Sowat-dee Kha!
Wow! The last time I posted was three months ago and I’ll probably need a cold Cambodian ice coffee with buckets of condense milk to energize me for what is to follow. Over the past three months, I have been constantly working, traveling, spending time with family, and unfortunately sick. On top of that, my To-Do List for the next couple of months I am here is overloaded. But, I would not be fair to myself if I do not keep up with my blog. I am going to try and recite everything from March over the next couple of weeks.
In March was the 3rd Mid-Year Enrichment Southeast Asia Fulbright Conference. It was held in Bangkok and wonderfully hosted at the Dusit Thani Hotel Resort. The conference lasted for three days at which I presented at and learned an immense from other Fulbrighters in the area. In short, I presented on how to develop feasible memorialization projects and how they can contribute to transitional justice in Cambodia . Of course I spoke too fast, but I was overall happy with how much information I was able to pass on to the audience. Surprisingly, not a lot of people knew about the Khmer Rouge Tribunal as I had hoped, but it was good nonetheless that they had questions at the end because it shows that there is interest.
National Museum in Bangkok |
I was not able to attend every single presentation because they were scheduled alongside each other, but I will say that my favorite presentation was from Dr. Colleen O’Neal from Malaysia on the mental health of child refugees in Malaysia . Her presentation and powerpoint not only was informative and humanitarian, but captured the essence of the culture of the refugees, who are mostly from Burma . On top of that, she has the most beautiful kids. I would say my favorite presenters were Matt and Mike, but I would be a little too bias since they are from Cambodia . Matt, if you read this, please send me the pictures!
Really concentrating hard |
On top of hosting the conference, the Fulbright Thailand Commission certainly hosted an expensive and activity-filled conference. After the end of presentations, they held a Cultural Night at the National Museum, where we were able to dress like the people in the nation that we are fulbrighting (yes, I made up this word) in and learn about Thai culture. The festival was a mix of a fair with games such as the ring toss, dart balloons, and shot gunning. It was such a classic moment to see these older Thai women holding up toy shot guns and aiming them at these little stuffed creatures.
Cooking Pad Thai! |
Carved elephant taro piece |
After, a bunch of us ventured out to see what the streets of Thailand had to offer us. They were filled with clothes, souvenirs, foot massage parlors, and food. The food was amazing. If there is anything Thailand should be known for, it’s the strong flavors of their ingredients and beautiful presentation.
Awesome Roomie, Lisa. |
We all cleaned ourselves and had lunch on the water in this wooden house on stills. I met some pretty cool people at lunch—a Fulbrighter and her husband from Vietnam , a Thai Fulbrigher who will be at Harvard this upcoming school year and of course, my awesome roommate from Laos . Lunch was amazing. Again, I cannot stop raving about the food in Thailand . It is fitted perfectly for my palate, which was probably shaped by the food that my aunt and her Thai husband always cooked back at home. Mmmm. Delicious. Here is a sampling of what I had:
Deep Fried Fish with Sweet Chili Sauce. Yummy! |
After lunch, we went to another province to see how mangrove trees can be turned into charcoal production. I was a little confused about the day’s earlier activities of conserving mangroves and replanting them, but apparently, this was in another plantation where mangrove trees are abundant? Yeah. Okay. That logic seems perfectly sound. Lets all buy hummers in the States because people in Cambodia are not driving them that much so it evens out. Anyway, the mangrove trees are cut up, placed in this huge dome-shaped oven, and fired up into charcoal. They are better than any other trees because they do not produce as much smoke when burnt and last longer. So mangrove charcoal for the win (!) even if it destroys the ecosystem.
We took what seemed like a long bus ride home and went out to explore what the food stalls had to offer us. My roommate from Laos (Lisa) and another Fulbrighter named Ben, I think (Lisa if you read this, please confirm!) took up the Thai Harvard girl’s suggestion for where she thinks the best food is in general, forget street food. It was near this metro stop and it was indeed the best food I’ve had in Thai. Even the multiple course dinner at the 5-star Dusit Thani Hotel did not compare (no offense!). I loved the flower-shaped mashed potatoes and salmon with truffle sauce at the Dusit Thani though.
The lovely conference trip ended and I was busy back at work.
Up next…Vietnam .
Thank you for reading.
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