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The great entreprenuer
The great entreprenuer Good morning, Kathy here....
It's early - we're leaving for a day with our Tabitha representative at the Killing Fields and the Genocide/Landmine museum and I couldn't sleep so I thought I would share yesterday with you. I'll try to get some pictures on - but a little difficult...they are fun, but really don't describe the feel, scent and weight (humidity) of PP.
Yesterday - Sunday
Kevin, Sharon, Rob and I went down the street to a little restaurant because we wanted a little more ambience than our backroom dining area at our hotel. It was a great choice - because I had the most wonderful croissant and jam with the perfect scrambled egg. My idea that I would starve here as been put to rest because we've had nothing but fabulous food. In fact, Rob won my heart by starting our morning off asking "where should we have lunch?" He's our resident "foodie".
We moved a little more slowly today - the humidity is intense, but we started off with Rotund (spelled his name wrong last entry) our Tuk Tuk guy (what a great help he's been) and headed off to the Russian Market. The
Children
They captured our hearts Russian market is used more by the locals and includes more food, equipment, (Kevin wanted to build a moto bike with the equipment he could find) etc....anyway, the building itself is a series of tin huts connected and when you enter the market the rooms are filled to capacity and the isle are 18" wide at most - combine that with 90 degrees 100 % humidity (did i mention it was 11am and I'm not exaggerating) and it makes for an interesting adventure. We decided to break up with a plan to get together in 15 min in the spot we were dropped off....it might have been a little optimistic. The market was a maze - Kevin, Tina and I took a wrong turn into the food section (see above for temperature) and our senses were challenges for a good 10 min while we tried to find our way out...picture this (no pictures were taken because we were on a mission to find an exit), skinned snakes by the hundreds hanging for the ceiling, buckets of fish guts, cooking snails in garlic, peeled fruit...and that's when i stopped looking and focused on the door. When we finally exited we of
Lunch
Full service course were not where we started and than the journey to find Sharon and Rob and our Tuk Tuk driver started. Rob was our first conquest and the first thing out of his mouth - "did you wonder into the food section"with the same look on his face. Sharon showed our Tuk Tuk driver didn't, but Tina took charge by managing all the small, beautiful children who where asking for money and the competing Tuk Tuk drivers who wanted our business.....finally we tracked him down and off we went. We were there less than an hour and it was experience we'll remember.
Off to the Wat Phnom - a temple on the north end of PP (the size of the city is small, you can get from one end to the other in less than a 1/2 hour on a Tuk Tuk). We saw monkeys, Sambo the elephant at his day job, tried lotus plants for a mid-day treat and fell in love with the people of PP. You'll see in the pictures the beauty of their smiles, their cunning (I love baby entrepreneurs), and their true non-judgmental graciousness. David our host said something last night at our meet and greet than helped me process our interactions. He said that the Cambodians believe our visits bring luck and that they believe they deserved their bad luck and hope that they deserve their hopeful good luck.....I don't know watching babies ask for money and negotiate with us and each other sitting in the hot sun for hours on end....is hard to comprehend even when you are in the middle of it. But like I said, they made us feel welcome and a guest - so i guess the good luck was ours.
As I mentioned above, Rob, our foodie, pushed us on to our lunch destination and what a good choice he made...a traditional khmer and chinese restaurant on the river. We were served by 6 young men, neatly dressed in black pants and white shirts and big smiles. They never left our table and by the end were hand feeding us fruit, hamming it up for pictures, and enjoying looking at their own pictures on our digital cameras. Once again, the food and the people inspired a 2 hour relaxing period in our day.
We headed off to the National Museum - I think mostly to say that we hit all major attractions - but our lunch and the 4 large beers where slowing us down - oh yeah, and the humidty (I think i mentioned that before). Tina adventured off on her own with our trusty Rotund driver - feeling more and more confident in her travel savvy. She's doing great and impressing us all with her confidence....
Back to the room and a nap.....and a bootlegged Spiderman 3 movie on the Tele....our days are a contrast.
We meet everyone on the build trip last night and of course they are wonderful...'
We'll probably have a few minutes tonight to add on our thoughts from todays conversation, but than offline for the rest of the week...
Cheers, miss you all and wish you where here
K
Hi everyone- it's Sharon and Rob and i just woke up. Kathy summarized well our day yesterday. I was the fortunate one who ''missed out" on the food section of the Russian market. I was in heaven amongst the knock off North Face bags in a very hot and humid corner of the market. I think our highlight of the day yesterday was our long lunch along the water...we had a lovely view, 6 gorgeous young men keeping us entertained, and beautiful food...and of course, cold Angkor beer waiting for us at the table.
We're off now for the day - love you all, Sharon
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Denise
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Hi From Missouri
WOW! What a wonderful experience for you all. Isn't amazing how something like a child's smile or face can touch your heart forever. Stay safe and know you are all in my prayers as are the people you will serve. Blessings, Denise P.S. Rob...it may be more than a good thing Sharon didn't make it near the food market....you might have been picking her up! Miss you guys!