Good and bad on the street in Siem Reap

The food itself was nothing special at last night's dinner, but a number of things happened to make it one of the more interesting meals I've had on my travels.

It started off not-so-promising. I wasn't feeling well and I was exploring the city for the first time after it was already dark, not my favorite way to do it. I stumbled upon a bustling little street vendor restaurant and decided to try to eat something, hoping it would settle my stomach. The restaurant was so bustling that I ended up having to share a little plastic table with an American man and his Cambodian escort. I already felt like I was going to be ill, and sitting across from them did nothing for my nausea. I buried my nose in a book and ate my fried rice, ignoring them as best I could.

They left while I was still eating, which was nice because it afforded me the opportunity to actually look up from my book and view my surroundings. At the table next to me sat two German men who were sitting with a young street child, feeding him a meal. That alone was a nice sight to see, as all too often tourists, myself included, just grow completely apathetic to the hungry faces around us. Buying a child a meal is a way to guarantee that you at least do some good and that the money doesn't end up in someone else's hands.

At the sight of one of their kind eating a nice meal, several other street children gathered around and asked for food. In a humbling act of kindness, the street child offered to share his meal with all of the other kids asking for food. Who knows the last time this kid had eaten a square meal, yet he was happy to share it with all of the others.

I was both touched and ashamed. I, who have so much, ignore the beggars routinely, while this kid was happy to share in whatever he had. As I finished my meal, I bought three additional boxes of fried rice and gave them away to young kids on the way back to my hostel. It's a start.

(pardon if my writing is a bit choppy right now, I got sick last night and have been walking around in a cloudy daze since.)