Welcome to Cambodia

This is day 7, but it doesn’t seem like it. Time has ceased to have any meaning- possibly due to jet lag, possibly due to the fact that all we’ve done since we arrived in this glorious land is drink, eat and generally have an absolute blast. Or possibly because it feels like we’ve always lived here.

Our time warp started with a 25-hour journey, which wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as we had feared it might be, thanks to Dramamine and motion sickness-preventing wristbands (according to Sam, who hardly puked at all).  The worst thing to happen was the series of bizarre meals that they served us on the plane, which Cait was the only one brave or hungry enough to eat.

When we finally arrived in Phnom Penh, excited and slightly the worse for sleep deprivation and B.O., we were met by our new friend and host, Samnang. Our gracious, cheerful and eternally patient guide to all things Khmer was waiting with a minivan, ready to cart our copious amounts of luggage back to his place. Afterwards, we were able to meet Abbie and Keith down by the river for lunch and drinking then a nice dinner. It was so nice to see her, but very sad to say goodbye.

During our flight we had been wondering vaguely why people kept wishing us a happy new year. All became clear during our layover in Taipei, where we learned that it was the first day of the Chinese Year of the Horse.  Happily, it turns out that K’mai people are always up for a party, regardless of whose new year it happens to be: throughout the first weekend of our arrival, shops were closed, groups of red and gold-draped dancers were crowding the streets, and all of Samnang’s friends were sitting out in front of one of their houses, drinking beer and playing cards. It took approximately 3 ½ seconds consideration for us to accept their invitation to join them. It would be rude not to, right?   Immediately after sitting down with them we were offered a plate of fresh duck and full glasses of Angkor beer with ice. Sam was rather nervous as they were very excited for us to try the duck and she did not want to be rude, so with much hesitation she tried it, and to all of our surprise – she actually liked it! It was very fresh, Cait even found his brother in the bathroom quacking at everyone who walked in. Sam and Mackenzie found a rooster later in the evening as well, it's amazing how simply knowing where your meat comes from and who killed it will make it feel natural to eat meat again.

Despite the language barrier, we all became fast friends: laughing and drinking and cheersing to the New Year all evening long. We were even invited to come along to the beach with them the next day, which we gladly accepted. The next morning at 4am we set out on a long drive to Sihanoukville, we arrived very early and were able to get a table and chairs along the beach. Our friends brought lots of seafood and beer and we had a great feast with crabs and shrimp, beer and squid! After we ate we played in the ocean with all the kids that came with us, Mackenzie even taught some of them how to swim! We had so much fun at the beach and feel like we made some very good friends. We were even invited to go to some of our new friends home provinces, so we could learn to cook and fish.

After the weekend, we started doing more things on our own, as Samnang returned to work on Monday. We walked around our neighborhood and bought a case of beer, a 5-gallon water jug and some noodles. It is very interesting living where we do, because there are very few westerners in this area and not many people speak English. Therefore all of the transactions we’ve done with shop owners around our house have been completely in Khmer or as the locals call the language, K’umai. This week has been very relaxing; we have been working on unpacking our things and purchasing furniture to organize our room. We plan on traveling back to the beach by bus this Sunday to stay for a week long vacation.