Several notches above that on the living life scale would be attending a Cambodian wedding. A couple more notches is added if you sat at a table of mostly gay men. What a hoot!
As mentioned in the previous post, Davit is invited to two weddings in the next week. Last night we went to the first one, right here in Siem Reap. Most of you know I am pretty reserved in large social situations, and generally try to avoid them. But this opportunity was way to good to resist.
We went clothes shopping earlier in the day, and I got a really nice shirt and black dress pants that I can wear at home. Also bought some black dress shoes, not sure if I have the packing room, may just leave them.
We arrived at a beautiful local restaurant at 6:30, and were greeted by the wedding party and given a little gift as we walked in. Thank goodness for yoga, and being comfortable with a little bow and namaste hands.
The place was chock-a-block full of Cambodians, from little kids running around, to people in their 80's. I would guess about 300 people were there. We were quickly seated at a table near the front, and were soon joined by two other Western women from France (the only others besides me), and a whole bunch of Cambodian gay guys.
This is probably a good time to digress a bit, and explain the situation for gays here. The key ëxpression is - what is the problem? People here are so accepting of it, that no one even looks when we cuddle or kiss in a "regular" restaurant or bar. It is by far the most broadly based accepting place I have ever been on Earth.
Anyway, back to the wedding. The ceremony was the day before, so this was all about eating and drinking. A bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label was at each table, along with copious amounts of beer. Another odd thing about Cambodians is that they drink beer with lots of ice in it. That would prove to be a good thing as the evening went on.
With good drinks, there must be good food, and it just kept arriving in platters. Chicken, beef, vegetables, spicy sauces, fish, duck, you name it, it just kept coming. Now keep in mind, Cambodians eat almost anything, so I was glad to have Davit, with his local knowledge and excellent English to help me. "What is that?" I asked as one odd looking dish arrived. "It is from the inside of a cow", he calmly explained. OK, well, when in Rome..... I tried a little bit of the cow's inards, and after about a minute of chewing asked if it were OK to spit it out in a napkin.... no problem.
Don't get me wrong, most of the food was absolutely fantastic, one just has to be careful in this country.
Along with the food, the beer and Scotch were flowing. I was smart, and just stuck to beer and ice. In Cambodia, when someone from another table comes over and cheers you, everyone must down their entire drink. And you really must or you might offend someone.
And guess what, a table full of gay guys at a Cambodian wedding is not shunned, they are the centre of all the fun. A huge mixture of people came over to see and drink with us. Almost no one knew a word of English, but I could sure tell I was most welcomed there!
There is no other way to describe it, everyone in the room was getting pissed. Two tables of middle aged men were particularly funny, cheersing all the time, running around looking silly, and dancing together on the dance floor.
Alot of people get up and sing, and Davit and his friends joined in on that. I was watching all the people dancing, Cambodian style, while they were up there. They sort of shuffle around in a circle, doing neat, sort of feminine movemonts with their hands.
Well this big burly Cambodian guy spotted me just sitting there, and motioned for me to join them. Oh no, I don't dance, and I could not, thank you. No, no, come on over and join us. So up I get, joining the throngs on the dance floor, trying to figure out the hand gestures.
Everyone around me was laughing, waving at me, shaking my hands and just generally making me feel a part of the whole silly thing.
It turns out my dance partner was a Cambodian Police Officer about my age. He was laughing and dancing with all us guys, all the while downing more scotch.
About my age.... wonder what he was up to during the Killing Fields...? But this is the new Cambodia, tolerant, laughing, smiling, drinking, eating, celebrating a new union... the Cambodia of the future.
Later that night, we went out to the huge local disco complex. Jam packed, splashy, just like anything in North America or Europe, perhaps on a larger scale. Again, groups of guys dancing together was just seen as normal, the big bouncers giving us the thumbs up.
Bar girls dispenced ice by tongs into our glasses, and bar guys just kept filing them up. No need for us to raise a bottle.
Can this trip get any more amazing?
No comments:
Post a Comment