The time I spent in Sihanoukville was mostly spent on the beach. Just about anything and everything was available ... you could get fresh fruit, drinks, shrimp, lobster, snacks, spring rolls, massage, manicures, pedicures, hair removal ... I had to shave my legs everyday ... if I didn't the ladies would rub their hand up and down my leg saying 'much hair, i take off' ... much hair? Gosh, glad they aren't around in my regular day to day life!
Just about every kind of accessory you could imagine seemed to be within reach. I came home with 4 bracelets, a necklace and a ring. I also came home with 25 embroidered shrimps. I met a girl on the beach named Sok Srei, she was 12. Smart little girl, this one.
She found me my first morning there ... her English was quite good and she was quite the little pusher. I decided to bring home souvenirs for all my students, thinking this would give her some much needed money. I made her a good offer, I thought, but she was trying to get me for another $5 or so ... I told her when she was ready to say yes to come and find me ... it took her about a day and a half, slowing going down $1 by $1 trying to get me to agree, but I stood firm on my price. Sok Srei worked on the beach from 7am until 4pm at which time she would go to school for 2 hours a day. It cost her $5US to go to school for one month and if she couldn't make the money she didn't get to go. She would sell paintings, trinkets, fruit ... she even offered to remove the hair from my legs, funny that. By the time I left Sihanoukville, I gave her about $25US ... my hope is that it was spent wisely.
I met another six year old boy named Hong ... he came to sit with me one day while I was studying chinese. His initial thought, I'm sure, was to sell me something ... when he saw an unused pencil, his eyes lit up and he asked if he could use it along with a piece of paper. He sat there silently drawing for what must have been an hour ... as I watched this content little boy, I found myself wondering where his parents thought he was, did he have parents, why wasn't he at school, did he even have a pencil at home ... probably not. After his drawing was finished he explained it me ... it was of the beach and the water and all of the things within ... he said it was for me and thanked me for allowing him to use my pencil. I told him he'd better sign his piece of art so that I will always remember ... he then gave me a friendship bracelet and I offered him my pencil along with some more paper. He seemed hesitant to take them as if they cost me a pretty penny or two. The smile that came across his face for a pencil and some paper was priceless. It, again, made me appreciate the simple things Cambodia offers. I take so many things for granted in my life and I was constantly reminded of this day in and day out.
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