My childhood

By Naly Meng

       ​I was born in Cambodia in 1995 in Phnom Penh. I remember a lot of my childhood in Cambodia, but when I went back in summer 2013, there were a lot of similarities and differences. I came to America at the age of 6 and have lived here since then. When my cousins and I decided to go to Cambodia it had been almost 11 and a half years since we had been there. I was excited but at the same time nervous because of some of the things I heard. Before going, I heard stories about how scary it was, how hot it was, and how you can get sick easily from the bacteria. From hearing all of this, obviously I was not too excited, but the one thing I was most excited about was seeing my family, especially my grandmother who is in her 90’s.

       ​The trip included me, and 3 of my cousins. One of them lives in California, and the other two live in Texas. Since it was an out of the country trip, we thought it would be really good if we all met up in Texas so we can go together. So all four of us met up in Texas and prepared for our trip. The day of the trip we went to Houston’s airport to take a flight to Moscow, Russia. From that trip we went right away to Singapore airport. From Singapore was where we then took our last flight and landed in Cambodia. Of course since it is across the world, the trip took us a total of about 20-30 hours because of some delays that happened as well. 

​The first day we landed it was really weird. It was like I was in another planet, not just country. It was really hot and muggy out. The first thing we did was go out to eat of course because we hadn’t eaten real food for over a day. The thing that was really different and scary was the driving standards. On the first day, I saw how chaotic the streets were already and I was honestly afraid that I could get into an accident with the way everyone was driving. After the first few days, we started to get used to it a little more. We went out to eat everyday, almost 3 or 4 times a day. I sometimes stayed with my family and other times I stayed with my cousins’ family. Everyday we would try to find new places to go and be tourists. Some of the places we went was to the beach in Kompong Saom, we went to the mountains, to the rural parts, to the club, and the fitness club there. 

​Although at first I thought that 30 days in Cambodia was way too long, as the days went on I realized how much fun I was having. I actually started to wish that I was staying longer. As the days went on it felt like I could get used to living there. I really liked the lifestyle because everyone was care free and all I did was eat and have fun. The thing that was most similar and a part of the trip that reminded me most of when I lived there was when I went to a rural part called Sreyville. My aunt lived in this area and I remember going there all the time when I was a kid, and it brought back a lot of good memories. It’s funny because although a lot of the city changed and developed, everything in Sreyville was still the same. 

​Speaking of the differences, there were a lot more streets in Cambodia and the houses were a lot more modern than I remembered. All in all I had a really great time in Cambodia. I did not expect to like it as much as I did considering all of the things that people told me. I liked it so much that I wish I could have stayed longer. I’ve been on many trips before and I can honestly say that Cambodia was my favorite. I plan on going back in the next few years and hopefully it will continue to progress but at the same time remain the same Cambodia that I remember it. If it was a safer and more sanitary country, I would live there without a question. I think Cambodia is a beautiful country that everyone should visit, and I am grateful that I went and will go again.