Be Mine!

Valentine's Day is not a traditional Cambodian holiday, but with our continually merging global society, the locals here are starting to embrace it, particularly the younger generation who learn about it in school.  The students made cards and gave small gifts to their friends, family, and boy/girlfriends.  It's a popular night for couples to eat out at a restaurant as well.  Laum acted as our cupid and had Jom-Ron drive Cynthia, Chan-Rong, and me in the school bus to Sisophon for some fun.  We ate a delicious dinner at one of the local restaurants.  I had red curry, water greens, and rice. 

Afterwards, we went to a nightclub called the Golden Star.  Laum told Jom-Ron to park the bus somewhere else since the name of our school is painted in giant letters on both sides.  It's probably poor form to let the entire town know that the teachers are out partying on a school night. 

Every holiday here becomes a party, and this was no exception.  The club was surging with young Cambodians, mostly couples or guys in their 20's, obviously on the prowl for some ladies.  Along with the music and dancing, they held some contests and raffles.  There were some cash prizes as well as two diamond rings.  Chan-Rong said the rings were worth about $200 dollars (not bad for Cambodia). 

Cynthia and I were the only barangs, and the Cambodians seemed to find us amusing.  They wanted to dance near us, and the girls all said, "Hello!" when I went to the restroom.  Cynthia was a big hit on the dance floor, especially when she did some butt grinding with one of the young guys.  Everyone formed a big circle around them and encouraged this wild display by clapping. 

As we left the club, I noticed a cluster of scantily-clad young girls had planted themselves by the wall outside.  Although the sex industry in Mongkol Borei is present, they are much more discreet about it than in the big cities.  The girls often use some other guise to obtain their desired result such as acting as a "waitress," "cocktail server," "karaoke singer," etc.  This group of girls obviously had no other purpose than to wait around for potential clients to stumble out of the club, drunk and horny. 

Overall, this is one Valentine's Day that I will not forget.