I thought I should make one final post for 2014! Still lots of travel tales that have not yet made it to the blog so will be some reiminscing in 2015… along with some new adventures and countries… Happy New Year!
I haven’t done it as an annual rite of passage but in my twenties I developed a kind of tradition of going to see a film on New Year’s Eve. In those days I mostly drank milkshakes and I’m far too logical so found the celebration of the New Year to be a bit underwhelming. I have experienced a handful of memorable New Year’s Eves but generally it seems a bit overrated.
But I started my consulting gig in January 2004 so New Year’s Eve 2013 held special meaning. And, as previously noted, I had been hankering for a visit to Angkor Wat for at least a couple of decades.
What made the experience more surreal and memorable was that my first New Year’s Eve film was “The Killing Fields”. Hardly most people’s idea of the right activity but I had a wonderfully quirky and intellectual boyfriend at the time and we had both been yearning to see the film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087553/
It is one of those films that take your breath away and I would highly recommend seeing it if you have not. It will make Law & Order re-runs more poignant. That is how I discovered Sam Waterston. I am sure it is one of the reasons I became a Law & Order fan so quickly. It is to film as Law & Order is to television…
When I woke up in Cambodia on December 31st I definitely remembered the film – and started my day of celebrating the phenomenal changes that have occurred since the film`s time period – and my first visit to the region in 1991.
shinta mani prepped for NYE
I would celebrate my own anniversary on Jan 1, 2014. December 31, 2013 belonged to Cambodia.
Staying at Shinta Mani allowed me to sign up for their New Year`s Eve celebration. You should do it! We began with a sumptuous buffet full of fresh, local seafood. There was entertainment. And, post-dinner, pre-midnight, we wandered down to the river with our wish boats.
floating your dream boat on the river
The tradition is to write your hopes and dreams for the new year on a piece of paper and then place it on a small boat that you will release onto the water at midnight. A much more romantic and symbolic version of making a wish and blowing out your birthday candles 🙂
We had to cross the main street in Siem Reap to reach the river. Around midnight it was a cacophony of noise, flags and enthusiasm, which just added to the sense of magic. Pushing my little boat onto the water with my hopes for 2014 was one of the greatest New Year`s Eves of my life.
siem reap at midnight
What really made the evening so memorable though was the lady who saw I was sitting alone and invited me to join her table. Tania is a force of nature. Her `kids` were part of the entertainment for the evening. And she confirmed for me that the hotel did indeed do good works and support the community, as I had hoped.
Her story is astonishing. She came from Australia to check out Cambodia because she read about the plight of street kids in a Virgin Airlines magazine. She ended up marrying her Cambodian driver as she fell in love with the country and he fell in love with this foreign woman who was so committed to doing good in his country.
Go to Cambodia and meet her! (And him). Their story is so much more incredible than any soppy thing you will see on the screen. Tania is one of those people who use their developed world skills in the developing world in a way that blows your mind and inspires you to try a little harder – or at least support those who do 🙂
You should really hear her tell the story. I can’t do it justice – or even apply an Australian accent, which does seem the right voice for her tale of passion. To hit some of the highlights, she went to check out the plight of the street kids in Siem Reap. She never even saw Angkor Wat on her first visit.
Like most issues in the developing world, the situation was complex and heartbreaking with no easy solution. She went back to Australia. Almost everyone else would have just stayed there and felt bad about the street kids in Cambodia.
But she couldn’t concentrate on her work. She felt she had to do something. So she went back. She hired a driver. She met kids. She talked to people. She tried to figure out what she could do to help.
Her first thought was to feed them. She coerced local restaurants and citizens into helping her. With a full belly, the kids were ready for more. She thought they needed more education.
So she went looking for a school that would take them. But the schools told her that her kids were dirty and smelly. So she negotiated… could she have a special class for the dirty, smelly kids?
That definitely helped the kids but it wasn’t enough to propel them forward in society to make them self-sufficient. So she created a school for them. She educated their parents on why it was good for these children to be in school instead of begging on the streets.
When I met her last New Year’s Eve, some of her kids had gotten to the point of considering post-secondary education. They performed some intricate traditional Cambodian boxing manoeuvres for a huge crowd. It was a great showcase for them – and for the Green Gecko Project. She might not technically be their mom but she cares for them as if she was and was a proud and caring parent that night. She had even lured some friends to spend their vacation helping out (they were also at the dinner). She is inspirational 🙂
http://www.greengeckoproject.org/
Think about New Year’s Eve in Cambodia. I would highly recommend it. Stay at Shinta Mani. See Angkor Wat. Float your tiny ship of dreams onto the Siem Reap River at midnight. Seek out Tania and learn about The Green Gecko Project…
life on planetm 
reading between the lines
Today was my aunt’s memorial. As regular readers will know, my method of trying to reconcile death is to write about people as if I could talk to them. My mom delivered the news. This was her much older sister who didn’t figure into her life that much as a young child but became a pillar by the time she was an adult. Bizarrely, it was through my aunt’s death that I found out my mother had been wildly excited about her trip to DisneyWorld (you will hear about it in due time, complete with photos 😉
That nugget of information was gleaned because my mom noted that my aunt didn’t express her emotions much in nice clear diction so that the rest of us could be sure what was going on. There is much to be celebrated about northern Europeans but emotional intelligence is not a strength. I realize it might harm art and literature but life would be so much easier if people would just talk – and hug 😉
my aunt smiling!
My aunt did hug… but talk… not so much. Of course, it made her more mysterious. When someone dies, you have to reconcile your emotions and your memories of that person. Death sucks – but at least the pause can force us to think in a more metaphysical way than we might do on a regular day.
My aunt always seemed to be one of those people who wanted to fade into the background. I always wanted to see her bolder, more confident. But everyone has to follow her own path and we all have our own unique DNA.
North American culture celebrates loudmouths and show-offs. I sometimes fear we forget the valuable role that the quiet, unassuming nurturers play in the world. My aunt Shirley was the anti-Kardashian. She never sought the spotlight. She never appreciated how amazing she was.
trying to get my aunt to smile for a photo 😉
But she taught me stuff that Kim and Kayne will likely never figure out…
She cared deeply about people and her house was open at almost any hour to anyone who needed a place to hang out – or a hug.
She didn’t judge and opened her arms and her heart to people who had made mistakes – or who were in a tight spot courtesy of other people’s decisions.
She was one of those sunny, happy people who never yelled or ruined your day.
She did it all in a really quiet way that snuck up on you and, sadly, left her underappreciated.
She was the first adult other than my parents that I really remember hanging out with (she babysat me as a small child). I can still remember every inch of her house. I spent hours playing with dolls or playing doctor in the various bedrooms. I grew up in a trailer park so I realize now it resonated with me so strongly – my aunt was the lady who tried to feed you constantly, made twelve different kinds of yummy treats for Christmas and lived in the same house her whole adult life. She was like a real life Hallmark film.
She – and that house – was a place of stability in my gypsy childhood. And her sole daughter was like the ultimate big sister. She was the coolest teenager I have ever known. She treated my sister and me like we were not just little kids – when we really were. She was one of my first great loves. My sister and I continued the tradition with her daughter, treating her a bit like a living doll 🙂
a living doll!
We all just live. Things happen. There are family events. Mostly we just sleepwalk through them. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more aware of the influences in my life and how people and events shape us.
Shirley definitely inspired me to spend more time in the kitchen. She taught me to be kind and forgiving and to care about others. She kept buying me cool Christmas presents even though the family had declared it not necessary (her husband owned a record shop so she shaped my musical taste). Her children inspired me. The people in your life matter. They help to shape and define you.
Thanks, Shirley.
Actions speak louder than words. That’s how I know she loved me. And I loved her. You don’t need to say it out loud for it to be true…
Category:
shining examples, social commentary
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