Do I belong with you ?

I know that it has been quite a long time since my last post, but I didn't had much to say or didn't wanted to.

Being in Phnom Penh for 5 months now, I feel like this place is starting to absorb me, in all the possible meanings this word can have. I feel more comfortable and start to have my marks in this city. I love Phnom Penh for its freshness, its promises, and the lovely people I've met here. I can picture myself living in my own apartment, riding a moto to work, or having evening drinks with friends at the riverside; but I also feel exhausted and bridled sometimes. I'm still wondering if I could possibly belong here (meanwhile humming myself Sweet child O'mine last verse hahaha). I want to extend my stay a little bit longer, but I have to leave for school reasons. Of course I can always come back and I have plenty of reasons to do so. In fact it's a good thing that I have to go home. This will allow me to think about what will my project be if I want to move here and prepare myself if I decide to give it a try.

To sum up, it has been all except a love at first sight, but we all know that many stories begin with that ambivalent love-hate feeling ;).

In between

I'm in Cambodia since 3 months now. It will always surprise me how versatile can be the passing time. I feel like I've been here since so long, and yet, I remember my first step out of the plane as it was just yesterday. Passing from a cold air-conditionned and narrow space to a humid and hot new place to discover, leaving people that I see everyday for ones that I haven't met for a while.

I still have 3 months more to go before going back to France, and my mood is as versatile as the time, going from up to down, and from wonder to bitter feelings.

Tiger Translate

On friday 19th August, Tiger Translate returned to Phnom Penh, for the third time. I had to help to organize and set up the event. It was a really good experience, which allowed me to learn how this kind of event is done, from the conception to the celebration :). I've also met a lot of interesting people.

Balancing between traditions and modernity, and involving both expats and locals, Translate make a 180° turn direction from the previous editions. It introduced concepts that are still new to Cambodia, such as live t-shirt printing, or photo booth, and it was well received and attracted a lot of curious minded people that are seeking to live new experiences.

Traditional Chapey player, Monkey and Giant dancers introduced traditional khmer arts to expats, and appealed memories of the locals. Hip Hop Jazz fusion music by the french band 12Mé & Raph, break dance, and live painting were well received by locals. Khmer Hip Hop collective KlapYaHandz and the battle dance between the traditional dancers and urban break dancers were depicting fast moving Cambodia and rocked Phnom Penh new urban scene. Cambodia is moving forward, improving and heading toward modernity, but without forgetting about its traditions and roots. That night, people can feel it: far from being lost, Cambodia found itself in Translation.

It all started with an empty warehouse, where talented people filled the place with passion.

(more pictures to come when my internet connexion decides to be nice with me >_<)

Sunday Sahara

"How many Sundays – how many hundreds of Sundays like this – lay ahead of me? “Quiet, peaceful and lonely” I said aloud to myself. On Sundays i didn't wind my spring."

In the mood of doing nothing. Pressed the replay button a thousand times.

Live painting: pictures

Here are some pictures of the painting session. The walls were quite big, so it took few days to complete all. It was impressive to see how the artists work.

I was not there when they started to paint the blank wall, but arrived half way.

At night, they started the live painting session.

Shyly asking a picture with the artist.

This is the final artwork, resulting from the live session.

And a view of the two walls.

Week end away

Tomorrow, I will travel to Kompong Som - Sihanoukville, with my colleagues. This place is famous for its white sand beach, so I'm really excited now :).

Live painting

Last week, a new club opened, and my company did its branding there. We organized a live painting session for the opening party, and also two really cool and impressives paintings on the club's walls. The artist is Peap Tarr from New Zealand, but actually living in Cambodia, and he is quite famous here. He was helped with Théo Vallier, a French artist, and Lisa Mam, a local artist. I took some pictures, but the quality is not really good, as I still don't know how to deal with low light, and I didn't want to use the flash >_<. I will upload some pictures from the event later. Here is a link to the artist work: http://peaptarrone.tumblr.com/.

A little teaser of the night.