Random cultural notes

In no particular order, here are a few of the things I've learned in the past 10 days:

• I've seen many women out in the hot sun wearing face masks, hats, and gloves that come up over their elbows. I assumed they were trying to avoid the pollution, but was told they're avoiding darkening their skin. Skin lightening is becoming very popular because women think men want light-skinned women. Considering the popularity of tanning salons in the U.S., I'd say we're never happy with what we have.
• A 50-kilo bag of rice will feed an orphanage of approximately 30 children for a month, and costs about $25.
• Garbage, garbage everywhere! Hundreds of small stores sell small quantities of everything, meaning lots and lots of packaging which gets tossed onto the street and into the river.
• Begging is extremely common with small children who hang around tourist areas. I must admit I'm starting to experience "charity fatigue", and yesterday told a begger boy I'd pay him $1 if he picked up all the trash in the area. He seemed to like that idea, and started cleaning up right away.
• The drive to Takeo Province is lined with trees. Apparently the Chinese planted all these trees because the bark can be used to make paper. But the trees are extremely thirsty, requiring several kilos of water, and are sucking the moisture out of the soil during the dry season. The Chinese have since abadoned their paper-making from the trees, and the Cambodians are left to deal with these large water-guzzlers. Miles and miles and miles of them.
• In contrast to many other countries where dowries are involved, in Cambodia it's the man's family who needs to come up with the dowry. Usually this involves a large sum of money to pay for the wedding, which traditionally would last for three days. If he doesn't have the money to build his own house, he'll move in with his in-laws.
• The Khmer Rouge killed two million men, women and children. Many brutal dictators have killed people they perceived to be inferior, but Pol Pot murdered his own people. Two million of them. That's equivalent to about 15% of Cambodia's current population.
• For every $100 spent in Cambodia from tourists, 10% stays in the country; the rest goes to foreign owners of many of the hotels, restaurants, guesthouses, etc.
• Many of the young people I've met come from huge families, usually around 7-10 kids. During the late-1970s and early 1980s there was a desire to repopulate the country following the fall of the Khmer Rouge. A large percentage of Cambodia's population is under 30.