Too Much To See

Last night some friends and I met up at Metahouse, a German documentary film restaurant/bar/art gallery/ covered rooftop theatre.  Despite the German owner's sketchiness, the place itself boasts a monthly calendar of relatively good documentary films, including the one that my American friends & I were about to watch: "Man from Plains" (2007).  The movie was hosted by Habitat for Humanity (Cambodia) in honor of the film's protagonist, former President Jimmy Carter, who will be coming to Cambodia post the Habitat Build Week in mid-November.  [SIDE NOTE: Jackie Chan & Oliver Stone are also making there way to Phnom Penh, so CLEARLY, you should too.]

Midway through the film that documents his (controversial) book tour ("Palestine Peace Not Apartheid") in the States, and right about when I ran out of the delicious street kettle-corn popcorn, I reached down for my glass of tonic water, twirled around and chewed the straw a bit, thinking: How cool is this... It's October, I'm not freezing, I'm watching a (free) documentary on a SE Asian rooftop with a media producer, two burnt-out lawyers, and a micro finance officer AND my popcorn was only like 500 Riel (roughly 12.5 cents).  Back home, a night out to the movies would probably equate to $10 bucks, not including food. Plus, I'd have to drive back to my house past strip-mall America, where replicated chain stores are probably selling things most-likely made from this part of the world. 

Don't get me wrong- I loooove going to the movies back home. I mean, I grew up on going to the movies... Disney films, independents, you're occasional (okay, more than occasional) chick flick and college-esque movie, etc.  But because I watch mostly Russian-market pirated (hey, eeeeveryone does) DVDs here, a trip to the sketchy German Metahouse provides a more "movie-like" setting. Plus you can also order beer. And after this fun-filled experience, I have the privilege of cycling home,  past piles of garbage & awful smells waiting to be carted away (p.s I learnt that Jimmy Carter likes cycling too), with the warm night air clinging heavily to my only pair of dark blue jeans and a slight (okay, more than slight) trickle of sweat sliding down my back. I don't mind the heat at night though. It makes me look forward to a cool shower before I jump into bed sans covers (it's so weird, but I still haven't gotten used to sleeping without covers so I use my ND blue sports jacket as default coverage), fan  pointed at my body & set to button 1. Then I'll read for a bit underneath the occasionally flickering overhead lights. When I'm almost asleep, I'll turn of the lights and think about what I'm missing back home... Cool October Saturday Notre Dame home football games, walks through forest preserves in the (Boring) Vernon (and very suburban, flat) Hills, evening runs along the Chicago Lake Shore, friends and family... But it's okay, because I'll be home in 58 days for about a month-- enough time to get used to America again (and see the twinkling white Christmas lights sprinkled down Michigan Avenue!), and enough time for me to want to come back to Cambodia. 

Before I give my mom a heart attack, let me just explain one thing: Phnom Penh is not home... It's good enough for now, but when you're born with it--- with the itch to never settle in one place for too long--you can't really attach yourself to anyone place. There is simply too much to see.