So there's a definitely buzz in Phnom Penh now. The 21st ASEAN meeting started today and it is bringing some of the world's most influential people to town. Presidents Obama, Putin, and Hu Jintao if you've ever heard of them. I have to say that Obama's US presidency and notably his very recent reelection are stealing the show in that it took me a moment to realize that "some other" presidents may be involved as well. Everyone's talking about Obama's arrival and the standstill his presence will cause on normal life for any and all Phnom Penhers. But we should blame a couple of the other attendees for this inconvenience, just for the sake of fairness. I'm sure Putin wants a couple of luxurious hotel rooms (and floors and whole 5 star hotels...) for himself. And I can see Hu Jintao might be pretty keen on security details when he's outside of Beijing. I could be wrong though. Or not ;)
As fun as it might be to participate in this historical coming together of nations (as a participant in the meetings or even as a bystander on the airport road) I'm thinking of hibernating at home with the boys instead. Couch-potato politics. I even went as far as to inform my older son's kindergarten that I won't be bringing him to class on Monday (Obama Day) and possibly even Tuesday (Lesser Obama Day). The prospect of jumping into a tuktuk with my soon-1 and soon-4 year old boys and trying to cut through gridlock traffic at 7 am... is not that thrilling. Or actually it's overly thrilling and I prefer a tad more certainty of reaching my desired destination in, say, max. 1.5 hours of exhaust fume inhalation and bumpy road travel (it should take 30 min so let's assume I'd tolerate an extra hour). And I do want to be certain that I will be able to pick up my son at the appointed time and not hours later. Besides, from the ASEAN map it seems our routes are pretty much blocked to town. If we can't cross the airport road which lies between us and the city center, well, then it's hibernation and tv. Oh, and Air Force One spotting!! We may be cut off from town but we happen to be on the flight landing route...
As fun as it might be to participate in this historical coming together of nations (as a participant in the meetings or even as a bystander on the airport road) I'm thinking of hibernating at home with the boys instead. Couch-potato politics. I even went as far as to inform my older son's kindergarten that I won't be bringing him to class on Monday (Obama Day) and possibly even Tuesday (Lesser Obama Day). The prospect of jumping into a tuktuk with my soon-1 and soon-4 year old boys and trying to cut through gridlock traffic at 7 am... is not that thrilling. Or actually it's overly thrilling and I prefer a tad more certainty of reaching my desired destination in, say, max. 1.5 hours of exhaust fume inhalation and bumpy road travel (it should take 30 min so let's assume I'd tolerate an extra hour). And I do want to be certain that I will be able to pick up my son at the appointed time and not hours later. Besides, from the ASEAN map it seems our routes are pretty much blocked to town. If we can't cross the airport road which lies between us and the city center, well, then it's hibernation and tv. Oh, and Air Force One spotting!! We may be cut off from town but we happen to be on the flight landing route...
Fully support couch-potato-politics, that's all I get up to here on a non-Obama-Putin-Jintao day :)
ReplyDeleteI promise to never again complain about taking my kids across the STREET to school/daycare. I can barely keep toddler in the buggy or on my arm for that long, he's so all over the place with his energy. What on earth would I do in a tuk-tuk for 1.5 hours??? Respect, moma!