Cambodia...

Shawn and I have devised 'positives and negatives' about our experience in Cambodia.

Positives
+ Angkor Wat- Amazing and Magnificient
+Best Banana Shakes EVER!
+Good Feeling of the honest hard working people that we encountered- Somjay our tuk-tuk driver who worked for us 2 10 hour days and when we were in the temples looking around he was in the heat reading and studying a Thai-English Dictionary. he also was learning the history of the temples in English. On the first day we asked him many questions that he tried to answer but did not know how to say it in English, the second day he pulled over to the side of the road, pulledout his notebook and started to ttell us detailed answers to the questions we had asked the day before! He went home and researched the answers in English to give us answers!! When we asked him why he was studying so hard instead of sleeping he relpied that he wasnted to become a better guide and earn more money so he could support his family and so that his 2 year old daughter could go to school and live a better life and didn't have to work as hard as he does in her lifetime. It is very admirable- especially because he lived through the Khmer Rouge and the society that valued dishonesty and no education. You can still see remnants of this philosohy but there are the ex eptional few who are trying to make their life better. There is no m,iddle ground here - between the hardworking Cambodians and the people who try to get money by ripping off tourists and touting and begging instead of getting an education to better their future.
Also the girl that worked at the guesthouse came from a rural poor vilage on the border of Cambodia and Thailand to better herself. She had only studied English for about 6 months and was not afraid to speak it and was very good. When she first came to Siem Reap she had lost all of her money and the taxi driver tried to coherce her into becoming a prostitute becasue she could make money very fast that way. She said no that she was willing and able to work for her money and not sell her body- she said that she is smarter than that. She works, sends money home, and also saves a bit of money every month and after 3 months she buys a school kid in need a new outfit and books and supplies for school. She is one of the hard working Cambodians who are still trying to battle the Khmer Rouges philosophy of dishonesty and return to the agrarian society of no formal education. She rises above that.
We were extremely impressed by these two individuals and their thrive to do better, to better their lives, the lives of their families, and not forsake their future for the allmighty dollar. ( Yes they use US dollars as currency in Cambodia- no coins though- change is made in Reils)

Negatives
-Japanese tourists- don't get me started again!!!
-touting tourists everywhere
-forsaking childrens education
- the Cambodian HEAT!!! It is supposed to be the 'cool' season
-the view of westerners as an ATM that dispenses money non-stop
-the large gulf between the people like the ones mentioned above who want to make life in Cambodia better by valuing education, honesty, and hardwork (still batteling the effects of the Khmer Rouge) and the ones who are after the dollar today with no regards to the future of things