Water Babies

Our new Sunday morning routine is to head to the swimming pool. The embassy worked out a deal to get us free access to the pool at a local hotel. We often have the pool to ourselves--there's a nicer and more popular one nearby, but we'd have to pay something like $15/morning just to get access.

Yesterday Ben got to his use his baby boat for the second time. We bought it for Ellie, but she hated the water when she was little and would never go in it. Ben loves it. Sometimes Ed and I take turns using Ben and his boat as a kickboard and do a few laps up and down the length of the pool. Gotta get a little bit of activity in somehow.




Ellie tested out her water wings for the first time yesterday. She was so excited to have them she had been wearing them at home. But actually using them to float in the pool was both thrilling and frightening. She clutched my finger and as I pulled her around slowly, she kept saying "Little bit scared...little bit scared..."

Baring it all

Couldn't help sharing this classic pose. Nice bum, little guy!

Job update

Well, Monday was the interview with the director of Yejj, and overall it went very well. I think there's a good chance that I will wind up doing a bit of teaching for them, and probably a bit of consulting with some of their clients as well. The money we talked about was even quite good, at least by Cambodian standards. He clearly is impressed by my credentials, and I don't think I looked like an idiot in the interview either.

Now is the hard part. He's got a million things going on, and I have just the kids. I check my e-mail constantly. I have no idea when exactly I'll hear more, so I just want to know NOW. Ugh. Oh well, I'll keep you posted.

Early Morning Self Portrait

Ben Photo Gallery

There were a plethora of Ellie photos recently and I've gotten several requests for more Ben pics. I'm happy to provide them, but let me add a comment here from my guilty conscience. It may seem like Ellie gets more coverage in the blog, but trust us, that's not because we love her more. She's just at this age where she does so many cute things. Now, don't get me wrong, Ben is also adorable. But Ellie is the one who puts on silly hats, had her second birthday and first day of school in the same weekend, and told us tonight at dinner, "You're driving me nuts, Mom!" (She also grabbed Ben's hand and pumped it up and down saying "Nice meet you, Ben.") For now, Ben plays on the floor, puts toys in his mouth, and blabbers. It's adorable, but just doesn't make for a great vignette or photo the way some of Ellie's antics do. But I'm sure he'll be stiff competition for Ellie in a few months...

So, with no further ado, some Ben shots...

"Don't Make the Voices Go Away"

This is what Ed said to me the other afternoon. He may be suffering from child-induced schizophrenia, but in this instance he was actually referring to the voices of NPR. Yes, NPR, all the way out here in sleepy Cambodia. Thanks to a WorldSpace Radio (thanks, Beth and Dick!), a subscription, and some wireless speakers, we now have NPR. Ed is beyond excited. When we finally got the password needed to use the radio, he bounded out of the computer room and lunged for the radio. I think the last time he was so happy was Ben's birth--and NPR requires no night time feedings.

We get the NPR feed mostly live, which means Morning Edition in the evening (it's wierd winding down to their pep-you-up music), All Things Considered in the morning, and then ATC again in the afternoon. Which is a lot of ATC. Which is why Ed said not to make the voices go away. He thinks they're soothing, even if he has heard the show four times already.

Childrearing Time Share Available

Difficulty conceiving? Thinking of having your own children but worried about the commitment and loss of your independence? Concerned about overpopulation? We have the answer.

Two loving but frazzled parents seek like-minded couple to share the raising of their wonderful but demanding children. The older child, Elena, is a bright and fiesty two-year-old who loves her little brother, bathtub fingerpaints, stickers, and smelling things around the house. The younger child, Ben, is a generally happy eight-month-old who enjoys sucking on anything within arms' reach and has remarkably flexible and expressive tongue. Children are available two weekends and ten weekdays a month, holidays to be negotiated. Prospective co-parents must be well-educated, progressive, and with a commitment to hands-on parenting. NPR addiction a plus. Send statement of interest and audiotape of reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See?" ten times (yes, ten times in a row--no cheating please) to Jennifer Spande, 100 When Do I Get My Life Back Lane, No Playground Here, Cambodia 99999. Only finalists will be contacted.

"Growing, bearing, mothering or fathering, supporting, and at last letting go of an infant is a powerful and mundane creative act that rapturously sucks up whole chunks of life." --From Louise Erdrich's The Blue Jay's Dance

Ben update

Ben has been changing a ton recently, at least that's how it feels to us. I think it comes with the age. Jen came home from her three days in Manila and said it seemed like he had aged three months, not three days. That certainly happens these days.

His newest trick is sitting up without help. He's done it for a while now, but he just loves to sit now, and he can sit and play for half an hour without help. The only time he needs to fall over is when he wants to move. So he'll sit and play, then fall over on purpose and roll over to the toy he wants. Unfortunately he can't get back up, but that doesn't bother him too much.

He's also eating lots of new foods. His newest attempts have been mango (loved it), peas (loved them), and bananas (hated at first, now loves them). Today with the bananas, I was holding him while I peeled one, intending to mush it in a bowl. He grabbed it, and stuck it in his mouth. He them proceeded to gnaw off about half of it with his gums before giving up. I was mightily impressed. He then ate two more full bananas. Oh, I should note that these are the "baby size" tropical bananas, not the big ones we get in the States. He ate something less than a normal US sized banana. He's big, but not that big.

He is also talking a ton. He and Ellie will have conversations sometimes, with Ellie imitating his sounds and having a great time. The only real meaningful "word" so far seems to be "mamamamamamama" which means something like "Hey! I'm hungry! Feed me more!".

Finally, he is starting to show some interest in crawling. After months of wanting nothing more than to roll onto his back as soon as he is on his tummy, he now spends more or less equal time on his back and his tummy. When on his tummy, he usually will push himself up on his arms, and make motions like he is trying to crawl. No movement forward or backward yet, but it is bound to happen sometime soon.

Well, that's about all for now. He is awake from his nap, and is not content to just lie on the ground with the dragon and mirror toys.

Work Gets Interesting...

Cambodian domestic politics have heated up considerably in the last week, but recent events are getting surprisingly little attention in the international media. Here's what Human Rights Watch had to say:

Cambodia: Prime Minister Moves to Crush Dissent

Activists Flee in Wake of Arrests, New Assault on Freedom of Speech

(New York, October 18, 2005)—The government of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen should release recently arrested critics of the government, withdraw all arrest warrants against activists, and end the climate of fear that he has created in recent days, Human Rights Watch said today.

In response to criticism over a new border pact with Vietnam, Hun Sen has launched a sharp and sudden crackdown on dissent. Authorities have arrested the president of an independent teachers association and the director of Cambodia's only independent national radio station, and they have ordered the arrests of other civil society leaders.

Many of Cambodia's leading human rights advocates, trade union activists, and opposition party members have now fled the country or gone into hiding.

“This is the most severe assault on dissent in Cambodia since the aftermath of Hun Sen's coup in 1997,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “International donors and embassies must make it clear to Hun Sen that they will not tolerate the reversal of the important strides made in basic human rights during the last decade.”

The crackdown started with Hun Sen's visit on October 10-12 to Vietnam, where he signed a controversial border treaty. On October 10, dozens of armed police officers surrounded the Phnom Penh home of Mom Sonando, director of Beehive Radio FM 105. He was arrested the next morning on charges of defamation after having aired an interview with a Cambodian activist in France who is highly critical of the border treaty.

Upon return to Cambodia, Hun Sen announced that he would prosecute anyone who alleged that he, or the Cambodian government, had “sold land” to Vietnam. Such statements are an “act of treason,” he said.

In a meeting with international investors on October 14, Hun Sen announced that legal action was being taken against four members of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, a nongovernmental organization that had issued a statement on October 11 criticizing the border agreement.

On October 15, police arrested Cambodia Watchdog Council member Rong Chhun, who is also president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, as he was attempting to cross the border to Thailand to seek asylum. No arrest warrant was produced, but he was charged with defamation and incitement under articles 60 and 63 of the Cambodian penal code, which carry prison terms of five years for incitement and one year for defamation and a fine up to $2,500. Charges have also been brought against other members of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, including Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia; Ea Channa, representative of the Student's Movement for Democracy; and Men Nath, president of the Civil Servants Association.

“Legal action should not be used as a tool of repression to silence the political opposition and government critics in Cambodia,” said Adams. “Hun Sen needs to accept that in a democracy leaders will be criticized when they make controversial decisions.”

In a speech broadcast on Cambodian television on October 17, Hun Sen threatened to abolish the monarchy and sack military chief Ke Kim Yan and other officials if they did not abide by his orders. He warned international organizations and foreign governments not to interfere. He called on the Thai government to extradite Cambodians suspected of fleeing to Bangkok over the weekend to seek asylum. (See appendix below).

The Cambodian government is now pressuring the Thai government to return individuals who have fled to Thailand for sanctuary. Returning persons to a place where they face persecution would violate the strict international legal prohibition against non-refoulement.

“The Thai government should not even discuss the return of individuals who are facing persecution for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs,” said Adams. “To do so would make Thailand complicit in this assault on free expression.”

Certainly makes for an interesting week at work!

Cambodia's Newest Two-Year-Old

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Today is Ellie's birthday, but that lucky girl has already had two birthday parties. Saturday we had a joint party with Charlie, a friend of Ellie's who turned two on Saturday. Charlie's parents, Tom and Laura, hosted, which made it the easiest birthday party we've ever thrown. We brought coffee mugs, fruit, and a cake to their house and they did the rest. Actually, there wasn't a whole lot more to do. It was basically a big playdate with "Happy Birthday" and cake at the end. They even agreed with us to make it a "no gifts" event. We were very happy to keep things low-key and simple.

Everything went well. It turned out to be bigger than we had hoped, but that's because Tom and Laura have been here longer and have more people they feel like they should invite. We ended up meeting some neat new parents, and Ellie and Charlie had a blast.

Dads and squirmy birthday kids
(Tom, Charlie, Ellie, and Nathan)

Casual birthday party for parents and kids

Today we had Ellie's family birthday party. She opened gifts, we sang "Happy Birthday" (for about the 10th time since Saturday. She's really milking this for all it's worth!), and ate cupcakes. She even blew out the candles by herself!

Ellie was supposed to be helping put sprinkles on her cupcakes, but she thought it was more fun to eat them.

Yum! Cake!

In case anyone wondered if a "no-gifts" birthday party and encouragement to to send fewer gifts translated into deprivation, let this photo be proof to the contrary!

Thanks to everyone for the gifts they sent. Now she has some neat new clothes, handmade purse and slippers, lots of new books and stickers, bath toys, two music CD, a music/video/game CD, and several cassettes of family members reading and singing to her, and other fun new toys. She'll be occupied for days just trying this stuff out! (And we'll get real thank yous to you later, as she has time to check out all these cool gifts!)

Finger Foods for Ben

Encouraged by some dinner guests who were giving their 10 month old tons of finger food--including grilled cheese sandwiches--to eat, we decided to let Ben have his first go at finger foods. White rice was perfect: bland, sticky, and so cheap it didn't matter that more was on him than in him. And it kept him happy for a few minutes while we ate dinner, which is always a bonus.

Ellie's First Day of Preschool

Monday, in addition to being her birthday, was Ellie's first day of preschool. If starting pre-school at 2 seems a bit young, we agree. We thought it was really wierd when we arrived in Phnom Penh that everyone kept asking us if we were going to put Ellie in preschool. But we quickly learned that there are several high-quality, cheap, international preschools here. More importantly, since there are no parks or libraries, having your child go to preschool buys them access to playground equipment and a natural place to meet other kids.

We had three preschool options: Tchou Tchou, the French preschool; ICAN, a British-style preschool; and Garden & Gecko, a montessori preschool. We didn't really see the point of exposing Ellie to French when she's already exposed to Khmer and we have no plans to serve in a French-speaking country, so we ruled that out quickly. I toured the ICAN facility and it seemed impressive, but we heard from other parents that "British-style" means a heavy emphasis on academics from a very young age--not something we thought was appropriate for little kids. Ed toured Garden & Gecko. He liked the director, and during circle time--the closest thing they have to formal instruction--the 3 year olds were learning to do the hokey pokey. That seemed about the right level of formal instruction to us, so when a new class for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 year olds opened up, we signed Ellie up the first day. She'll be going a total of 9 hours a week--3 hours/morning, 3 days/week.

Ellie did great on her first day! Nathan and I both went to drop her off and we were prepared to stay for an hour or so until she settled in and felt comfortable. We ended up leaving after ten minutes. No tears, no anxieties. She started playing with puzzles right away and seemed to like her teacher. In fact, I think saying goodbye was harder on her dad than on her.

That's Major Spande to you

Today was a big day, at least by our standards. As most of you know, Ellie turns 2 on Monday. She has a number of friends from playgroup who are also turning two this week, and one of them, Charlie, is two today. His mom and I had decided to have a joint birthday party for the kids, and since Saturday is a better day than Monday, we had it today. It was basically a biggish play date with two birthday cakes (so each kid could blow out candles). It went well, and Ellie has been singing the Happy Birthday song all day. That was nice, and it was at Charlie's house, so that was even better (less cleanup on our part).

Tonight we had a dinner party at our place, five adults and 3 kids in addition to our family. It was a great success - good food, good conversation, and the kids all had a great time. Mostly new folks, and we all get along well. It is always good to know that the people who we'll be working and playing with for the next few years are good folks.

The best part of the day, however, came as we were just heading over to Charlie's house for the party. We had gotten everybody loaded in the car, and Jen noticed that she had just missed a call from the DCM (the number two guy at the Embassy). She's been working on this report on the AIDS situation here, and she thought there was some problem that needed urgent attention. So we pause in the driveway while she calls him back. All of a sudden Sinen runs to our car to tell us that there is an important phone call inside. I go in, and it is the Embassy calling to say that the DCM needs to talk to Jennifer. Uh oh. I tell them she is calling him back on his cell, and go back to the car. She has the biggest grin on her face as she is talking to him, and I quickly realize what the call is about. She got promoted! This was the first time she was eligible for promotion, and it is a very big deal that every time the Department has been able to do something good for her - tenure first, now promotion to FS-03 - it has done so.

For those of you who don't know the details of the Foreign Service rank system, an FS-03 is the equivalent of a GS-12 or GS-13, and is the same level as an Army Major. There is a modest salary increase that comes with this, but the big thing is that it means people are recognizing that she is doing a fantastic job. The DCM was very impressed that she got tenure and promotion the first time she was reviewed by the relevant commitees. I wasn't shocked, but it is still nice to know that people are paying attention.

Our Seventh Anniversary

We just got back from a lovely weekend celebrating our seventh anniversary at the beach in Sihanoukville. Yes, we're a few weeks late in celebrating, but Oct. 3 and 4 are Cambodian holidays, so we thought we'd wait and take advantage of the long weekend. Here are some photos from the trip: