Monday, January 21, 2019

196 Books: Cambodia

Crossing Three Wildernesses by U Sam Oeur

This is Cambodia:


And here's a little summary:
In a harrowing but ultimately triumphant affirmation of the human spirit, celebrated Cambodian poet U Sam Oeur narrates his incredible life story, testifies to the horrors of genocide and shares his fervent prayers for peace and freedom through the process of democracy.
Born in 1936 to a large and moderately prosperous farming family, Oeur spent his childhood herding water buffalo and tending rice paddies in the lush Cambodian countryside. He was educated under the French colonial system and selected to attend California State University in Los Angeles. While in the United States, he awakened to the possibilities of the democratic ideal and went on to receive his MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Upon returning to Cambodia in 1968, Oeur married, became a captain in Lon Nol's army, served in the National Assembly and was part of the Cambodian delegation to the United Nations. When Pol Pot assumed power in 1975, Oeur, having vowed to help establish democracy in Cambodia and unaware of the events ahead, elected to stay. Driven out of Phnom Phen with millions of the city's residents, Oeur, along with his wife and son, miraculously survived the killing fields, feigning illiteracy and relying upon the skills he had learned as a child to endure six forced-labor camps over the next four years. Millions, however, died during the Khmer Rouge regime, including Oeur's twin daughters.
Crossing Three Wildernesses is a personal account of survival, an astute political analysis and a beautiful illustration of the Cambodian culture--its people, myths and traditions. In a world still plagued by genocide and terror, this remarkable memoir is a moving call to freedom and a passionate plea for peace.

Ugh. Guys. This was yet another book that left me sick to my stomach about the way we treat each other. Whyyyy does the human race continue to decimate itself? I've been saying for the past couple of years that I feel like there's less empathy in the world today, but then I read yet another book like this and remember that people are just historically awful. But, with as many terrible things as it described, this book was written so beautifully. I know I've said it before; this was the kind of book that reads like a friend telling you a story. And because it was so good, I have some notes like I used to do. 
  • With the title, I had assumed that the "three wildernesses" were different landscapes, but here's the actual description: "The three wildernesses represented death by execution, by starvation, or by disease, which almost all Cambodians faced during Pol Pot's regime..." Holy crap. Every time I read one of these war stories it reaffirms that I would not survive. 
  • Here's a quote that got me fired up: "I should explain that my older sisters were not educated because my father, like other farmers, felt that if they learned to read, they might write love letters to their boyfriends." Harumph. Why is it always the women who get screwed over? Why was there no concern over boys writing letters to their girlfriends? Rude.
  • U Sam Oeur first learns French in school, and later on learns English. He says he found English easier to learn because there aren't as many tenses. THANK YOU. People keep saying English is such a hard language to learn but at least we don't make inanimate objects masculine or feminine! People who speak languages that have that...if you have any tips to make any sort of sense out of which sex an inanimate object is, please share it. 
  • The author notes at one point that 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng and only 7 survived. (I looked up Tuol Sleng and it was a school turned prison turned museum. Wikipedia says that an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned but that the actual number isn't known.) I keep reading these stories of genocides and wonder why we don't hear more about them. I understand that the breadth of the killing under Hitler was astronomical, but that doesn't mean we don't need to know about other genocides. I think there are cases where we need to hear about these horrific things; we need to be uncomfortable so that maybe we won't keep doing this shit. 
  • When Oeur first takes a job in the government, the president wanted to build protective fences around the Presidential Palace, and submitted a ludicrously high bid. It's argued against and experts say that the actual cost would be a fraction of the amount proposed. He goes on to say, "But I didn't know about the power of the presidency--that you could do anything you wanted once you got in." Which is to say, the president got the amount he wanted. Umm...sound familiar? For all the checks and balances we're supposed to have, I'm afraid this is what we'll end up with if the government ever reopens. 
  • Even though the years of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge seem to have been the scariest, the time before and after their reign wasn't very safe either. And U Sam Oeur is really freaking lucky that he didn't get killed a few times over. He says as much in the book, but he relays many, many stories of him speaking up on his disagreement with whatever the government was doing at the time. There were even a couple of instances that he was supposed to have been executed and he somehow scraped out of it. 
  • Apparently there's a thing called Chbap Srei, which is the Buddhist code of ethics for women and, excuse me? I couldn't actually find any information about it, except that some women recently tried to rewrite it. AGAIN, why is it always women being screwed over?! Full disclosure, I didn't actually look up to see if there was one for men, so my anger may be unfounded. I'm okay with it. 
  • Throughout the book, Oeur talks a lot about significant dreams, visions, and spirits. I found it really interesting, because the things that the spirits spoke of, or the significance of the dreams, led to real events. I mean Christians have saints and angels, but it's not a widespread thing to say that one of them talked to you or came to you through a medium. It was kind of fascinating. 

One thing that I thought would be fun to start doing is trying food from the country I'm reading about. There happens to be a Cambodian restaurant near the apartment, so Soldier and I went to check it out this past weekend. I had taprom, which is a dish with veggies (even one I hadn't tried/heard of before: napa) with a lemon grass and tamarind sauce, and Soldier had bayon (which of course I tried). Bayon was a Cambodian curry. They were both quite good, and really not out of the ordinary. I do kind of wish I'd tried a few different things, so maybe we'll find a time to do it again. I did get a little nervous to try any of the dishes made with coconut...I really am not a fan. Maybe I'll be more brave next time. I also plan on trying to find the movie The Killing Fields to get a little more information and another perspective on this era. So...the learning continues. 

Saturday, January 12, 2019

A State of Things

And I said heyyy, what's going on?

Disclaimer: I've started drinking and Soldier is gone for the weekend. 

So. Where to start? Not that there's that much. I think we close on our house this week! YAY!!! I can't wait to have our own space, not have to smell the neighbors'...smells, and having all of my kitchen stuff back! And to renovate things and get a puppy. 
And that means I'll have to get serious about getting a job, which I'm a tiny bit conflicted about. 
First, the negative. To be completely honest, I LIKE BEING LAZY. I'm certain most people would do this given the option. BUT it would feel good to be contributing again, and having more money because WHAT THE FUCK GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. Oooh, lots of yelly caps lock in this post! I mean, Soldier almost had me believing in Libertarianism (because both Republicans and Democrats suck all around), until people started cutting down trees in Joshua Tree park and just ruining the national parks. Just about a year ago, when we were in Hawaii, they shut down Volcano National Park because of the shutdown...probably the best bet. Because people can't be trusted to just do good things. 
Soldier likes to play devil's advocate and told me that Obama's shutdown was very similar; he wasn't backing down and said he'd keep the government shut until his healthcare plan went through. But at least (in my opinion), Obama was fighting for something helpful and good. Trump is...*sigh*...fuck...he's just awful. He's either too self absorbed or too fucking stupid to think about the big picture. Will a wall actually do anything? I'm gonna be honest, I haven't actually looked into it, but people on my FB say that the research says walls don't fucking work and most of the drugs are coming in by plane. 
Okay, sorry, I don't want to get super political. It's just a tiny bit terrifying that we're on one income, about to close on our house, and OH WAIT ACTUALLY HAVE NO INCOME. What's even worse overall is, out of the hundreds of thousands of people not getting paid, Soldier and I are doing great in the grand scheme. We have plenty of money in savings and very supportive parents if we need help. I can't imagine how awful it is for people who are living paycheck to paycheck or don't have savings to tide them over. It's all fucking bullshit. Alright. Bottom line of all this is I should get a job. 
Other bad part? It's still scary. I have faith that things will work out the way they're supposed to, I think the area is big enough that I'll be able to find something I'll really find fulfillment in. But...AHHHHHH. For some reason I can't shake the feeling that I'm begging when I'm looking for a job. And I lose ALL confidence. I know deep down that I have good skills and experience. So what the fuck?! Stop it, Laura! 

Alright alright, that's enough of that. What else? Have I told you all that I'm in physical therapy? I'm still not sold on my new rheumatologist (which google still says isn't a word), but she did thankfully start me on this. I honestly thought I would just have to deal with my legs being swollen every day, or have to be on chemo drugs, but this is actually working! Turns out my sluggish life in Juneau took a toll and my knees just need some muscle around them. Once I get all that back...maybe I can run regularly again, and maybe, eventually, I'll be able to stop stabbing myself with drugs. 

Becaaauuuse, now I have eczema. Is it permanent? Is it a consequence of this abominable apartment? Is it a side effect of medication that wipes out my immune system? WHO FUCKING KNOWS. I've searched everything I could think of, and all I've come up with is "oh it's this skin thing that sometime happens...and it might continue or it might not byeee."  Father in law said he could call in a prescription for me and I haven't taken him up on it...because I feel bad bothering him? What is wrong with me?! 
But this issue has gotten me back on thinking: when you have a chronic illness you don't really own your body anymore. Which almost means you don't own your self. Because you have to give your body up to tests, and medications, and side effects, and whatever the illness makes of all that or feels like doing that day. And all of that shit takes a toll on your mind. And when your body and mind are consumed by the illness, what else do you have? OH. AND. Today I got a bill for over $400 for blood work and X-rays ordered by the rheumatologist. THANK YOU, HEALTHCARE. Especially when we're furloughed. I've gotten used to cooperating with whatever test is needed for my care, but my insurance is still like "OH, OH GOSH. WHAT'S HAPPENING?! DO WE NEED THIS? IS THIS NECESSARY? Either way, can we make someone else pay for it?" 
BUT LET'S NOT CHANGE ANYTHING. THIS IS GREAT. 

Okay, okay. I'm sorry. There are many things I've been keeping in. Clearly I need to find a job so I have a purpose and I stop just getting angry at...stuff. For those of you who are more into the book stuff, I'm working on it. I've been feeling self-induced pressure to step up my game. So I will. Maaaybe. 

Time to wrap it up! It's still a bit of a struggle here; it's not small enough for the closeness of Juneau or near enough to be with our actual family and friends. There are definitely more good points than bad, I'm just feeling a little down. But I know it will all work out. 

I'm hoping to have my next book "review" out soonish, and I've ordered the new ones. You know I'll keep you updated on what else is happening. 
Umm...I can't really think of a good way to end this one. Soo...okay byeeee!