Market Day

We're at the market! What FUN!

I love how I can hear the rain come closer, seven seconds before it hits my roof.  Especially if I've made it home with only two minutes to spare before the floods begin.  Sitting here at my desk watching the rains pound down is almost as good as moving to Seattle.  It makes me feel like I'm lost at sea.  In a good, adventurous way.

I'm healed from my terrible sickness (antibiotics, thank you Dr. Dzieczkowski, even though I can't pronounce your name!), and ventured out to meet Mandy and Paul for lunch at the Living Room.  Mmmm... I had a yogurt smoothie and croissant, Mandy had a yummy looking roasted pumpkin/feta sandwich and Paul an omelet.

Dad asked me this morning if I miss Boise yet, and the truth is...not yet.  But I did have a vivid moment of missing the drive into Winnemucca from the south at sunset.  Weird.

So, market day!  I didn't do a thing this week, but the market was awesome last week.  Lynsay and her visitors from NZ had arranged to go with our experienced travel guide, Danielle, and I was invited along, too.  Danielle came to pick us up on her moto, and I hopped on the back while Lynsay, Meagan, and Dave rode a tuk-tuk.  Slowest moto ride ever, as we were trying to keep pace with the tuk-tuk, but Danielle kept us upright the whole time.  We parked, and entered the market--crazy noises and loads of cool things everywhere.  Three floors of tiny stalls, each with a little storage shelf over the stall.  Loads of people wandering through and food vendors pushing carts of food which sadly I didn't dare try.  I could have taken a hundred more pictures, but here are the ones I'm sharing, with annotations.  Next time, lunch at the market.

Here is a view of a poultry shop from above.  I think

the shopkeeper is sorting raw pigeons.  At least she

has rubber gloves, right?

See how the top can be used for storage?

Mmmm...limes!  I've become addicted to lime soda since I arrived--
a few fresh-squeezed limes, soda water, and a bit of sugar.

I'm only putting this one in because
it is one of my favorites.
Love the colors.

Did you know that pepper is grown in Cambodia?
And you can get them pickled, too.

smoked fish on a stick!  you can get duck and
chicken the same way.

cool fruit.  the pink funny
one in the left bottom is dragon fruit which is
white with scattered black tiny seeds on the inside. 

A happy baby in a hammock.  Every day is bring your baby
to work day in this country, and you can see parents
bouncing babies in hammocks everywhere.

Stuck at home. For days.

So I still feel pretty gross.  I've been in bed with a fever since Wednesday night, and all the intestinal stuff that brings joy to the hearts of travelers everywhere.  I tried waiting it out, but called our medical hotline after two and a half days.  Surprise, they suggested I go in to their clinic and be seen by a doctor as it was most likely bacterial at this stage of the game.  I really don't want to go to the doctor because it will be expensive, invasive, and most likely unnecessary, so I chugged down the antibiotics my travel doctor at home gave me.  And spent another night with fever.  But maybe I'm better now.  I'm waiting it out for a bit to see if the antibiotics have cured me before I give in and go to the doctor.

I don't have much to share, but will show you the pictures of my house, where I have been spending LOTS of time.  It is a good sign that I'm getting bored, right?

my bedroom

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my kitchen

This is kind of cool--the view down into the outdoor kitchen of the
building next door.  All the orphanage food prep and cleanup
happens right here.  My house has an outdoor kitchen for the owners
downstairs, too.  They barbecue in tiny clay pots, then do the
washing up in a huge bowl under the faucet.  It requires lots
of squatting and stooping.

WAY too much information

The first pangs of homesickness…. I’m on my balcony past my bedtime on Sunday night listening to Toše Proeski sing “The Hardest Thing” and whining a little bit. I’m whining, not Toše. Saw lots of people this weekend and did lots of cool things, but now it’s been a quiet afternoon and I’m wistful for my porch and my cat back home. But I’m okay.

I’ve started my anti-worming medicine, which I think is a dirty little secret I’m not supposed to share with outside friends and family. I think expats here keep stories in-country so we will still get visitors. No big deal, I’ve heard. I haven’t been sick, but ever since an evil man at work (okay, my teaching partner Dave) described the process of having worms in great detail I’ve felt a little wormy. I’m always the one susceptible to the mere thought of minute creatures infesting my body. Nearly every year I’m convinced I have lice (a hazard of teaching) and itch like crazy until I’m checked and then suddenly I’m cured. Here the cure is to go ahead and take the three-day course of chewable tablets. Unless you have a partner who can examine intimate parts of your body in a process I will not describe.  Except to say it involves midnight and a flashlight.  I will let you know if the cure I'm trying is nasty.

So, I got out the camera this weekend. Had to recharge the batteries. Here are two pictures of my apartment. You'll have to wait to see the rest, so I don't lose your interest!  Cool market pictures from this weekend also on the way later.

My balcony

And the living room.  I plan to get a real couch, as this one is so not comfortable.

hello there

It’s raining sheets and buckets and cats and dogs, and now seems to be as good a time as any to start taking notes. The kids in the orphanage next door are screaming like banshees, sliding gleefully around their courtyard and playing soccer. I’ve never heard them make so much noise. We just had a giant crash of thunder on our heads, and across the street the building project goes on, a group of men struggling on the top floor of a new high-rise to put some wires up. Brilliant plan. It’s Friday evening and SO GOOD to be home.

So what have I done since I arrived a few weeks ago? Well, I’ve learned I hate taking photos while new in a place, so that’s out for a few months. I was the first of the batch of 18 or 20 teachers to arrive, and got to experience everything first then be the “expert” for the new new people. That is, the people who arrived a day later. We had loads of fun getting to know each other. The school did an awesome job of welcoming us, feeding us all meals of the day, putting us up in a great hotel, and generally helping us get sorted before school started. It really helped us bond before meeting the old people. Now we are trying to integrate, which is a bit more work.

Almost all the new batch are from the UK or formerly related countries (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa), so my vocab is undergoing revision. Our word of the year so far has been faffing, which means wandering around the house or wherever not doing much of anything useful but still managing to look busy. I spent 10 days trying to remember the American equivalent, but the closest I got was dilly-dallying or putzing. But they don’t quite capture it. (CRASH!!! goes the thunder)

I’m loving the new job, but it is definitely lots of work. I might have been the first to come, but I was the absolute last to get an office. My computer just arrived today, and I’m going to spend the weekend designing my office space. Since it has been so long in coming, I want it to be really flash.

I’ve loads of new friends. I’ve been super busy trying to arrange my house and settle into a rhythm. Here’s how the day goes, so far:


5:00 am cell phone alarm goes off and I press snooze.


5:15 am get up, wander around the house getting ready, then eat breakfast on my balcony watching the street wake up. My balcony has two giant crown of thorns plants, a big flowering bush of yellow flowers, and several other pots of gorgeous things I don’t have to water.

6:15 am walk half a block to the stop for the school van. I sit in front with my ipod cranked up because I don’t like morning chatter. There’s the added bonus that I get the responsibility of handing our money to the toll lady. Robin and Jim (both American and have been at the school a while) are already in the bus. At my stop Gregg (Australian?) and Lynsay (NZ) and I get in, then we stop for Narann (Cambodian), Dan & Ruth (British couple), Arishana (South African), and a three Cambodian girls I don’t know.

7:00 am usually go to the café for a coffee and meet up with Arishana or Peter or whoever.


7:30 am busy at work all day with assessments, small groups, collaborations, lunch, plannings, hanging out in classrooms, okay another coffee with Katie (school counselor; American and new to the whole international school thing)

our school cafe

4:10 pm fight for a seat on the bus and head home. grab supper somewhere cheap with Arishana or Lynsay or Mandy or whoever.

8:00 pm home, settle in and try to get to bed by 9. or at least 9:45.




I had all my artwork and maps and stuff framed and hung on the walls this week. It looks awesome and more like home. When I get around to finding my camera I will take some pictures.

The rain is slowing and the children have gone inside to sing sweet Khmer hymns.