what a day!!!

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What a day!!!!

I got taken to the Royal Palace with two of my students, but because we were late we had to wit until 2pm for it to re-open!!! so we went for an early lunch and ate greasy burgers at 11am and then went to a vietnamese cultural thing. little did i know that complacency would get the better of me. two women were so quick to open my bag and steal my camera. i am so lucky that i have my photos backed up!

after that we decded to cheer ourselves up with ice cream at an air-conditioned shopping centre which was wonderful and then we made our way back to the palace for 2pm. we were joined by srey roth's beautiful little cousins, 5 and 8 years old and we spent the afternoon talking about the beautiful palace, erlaxing and eating mango in the garden and playing chicken in the sprinklers!!

I left them at about 4.30 and wandered across the road to java cafe where i met anna for a glass of wine (our new sunday tradition) on the balcony of the most beautiful cafe (and not too expensive). we watched the sun get lower and more people came to play badminton or football on the grass while we sipped and chatted!! i thought i would have a nice walk home while the sun was going down, so i left anna to her art gallery and i started down norodom. I was half way down the road when another of my students spotted me! he gave me a lift back to the house where there was still some left over tom yam soup! cindy cheered me up by reminding me that my camera was cheap and rubbish anyway 😊 and promised that should would get me a new and extrememly cheap one from hong kong when she goes back next week! all i need to do is get a disposible one to take to soriya's house in the province!

i really do love everyone i live with, they are all such wonderful people. mikael got back from a 5* weekend in sihanoukville and he looks so great for it; after losing 5kgs through being ill and hating the food, he was treated well by his aunt and uncle while they relaxed. it is nice to be so happy for my friends. i was talking to steph last night too and i cant believe much i value her friendship after 5 intense weeks! never again will i experience something like this! cameras come and go, but people really do make the experience. yesterday without my camera, i took some of the best pictures of ratana and srey roth being my tour guides around the royal palace, and my picture of the sunset over the balcony is the best one i could ever imagine...no camera could get it right!

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