russian sneakers

i bought a pair of knock off adidas shoes at the russian market, phnom penh's most surly market. they call it the russian market because back in the eighties, russians were the only tourists here, and this market catered to them. the market used to sell guns (of the machine variety) and drugs and who knows what else. even today you can find moto drivers asking if you want to go fire machine guns at chickens for a couple dollars.

i bought this pair of kicks to play soccer in. $10. i figured they'd last a few months and i'd eventually toss them. jennie and i went out to kick around with some of her high schoolers and her adopted american family here in cambodia. within 5 minutes, the entire sole of my left foot came off. the right stayed on until i took a shot. the "leather" on the shoe quickly flaked away, revealing a cardboard like outer sole. so i paid $10 too much for my shitty $10 shoes.


i went back to the russian market yesterday to find my shoe saleswoman. my plan was to stand next to her for the entire day showing all her customers her shoes until she gave me a refund. it didn't take all day, but it did help that there was lady buying shoes when i walked up. i was arguing with the cambodian shyster when the foreign lady asked if i bought the crappy shoes from the cambodian woman. at this point the cambodian woman grabbed my broken shoes, threw them behind the stall and bitterly gave me my $10 back.