The Jungle Book

So- here's a few more pics and a story from Cambodia. On our last day in Siem reap at the temples I went around exploring the outskirts, biking through the countryside more or less.
Along the way I rode past a school and attracted some stares. One teenager was super excited to practice his English with a native speaker and invited me to his home. The kid was 17- though he was quick to inform me, quite accurately, that he was small. Most conversations with teenagers go something like this:

KID: "Postcard, would you like a postcard, lady?"
ME: "No thanks"
KID: "Postcard for your boyfriend, Lady?"
ME: "No thanks" (with smile)
KID: "10 postcards, look, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. 10 postcards, lady."


this portion of the convo repeats over and over, only with different items for sale, bracelets, scarves, you name it, they sell it.

Eventually I get sick of saying no thanks and start asking questions in an attempt to distract the kids. When I ask them their age, they tell me and then quickly add, "I am small for my age." Its somewhere between an explanation and an apology.

Anyways, I ran into this kid, and he wanted to show me around. Eventually he asked if he could show me his home. So we made our way to his home where he introduced me to his folks, sat me down, retrieved some fruit for my eating pleasure, and apologized for his small home. His house was the typical cambodian village home- raised up on stilts about 8 feet to protect it during the floods of the rainy season. We chatted for awhile, and he eventually asked me if I liked coconut. Thinking it a random question intended to simply find out if Westerners like a food that is a staple in the cambodian diet, I replied in the affirmative. Before I knew it the kid was off and calling for me to follow. I followed him a few meters from the home where he shimmied up, jungle book style, the tallest palm tree I have ever seen, proceeded to free a coconut, and once successful slide back down.

I hung out with Pheareak and his friend, who looked absolutely bored out of his mind (he didn't speak a drop of english and I could see a look pass across his face over and over which seemed to say, "I can't believe my friend is making me do this." After chilling for awhile, Pheareak established that he was my friend, and I returned to town.

Pheareak, in green, and his friend.