Finding A Work / Life Balance in Phnom Penh

Here are the three greatest sentences in the English language, as I see it:

1. Come to my party, there will be an open bar. 
2. I'm baking a cake, do you want to lick the spoon?
3. You start work at 8.15am and finish at noon.

When I was told that I finished work at lunchtime I was doing mental fist-pumps. Think of all the room in my schedule for activities! I am able to work in the morning and play in the afternoon. A healthy lifestyle is all about balance and I am crushing it.

The work side of things has been really good. So far, I have been trying to build up the social media profile of HROTP and also find grants that we can apply for to help fund a few current land-rights projects. We were also given the opportunity to attend the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to witness the trial of two Khmer Rouge leaders charged with crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and genocide. Nuon Chea was the former Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party, and Khieu Samphan was the former Head of State after Pol Pot. We watched the defence try and delay the trial by another two years. These guys are in their 80’s so the prosecutors were arguing that the Chamber needed to push the trial through and manage some justice before they cark it. It was so interesting to see how this unique court worked and to witness some really awesome lawyering. One of the defence lawyers was so good he almost made me forget about the mass murder of over three million people. Almost, but no. 

We weren't allowed to take in phones or cameras so I stole this from Google to give you an idea

Focusing on the dark page of Cambodia's history can be quite exhausting so I have been trying to do some more carefree things in my spare time. For example, we went out for dinner in Phnom Penh for another volunteer's birthday and we managed to find a restaurant with a 17 hour long 'happy hour'. Long story short: we got pretty buzzed, trawled the streets looking for a karaoke bar, ended up at a place called 'Candy Lounge' that was crawling with prostitutes, and had an epic sing-a-long on the tuk tuk ride home. I also caught up with some friends I made on Contiki and we spent most of our time together in Phnom Penh watching a monkey climb the Royal Palace. We didn't even go inside the palace, because let's face it, what can top watching a monkey climb a building? 

Cambodia's King Kong

Actually, I know what can top that. I visited a local school where my roommate Connor is a volunteer teaching English to an adorable bunch of kids. The school is in a pretty rural area and the kids come from really poor families, but they are all so carefree and dedicated to learning - it was beautiful to see. I helped Connor teach them plurals and the names of household objects. They called me 'Teacher Nathan' and one of them told me she thought I was cute, so obviously she was my favourite. Look at how adorable they were:

Kids actually like me in Cambodia

And look at how cute I am!

Nothing helps establish a healthy work/life balance quite like a weekend away. That's right, I'm talking about a road trip. We loaded up a minivan with 15 volunteers and two eskies of beer and headed down to the beach town of Sihanoukville. The driver was a legend and let us stop to pee on the side of the road whenever necessary. He also only had three CDs: Rihanna, Jason Derulo, and Beyoncé. What more could you possibly need?

Sihanoukville is a great place. It's like what Thailand was 20 years ago. You can spend all day on the beach getting massages, pedicures, and cheap cocktails delivered to your beach chair. I have never felt more white and privileged in my life than I did getting a pedicure from two Cambodian women, each one focusing on a separate foot. I felt kind of bad but I was contributing to the Cambodian informal economy and that's a good thing, right? 

Shameless crotch shot

At night, the beach gets a bit crazy. All the bars are committed to getting you loose, either from alcohol or balloons filled with nitrous oxide. And there were a lot of loose people on that beach. I witnessed a wet t-shirt competition at one of the bars and it was the sloppiest, most un-erotic display I have ever seen. Seven girls were paraded out the front of the bar wearing white singlets while one of the Western club promoters sprayed them with a hose. Meanwhile, the DJ played Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrty' and encouraged the girls to get, well, dirrty. Some of the girls ended up making out with each other and they all ended up with their lady-pillows on display. The winner was announced and she ran to the bar to collect her free bottle of vodka - which is priced at about $8 in Cambodia. The guy standing next to me gives me a nudge and says, "that's my girlfriend!" He was so proud. 

After two days on the beach, we piled back into the minivan for a much quieter ride home. Yep, it's already starting to feel like home.