26 April 2010

Anzac Day in Cambodia

Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was invited to a BBQ to commemorate Anzac Day here in Cambodia by Martel and David, friends of a friend (thank you Mal) in Sydney!  We had exchanged a few emails but this was the first time I actually met them.  It was lovely to finally catch up with David & Martel and swap stories from both Cambodia and Australia!

The event was a gathering of Australian expats in Cambodia and it was fun to be there and witness games such as 2-up (?), a typically rambunctious gambling game I had never come across in my 12 years of living there! 

Phnom Penh-4

P4251025The event also raised funds for an organisation called DEVI promoting social and economic justice for women.  Imagine my surprise to find them making these “wafers” that my mum used to make me for tea!  We called them “Isa Kokis” back in Sri Lanka.  They call them Kompat Wafers in Cambodia!!  

P4251037I was introduced to the Australian Ambassador and shared a few laughs  with her as well.   An interesting day spent with a very different community to the one I ‘belong’ to here in Cambodia!   Most of the people I have met so far are travellers volunteering here for short periods of time.  Here was a community that was resident in Cambodia and spend their lives ‘on the road’, in postings very far away from home. 

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