The first 48ish

It is 11:32 p.m. here in Phnom Penh. Keith and I just woke up from a "nap"...well more like a sleep. The last two days have been great, but we are still adjusting to the huge time change.

On Aug 18 we boarded our flight in Dulles, Washington for Phnom Penh. We flew for 15 hours, stopped in Seoul, South Korea and then for another 5 to Phnom Penh. The flights were long, but we had an array of movie, shows, games, and food to keep us from getting too bored. We arrived to the airport in Phnom Penh with our 3 bags weighing 50lbs, 2 carry-ons weighing close to the same amount, and two "personal" items...who knew we had so many things that could fit into a "personal" item! Our dear friend, Phun and two of his schoolmates, picked us up and helped us get ourselves and all of our luggage to our temporary home- Long Live Hotel.

After a good night's rest we ventured out into the city so that we could check out a local market and try some local food. We bought a bunch of tiny bananas, a dragon fruit, bottled water, bowls for cooking, a knife, some noodles, laundry soap, dish soap and a few other essentials for less than $10. The prices here are fantastic, but some of the smells/sounds/sights take some getting used to. After checking out a few other stores and a coffee shop we headed to Main Campus for Keith to try Khmer Kickboxing. He had a great time trying out some of the moves and I had fun watching and laughing. All of the students are so friendly and eager to speak with us.

Today we started pretty early. Neither of us could really sleep so we got up and organized our room a little. Our hotel room is pretty small so we have to keep things tidy or we end up tripping over everything. Our first stop was to buy local cell phones, but we needed our passports to do so and didn't have them at the time. So we started walking towards our next stop--the spa! One of my personal favorite things about Cambodia is the amazing massages for $10 or less. Keith tried a traditional Thai massage which consists of massage and assisted stretching. I stuck with the back/neck/shoulder massage. IT WAS GREAT! We both were feeling a little tight after 20+ hours on a plane or in an airport. Afterward, we hit up a cute little lunch spot called the Corner for lunch and free wifi. The food was great and the staff was very helpful. We got some much needed help with our pronunciation and will continue to practice each day so that we can surprise our fellow staff and students with our amazing Khmer! Keith was planning on meeting for kickboxing practice again, but it started to downpour so we weren't sure it would still take place. After about five or ten minutes of really hard rain the skies cleared up. At this point we had both decided that it would be better to stay in since we haven't had much down time.

Now it is late and I'm awake...hoping that I will go back to sleep tonight, but who knows. Keith is still sleeping. He is living up to the nickname I gave him...bear...because he can sleep like a bear in hibernation. Well friends, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow we are meeting with some of the people from Pannasastra to learn about our upcoming semester. We love and miss you all and will keep you up to speed throughout our time here.

<3,

Chantelle (and sleeping Keith)