Overwhelmed...

... by the change! But in a positive way of this makes sense. :)

It is hot and noisy and chaotic and I love it! I'm just a bit afraid that i have settled in too quickly as a feel perfectly safe everywhere. But that is mostly due to the incredibly nice and friendly Cambodians. Of course they always ask if you want a ride on the moto or tuk tuk but that is what makes their modest living. But they always smile and are not pushy... They talk even when they know they will not make business. And the children are by far the best in their fearlessness and how they approach people. And even if a lot of them are very poor. All people seem have this charming smile... One has to wonder what the smile was like before... Before 1970 when the events which led to a raveged country started.

But at the same time one could argue that it is exatcly this national personality which allowed for the attrocities of pol pot a bit more than 30 years ago. A nation which trusts and is happy... I know, way over simplfied but anyway.
At least I was a complete tabula rasa on Cambodia before a girl of a Cambodian descent told me a few things. I mean, sure I knew Pol Pot was a baddie but that was more or less it! I had no clue that he basically tortured the whole population and reduced it by a bit more than one third, yes 1/3, yes 33% (only estimates, but this is the most commmon one) in just 3, yes three, years!!! and methods used were just horrific. I've asked myself many times before how come ppl can be so - there isn't even a word strong enough for it! But visiting the killing fields and reading a book on history from 1965 onwards just make you wanna sit down and cry! If I always come exceptionally moved from the WW1 museum in Slovenia where I was brought up, then this has overshadowed it by a good margin!!!

Anyway, to end on a "positive" note... I love my first days and there has been spool much positive. But today was just too powerful to write down everything else I wanted. Next time...

P.S.: I don't seem to be receiving text messages although I can send them. Use email if you need me... but it may take timeeeee