Holidays and Birthdays

So I'll start off by apologizing. I know I am not following the golden rule of blogging: blog often and keep it interesting. My intention from now on is to do this, so there you go.

The last few weeks have been, well, busy. As a recap, this is how the last month went: Conan went on an epic bike trip with a few friends and biked around 80k total (out of PP); the following weekend, I went to Kep/Rabbit Island with some friends; the weekend after that, the whole family went to Otres Beach; and the week/weekend we returned was Conan's birthday week. What a busy life we have doing all sorts of fun things!

Conan's Bike Trip
I'll let Conan fill you in on this. He is waiting to send article queries out about this awesomeness, so he hasn't blogged about it yet in case someone is interested. In short, he and two friends biked around 80k out of PP and saw the countryside through a much slower pace.


Kep/Rabbit Island
I got to escape for a few days and visit Kep (famous for the crabs and Kampot pepper--a very unique type of pepper found nowhere else in the world. Check it out: http://www.kampotpepper.biz/) and Rabbit Island, which is a small island just off the coast of Cambodia.

My summary of this trip: best time of my life. Really. Why? Well, it was just one of those things where the stars align: good people, beach, skinny dipping, marine phosphorescence, no responsibilities. You get the idea.

I can't divulge all the details of my experience, but I will provide you with a few pictures, and you can paint your own impression.

 

Otres Beach
So one week after my beach weekend, I got to go back to the beach for a family vacation! We had a few days off for the Water Festival (marking the end of rainy season and celebrating the switching of the river flow--the only river that does such a thing), so we all head to Otres Beach with a few more of our friends.

Our days consisted of no shoes, swimming, eating, and anything else delicious and beach-like you can imagine. We had a great time and are quickly falling in love with all that Cambodia has to offer.

Conan's Birthday
Our weekend in Otres Beach kicked off Conan's birthday week. In case you didn't know, Conan and I have this tradition in our family that birthdays become more than just one day. We get weeks, or in my case, months, dedicated toward our birthday.

So after Otres (part 1 of birthday week), it was time for his actual birthday (part 2 of 3). Since funds and space are limited in PP, the gifts were quite simple, but as the pictures show, you can see that one of the most exciting gifts was a case of Sierra Nevada beer.

Part 3 of birthday week was a two hour boat ride along the Tonle Sap river with friends. We had a great time, and this gathering was in celebration for Conan's birthday. It also marked an ending of our group experience here in PP. Since this coming week is our last week at Conversations with Foreigners, many of our friends will either be going home or continuing their travels. We had such a wonderful time with so many great people, and we will always remember our time here with everyone.

One-a-day, A Praying Mantis, Two-day Raw Cleanse, and Pink Eye Funk

I know some of you would like me to update my blog more frequently, but I'm not sure what I would write: went to school today, had slight diarrhea, Sila was a pain....you get the point! Anyway, I try to make my posts informative and entertaining, so we'll see how I do here.

I read about this idea of doing something simple for thirty days. I really like this idea because I do so many things that are not productive (Facebook, drink, eat shitty foods, etc.) every day, so why is it so difficult to do something productive and creative? So I decided to take a picture a day. One simple picture. Of course, I end up taking more than one picture (which is the point), and at the end of the month, I should have a cool log of my past thirty days. Here is day one, a self portrait:

One of the coolest things happened to me the other day: a praying mantis came to visit our front balcony. I haven't seen one of these for over 20 years, and I live in the city! Weird. Of course, being the inquisitive person I am, I had to look up what a praying mantis represents (in a spiritual, sending-a-message type of way).

Here is what I found out: seeing a praying mantis is a sign that one has created too much confusion, work, chaos in one's life, and one should slow down, meditate more, and seek the calm within. Hmm. I thought this is what I've been doing, but apparently the Universe thinks differently. Blogging, reading, yoga-ing...what more can I do? Now that I write this, maybe Ms. PM wants me to stop worrying, especially about money. It's just money. It comes and goes, and rarely anyone on his/her deathbed says, "Gee, I wish I had more money."

Anyone who knows me, knows I like to eat healthy (or is it healthily? too lazy to look it up). So I had the opportunity to do a two-day raw cleanse, and it was amazing! There are some really great restaurants here, and the one that put on the cleanse was ARTillery Cafe (http://www.yourphnompenh.com/artillery/). Who would have thought that in Cambodia, one could partake in a raw cleanse?

 

The last thing that is going around is pink eye. Sila had it, but I wasn't sure it was pink eye until Conan woke up one morning with it, and now I am waiting for the funk to take over my face. I'm trying very hard not to get it, but I probably will. If I do, I would like it to happen now because I am heading to Kep (beach town) this weekend for a little rest and relaxation (from my hard life here in PP??). I'll keep you updated, but in case you're wondering what it looks like, I snapped a picture of Conan's eye for your viewing pleasure.