The Assembly of Wonder

I've tried to quit smoking cigars perhaps a dozen times, primarily due to the cost, but have always found the act of smoking too enjoyable. I look forward to retrieving the cigar from my small humidor, unsleeving it, taking off the wrapper, and lighting up. With cigars and my pipe, I do not inhale the smoke, but rather just sip and mouth exhale.  You may ask if I know that smoking cigars and pipes is harmful. Yes, there are risks of cancer, including mouth, throat, lung, and stomach. Two factors that may determine the risk of cancers is length of smoking life and the daily use. In other words, the longer and the more you smoke, the greater your risk. I don't take that lightly, but I do have that attitude of "it won't happen to me." In general, I am very healthy. I walk for an hour each day with my dog and eat relatively healthily. I don't have a smoker's cough and do not feel that my lung strength is compromised. So, I have smoked cigars for some thirty ye...

Although I hated to leave Lucy in Cambodia, I looked forward to coming home and getting back into the routine. We had a tearful (mostly me) goodbye at the hotel. I had requested that Mr. Lim take me to the airport at eight a.m., and he was right on time. The rush-hour traffic was especially heavy with uniformed men blowing whistles long and hard. I stared out the window also long and hard, soaking up the scenery of new apartment buildings, which seemed mostly empty, restaurants, banks, and food stalls. There is a clash of the new with the old. Fast forward, after losing a credit card in the airport, I'm on the plane in economy as usual, settling in for the 14-hour flight. I tried to doze but couldn't, and then wanted to read, but the second novel I had brought did not interest me. I sat in an aisle seat so that I could easily get up and visit the restroom, which I always try to do. I spent an hour in Hong Kong and then boarded the 14-hour flight to Dallas. After fidgeting, I fi...

I’m back in the States, but minus Lucy. It was a tearful goodbye in Phnom Penh. I think I was the only American on the flight and am glad to be home but already missing Lucy (and eager to see my daughter, Cora) and wishing Lucy the best as she travels to Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. It was amazing to see how well Lucy navigated the vagaries of travel and a massive culture change.   Cambodia is a very friendly country to outsiders. At our hotels, the staff were so kind and caring, and for only $25 a night with a free breakfast buffet. I’m staying at a hotel tonight in Dallas ($110) and the one person at the desk was colorless and somewhat frigid. The taxi driver from the airport was sullen and refused to talk and charged $48 for a two-mile ride. In Cambodia, we were charged only $15 for a six-hour van ride to Siem Reap.  Part of the reason, possibly, for the great care given in Cambodia is that we are considered rich by their standards. The average monthly salary in Cambodia is...

I can’t believe I just lost my credit card. I’m returning home today, back to the States. Mr. Lim from the hotel dropped me off after a drive through very heavy and crazy traffic. I had my credit card inside my passport, which I passed back and forth a few times while checking in. I lost it in the shuffle, but was able to cancel the card quickly. I couldn’t bear the thought of retracing my steps and asking if anyone had found it. I have two other cards, so it’s no problem. Harder than losing my card was saying goodbye to Lucy this morning. I got choked up, but I think she will be able to navigate the next few weeks by herself. People in Cambodia are extremely polite and attentive. We had breakfast together and then parted ways. I’m still very sad but I have to get back home as my classes start in a few days. Last night, to celebrate my birthday, I chose to get pizza. I was craving bread primarily, and thought that pizza would do the trick. The place was hard to find, alleyways ending i...

Whenever I travel, I feel that I suffer. It could be the places I travel to such as Cambodia, Cuba, Ethiopia. I’ve never had a proper trip to an easy country, although Albania and Malta were somewhat easy, except for the language barrier. Around noon yesterday, I began to feel queasy, in addition to being majorly constipated. Thus, I began to suffer through the day and night, skipping lunch and dinner and drinking a lot of water. Suffering leads to a longing for home. In the moment, I feel lost and weak. I tell myself that I will never travel abroad again, but then it happens. So, I lay down in our room and slept through the afternoon and night, my head aching, my insides feeling stuck together. And then came the diarrhea, along with the fullness in my stomach. Lucy was fine and had dinner with her new friend Mattias as I slept, rising only to tackle the toilet. I craved water, and Lucy notified the front desk. Within seconds, a young woman appeared but without water bottles. She spoke...

If you visit Siem Reap, Cambodia, you have to visit the Apopo Visitor Center, which houses African pouch rats that are used to discover landmines. It’s estimated that 75% of mines have been cleared, but 25% remain. The rats follow a leash making passes in a grid pattern, and signal by scratching the soil or sand. It takes a minimum of 5 kilograms weight to trigger a mine, and the rats only weigh 1 to 1.5 kilograms. The highlight of the tour was holding a rat named Nina. You have to wash your hands and arms before holding the rat. Nina was very calm and licked my arm. Lucy also held Nina as did a few others in our group. It’s estimated that it costs 6,000 euros to house, feed, and transport each rat per year. The Center is highly organized and sophisticated. It was nice to see something uplifting after visiting a killing field and a Khmer Rouge prison. Under Pol Pot, an estimated 3 million Cambodians were tortured and murdered from 1975-79, including children, whose heads were bashed ag...