Greening our Space in a Cambodian Concrete Jungle

If you had asked for my thoughts on Cambodia before moving here, I would have told you about the movie I saw in school The Girl Who Spelled Freedom, about the generation I have heard retell experiences from the neighboring Vietnam war. My perception would have included poverty, war and jungles. When I arrived in Cambodia, even from the air looking down over the giant, muddy river and then Phnom Penh, I could tell some of my perceptions were wrong. Instead of jungle, miles and miles of corrugated tin in varying degrees of disrepair or opulence met my view. A myriad of electrical wires snaked between them. Phnom Penh is a concrete jungle for most people. The lucky have a yard, but most yards have been concreted in so they don't turn into a muddy mess during rainy season.

When our neighbor went to visit his sister in France, he brought back a surprise gift for the neighborhood, tulip bulbs! All of us who received them have potted them and have (as you can see above) sprouted. Hopefully, they will be blooming soon! Ben's boss gave him many shoots of the plant you see below:

Our neighbor gave me dried pieces of coconut husk. It's spongy and helps hold water for these little hanging plants. I lined the bottom and sides with it, and it does seem to retain water better.

It's amazing how much of a difference tiny, green, growing things can make! Looking at the plants in the stark contrast of their concrete environment makes me happy. Our landlords have more growing on the balcony above, but we have added these plants in the main area where we see them the most.

Plant therapy! It's a real thing.

Ben's Field Trip to Koh Kong, Near Western Border

Grade 10 at Ben's school raised a percent of the $6,000 needed to help build a school in Koh Kong Khong. They traveled with their principal and teacher to the ribbon cutting ceremony.

It was about 8 hours by bus.

The place they stayed was a floating lodge on a river! http://www.theriverlodge.net

Because the lodge is dedicated to not impacting the environment, it's a little pricey to pay for the upkeep of the canvas tents. (Principal chaperone duty paid Ben's way.)

Everything is so green in this part of Cambodia!

Here's the bedroom of the floating lodge:

The students from Ben's school did some kayaking and paddle boarding on the river. 

Students in this region have to take a boat to school because this area of Cambodia is where soldiers from the Khmer Rouge fled, preventing its development (but eating up several species like the alligators that no longer exist here)- so there aren't motorcycles here as there aren't roads. As the school has grown, there are now too many students to fit on the boat in one trip. Some have to hike part of the way along the river until the boat is empty enough to hold them. If they want to continue school past grade six, they have to take a two hour trip one way to get there. Currently the guy driving the boat is carrying the expenses of gas and upkeep, but that isn't sustainable. He's looking at charging and other options.

This was the fruit portion of breakfast: not pictured was the omelet and pancakes.

They also got to see a beautiful waterfall. The guide said all of the tourists go see the waterfall and Ben thought it would be cool if someone created a floating coffee shop to sell to the tourists and maybe have some of the proceeds pay for gas to get the kids to school.

If you visit Cambodia, these would definitely be handy!

(disclaimer: if you buy anything from the link, we might get enough for a cheap Cambodian coffee.)

It's definitely beautiful outside of the city!

Green Spaces

I recently had a conversation with a friend comparing this desert to the desert of Las Vegas. Las Vegas, they said, was all sand, buildings and plastic "grass." Coming to Ruwais, then, it was refreshing to find more trees and grass than they had expected. 

There is an extensive gardening and landscaping effort throughout each city I've visited in Abu Dhabi. Miles and miles of Palm trees line the highways watered by even more miles of black hoses that utilize desalinated water from the gulf and give gardeners from places like  Bangladesh and jobs.

I have read some complaints about the amount of energy and water that is used to produce these green places in the desert and I'm not sure how to solve that problem, but every time I see these green places, I appreciate them. I'm not sure there's a way to measure, but I would bet it helps people stay sane and continue living here longer.