Happy Halloween!

It is now November 1st, and our first major holiday has come to a close: Halloween. While it was a bummer to not be at home, we did enjoy ourselves here in PP.

With 20,000+ ex-pats living in PP, holidays--thankfully--are not overlooked. About a week ago, I heard about a tuk-tuk Halloween that was happening, where multiple families around BKK (fancy, smancy part of PP where many wealthy, paid ex-pats live) would be decorating their homes and inviting trick-or-treaters to partake in some fun.

Families just needed to hire their own tuk-tuk and have the driver take them around. We have a very friendly guy we often call for family outings, and we first met him when he was driving around town with his kids in the tuk-tuk. He asked if we needed a ride (we did) and if we minded that his kids were in the tuk-tuk, too (we didn't). Sila took to the kids very quickly, and we enjoy the father as well. He is one of the few drivers who speaks really great English.

Anyway, we called him up, invited his kids to come, and went around BKK for some Halloween fun! All the kids had fun, and the driver's kids got to experience their first Halloween. We were happy we could offer this opportunity to them.

Some homes handed out candy, while other homes decorated extensively, complete with mazes for the kids and beer for the parents! We visited around 20 homes in total and finished the night exhausted but pleased with our Halloween festivities.

As I close, I offer my hopes that your Halloween was just as enjoyable and unique in its own way. Big hugs from afar!

Normalcy

Life in Phnom Penh has been...well...normal. No longer is it strange that we are the foreigners in our neighborhood. Everyone knows us, and usually we receive a nod or smile as we walk Sila to school, head to the local market, or as Conan rides his bike with Sila holding onto his back.

Riding motos, too, has become a regular part of my day. Conan bikes to work, but I hop on the back of some motorbikes and vroom to school in no time. I have some regular guys from around the neighborhood who know where I work and how much I will pay and whom I am no longer scared of. I have also released my death grip as I ride, and I am usually riding with my hands resting on my thighs! Progress.

I am still very much aware, though, of the dangers of motos, so I am always ready to jump off or brace myself for the worst. I hope it never occurs.

Another thing that has added some normalcy is getting local, organic produce delivered to our home. Last Friday was our first week, and it was a delight: a papaya, a watermelon, 3 passion fruits, cherry/regular tomatoes, green beans, squash, carrots, lettuce, arugula, cucumbers, and more that I cannot remember! It is all ch'neng na (delicious!).

Not much else going on here. We're casually looking for a bit of work, but haven't really hit the pavement yet in our efforts. More so, we're enjoying our freedoms that this year affords us: yoga everyday, Conan writing a book, playgrounds, reading. Life is good. Hopefully life is good for you, too!

Where's the Dinosaurs?

This has been my big question recently. As soon as I get up, I ask mom "Where's the dinosaurs?" Mom tells me that a big rock hit the earth and that all the dinosaurs died, but I don't quite understand. Oh well. Dad looked up a cool documentary for me to watch about dinosaurs, and I loved it!

I thought I would write because although mom and dad have been including some tidbits about me, I thought my faithful fans would want an update from me, so here goes:

School
My school is one street over from my apartment, and mom and I walk to school everyday around 7:30 a.m. We usually stop to say hello to this one money exchange lady; then we round the corner, I give mom a kiss, and I am whisked into school. My teacher, Teacher Beth, speaks English...but I might be a bit better at English than she. Regardless, I have been learning the alphabet, swimming, blocks, and the list goes on. I have a few friends--Nika and HunkHunk (which my mom always laughs when I say his? name), and I am pretty happy to be learning and spending time with kids my own age. They're all Cambodian, but I don't mind. Mom and dad say it's good for me and that I will learn to be really comfortable with myself as a result. I just like kids and fun.

Holiday in Siem Reap
My dad, mom, all our friends (mom and dad's teacher friends), and I all went on a school bus to Siem Reap! It was so much fun! My two favorite friends are Charlie and Minda, and when I'm not trying to be like daddy, I'm looking to see what Charlie is doing. In Siem Reap, I went horseback riding with mommy, elephant watching with daddy, and saw Angkor Wat with both mom and dad. I had a great time and was a very good boy.

Weekends
There is a lot to do in Phnom Penh, and this morning we went to the swimming pool at dad's gym! I have been practicing swimming at school, so I am getting pretty good at kicking and floating on my raft. I am looking forward, though, to swimming with my really good friends--the Busbees--when I get back to the States so that I can show them all my moves. Sadie is my best friend.

Other than that, I go bike riding with my dad (he has taught me to straddle the shelf behind his seat and hold onto him as he bikes slowly down the road!). A little scary, but I'm riding like a true Cambodian. I think I'm going to a puppet show tonight, which I am excited for but don't really know what to expect.

So that's it, folks. Life is good here. The yogurt is good here, as are the snacks they feed me at school: when mom asks what I eat, I say chocolate ice cream. Mom doesn't believe me, and she says I hope I'm lying. Only I know the truth... Love you, all!

Work, Rainy Days, The Killing Fields, and Angkor Wat

Time is passing quickly now, as most of our time is consumed by volunteering. Classes are going well, and Conan and I are enjoying teaching Cambodians. They are beautiful people: gracious, timid, and have huge hearts.

On one rainy Saturday when Conan took Sila somewhere, I had the opportunity to visit the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek), a place where the Khmer Rouge systematically eliminated over a million Cambodians. The fields, ironically, are one of the most beautiful spots in Cambodia that I have seen: massive trees (one which guards used to swing babies against--by their feet--to kill), a beautiful pond, and rolling landscape. What one quickly discovers, however, is that the "rolling landscape" are mass graves. There is an estimated twenty thousand of these. Appropriately, there was a slight drizzle as I visited, and it served as a reminder that beauty sometimes isn't what it appears to be.

There has been a lot of rain recently, which I quite enjoy. It reminds me of Florida, and when there is rain, clouds, winds, it feels as if everything is alive. Moving. Changing. I don't know if it's just because I love the warmth so much and that Cambodia's landscape reminds me a lot of Florida, but I really do love it here. It's so beautiful.

Lastly, we just went on holiday (been spending a lot of time with Brits and Kiwis), and we all decided to head to Siem Reap to visit the ever-famous Angkor Wat and the multiple surrounding temples. So okay folks, here is what I have to say about this area: AMAZING. Honestly. I was blown away with each temple that I visited. I have been a lot of places, but this, by far, blows everything out of the water. It's really hard to describe why it's so awesome, but it is. I've seen Machu Picchu, the Amazon, Patagonia, the Louvre, etc. Angkor Wat is by far the most awesome. So if you're thinking about visiting, you must. Come see us in Phnom Penh, then we'll all travel to Siem Reap to do some more temple watching (as my Brit friend, Charlie, calls it). My pictures really don't serve this place justice, but here goes: