I sit by the pool with a good book nearby, a ham and cheese crepe in my stomach, and a nice buzz from my cocktail-a Phnom Penh Sling (lots of gin, cointreau, cherry brandy, and passion fruit). Oh, yeah, and MY MOM IS HERE! she arrived on Wednesday night and we have had a wonderful couple of days. Susan and I picked her up with our tuk-tuk driver friend, Dara, and had a few wine coolers called Spy's on the ride back to the flat. Yesterday we hit the Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Pong) and got delicious coffee-iced and with sweet milk. Met up with Susan for fresh fruit smoothies, and got $6, hour-long massages. My school had a New Year party that we went to, including communal soup with all sort of ingredients (odd veggies, bean crackers, meats, rice noodles, egg noodles, and possibly testicles), Angkor beer, and--of course--dancing. Everyone was commenting about how young my mom looked and how she looked like she was my sister...which she loved. We met up with the usual crowd I hang out with at the local bar by my house and my mom was again showered with many compliments in English and Khmer. Today we bought some fabric from the market and went to the tailor to get dresses made. We visited Toul Sleng Museum (S-21) which I have discussed on an earlier blog...it's a school turned into torture/detention camp during 1975-1979 with the terror rule of the Khmer Rouge. An intense morning called for an afternoon at the pool.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Vietnam on a boat along the Mekong River.
Happy Khmer New Year!
And, belatedly, happy Easter!
(you volleyball enthusiasts will be happy to know that I played volleyball in the Mekong river with Susan and some Khmer guys on Easter. Staying true to the tradition of the NorthEast Qualifiers that always took place on Easter and disrupted our family's holiday ham.)
