Turkey... Not so much

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It was one of the girl’s birthdays on the tour. About 9 of us went out for dinner to a ‘Westernized’ restaurant. It was Thanksgiving; therefore I really would have liked to find a hotel or restaurant serving Thanksgiving/American style food. Who was I kidding? Cambodians don’t even know what Thanksgiving is; nor do they care much about Americans and our holidays. I ate chicken breast and French fries for dinner. This was the best I was going to do. I was super sad I was missing this day with my family. My cousin just had her baby boy a few months ago who I am yet to meet and it was my new niece’s 1st Thanksgiving. All I can think is that this was the second Thanksgiving my entire life that I wasn’t with my family. The other time was when I was living in Australia my senior year of college. One of the Australian families threw a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 Americans. They even cooked a somewhat traditional meal. That being said, of the 9 people having dinner in Siem Reap, 3 of us are American. I asked if the Australians and the Brits would mind going around the table telling why they give thanks. I explained a little bit about the Pilgrims and the Indians… they went along with it. It lasted about 3 minutes. It is hard to explain what a true Thanksgiving meal is all about – I guess you can compare it to Australian Day, but that is really about it. Anyhow, this was my realization that my time is almost up and I will be heading home very soon. It hit me, it’s time. The same thing happened to me in Australia… After about 5 months living abroad soon after Thanksgiving, I realize my family is the most important thing to me in the entire world. I look forward to spending quality time with everyone when I get home.

Unfortunately, a few people on our trip got a little sick… vomiting was going around. I crossed my fingers it was specific foods and not a bug. It is the hottest in Cambodia, so it is possible people are becoming dehydrated and exhausted as well. Considering this is the least amount of sleep I have had in all of my travels, I have never dreamt so much of a comfortable bed in a quiet room for a full 8 hour sleep! Wake up is at 4:45am as we are heading to the jewel of Siem Reap – Angkor Wat.

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