As we completed our assignment in Cambodia, I took a look back at the Great Expectations post I wrote when we first arrived and were anticipating what we would experience in Phnom Penh. Here's my wrap-up of those expectations and our Cambodian adventure:
Jeremy will learn to drive a motorbike - Jeremy purchased a moto within 3 months of our arrival. It soon became his preferred method of transportation. I remained cautious about motos, although I finally agreed to ride as his passenger six months ago and even drove it for a spin around a parking lot a few weeks ago.
We will learn more about Buddhism - We learned a ton about Buddhism, temples, and holiday rituals.
Clothing and custom-made tailoring will be inexpensive - Clothing at the open markets was very cheap, in price and often in quality. Of course, this was if we could find "big" expat sizes amid the tiny Asian ones. Custom-made clothing and tailoring was inexpensive, and I took full advantage of having clothes altered for a better fit and getting custom-made items. I fell in love with Cambodian silk!
The Embassy workload will be more relaxed than in Nairobi - This was absolutely true and I have to give a shout-out to my bosses Luis and Joe for kicking me out of the office every day at 5:00. Thank you!
One of us will have to go to Bangkok for medical treatment at least once - Four months in, I broke my finger and went to Bangkok for surgery. I returned voluntarily later on to get lasik surgery. Despite Jeremy's bumps and bruises from sports, he avoided Bangkok and healed a sprained ankle in Phnom Penh with a splint followed by physical therapy.
Jeremy will have to expand his heat tolerance for a climate where the "cold season" is 80 degrees - Both of us struggled with the heat for the first four months. I suffered from a bout of heat rash soon after arrival and we both had days where afternoon activities totally sapped us of our energy and we spent the rest of the day on the couch! Eventually we both adjusted quite well.
The Cambodian people will be friendly, yet reserved - I would say that most Cambodian people were nice and polite, but friendly would be too strong a word due to how reserved they were.
We will feel safe despite the level of crime in Phnom Penh - Due to the high number of bag snatchings, I was always on high alert whenever I was walking outside with a purse. Without a purse, I felt free as a bird.
Jeremy will have a difficult time with the language barrier - Most Cambodians spoke a fair amount of English or were in shouting distance of someone who did. Jeremy got along well enough, despite learning only a handful of Khmer (Cambodian) words. I faithfully attended language class twice a week and managed to communicate with the non-English speakers I encountered.
We will have several bouts of tummy trouble - This, very fortunately, was not true. I didn't miss a single day of work due to tummy issues. Jeremy didn't either, although he caught more colds than he ever has before.
Our previously indoor/outdoor cats will not enjoy living in an apartment with no yard - Happily, our cats adjusted very well to their indoor only environment. Although they were always mildly curious when we opened the door to our balcony, they never made a dash for it or developed any bad behaviors in protest.
We will enjoy good food that is different from Asian cuisine familiar to Americans - Before we arrived, several friends had told us they liked the food in Phnom Penh. We interpreted this to mean that Cambodian food was really good. But I think our friends were actually commenting on the number of restaurants in the city that allow expats to eat all variety of food...other than Cambodian! Jeremy and I decided that while there were select Cambodian dishes we might enjoy from time to time, our overall opinion of Cambodian food was not high.
The embassy community will be more tight-knit than in Nairobi - We did not find this to be true. People generally seemed to stick to socializing within their smaller groups of friends. This was unfortunate - especially since we'd heard many times that smaller embassies were more tight-knit and Embassy Phnom Penh was one-third the size of Embassy Nairobi - but not a huge surprise since Phnom Penh offered more outlets for activities outside the embassy than Nairobi did.
The capital city of Phnom Penh will be pretty, and green with lots of trees and vegetation - This was perhaps the biggest disappointment and made me aware of how important green space is to me. Phnom Penh had some pretty places - such as the Royal Palace and Wat Phnom - but was mostly a decaying, developing city that will need a lot more time, attention, and money before it might be beautiful again. It was also a concrete jungle with very little grass, trees, or vegetation. I put some plants out on my balcony, but how I missed my lush, green gardens of Nairobi and Portland!
We will sing lots of karaoke - We only went to one karaoke bar, in addition to singing karaoke at a handful of house parties. We definitely failed to take full advantage of this favorite Asian pastime!
Phnom Penh will not be an exciting city with lots to do, but we will make our own fun - Ironically, this was a fairly good summary of our two-year experience in Phnom Penh. It was a very easy city to live in. The cost of almost everything was so cheap that it was very easy to buy whatever we wanted, or hire someone to make it, or send someone to hunt it down for us. This freed up a lot of time that might otherwise be spent on chores or errands. But the flip side was that Phnom Penh often didn't have a lot of interesting options to fill in that free time. It didn't take long to see the tourist highlights and take the popular day trips, most of which didn't need to be done twice. After that, it was hard to know what to do with a free Saturday afternoon, especially because the heat didn't lend itself to midday outside activities. We made the best of our time and traveled frequently, but my general feeling of Phnom Penh remains: It was an easy city, but not an exciting one, to live in. Farewell Phnom Penh, and best wishes!
