Some impressions in PP

Yesterday I wrote, that most of the time in the past week I have spent inside, in front of the screen. But in the evenings and now during the weekend I could explore the city a bit. Mostly, the walks through the markets are fascinating to me. People are selling the most random stuff and you can find just anything, from buddha-figures, to rusty bicycle spare parts, to (living or dead) insects, or even winter jackets.

Honeycombs with bee-eggs in them. You could buy them sweet or salry.

Various stalls are selling pets, like dogs, rabbits, iguanas, and birds inside mini-cages - that is hard to watch and leaves me a bit restless.

The number of interactions I have had with Cambodians is rather limited. Mostly they happened, when I bought something somewhere, but most Cambodians working at the markets don't know English. And the only words I know in Khmer yet are "hello", "thank you", and "bye": "Chom-reap-suor", "Aw-kun", and "Chom-reap-leah". But communicating with hands and feet works most of the time, and independently of how well we understand each other, there is always a lot of mutual smiling and respecting-gestures towards each other and I've always felt very warmly welcomed in any interaction here. What I have noticed since I have arrived, is that Cambodian people are rarely in a rush, especially in conversations they make an effort for dedicating attention to each other. Already when saying hi, they put their palms together and bow. But not just in a quick, passing way. They take at least 1-2 seconds for this movement and usually look you in the eyes after, smiling. In general, so many people on the street are smiling to each other, when passing by, and I just find that really sweet.

Also I have rarely seen men on the streets acting typically macho-like, or casting an evil eye. I feel safe in the city and also women I have talked to about this, don't feel especially afraid. I have read, that this has changed in the recent years, as Cambodian government has started to persecute criminals more intensely.

In general, I feel comfortable here and I am excited for the rest of the time in Cambodia. I just hope that I learn a bit of Khmer in the near future. The language is really hard for me for pronounciation and remembering the vocabulary, as the words are not like anything I know.

And sorry for the few pictures, I often forget to pull out my phone when walking around.