My Last Day in Phnom Penh

My last day in Phnom Penh is full of festivities and feasting. January 27, 2017 marks the beginning of the celebration of the Chinese New Year in Cambodia. Today, I will not be teaching because it is a day off for everyone and the children don’t have school. We take a Tuk Tuk and arrive there around 11:00 AM. Most of the children are dressed up casually, but some are wearing nice clothes.

The Mama of the orphanage invites us to go upstairs. Climbing up the stairs, I can smell the aroma of the food and the incense. Upstairs, all the food is laid out in plates and bowls on a red carpet. In the center of it all there is an entire pig. Surrounding the pig there is chicken, whole fish, rice noodles with vegetables and meat, sweet cakes and rolls, bowls of steamed rice, and platters of colorful fruit. Behind all the food, there are stacked towers of soda cans and beer cans as well as bottles of water and tins of cookies. All this food is laid out as offerings for the ancestors.

The food, drinks, cars, houses, and money offerings laid out for the ancestors. 

In addition to the food, they burn paper items to send up to their ancestors in their afterlife. Some things that they burn are paper houses, cars, money, airline tickets, and paper gold crowns. I could feel the warmth of the fire, and I could see the bright flames covering the houses and cars. Slowly the fire began to diminish. When it had reduced to a pile of ashes, everyone went back inside to pray. The Cambodians hold incense stick between the palms of their hands and kneel down in front of the food. They pray to their ancestors to watch over them. Then, they place each incense stick in different altars that are located around the room. People place bowls of fruit in the altars as an offering to Buddha. Next to the bowls of fruit there is a bowl of sand that is used to hold the incense sticks. It is almost noon by the time all these rituals are completed. All the food is laid out on the floor. Everyone gathers around the food to eat. After everyone has eaten, my family and I hand out the presents to the children. I see their excited faces when they line up to receive the coloring books we got them as presents. After giving out the presents, it is time for us to leave. We hug everyone goodbye. When we get into the Tuk Tuk, everyone crowds around us to say a last goodbye. When the Tuk Tuk starts to leave all the children start to chase after it. They follow us until we reach the main road. When their waving hands leave my sight, my heart feels a pang of sadness as I realize how much I will miss Liza, Lili, Samnan, Lyti, David, Cham, Neith, Ly Hour, and Taka. It fills my heart with joy to think about how little they have but how much love they can give.