For a very brief time we had the pleasure of being in the presence of the one and only Mr Paci, fellow Brooks teacher extraordinaire. The pictures will speak for themselves. Other than missing a fellow member Karen, why did you need to get married? I hate sharing you with Ross!), we had a refreshing pep talk and saw him off to the airport. We are now about to board a 15 hour train ride to Chang Mai to Northern Thailand. I haven't slept in about 4 nights, so I'm hoping this sleeper train brings all the tranquility I am lacking [View Full Entry]

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Well, we are officially still three, but our fourth member is in mid air as we speak. Her flight arrives around 5:30PM. We can't wait to see her look of bewilderment as she walks out of the terminal on her own, the way we did about two and a half weeks ago. We want to watch her experience what we did because at the time it all seemed to have happened so fast we don't remember it all clearly. For those of you who do not know Christina, which is almost all of you, she is a fellow Brooks teacher. She [View Full Entry]

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Safely back in the Kingdom of Thailand. They really weren't kidding when they said it was a 14 hour bus ride, but if our bus driver was not a smoker and did not keep pulling over to take a few puffs, I'm certain we would have arrived at least 2 hours earlier. We spent the first night back in a relatively more expensive room, about $15 each. We hadn't eaten ALL day and really wanted a good nights sleep. The next morning we showered, ate breakfast and hit the streets to find cheaper accomodations. After 10, yes 10 refusals, we found [View Full Entry]

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If I remember correctly, when we last left off we were hanging our bug nets to save ourselves from the mice invasion. There were no computers at our visit to Kampot, so I took notes to fill you in on the highlights of the last several days. We stayed one last night in our "mouse" room, but with very little sleep decided to upgrade to a beautiful little bungalow over looking the ocean. I wish I could say that we slept in peace but with every little sound we were reminded of past events. Sleep may never be the same again. [View Full Entry]

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We honestly didn't mean to do it! Let me explain. In Cambodia, you pay for things at the end of everything, including your hotel/ living arrangements. So, as we awoke on Sunday morning at 5:45AM and waved good-bye to our hosts, we completely forgot to pay for our room (and they did wave back, so we weren't sneaking out). As we were waiting in the overcrowded, unairconditioned bus station (buses don't leave until they are full, no matter how long you wait) we realized what we had done and promised to make amends. We arrived in Sihanoukville in about 4 hours [View Full Entry]

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Between the years of 1975 and 1979 the Khmer Rouge, under the leadership oF Pol Pot, ruled areas of Cambodia, including Phnom Penh. Money was abolished and cities were abandoned. Thousands of peope who spoke foreign languages or wore glasses were considered "parasites" and killed. Hundreds of thousands more died of mistreatment, malnutrition and disease. Between 1975-1979 approximately 2 million people were killed as a direct result of the policies imposed by the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge saw it's demise in 1998, just ten years ago. Today we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum, a security pri [View Full Entry]

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Lounging yesterday, teaching Ta the chicken dance, YMCA and cartwheels, a lovely british man sat down at a nearby table. As usual, a quick smile and hello was shared, as we continued to ponder where we would go next. We needed a fresh start and as we began to discuss the pros and cons of each location, this man, who is very well traveled, listened in and joined our conversation. By the end of our discussion we were ready to head out to the streets of Seim Reap and get the best "deal" to our next city, Phnom Penh. The first [View Full Entry]

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We could hardly even sleep last night waiting for the sun to rise, literally with our cameras in hand waiting for the sun. The day begins so early here with people setting up shop around 5:30AM. We began the day across the street to buy some toys for the children at the orphanage and then set out. I realized I have no idea where an orphanage is at home. Anyways, around the block we went to the Sunrise Village for Children. We were immediately greeted with smiling faces and open arms. After a quick check in the manager was happy to [View Full Entry]

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I'm becoming Cambodian! Okay, let me slow down and start from the beginning. The bus did indeed pick us up in front our guesthouse at 7AM. We were on the bus for about 5 hours before we reached the border. We then had to wait for our visas, get approval and then get on another bus. From this bus we took a three hour cab ride on roads that are not really roads, they are, well, just earth. This is where the roller coaster like hand gestures came from. We were so tired and sweating through our clothes, but the sights [View Full Entry]

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SNAKE MILKING FARM- yup, that's what we went to bed thinking about last night and images of how in the world this works made us arise quite early (3:30AM to be exact). The debate last night was to either spend the day at a crocodile park, with 30,000 (?) crocodiles, including a live wrestling match, or attend a snake farm. We eagerly arose, ate a very nice english style breakfast and went confidently to our nearest tuk tuk driver. Once again, us Bostonians were conquered by the great and powerful Bangkok locals. Our tuk tuk took us to a silk shop, [View Full Entry]

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