Well, the week started off a little poorly, with a head cold that
I caught on Saturday, sending me home from work on Monday and feeling pretty
crummy on Tuesday. The week was mostly dominated by this literature and
researcher search for pedagogical practices across Asia Pacific (which as of
today has become a literature review (I kid you not, le sigh). While I
know I have spoken of this before, and it must seem like this is all I do at
work (which it feels like sometimes), there are always little one hour things
that come up throughout the day. They mostly are not worthy of mentioning;
proof reading articles, reports, revising mission statements, planning out
future tasks, and so on. I am ashamed to say that since I have been here, I
have very rarely thought about my thesis and upcoming research. Oh, I have
thought of it in the sense that ‘Fudge, what is my blasted question’. I have
narrowed my topic to the role that English plays in sustainable development and
the eradication of poverty in Asia (Economic success in the new AEC needs
English needs Education, and so on). But I just can’t seem to see anything that
I can define into one sentence and properly research. For all the reading I
have done here, for either specifically thesis searching or work to do with
UNESCO, nothing has screamed out to me as an area that needs researching.
Speaking with my advisor, David last week was reassuring, as he thinks it has
much promise and is an area that will have much future research opportunities.
But with my time here coming to an end, life is about to get real, real soon.
The weekend was much more delightful and one of the best traveling
experiences I have had since honeymooning on Maui. Taking Friday off from work
(my first day off since I have been here), fellow interns, Radhika and Mas
Dino, and myself took a 6am bus all the way to Siam Reap. After dealing with
the hustlers and other sorts of Cambodia nuisances, we arrived at our little
hostel and took ourselves down to the Khao San road of Cambodia, 'Pub Street'.
Although we should have packed so much into our time there, we were content to
just have a relaxing afternoon and hop from cafe to cafe and people watch.
Our 4.30 wakeup on Saturday was in order to see the sun rise over famous
Angkor Wat. Although the sunrise was nothing special, the whole scene was more
than amazing. Walking through and exploring the temple complex could have kept
me occupied for at least half a day. 
However, our next stop was the temple
sight I have wanted to visit since I was 15 and saw it in a National Geographic
magazine. Ta Prohm. Where the trees defied convention and decided to grow on
top of the temples that intruded on their jungle. This place I could have lived
in for a week before decided to come back the world. Unfortunately, about 1/4
of the outside walls had fallen down, whether because tree roots had taken
their revenge, or time just got to it. Although I have seen many jaw-dropping
sights since I came to Asia 3 months ago, this was beyond any of them.
 |
| 5ft vs 5.9ft is a big difference in Bayon |
Our last sight for the day was Bayon. A giant temple that had the
face of Buddha on all four sides of every pillar. A giant stone temple. It
sounds so simple and unremarkable. We didn’t get to Bayon until midday, when it
was at least 35 degrees out, so there was not many people wandering around and
it often felt like this giant stone sitting out in the sun was all ours. Steep
stairs and tiny doorways made the temple seem like a labyrinth at times, Mas
Dino (who is 5 foot) had an easy time with it (see picture). After some 7 hours
of wandering around the temples, we finally returned into the city and had some
rest time before going out one last time to get some Khmer food (I had the
opportunity to have Frog curry and crocodile pizza) and a drink or two before our long journey home early
tomorrow.
This coming week sees a lot more work that is coming up to some
deadlines, and will not doubt have me staying past five. I am also preparing
for a week of Southern island hopping with Christina, who has mercifully done all the
booking (thank you!).
On a last note, it was my lovely husband’s 33rd
birthday. Last year we celebrated with breakfast on our balcony and golfing on
the North Shore. This year, he had a large sleep in and a movie, and I a seven
hour bus ride and immigration woes. Hopefully next year will be better for both
of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment