Friday we spent in the Siem Ream area visiting the temples, the floating village, the landmine museum and the Angkor Butterfly Center.  We also had a chance to go for a bike ride with Bruce T. and have dinner with his family.  This trip, with just two of us, we took the Tuk Tuk everywhere.  We’d start about 8 am and go until 3 to 4 in the afternoon. It was a real adventure bumping around the Cambodian countryside in the Tuk Tuk- luckily we had a very good driver and no accidents! It was a great way to see another side of Cambodian life that is very different from Phnom Penh.

 David and Mary at Bayon temple- there are ~ 54 smiling faces on the pillars!

Mary and David in front of Ankgor Wat reflecting pool.

The day that we visited Angkor Wat, Bayon, and the Jungle temple we hired a guide and he was wonderful- I now have a much better appreciation of history, stories, and carvings.  My favorite story is the Hindu story of the Churning of the Ocean, which is carved on a 60 foot wall in Angor Wat and the statues leading into the city are of the “good guys” and the “bad guys” from the story.   Also, while we were at the top of the towers of Angor Wat, there were several Buddhist monks leading a ceremony - wonderful to listen to in that setting.  Across the 3 days, we visited 8 to 9 of the temples- the scope and scale of the whole complex is amazing and it was great to have a full 3 days to appreciate them.  It’s amazing the organization and engineering that went into them in the 9^th – 12^th Centuries.

#ibmcsc cambodia

4/1/12 Finishing up the CSC assignment

Final Presentation at NUM, from left to right Vice- Rector, Rector, Mary, Elke and BOM from ABV

 

 

Greetings!
The past week has flown by! I can hardly believe it's April already!  We've all been finishing up our assignments with the Clients, doing some last minute things in Phnom Penh, and saying our goodbyes to the Cambodia2 Team.

 Elke K. and myself have been working with the National University of Management ( NUM)  on their new e-library.  The picture above was after our final presentation to the Rector and staff at the University.   They are renovating a building for a new library this fall, so we've been helping with planning for the e-library webpage, e-links, hardware options, software options and card readers.  Many thanks to friends Frank and Dottie H. who are librarians in Rochester MN and have provided us with much advice!  It's been a really great assignment and I think it has really helped them lay the groundwork so the students can have better access to information. 

IBM CSC Cambodia 2 team on the  last night in front of Independence Monument ! Left to right- Diego, Mary, Rolland, Elke, Christian, Sonia, Daniel, Fernada, Niraj and Harrinder.

It has been wonderful meeting and working with the IBM members of the Cambodia2 team. We are from 7 different countries.   We shared much learning and adventures together and it is an experience that I will never forget!  I hope to visit all of them in their home countries some day.  On Saturday across the day I bid everyone farewell as they departed for home or vacations.  It was hard to see everyone go, but on Saturday night my son, David, arrived  and we will stay in Cambodia for one more week.  I still have many wonderful pictures of the team and Cambodian sights, so I will try to share another couple blog entries this week.

Bye for now,
Mary