Sunday, Day 15: Pretty...

Today was a day to sleep in (see above). Unfortunately, after 6 hours of sleep I was up and getting ready for a breakfast/work date with Sothida. Bright side: best caesar salad ever! We worked for a bit before she went home to rest and I met up with Shelby for a walk down to the riverfront. We found a nice cafe and set up shop - she read, I typed, we ate. After, we took a little time to wander this part of town which (surprisingly) we hadn't really done yet. We found some art galleries, stopped at some bookstores, found a hotel with a patio restaurant where if you order a min $5 food you can sit in a private section of the pool to dine (WTF?!). We took pictures at the National Museum and Royal Palace (which we might actually tour one of these days...) and did some window shopping. 

We went into one store called Mekong Quilts (Mekong is the river here) - they have the most beautiful handmade quilts for very reasonable prices by US standards made by members of an income-generating/women's empowerment NGO. As we were leaving, one of the store clerks asked what we were doing in PP - as Shelby and I made our way to the door talking about the SWD, the other clerk asked... "Are you Michael?" I was a bit taken aback... apparently she is friends with Sothida from her previous work in Cambodia with this NGO who had been telling her about team. She put SWD together with the white boy in the store and correctly guessed it was me... it made me feel like a resident - it was fun. We ended up at Blue Pumpkin to work some more... this place is crazy... a western style bakery/gelato place that has a second floor room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the river... and giant bed-like seating... literally walls lined with seats where you take off your shoes and curl up against giant pillows and stretch your feet out in front of you and place your food/drink on the bed tray in front of you... sanzzy. Bringing that concept home to my bar... Shelby and I worked some more, then walked home past Embassy Row (where a number of countries set up shop in Cambodia near the World Bank...). Best part of the day: skyped with mom. It was my first day with a real computer!!!!! after our pal Dori left and abandoned her SWD laptop. It was so good to see a familiar face and hear about life back home. I can't say that I'm homesick but I do miss the people in my life... really, I have been so busy the past year that I haven't really been able to keep the level of contact with any of my relationships the way that I would like. But being here I miss seeing names pop up in my schedule for that long-overdue dinner that we finally planned, or making that phone call or sending that text just to say hi, or knowing that there is a party invite on the way somewhere, or someone at a bar somewhere at any given time (Heidi), or a cozy place on a couch if I need it... or a boyfriend who's lovely voice I will at least get to hear at the end of every day. I know that my life is leading me in directions that even I can plan in a spreadsheet - I'm excited to explore the world and myself and these new opportunities ahead... and I am hoping to practice with you the methods of being a good friend, partner, and relative even when I'm so far. I love you... I love you all.