Lowell is a great place to visit

By Somphosnita Peouv

            There is a long history of Lowell on how it became Lowell Mill City to the second greatest Cambodian population. During the 18th century, the largest textile mills factories were built in Lowell. Everyone including working class, women and slaves were working in the mills such as spinning, weaving, and carding in cotton cloths. This made the city of Lowell one of the largest industrial revolution of producing cottons. Women and men were working very hard in the twelve to fourteen hours shift in the heat because there were no air conditioner, only big glass window which reflect heat and light to come through the big buildings. As times goes on, immigrants from all over the world settled in America. Fast forward to the 20th century after the Khmer Rouge ended, many Cambodians immigrated to America which included Lowell, Massachusetts.
             When Cambodian families initially settled in Lowell, they had a lot of hardship such as trying to learn another language, coping with depression after the horrendous war, trying to get their immigration paper work done legally, seek for their relatives, find a job and some started out with only twenty dollars to live their lives. The second generation children started to enroll in the Lowell Public Schools. They all seem like aliens because of their differences in physicality and language. Some were made fun of and did not have the right teachings and teacher supervisions so they end up dropping out of school early. Some joined gangs because they feel more secure and had commonality. But some worked very hard through high schools and are able to make it to college. Americans had a cultural shock because of how Cambodians eat, communicate, variety of traditions and cultural practices. Some Americans actually moved out from their neighborhood because they think Cambodians were dangerous.
            After the openings of Cambodian (Khmer) markets, the city of Lowell drastically changed because of the commonality that this small Cambodian community had. The city became diverse and a flood of Cambodians from all over America came and visit. Cambodians have so many traditional ceremonies. The most famous Cambodian celebration is Cambodian New Years which is celebrated on the second and third week of every April which filled up the pagoda or temple in Lowell very fast. Another famous celebration is the Cambodian Water Festival which involves with boat racing and different types of Southeast Asian traditional food, clothing, and different types of Southeast Asian jewelries being sold on the Merrimack River for the weekend. This celebration is held on the third week of every August and many Cambodians and Southeast Asians would come from all over the states to gather together to dance and have fun.
            There are many Cambodian (Khmer) markets, restaurants, little food shops and traditional clothing stores in Lowell. Almost every weekend, especially during the summer, Cambodians or everyone in general loves to do little cook-outs. But for Cambodian, they love to gather up and cook the most traditional food such as egg rolls, papaya salad, fried rice, curry, grilled barbecued beef on sticks and more. If any strangers walk by these Cambodian houses, their mouths would start to be watery because the smell of the cooking is amazing!  
            Closeness is a thing for Cambodians because they love to walk to the nearest market and restaurants. It is such a small city that almost every Cambodians do their walking to get a good exercise and for those who do not have cars.       With such a proximate space and closures, in the Cambodian community in Lowell, almost everyone knows each other and consider them as their long lost brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts.
            Lowell Mill City is a small city filled with history and diversity. There are many things to do such as; going to different types of Cambodian markets, little Cambodian fast-food shops, variety of Southeast Asian restaurants and traditional clothing, the American textile museums or the Lowell Mills and downtown Lowell to shopping. Lowell is the second largest Cambodian population from Long Beach, California. A lot of the American dreams are built in these Cambodians which produce larger population. With the after math of the Cambodian Genocides, the new and younger population creates a lot of bonding with their own kinds and full of joy when it comes to an explanation of their heritage.


No comments:

Post a Comment

ជីតាខ្ញុំ My grandfather

  ១. តាខ្ញុំឈ្មោះតាម៉ៅ   គាត់មករស់នៅអាមេរិកតាំងឆ្នាំ១៩៩០មកម្ល៉េះ សព្វថ្ងៃលោកតារស់នៅទីក្រុងឡូវែលជាមួយខ្ញុំ។ ម៉ែខ្ញុំបានប្រាប់ ថា កាលលោកតាមករស...