Kept: in Cambodia
- Gregory Buford
- Jul 3
- 2 min read
Whew! It's here.
Folks often ask: "Of the places you've lived, which did you like best?" It's impossible to answer.
Dana and I taught English in Japan as newlyweds, and, well, we were newlyweds. We slept on the floor on a futon built for one and thought it was paradise. And it was.
Dana's first Foreign Service assignment in Chennai, India, was just as exciting, exotic, and odiferous as it sounds. We went there with not a little trepidation and left with lifelong friends and little Nina Theekshanana, who is brilliant, beautiful, and thriving in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She calls me twice a day, and I don't mind.
Paris was glorious. We ate our way through The City of Light and traveled France and the region like every day would be out last. We didn't save a dime, but we had a mighty good time.
We went to Cambodia next because the State Department offered us a huge bonus to stay three years. At the time, Cambodia was an extreme hardship post, and, after Paris, we needed the dough. The expatriate community in Phnom Penh was tightknit, and our social life there would remain unmatched until we wound up in crazy Turkmenistan a decade and a half later--but that's another book altogether. Dana loved her job in Cambodia. The kids loved their school. For me, visiting Angkor Wat was the culmination of a lifelong dream.
The hardship we endured in Cambodia subsequently earned Dana a plum posting to Geneva, Switzerland, which was unparallelled in terms of natural beauty. We skied almost every weekend in the winter and frolicked in the Alps all summer.
After leaving the Foreign Service and returning to Texas, Dana re-joined in 2023. We went to Turkmenistan for the book material, and it wildly exceeded our expectations. I'm a good third into writing that book, and it's going to be a good one!
Now we're in New Zealand, a place Dana has tried to get to her entire career. It's wonderful: unlimited outdoor activities, stunning natural beauty, friendly people, and funny little birds that don't fly.
So, we've loved all our posts for different reasons. But Cambodia was the most challenging. It left an indelible mark on me and inspired two books. Kept: An American Househusband in Cambodia is the second. I hope you enjoy it. Below are some photos I didn't include in the book.
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