Transportation in Cambodia

I was riding in a tuk tuk (a motorized rickshaw) yesterday with other student teachers from my class. It is interesting to note that I was the only one from America. One was from England, one from France, one from Ireland, one from Burma, and our driver was Cambodian. One of our instructors (who is from Canada) insists on referring to this country as Kampuchea; which I guess was the name of it before they changed it to Cambodia.

There are not a lot of cars or trucks on the streets. Everyone rides a motorcycle which they call a "moto." It is not unusual to see three or four people on one motorcycle. Of course you can ride one the year around here. If you are walking alone, you are constantly being asked, "Ma-damn, you want moto?" Then you haggle over the price and if you agree on one, you hop on the back and off you go. I have to close my eyes sometimes because I KNOW we are going to get hit or someone is going to hit us; of course that rarely happens. I was told they REALLY do not want to hit a foreigner because then they have to deal with all kinds of legal issues, red tape, and the American Embassy. I hear tell that if there is a minor accident, the one at fault just pays off the other right then and there and that is the end of it.

There is no end to the differences between America and a third world country, and of course that is why I am here - because I am sure not having (yet) what one could call "fun." I miss the little conveniences like crushed ice, garbage disposal. I don't even have hot water in my bathroom - so I use someone else's to take a shower.

And while I really do not want to miss these experiences, I want to go home to America when the time comes for me to go. GOD BLESS AMERICA!