Bangkok Weekend!

Since roundtrip tickets to Bangkok are only $150 my group decided to go to Bangkok for a long weekend! It was sooo much fun! Jess has friends at the Intercontinental so we were able to get employee rates of $60 a night (compared to $250). We arrived and went out for some great thai food, I had the coconut milk spicy soup. SO good! Then we went back and were all exhausted and decided to go to bed and check out the night life the 2^nd night. I don think any of us had ever been so happy to be in a hotel room. It was SO quiet. I mean silent. and the beds were the most comfortable beds I’ve ever been in. We all slept for 11 hours. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned how awful the mornings are in Phnom Penh. The entire night there are dogs barking, constantly. Then at about 5:45 the vendors start coming out and squeak the bike horns we used as kids, or use a microphone that is loud and sounds like waa waa waaaaa. There is construction going on throughout the entire city. At 6:05 the ear piercing banging begins. Its beyond painful- torture really. The entire western population is sleep deprived (which may explain why there are so many NGO’s with badly thought out projects). Even with my computer blaring “peaceful music” it seems as though the construction workers are in my room. So yes, a silent night and morning sleep is something all of us were sooo happy to enjoy. I woke up at 8am and just squiggled in my bed and acknowledged the happiness I felt in a cold dark silent comfy room. Thankfully every morning was like that (no morning people thankfully!!). The first day we laid by the roof top pool for a while, then walked around the city and got massages then went to the backpackers district at night. Very fun- buckets of booze and Leo beer! Then there were the food carts which were plain amazingness. Eatable noodles and spring rolls for $1! SO gooooood!!!

The next day we did the tourist thing and checked out the royal palace and sleeping Buddha which I did with Christian but still was an incredible site. That night we ate at a cute amazing thai restaurant and checked out the high society clubs at night. Sunday we hung out at the pool all day then went to a movie at night. The movie was something else- you walk in and its like a classy lounge with massage chairs. Then when its time for the movie to begin they bring you in and there are huge leather recliners that go all the way back. They bring you pillows and blankets and take your order. SOOOO amazing! it was really fun, and we saw a great movie! (no theaters in phnom penh) They also had a great food court in the mall so I was able to get some annies pretzels with dunkable cheese.

I spent Monday morning before my flight reading by the pool then took off for the airport. I finally had time to get a huge sub and make a burger king run quickly before my flight took off. I ordered onion rings, French friends, chicken nuggets and tater tots from burger king. The guy beside me gave me a funny look as I totally pigged out - I had to explain there are no fast food restaurants in phnom penh and I had to eat it while I could. It was pretty tough leaving the city. It was SO nice to have sidewalks and skywalk and public transportation to get around. And the city was so manageable, the traffic followed rules and it was so nice to be able to eat without worrying about getting sick! We are opening a SISHA office in Bangkok soon, so maybe in the future I’ll be there!

So today I’m back in Phnom Penh, having the dogs keep me awake all night and woke up nice and early to the sounds of toy horns and construction. Hopefully my new place will be a little quieter, I’m paying quite a bit extra in the hopes that it is. But it was such a fabulous weekend!!

Site Visit

Early Sunday morning Jess and I went to visit our Youth Legal Training Program. Our Director decided not to come last min which left the two of us to get ourselves there. Thankfully his wife gave our tuk tuk driver some good first step directions. We get close then drive around in circles for a bit, then finally after a few calls the driver turns down this railroad track. The path was tiny and the houses were built on the tracks so there was barly any room to drive. This is also a place that westerners would never find let alone go down, so the people were very confused and looked a little shocked to see us. That’s never a good feeling…. the area is one of the poorest in the city. Finally after about 15 mins the driver stops and then our co-worker steps out and we are at the school. The students were amazing. Soooo into the lesion- Sunday they were teaching about drugs. They were so interested and paid attention. they were boys and girls aged 15-20. The program was piloted earlier this year and was so successful they chose the top 3 students to become peer teachers for this round. They are going to start bringing the training to the dump site (look it up its super awful) and start educating the kids there. They focus on the legal rights that exist and ones they have. They also talk a lot about trafficking and whats legal and whats not. There were some young girls that were hanging out at the school and were at first terrified of me and jess. Then after a big they started warming up a little to us. We finally were able to play rock paper scissors with them and watched them play hid and go seek. They were so much fun.

This week I’m working on a proposal and I’m down to the wire right now. Its going well just really overwhelming that I’m the one in charge! We are presenting to the Minister of Women’s Affairs this week to get her on board with some funding for our new rape crisis center (first one in Cambodia) that will give medical, mental and legal counseling and aftercare placement to anyone who reports a rape or domestic violence. Sounds like its going to be really great. Just need the funding now!

That’s all for now- I’m going to go to Bangkok next weekend to hang out – I’m sure I’ll come back with some good pics and stories!! (below is jess with the cows after we finally found our ride home)

4th of July

WELL i have more pics up- buuuuuuut they are more of the party scene rather than the city. This weekend we are planning some photo shoots around the city so then there will be more of the culture. What? bars aren't culture? pffff! I had a blast on the 4th of july! we went to the embassy for a bbq then to a great American bar to get some deviled eggs and hot dogs.... and lots of drinks. we got the vip room and there were about 20 of us packed in with control of the ipod and were screaming some good classic tunes. it was oh so much fun! the night before we had some great wine and cheese (super rare here) and were going to take it easy..... then we somehow ended up in a pool bar. weird. so the group i'm hanging out with is super fun and active. lots of things to do. I went to the Russian market on Saturday which is a huge hot packed market. But I found some awesome deals. The gap and banana factory are here so there are tons of $3 shirts (made by children probably) so it was fun finding some deals. I'm way too big for any short pants they have here (sooo sad) so i'm going to have to have some tailored. They just look at me and laugh when i ask if they have pants that would fit me. haha awkward!

Our street flooded on friday- i left my camera at work and i was super bummed because it was a sight! (they have assured me that it will in fact happen many more times) but all the roads were flooded over the wheels- it was crazy! And the entrance into my apt was up to my knees. It was really gross, garbage floating and it was dirty brown. Needless to say my mosquito bitten legs are now quite infected. I bought some cleaning stuff at the pharmacy today sooo i'm sure it will clear up soon. But I'm looking forward to the next time for a good photo opp.

I also went to a dinner party at the ambassador, carol's, house last week. It was surreal. There were about 25 top executive type people there and 4 women- 2 were me and jess. I met the girl who is in charge of the gtip Cambodia report- so I was really happy. She also hooked me up with a tix to the 4th of July party- which worked out nicely.

Ok back to work- i have a 125k goal to hit!!!