It has been ages since we've last updated our site – shamefull, it's true. Since getting back to Phnom Penh after our trip to Canada, we've been going full on. Big meetings, lots of work, busy weekends. And with a bunch of stuff piling up over the summer months, it doesn't look like it's going to slow down. Here are a few of the things that we've been preoccupied with!
1) Dentist Appointment: It was that time. It was approaching a year since we last had a good dentist's clean and so we ventured to Roomchang Dental clinic on a few recommendations.
We slipped off our sandals and stepped into tan colored imitation crocks (for that extra dose of hygiene). Waited in reception for close to 1/2 an hour and were finally led into the same dental examination room at the same time. I (Amie) had another meeting to get to so I got to go first. The dentist, along with his three dental hygienists (so now we have 6 people in the room) cleaned and scraped and buffed my teeth keeping the water on the whole time. The bib they put on you at the beginning was soaked by the end. Then they discovered a small cavity. Not to fear, Roomchang told me, five minutes. He drilled my tooth and put the filling in, while Steve hovered above my face to get a closer look. (I guess the imitation crocks we made up for this lack of hygiene). They sure don't allow you to do that in Canada! I was out of there within 1/2 an hour. Total cost for cleaning: $15 per person.
2) Aerobics: It is not easy to get exercise in Phnom Penh. Short days, long work hours, the heat. But, when I do get out to public aerobics, it's a huge treat. Watch the video and you'll see why.
3) Frisbee: We love ultimate. And now, every Saturday from 9-11am we run around and toss the disc around with other ultimate lovers in Phnom Penh. The best part is one of our team mates has a pool in his backyard and he has no reservations with us jumping in – fully clothed – after a sweaty two hours of frisbee. It has become a huge highlight of our week. Now we're prepping for our first ever International Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Singapore in August. (stay tuned for pics and video from our upcoming adventure!).
4) Learning Khmer. Every Monday or Tuesday we get together with our Khmer tutor, Mano. He comes to our house and we drink coffee and eat cookies and learn Khmer. We've been going through one book that was actually designed for Cambodians to learn English. I'm actually really glad that we're learning Khmer from it instead of English. See why?
5) Housekeeping For the longest time we sat on the solid wood furniture in our living room. It came time however, for a set of cushions. A trip to the market for fabric and a stop at a mattress shop were the tasks we needed to do to go from sore-cushioned bums. We did it all one weekend. And learned how much white people can carry on motorbikes.
-amie
We finally had some time for adventure last weekend. We jumped on a motorbike and went off into the countryside with no planning. We picked a couple places on the map and went there – relaxed at a riverside restaurant, climbed a large hill with a temple on it, found a really amazing Angkorian ruin, and walked around a small town where we found a guesthouse.
-steve
