My home... let me speak of my home. It is a spacious place, complete with gorgeous flowering plants, a meowing cat, and a full size fridge! Though owned by a young couple, it is clear that their three little kids run this nesting ground of insects. They jabber on at breakfast and lunch, spur impromptu soccer sessions post snacktime and beg for bedtime stories after dinner. Questions stream forth from their mouths like mist from a waterfall. "What are you doing?" "Where are you going?" "Will you read to me?" Are just a few of the daily interrogation sessions I receive. We play monsters, blocks, and toys together. Some days we even teach each other new yoga moves, but mostly we fetch water for one another and sit beneath the cool breeze of the ancient metal fans. Of course toys, books, and Dora videos lay strewn about the living room at intervals of the day but it's all good fun. They call that interactive play, apparently it's good for learning. Daytime is pleasant. 
Bedtime is not. Bedtime is when the night crawlers come out. When in the stillness one can hear both the serenading crickets and those pesky termites chomping the wooden closet to mush. Spiders crawl wherever they please, millipedes greet me for morning showers, and my room recently became the safety nest for a gecko mother to give birth to wee ones. Ants in Korea were few and far between, only a slight nuissance cleared by the simple removal of trash. Here the ants smell dinner cooking and at times attack even before preparation is complete. They are nasty little buggers and will even bite when threatened. Biting is ok, but if they pee on you (yes odd I know) it burns like acid and literally leaves a slight wound in the cutanious territory that was "marked". Somedays these things are funny, but more often then not they are uncomfortable. Yet it feels like it, that is to say life, should be more that way; that nature should weave its way in and out of our days rather then sterile homes void of natural excitement.
For better or for worse, this is my Cambodia home.

Ghost Town

Ghost towns are strange eery places. They are not where you want to be usually because something has happened or is about to. Impending disaster or frightful terrors lurk aroung the corner. So why did I choose to stay in the empty and still town of Phnom Penh during Khmer New Year? Well... I wanted to practice riding a moto! Ok, also to save money and cement my bearings of the city while everyone else hopped on motos, bus', planes and trains to return to their home provinces to celebrate. Sure it would have been fun to accept my new teaching assistant's offer to accompany her out to the countryside for dancing, eating and chatting but being the only barang (foreigner) was less appealing then a moto jaunt.

So amidst the deserted streets of the city, Adam instructed Abi and I on how to start, stop, and switch gears on our motorized ponies. Of course this all sounded familiar to my dad instructing me on how to do likewise on a quad, only that had four wheels... not two. Two wheels means one must be far more attentive to potholes, gravel, and corners. The worst of the two wheel balancing act were the round-a-bouts, but after a little practice Abi and I took reign of the surrounding ten blocks. Basics of moto-riding have been conquered, yet the next is to try when there is the usual PP mad dash traffic. Where tuk-tuks putt alongside of overburdened semi-trucks (a junior version of stateside ones) while cars battle to sway away the pesky moto-flies that cut off a normally free right hand turn, truly this is a challenge to be won. It is all just a daily reminder to be thankful for the moments in life you are given. Just make sure if you ever come to Phnom Penh make sure to wear a helmet when riding a bike or moto. Safety first!

Kampuchea Questions

The following are just a few questions one might ask themselves or traveling companions when in Phnom Pehn. Most are quite apt for all of southeast Asian travel, some are specifically Cambodia.
"Did you see that?!"
"Loot at how many people they fit in that trailer."
"Do they always pile garbage on the street like that?"
"Why is that old man exposing his belly?"
"What is that cloth on that woman's head?"
"Did you know Angry Birds was such a fashionable trend?"
"Is it always going to be this hot?"
"Is this country Muslim, what is that noise over the loudspeaker, a call to prayer?"
"How is that woman sitting sideways on that motorcycle?"
"Was that really a Range Rover next to the railroad tracks?"
"Do people really live in those tin shacks?"
"Why is that fish sitting in a basket in the sun? Won't it turn rancid?"
"I see the washing machine, but where is the dryer?"
"Where are we?"
"How did they fit two adults and four kids on that vespa?"
"What are those squiggly swirls? Are those letters?"
"I'm covered in sweat, how can it be so muggy?"
"Where can we get water?"
"What is that smell?"
"Is it always time for a smoke break?"
"Where is the waiter?"
"Do you have air-con (air conditioning)?"
"How much for tuk-tuk ride to Wat Phnom?"
"What are people wearing long sleeve shirts?"
"Why is that river brown, moreover why are people fishing in it?"
"What is that prickly fruit? It smells bad."
"Is that meat in the glass case really safe to eat?"
"How much for this?"
"Did you know coffee could be this strong and sweet?"
"What are we eating?"
"Where is the Russian Market?"
"Is this what dehydration feels like?"