Serious Research 

I've been doing some extensive anthropological research here in Cambodia. Submerging myself in the rich culture, thoughtfully observing and then systematically cataloging the daily lives of the people. In other words, I've been doing some hard core people watching-My favorite activity! 

I feel like a modern day beer drinking, sea swimming, noodle consuming Margaret Mead! Maybe different. Ok, really different but that's not the point. The following are some of my observations as I wander through this incredibly vibrant place. 

If you are driving a car, bus, moto or tuktuk and you are not using your horn anywhere from 30-388 times per day, you are doing it wrong. 

On long, six hour bus rides when the sun outside is baking and sweaty legs are sticking to seats, it would appear, that it is not frowned upon to bring plastic bags full of crab and small fish to place on the seat next to your neighbor. 

Amongst Chinese travelers within Cambodia, the selfie sticks per capita ratio is roughly 2:1 based on my rudimentary calculations. 

Plastic bags, styrofoam waste, plastic  bottles and general garbage clog every waterway and sidewalk. In odd contrast leaves, dust, and various rubbish are ritually swept from business entrances and homes to maintain cleanliness. The existing garbage heaps just beyond these entrances are perhaps being ignored from what I can gather. I'm stumped. I am hopeful that education will align these contrasting ways of thinking and increased awareness will allow for reduction, reuse and recycling of the driving plastic storm drowning Cambodia at the moment. 

The power of a smile here is seemingly infinite. Flash a smile and be rewarded with kindness. It has been my belief that kindness often begets kindness. This is undoubtedly true here in Cambodia. Whether it be a warm smile from a perspiring woman standing over a wok or a gummy grin from a local fisherman, the universal gesture of a smile inspires connection and understanding on a beautifully silent level. This absence of verbal language made me reflect on a wonderful excerpt from a book I am reading:

"You don't realize how language actually interferes with communication until you don't have it, how it gets in the way like an over dominant sense. You have to pay much more attention to everything else when you can't understand the words. Once comprehension comes, so much else falls away. You then rely on their words and words aren't always the most reliable thing." -an excerpt from Euphoria by Lily King. Perhaps fluency in body language is the best thing? 

A Cambodian man in his underwear given a snorkel mask and a butter knife is also known as a boat mechanic. 

A family of five crammed onto the seat of one single motorbike is known as a carpool. 

Sharing canned beers and Oreos with a group of older woman on the street corner is always better than draft beers in the bar. 

I imagine my research and the discoveries yet to come will remain in the catalogs of my brain for the rest of ever. A gift.