A History Lesson - Life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge

This is a serious entry; two days ago I met a man whose life story I cannot stop thinking about.

On the 26th, after a nice Christmas break. We flew from Hoi An to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our flight from Ho Chi Minh City was delayed and then canceled because of a mechanical problem, so instead of arriving at 1:00pm as planned, we arrived five hours late. Because we didn’t arrive on time, our tour for that day, which was to focus on the sad history of the Khmer Rouge, had to be cancelled.  But, during the hour or so drive from the airport to our hotel, our driver, who lived through the worst of the atrocities, had time to tell us all about his life and experiences in Cambodia during the time of the Khmer Rouge.

 Our driver was about three years old in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge came and took over the capital. Everyone was driven out of their houses, and forced to move to farms in the country side. The capital, Phnom Penh, had around three-million people living in it before the Khmer Rouge drove them out, and after just several days, there were only about 75 people left in the city. The Khmer Rouge wanted everyone who was educated, and who could thereby think for themselves, dead. Anyone who was educated, like doctors, teachers, government workers, lawyers, and even people who lived in big houses were killed. In some places in Cambodia it was so bad that even people who wore glasses were killed because it was thought that only educated people had glasses.

All families were separated into different groups because the Khmer Rouge wanted to teach the kids that they didn’t have any specific parents, but they were a family as a whole. They did this so the kid soldiers would not feel anything – even if they were told to kill their own parents, which happened. The children were split up into groups, ages 0-5 were put into children shelters where they would be taught that they didn’t have any parents or family. They were brainwashed from an early age so that they would obey. Children ages 6-10 were sent out to the rice patties to work, and children ages 11-16 were made to be soldiers. If any of the parents of the children tried to contact them, they would be killed.

Our driver was put into a children’s home for the first couple of years. He was separated from the rest of his family. When he was 5 he was put out on the fields to work. He had to work 10 hours a day harvesting rice. He was not allowed to go inside, and the only shelter he was given was a tree, where he had to sleep with the rest of the children and older people who worked the fields. He had to live out there for almost two whole years, and he told me that he was barely given enough to eat, and that many people died of starvation.

When the Khmer Rouge was finally defeated by Vietnamese soldiers over three years later, in 1979, our driver's mother had seen him working in the fields over the years and recognized his face, and so she was able to find him. He didn’t know she was his mother because he was taught that he didn’t have any parents, so the only way he knew it was her was because she had a picture of their family. And, because of that picture, they were eventually able to locate three of his four siblings. However, to this day he has not been able to find his father and brother. He searched for them for many, many years, and told me that still now, thirty years later he still looks sometimes. But he has not found them.

            

            I’m not sure whether or not I would have been able to survive such harsh conditions at such a young age. My family has videos of when I was 6 and 7 and I can’t imagine myself working in the fields for ten hours a day when I was that young. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like waking up every day at 4am to go work on the fields. It’s amazing to think that this didn’t happen that long ago either. It was only roughly 30 years ago, when my parents were my age. It is amazing, humbling to see how much the people have changed, and I am not sure if I could have bound back like they have. One question I can’t get out of my head though is: why. Why would anyone want to do that to other people?

I don’t understand.

A Christmas Dress in Hoi An

A busy marketplace in Hoi An, Vietnam

          After spending several action-packed days in Hanoi, we left and took an airplane to Hoi An, Vietnam, which is south of Hanoi and on the coast. We spent about 2 days in Hoi An, one of which was Christmas. Hoi An is a great little village - way smaller than Hanoi, and it was nice to take a break from all of the heavy traffic. Hoi An is known for their tailors, and making clothes to order, so while we were there my mom and I had some clothes made for us. My mom got a skirt, and I got two dresses. We were going to get my sister something, but we didn’t have enough time. At the tailors, first you pick out what type of clothes you want: jackets, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, and then you tell them what fabric you want. At the tailor we went to, they had tons of different fabrics, ranging from silk to cotton, and everything in between. There are also more plain fabrics that are only one color, and fabrics that have more unusual designs. Once you have your style, fabric, and design; they would take your measurements and quickly get to work. It only took them about a day and a half to finish the dresses and skirt, which was good, because we only had 2 days!  I'm excited to have two new dresses, and the first ones ever made just for me.

A fitting at the tailor  (No, I'm not naked, just no peeking at my new dress!)

          While we were in Hoi An we went out in the town to eat one night, and as soon as we sat down these three guys walk in with crazy suits on. One of them had really puffy shoulders, and then a long tail on their jacket, and another had had of his suit checkered, and the other half strips, in bright colors. It was really funny to see, I guess not all people go to the tailors to get fancy things.

Not everyone makes good choices in Hoi An

The not-so-busy streets of Hoi An

Lots of new fruits to try at the market!

This sweet mommy-dog let this kitten nurse with her!

And sit with her when the kitten was full

Dinner at Andrew's Home in Vietnam

Andrew's host-Mom's amazing dinner

My brother Andrew has been living in Vietnam for roughly four months now. He attends high school at School Year Abroad where he goes to classes with other American students and teachers, while living with a Vietnamese family where he is learning about their culture and how to speak Vietnamese. He lives with a host dad, mom, and sister. The first real night I was in Hanoi, my family and I got to spend the evening at their house. Andrew’s host Mom made dinner for us, and let me tell you, she is an amazing cook! We had a whole assortment of things, ranging from spring rolls to bamboo shoots, and it was all delicious. My brother is so lucky to be living with her, and being able to have such amazing food everyday. His host family is also very nice and generous. They were very good hosts and always made sure we had enough to eat, and that we were happy.

Andrew's three dads - godfather, host and real!

A private dinner concert

  

Andrew’s host father also had a live band to come and perform traditional Vietnamese songs for us. My mom, dad, sister, brother, and I weren’t the only ones that came to dinner. My godfather, Aaron, and his girlfriend were also invited to come (luckily, they just happened to be visiting Hanoi from their home in Qatar at the same time we were). We haven’t all been together in almost ten years, so we were all very happy to see each other again. Andrew’s head of school came to dinner with us too, so it was one big party! I was having so much fun, but a thing you should know is that there is a big time difference from Santa Barbara, California - where I live - and Hanoi, Vietnam. I believe that Hanoi is fifteen hours ahead, so when we were eating dinner around 8pm in Hanoi it was 5am in Santa Barbara, so my sister and I were very tired. Once we got back to our hotel in the city, I was fast asleep before my head hit the pillow, and my stomach was so full I thought that if I had one more thing to eat it would burst! All in all, an amazing night.

Hanoi, Vietnam

busy Hanoi traffic

Hanoi Traffic

Hello to all of you who are reading my first travel blog in three years!!  Some of you know that I am in Vietnam right now - visiting my brother Andrew who lives here. Those of you who didn't..... well, you do now :)

I made this video based on my first impression of Hanoi, Vietnam. 

I arrived in Vietnam about two days ago, and let me tell you, it has been chaotic!!!! I'll get back to that later though. My first stop in Vietnam has been Hanoi, where my brother has been living with a Vietnamese family for the past four months. Hanoi is a very big city, filled with a lot of people. These people always seem to have something to do, and somewhere to be. For me, the vibe of Hanoi seems to be a rush, and very busy. The streets here are almost always crowded with motor bikes. The only time the streets get quiet here, is around five o'clock in the morning! To get a feel for Hanoi, you have to know what the streets look like. Watching the procession, standing on the sidewalk (where motor bikes like to ride as well!), the bikes look like a constant stream of salmon heading up river to spawn; they pour down the road, with lots of cars mixed in to give the current a general direction. There is also the occasional terrifying bus that acts like a grizzly bear, out there to pick off the wayward salmon. 

All of the traffic constantly honks, even when there is no apparent reason, so the city is never quiet. When you need to get across a street in the city, there are no cross walks to guide you - instead, you just look for a small clearing, and out you go! It feels like anyone who crosses the street is going to get hit by a thousand motor bikes, but each time the end seems near, everyone somehow avoids each other. I haven't been brave enough to cross a major street by myself yet (the street in the above video was tiny, AND it was 6am before any traffic was out in force!!), but I know that eventually I will be ready... maybe :)

December 2011

Dec. 15, 2011

These are some of the videos I made (my dad filmed them and I edited and produced them) to send to my 6th grade classmates during my trip to Antarctica and South Africa in Winter 2009:

Everything below this entry is from my "Ship's Log" onboard the National Geographic Explorer in Winter 2009, enjoy: