1st day of village research

Hello ! Bonjour !   Today, I woke up at a very early 5:15 am on a Monday morning in order to have breakfast, shower and be ready to leave at 6:30 am.  We each went to our respective villages today for the first time.  The ride out was fine and we finally reached my village after 45 minutes.  The village was very quiet so early.  My two Cambodian translators and I descended from the minivan, got our food rations for the day and several bottles of water.  I felt a tinge of anxiety as the van pulled away knowing that this was first anthropological field experience in a distant country.  We found the Abbot that we were set to interview in the old primary school house where he sleeps.  At least this time, he was not up on the roof doing repairs like on Saturday when we came to present our gift basket !

We started our semi-directive interviews with the Abbot.  Three temple committee members dressed in white and the "blue shirt" guy (the achar) were also present.  We sat on mats made of bamboo caning.  Trying sitting for over one hour without letting your feet face the Abbot.  It's sometimes quite painful, but a good exercise in patience.  I really must find a more confortable way of doing it.  Maybe I'll sneak in a pillow !  Oh, I forget to mention the ants that are everywhere on the mats and casually crawl up your leg during the interview process ! Yeah, they do bite !!!

We ate our 'rations' in the old "sala".  This was a run down cement building facing the new Sala built in 1983.  I can just not eat the chicken or beef they serve us in the meals.  One look at the scrawney chickens and the poor upside-down-travelling pigs (have a look at the picture below !) makes you lose your appetite.  I mainly eat rice and I had some raisins from California too.  After a brief snooze, will did another interview with a 67 year old nun.  It was conducted on a type of wooden raised platform under her wooden hut.  There were flies everywhere !  She had a shaved head and looked quite wise despite terrible dental work and what appeared to be developing cataracts.  My Khmer interpreters are really trying hard.  Their English is sometimes difficult to decipher, so I ask them to continue and explain to me after the interview.  My one guy only started his English after high school.  It's a hard language to learn.

Our research focuses on the rebirth of Cambodian buddhism after the Khmer Rouge period.  Similar interviews were conducted in 7 other villages back in 2003.  Dr.  Ledgerwood is following those interviews up with ours from 6 villages.  More on my research later this week.

Here are some additonal photos taken in Siem Riep and the surrounding countryside during our recent trip .

Dr. Ledgerwood with her traditional cotton Cambodian scarf and a temple :

      

The local drink : (a coconut with a straw ) !



Me looking like Laurence of Arabia in Siem Riep !! 

 A Budda inside one of the Angkor Wat temples :

                                        

I'll leave you to contemplate some peacful Cambodian countryside scenes...  

Zhom riep lire !!!  Come back again for the next installment of my Cambodian travel& study blog !