Tuesday, March 30, 2010
More pictures from Kampong Cham
Samira recently sent me a few of her pictures from my trip to Kampong Cham so I thought I'd share!
Monday, March 29, 2010
In need of an oasis...
After a week of this...
I needed a weekend of this...
Skye, Junghye and I spent most of Saturday relaxing at the Kabiki pool..a little oasis in the middle of Phnom Pehn
Skye lounging in the pool
Followed by an Italian dinner and lots of wine on Saturday evening....
Left to Right: Junghye, Skye, Lisa and Katie
On Sunday, Katie and I spent the entire day apartment hunting. Unfortunately we came up empty handed but are continuing to look this week - keep your fingers crossed we find ourselves a home soon!
I needed a weekend of this...
Skye, Junghye and I spent most of Saturday relaxing at the Kabiki pool..a little oasis in the middle of Phnom Pehn
Skye lounging in the pool
Followed by an Italian dinner and lots of wine on Saturday evening....
Left to Right: Junghye, Skye, Lisa and Katie
On Sunday, Katie and I spent the entire day apartment hunting. Unfortunately we came up empty handed but are continuing to look this week - keep your fingers crossed we find ourselves a home soon!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Catching up
I know I’ve only been in Cambodia for 11 days but it feels like I’ve been here for months! The past 11 days have already far exceeded my expectations. My days have been filled with tuk tuks, trainings, temples, rice, anchor beer, more rice and many awkward, funny and amazing experiences. Here are just a few of the highlights to date:
New Friends: I feel very fortunate to have met such great people here already. There are 27 of us volunteers who started with Volunteer Services Organization (VSO) and I’ve grown particularly close with three of them already. Here is a brief introduction to the cast of characters:
Katie: We call each other our UK/American doppelganger. (For those of you who don’t know – a doppelganger is a double or identical replica of a person). Katie is from the UK and we were randomly assigned as roommates during our first week in Phnom Penh and instantly hit it off. Katie will be based in Phnom Penh as well so stay tuned for many more stories to come that involve the two of us!
Samira: Samira is from Sweden but has called several places home, including Florida. Somehow despite the extreme heat and humidity Samira always manages to look absolutely posh (as Katie would say). Not to mention, she’s also one of the most easy going individual’s you will meet. Samira will be based in Kampong Thom but we expect her to visit us in PP often!
Paul: Paul is our token guy and definitely takes great care of us girls! Paul is a nurse from Toronto and is hilarious to have around. Somehow he’s managed to put up with our endless girl talk and still chooses to hang out with us! Paul will be based in Battambang which is about a six hour bus ride from PP but he’s already promised to visit us often.
Sights: I haven’t been able to do much sightseeing yet, but we did spend a day on a cyclo tour around Phnom Pehn and this past weekend I caught a bus to the Kampong Cham province to visit my fellow volunteers. (Everyone left PP a few days ago to attend language classes but sadly I had to stay behind to start work). (My work here deserves a post of its own and I promise to share more information on what exactly I’m doing in Cambodia soon). For now, here are just a few pictures of my adventures around Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham:
Part of the Palace grounds in Phnom Penh
Independence Monument in Phnom Penh
Katie and Samira along the river front in PP
The bamboo bridge in Kampong Cham...built each year prior to rainy season to keep the main land connected to a remote island that contains a small village. On Saturday afternoon, Katie, Paul, Samira and I rode bikes over the bridge and visited the local village.
On Sunday a group of us chartered a boat to take us up the Mekong river to visit Wat Hanchey and another island village. It was a great day filled with many surprises...starting with my surprise birthday breakfast pulled together by Katie, Paul and Samira of course! They truly went above and beyond and made my big 3-0 an unforgettable day. In addition to the banner and balloons...the day was filled with cake, candles and amazing gifts including a traditional cambodian scarf which I love (it's pink which just happens to be my favorite color) and a bicycle basket cover to keep those pesky bag snatchers at bay.
Suprise bday breakfast
In the boat on the Mekong river
Wat Hanchey
Island village
The little boy I was obsessed with from the village. He was absolutely precious.
New Friends: I feel very fortunate to have met such great people here already. There are 27 of us volunteers who started with Volunteer Services Organization (VSO) and I’ve grown particularly close with three of them already. Here is a brief introduction to the cast of characters:
Katie: We call each other our UK/American doppelganger. (For those of you who don’t know – a doppelganger is a double or identical replica of a person). Katie is from the UK and we were randomly assigned as roommates during our first week in Phnom Penh and instantly hit it off. Katie will be based in Phnom Penh as well so stay tuned for many more stories to come that involve the two of us!
Samira: Samira is from Sweden but has called several places home, including Florida. Somehow despite the extreme heat and humidity Samira always manages to look absolutely posh (as Katie would say). Not to mention, she’s also one of the most easy going individual’s you will meet. Samira will be based in Kampong Thom but we expect her to visit us in PP often!
Paul: Paul is our token guy and definitely takes great care of us girls! Paul is a nurse from Toronto and is hilarious to have around. Somehow he’s managed to put up with our endless girl talk and still chooses to hang out with us! Paul will be based in Battambang which is about a six hour bus ride from PP but he’s already promised to visit us often.
Sights: I haven’t been able to do much sightseeing yet, but we did spend a day on a cyclo tour around Phnom Pehn and this past weekend I caught a bus to the Kampong Cham province to visit my fellow volunteers. (Everyone left PP a few days ago to attend language classes but sadly I had to stay behind to start work). (My work here deserves a post of its own and I promise to share more information on what exactly I’m doing in Cambodia soon). For now, here are just a few pictures of my adventures around Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham:
Part of the Palace grounds in Phnom Penh
Independence Monument in Phnom Penh
Katie and Samira along the river front in PP
The bamboo bridge in Kampong Cham...built each year prior to rainy season to keep the main land connected to a remote island that contains a small village. On Saturday afternoon, Katie, Paul, Samira and I rode bikes over the bridge and visited the local village.
On Sunday a group of us chartered a boat to take us up the Mekong river to visit Wat Hanchey and another island village. It was a great day filled with many surprises...starting with my surprise birthday breakfast pulled together by Katie, Paul and Samira of course! They truly went above and beyond and made my big 3-0 an unforgettable day. In addition to the banner and balloons...the day was filled with cake, candles and amazing gifts including a traditional cambodian scarf which I love (it's pink which just happens to be my favorite color) and a bicycle basket cover to keep those pesky bag snatchers at bay.
Suprise bday breakfast
In the boat on the Mekong river
Wat Hanchey
Island village
The little boy I was obsessed with from the village. He was absolutely precious.
Cambodian pleasantries
It is common practice here in Cambodia for locals to ask you what seem like very personal questions all the time…Where are you going? When will you return? How old are you? Are you married? You get the idea. Well, for the past week and a half, I've stayed at the Burly Guest house (aka hostel) and the boys who work here are especially inquisitive. Example - my conversation last night (and sadly my last night at Burly):
Burly boy: “Where are you going?”
Me: “To dinner”
Burly boy: “Ok. What time will you be back?”
Me: “In an hour or so.”
Burly boy: “Ok.”
About an hour passes….
Burly boy: “How was your dinner?”
Me: “Very nice thank you.”
Burly boy: “Ok. What are you doing now?”
Me: “Going to get ice cream”
Burly boy: “Ok. Why are you still hungry?”
Me: “umm…”
Burly boy: “Didn’t you just eat dinner?”
Me: “Thank you for the reminder. I think I’ll go to the gym now instead.”
Burly boy: “Ok.”
Despite the daily inquisitions, the boys of the Burly guest house always brought a smile to my face and were a great introduction to life here in Cambodia. Here is a picture of a few of my favorite “Burly boys”. (I won’t even attempt to spell their names).
Burly boy: “Where are you going?”
Me: “To dinner”
Burly boy: “Ok. What time will you be back?”
Me: “In an hour or so.”
Burly boy: “Ok.”
About an hour passes….
Burly boy: “How was your dinner?”
Me: “Very nice thank you.”
Burly boy: “Ok. What are you doing now?”
Me: “Going to get ice cream”
Burly boy: “Ok. Why are you still hungry?”
Me: “umm…”
Burly boy: “Didn’t you just eat dinner?”
Me: “Thank you for the reminder. I think I’ll go to the gym now instead.”
Burly boy: “Ok.”
Despite the daily inquisitions, the boys of the Burly guest house always brought a smile to my face and were a great introduction to life here in Cambodia. Here is a picture of a few of my favorite “Burly boys”. (I won’t even attempt to spell their names).
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The inspiration behind inspiration pending...
I know, I know…it’s about time I finally created my blog! As many of you know, I had quite the time coming up with a name for my blog. Although I still think Crystal in Cambodia was a brilliant idea…none of you seemed to agree. After countless hours brainstorming blog names with all of you, it was through a complete stranger that my inspiration was finally found. En route from Seattle to Cambodia, I sat next to a women named Cara. After explaining my blog name dilemma and divulging my life story (and yes, I find this a totally normal conversation to have with a complete stranger)…her response was “it sounds like your life is one big quest for inspiration...why not just call your blog inspiration pending?” And with that….my blog was born! Therefore in my first post – I think it’s only appropriate to give Cara from Kansas City a special shout out and thank you!
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