peace and blessings

"I thought you were just being nice..." I trailed off, confused. Who says that to a monk!?

Yep, it was me. I was walking down the street one morning and a monk handed me a card. It was gold and it looked like a bookmark. She says to me, "Take this card and receive peace and blessings."

"Thank you!" I exclaim. What a nice gesture if only everyone was this nice in the mornings. She follows me along the road asking me where I'm from...the standard travel questions. She then hands me a pad of paper and asks me to sign it. I see a slot for a name and then a slot for an amount of money donated. She wanted me to donate money for the card! I guess I should have expected a donation would have been wanted, but she caught me completely off guard!

I tried explaining that I didn't want to give a donation and that I didn't have any money (I really didn't). She really didn't understand and I didn't wanna be rude. So my tactful response is... " I thought you were just being nice..." I tried handing the card back, but she refuses to take it. After all, you can't really take back peace and blessings after you hand them out, can you? I grabbed the card awkwardly and walked off... what a weird way to start the morning!

On another note, tonight is my last night in Cambodia. We head for Vietnam tomorrow. Morgan, Alexis and I explored the capitol, Pnomh Penh for a few days and then headed south to Sihaunouk Ville for some beach time. We are back in the capitol until we leave for Vietnam.