ah yes, the food

The food here is tropical and flavorful. We have curry dishes, peppery dishes, and dishes combining fruit and fish. Rice is at every meal uniting the tastes of the other components.

I enjoy the fruit most of all. In addition to mangoes, pineapples, bananas, coconuts, and lychees, one of the delights of Cambodia is the mangosteen. I hadn't heard of it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangosteen

You can get all of the fruit easily in the markets, but I prefer to get smoothies fresh from stands in town. You can't beat 25 cents for an amazing fresh dose of tropical fruit.

my house

I live here with my friend Hannah, a chemical engineer from Canada. We both enjoy helping at RDI in very different ways. She is in the lab doing water testing for bacteria, arsenic, and iron levels. I go out to villages around Kien Svay doing primary care/first aid and helping with the traditional medicine lessons. I have seen lots of ear infections and parasitic infections, both of which are easily treated with medicines we carry. I also have a lot of fun at RDI on the new basketball court, at a local resort's swimming pool, and just biking around the village waving back at all kids I pass.

Saturday with my neighbors

These girls are always so overjoyed by life. Can't you see it on their faces?

the water buffalo

Pai in the sky

Woods and I had a really fun time in Pai. We met a dude named Sam, who plans to travel across Mongolia on horseback. He was staying at an organic farm in the outskirts of Pai, so we visited the farm and ate a couple of fresh mangoes. The best way to travel in such a place is by moto, so we visited some waterfalls and hiked (once Woods learned how to drive the thing!). We spotted several water buffalo bathing in the cool water. It was a great break, but I felt ready to return to the village when it was time to pack up and get to the airport in Chiang Mai. Woods was sick on the way back, but he is back to normal and feeling great now.

Rabbit Island

We travelled south in Cambodia to Keb, a small town on the coast of the Bay of Thailand. Rabbit Island was our destination. Here are some shots from this leg of the trip. Click on the photos for a better view.

Chiang Mai

Beginning on Wednesday, we took a trek, the trendy word meaning "to hike on a trail with tourists," over 2 days with a group of 11 others from all over the world (Poland, Ireland, Finland, French living in Pakistan, and Australia). We stayed very high up on a ridge in a village that was well equipped with solar panels on top of the homes. They farm the steep, slippery hillsides with rice and corn. The village is Catholic, rather than Buddhist like most of Thailand. We rode on elephants for part of the trek and floated down the Mae Taeng river on bamboo rafts. The trip included white-water rafting as well, "shooting the chutes" with a guide and 4 others, including an extremely nervous Korean girl.

We are taking a bus to Pai today, pronounced "bye." The town is known for beautiful mountains and live music, so we are excited to chill there for a few days before we fly back to Phnom Penh to get back to work with RDI. Thanks for reading. Hope you are well.

what a country

We are in Kampot after a night in paradise (Rabbit Island). As the sun set, we swam in the Bay of Thailand, which is very oceanlike with great waves. Then a sweet Ming (the word for a Khmi woman old enough to be my mother) cooked us a delicious meal of fried rice, veggies, and chicken. She even made a plate of squid, but I had a hard time forgetting my previous experience with them in biology class. I will have many pics when I return to Kean Svay and can upload them. Today we went up Bokor Mountain by truck and it was wonderful. It was cool and misty at the top and the surroundings reminded all of us of Scotland! It was a completely different climate - lush and full of butterflies and giant palms with fronds as long as 20 feet! Again, the pictures will have to do the talking. From here we will head to Sihanoukville briefly before travelling to Thailand by boat. Thanks for reading. Hope you are well. Please shoot me an email if you have an update you'd like to share!

travelling light

Woods, Caleb, and I have packed our backpacks for a trip over land through Cambodia and into Chaing Mai, Thailand. RDI has a meeting there, and we will make several stops along the way. I am excited to see the country up close in a way that flying doesn't provide. It feels good to be adjusting well to this place. Thanks for reading now and again. I hope that I have many opportunities to share in greater depth about this amazing country! And I promise to not bore you! ;-)

Lvea Sol again

playing a game in Lvea Sol

"Real generosity is not about giving and indulging, it's about never taking more than what you actually need."

funny invitation for the RDI staff party