Metaphorically meteorologically

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The weather today's been fabulous - cooler than Toronto is apparently. It's been raining and cloudy all day and there's tons of breeze, so it was pretty comfortable when we went around to the Operational District Office, the Health Centres and the Referral Hospital today. We'll be starting to get up and running for next week.

The weather in Cambodia's a bit like a moody mistress - hot and sweltering during the day with brief thundershowers followed by clear clear skies and more spitting rain at night. As we lunched the other day, the weather went from white clouds to grey storm clouds and back within an hour. Makes for some fantastic vistas.

We've moved out to Kep now, which is 3 hours out of Phnom Penh near the Vietnam border. It's rural Cambodia at its best - pigs, dogs, cats, chickens and bony water buffalo running all over, spilling into the streets. There's been a few times when we've honked to get a buffalo or a piglet out of the middle of the road.

The house we're living in is right on the ocean and live seafood is literally around the corner, brought in every morning at 530 am. Kep is pretty amazing and I have no doubt it'll become a big tourist attraction given a few years. The Khmer staff who are supporting our projects are all fabulous, and quite a few of them are durian lovers, apparently. ;-)

There's a small but significant Chinese Cambodian population here, and I'm constantly mistaken as a Cambodian, so I have resolved to try to learn some Khmer so I can bargain for better prices. Strolling around the Central Market in Phnom Penh I got double takes when they saw my backpack with the OMA signs. Funny enough, I made use of my mandarin in Phnom Penh the other day as we were asking directions back to our guesthouse before we found a tuk tuk.

So, the adventure has begun, and it looks like it will continue well, from what I can see.

Until the next time,
M

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