It's funny how you look at a place so differently when you are visiting as a tourist. I think as a tourist you find the magic in everything. I remember when I first went to the Dominican Republic to work in a rural village the truck stopped to drop off the first group of volunteers. My work partner, Tom, said, "oh, this isn't so bad. This looks like a nice community." I said, "I'm glad you feel that way because this is our home for the next eight weeks." "Oh, shit, Tom replied, you gotta be kidding?" You just look through very different eyes when the expectations of home change your rose colored glasses to a microscope. Phnom Penh has sort of been like that. The smog doesn't feel so quaint and the election campaign that
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