Missing Cambodia

Dad said I hadn't updated my blog in a month, since I've been from Cambodia. It's true--there are hundreds of photos I haven't shared or uploaded, trips I failed to mention and most of all, the work I did!

Okay dad, I will do my best to upload mementos, videos, and highlights as I go.

For now, I'm missing my "family" at Horizons in Siem Reap--here I am on one of my final nights with Chantthou, the manager. We're the same age. He is a brilliant guy-speaks great English and Spanish and got a scholarship at an early age to attend hospitality school where he learned hotel management and moved from the country to Siem Reap. His wife Sorcheata is equally lovely and together they have a chubby, smiling baby named Wa-ra-man (king). Chantthou and I had a lot of conversations, some beer, and a few swimming lessons since he really wanted to learn. Even though he knows a lot about the outside world, he's never left Cambodia due to the cost barrier of purchasing a passport.

Ramadan in Malaysia

It didn't register that I was visiting Malaysia in the midst of Ramadan. Living in Cambodia, a Buddhist country, I've become slightly blinded to religion diversity-Cambodian Buddhism is quiet, its principles and practitioners showing their faith by visiting the pagoda to light incense or bring offerings, or when giving money to monks making their daily rounds about town. Like Indonesia, Malaysia is an Islamic nation with numerous ethnic groups, at least when compared to remarkable to Cambodia or Thailand--I ate Indian food three times in three days not because I chose it, but because it was often the only choice. 

Olympic Fever

After splurging on a plane from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, a $60 extravagance that bought us five hours, we dropped our bags at the hotel and ran out to enjoy the four hours of free time before meeting with Tim at my Cambodian "hell on earth"--the Perfect Genius Global Print Shop, more on that later. We convinced the tuk-tuk driver to take us to Olympic Stadium after many protests: "why? there's nothing to do there, "I can take you to the museum or the Royal Palace?" So, it's an odd request he doesn't get much from tourists, and it wasn't time for evening aerobics. We just wanted to check it out.