Ode to a Lost Friend.

Back to the temples... let's see. Where am I? Oh yeah, I'm in Korea! It seems as if I'll never make it out of Cambodia, but there has been a lot going on here. These pictures are much better than anything I've taken since, so enjoy them as I meander through the painful experience that has occupied my mind and kept me off the blog. I've never had any kind of drama in my entries, but have been so hurt and down from a recent event that I want to get it off my chest and share it with the world. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a rough ride...


Maybe a week or so after I returned from my vacation, I was out in my veranda area talking to my boss (which is customary) when my neighbor Zach arrived with some strange news. Zach announced that he had seen a crab in the street, and Haji and I were astonished! We went out to the street to see for ourselves, and sure enough there was a little crab that had somehow made it onto the street outside. We decided to rescue him from the street and I made it my mission to give him a home. He was really excited and happy to experience love after his lonely and toilsome journey.

Haji brought outside an empty aquarium, and we set to task to make the new guy a home. I named him Herman... seriously, what else would you name a crab? We poured the standard white and blue pebbles in the aquarium, and added a stick for Hermie's enjoyment. The aquarium was a virtually playground for Herman, and I've not seen a crab so happy. The next morning I added an eggshell thinking the protein in the egg white would be good for my little crab friend. Hermie made this his home. He loved spending his days hiding underneath the eggshell.


Herman was a very bright and resourceful crab, as he used the shell for protection from predators as well as his own personal enjoyment. How he loved basking in the gentle warmth of his eggshell abode! Herman would play a game where he would see if he could spend the entire day in his home and would run away playfully when I'd move the shell and poke him with a stick. One night, as I was out on the veranda talking to Haji, I witnessed one of the weirdest things. Herman's aquarium was located on a staircase directly in my view and Haji had his back to it. As I was listening to Haji speak, a noticed out of the corner of my eye a long, slender animal creeping up the stairs.
I kid you not that this animal was no other kind but a weasel! With it's tail it was a good two feet long. I interrupted Haji's story with the only thing one can say when they see a weasel on the porch: "HOLY S**T!!". It startled the animal almost as much as Haji and it scurried away before Haji could turn around. After this incident and knowing there is an abundance of alley cats in the neighborhood (Cats are like rats here... they're basically wild animals.) I decided to bring Hermie into the hallway. It was a week later that I played my eggshell game with my little friend and he didn't move. Hermie was dead. How was I supposed to know that I needed to feed him? Whyyyyyyyyy!?!?!?!!? Needless to say, I was shattered. My life as I knew it had changed forever and there was no way of undoing the damage. This is a tough thing to deal with, as anyone who has ever grieved before knows.



So the last few weeks have been a very painful period for me. There's been the initial grief, which was overwhelming. Then came denial. I couldn't admit to myself that it was over and Hermie was really gone. After that came anger, where I lashed out at the world for causing me so much pain. Now there's nothing left but an empty aquarium and a wealth of fond memories. I'll miss Herman, but have moved on emotionally since the tragedy. Oh, by the way, this temple was really neat, but I forgot the name of it. The upcoming temples are entirely unforgettable, however. Prepare for the temples of Angkor Thom, followed by the mother of them all: Angkor Wat.