Tag Archives: Andy Ahmed
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat 8: The Dilemma of Helping Vulnerable Street Kids
Last time I began to discuss my intention to provide an education to the deserving Riverside street-children selling books and flowers to tourists. Despite my background in establishing schools for streetkids in India and Nepal, I found Cambodia to throw…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat 7: Secrets of the Skin Trade
Last time I half-jokingly referred to the place I’m staying in as a brothel and it is, but really if you interpret the term through western lenses it is very misleading, just as the term ‘prostitute’ is. There are certainly…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat 6: Visa Travels, Getting Hired and Bars
As my first month in Cambodia came to a close I had finally lined up some English-teaching hours at one university spread across three campuses along with a weekend Masters’ course at another university. Just before I started, however, I…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat 5 – Teaching
So, the job front. I’d got off to a bit of a frustrating start since every educational establishment puts a dolly-bird on their front desk who has no idea what they’re holding when I deliver my CV. I knew damn…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat (4)
photo courtesy of Stickman Bangkok Some weeks the ‘plot’ will move on; other weeks it will go deeper. This week’s article reproduces further notes I took during my first week in Phnom Penh. It is my reflections on some of…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat (3)
These are extracts from a chapter I entitled, Where the Bad Are Good and the Good Very Bad (which will continue into part 4). It took me about, let’s say, six hours from decamping from my guesthouse/flophouse to finding my…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat (2)
My immediate concern on arriving in Phnom Penh was to find accommodation. I’d already identified a guesthouse in Lonely Planet and booked a room. The original site is now a series of comfortable apartments popular with expats including prominent members…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat (1)
I’ve lived in Cambodia for seven years now. I’m settled here – I have a good wife, good job, property and prospects. And yet, as with many expats living in fairly fortunate circumstances, I’m aware that I sometimes see my…
Corruption, Landgrabbing and Me
Like so many guys, within a few days of arriving in Phnom Penh for the first time in my life, I met a lovely girl. We had a few polite conversations at arms’ length and within a week she told…
Memoirs of a Grizzled Expat 9: Volunteering
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Last time I explained the obstacles I was facing trying to get street children an education, and how I couldn’t support the activities of the NGOs I’d come across in those early days. I soon, however, began to uncover some…