No religious rituals, no religious symbols, no fortune tellers, no traditional healers, no paying respect to elders, no social status, no titles.
No education, no training, no school, no learning, no books, no library, no science, no technology, no pens, no paper.
No currency, no bartering, no buying, no selling, no begging, no giving, no purses, no wallets.
No human rights, no liberty, no courts, no judges, no laws, no attorneys.
No communications, no public transportation, no private transportation, no traveling, no mailing, no inviting, no visiting, no faxes, no telephones.
No social gatherings, no chitchatting, no jokes, no laughter, no music, no dancing.
No romance, no flirting, no fornication, no dating, no wet dreaming, no masturbating, no naked sleepers, no bathers, no nakedness in showers, no love songs, no love letters, no affection.
No marrying, no divorcing, no marital conflicts, no fighting, no profanity, no cursing.
No shoes, no sandals, no toothbrushes, no razors, no combs, no mirrors, no lotion, no makeup, no long hair, no braids, no jewelry.
No soap, no detergent, no shampoo, no knitting, no embroidering, no colored clothes except black, no styles except pajamas, no wine, no palm sap hooch, no lighters, no cigarettes.
No morning coffee, no afternoon tea, no snacks, no desserts, no breakfast (sometimes no dinner).
No mercy, no forgiveness, no regret, no remorse, no second chances, no excuses, no complaints, no grievances, no help, no favors.
No eyeglasses, no dental treatment, no vaccines, no medicines, no hospitals, no doctors, no disabilities, no social disorders, no tuberculosis, no leprosy.
No kites, no marbles, no rubber bands, no cookies, no popsicles, no candy, no playing, no toys, no lullabies.
No rest, no vacations, no holidays, no weekends, no games, no sports, no staying up late, no newspapers.
No radio, no TV, no drawing, no painting, no pets, no pictures, no electricity, no lamp oil, no clocks, no watches.
No hope, no life.
A third of the people didn’t survive, the regime died.
That was a poem written by Sarith Pou, a cambodian dude, about the Cambodian civil war. Cruel stuff.
Anyways I’m back from my 2 week trip to Cambodia. I have to say that the trip was way more pampered that it was in Vietnam. We stayed in hotels, ate in restaurants, went out to buy stuff at night, went shopping loads, slack. But yeah, it was fun. Getting to know some of the orphans was cool, there was a cut little dog named ‘baby’ there. I swear its so adorable.
Besides all that, I guess on this trip I learnt more about myself than anything else. That’s probably because I’ve already been on another YEP so I’ve learnt whatever i learnt previously, previously.
but yeah, I’m back. Last 2 weeks of the holidays, oh boy.
