It has been a busy month since we arrived back to school. A few short weeks, an open evening, checklists, CD Roms, etc.
Two weekends ago we had a nice, long weekend to celebrate Macha Bucha, a Buddhist holiday that no one could really explain to me (Wikipedia says that it has to do with commemorating a sermon that Buddha gave.) That weekend we went to Phnom Penh to see my new home town, as of this coming August. We arrived on Saturday night and went to a local watering hole called the "Foreign Correspondents Club" or FCC for short, then to a Khmer restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet (I might take some flack for this but Khmer food is kind of like Thai food but a little more bland.) The next day we met up with some friends from ELC who used to live there.
We went for breakfast at Java Cafe and Gallery, then to Tuol Sleng, the high school cum prison used by the Khmer Rouge during their 4 year reign of terror. Most people that were interned at Tuol Sleng were either tortured to death or tortured, then walked 15km, killed, and buried in mass graves (The Killing Fields.) It's a really powerful place. It's kind of like after the Khmer Rouge walked out they just left it. There is so much evidence of the atrocity there is it mind blowing. After that we went to the Russian Market for some retail therapy. You can find everything and everything there all stuff into this claustrophobic, crampped market. Then, if the day wasn't eventful enough already!, we went to Lucky Supermarket to see what you can and can't get in Cambodia. And you can get everything. Especially really cheap, tax free alcohol. A 26 oz bottle of Jose Cuervo is only $11 USD! (I'm going to have a great big house warming party in October if anyone wants to come!) After the supermarket Jess wanted to do some shopping so I wandered around Street 240, while she checked out the local clothiers (of which you would be surprised.) Finally we had lunch at "The Shop," a great little cafe. That night we went to the "Elephant Bar" at Raffles Hotel and then a great french restaurant called "Le Marmite." (There is a great French influence in Phnom Penh so there are lots of French restaurants and nice, wide boulevards.)On Monday we went to the National Museum and made out like we were Tomb Raiders. Pretty rich history. Followed by "Friends Cafe" for lunch, a NGO run place that teaches street youth the service industry. Awesome tapas! Then I went into the school to meet and greet. All the staff I met were really helpful and my classroom is...adequate. I'm really happy to get back to high school. That night we met up with some other friends through ELC. They are both teaching at ISPP and are loving it. It was great to get the scoop from somewhere living there now.
On Tuesday we went to the Royal Palace in the morning, then out for lunch to another cafe near FCC. I popped back into the school to show Jess the place and then we took a Tuk-Tuk to the airport and flew home. What a weekend! I'm actually really looking forward to moving there. Even though there was a horrible genocide only 25 years ago there, the people seem quite happy and forward looking. There is a great cafe culture there and you can pretty much find everything you need.The next big trip is coming up in April. We just finalized everything for Nepal. We are doing about 5 days of trekking on the Annapurna circuit and a couple days in both Kathmandu and Pokhara. I am really looking forward to it.
The weather here is starting to warm up. It was mid 30's all this week. It feels even hotter when you have to where dress pants and a dress shirt to work. Everyone says April is going to be brutal. Good thing we are escaping for a while.
That's all for now. New pics are up at my Flickr site.
