Phnom Penh: We Have Arrived

I don't remember when I last brushed my teeth; ah, we have arrived. And another tell-tale-sign? It's 5:43 a.m., and I'm updating my blog.

As we settled into our hotel last night (around midnight--2:00 p.m., EST, I believe), took a shower, and prepared to trick our bodies that it was indeed midnight and not mid-afternoon, I said to myself "What are we doing here?" If you've ever traveled before, then you can perhaps relate to this question.

Traveling is a tricky thing: you dream up an epic place to visit, over pack, travel long distances, pay to enter a third-world country, and then ARRIVE. That last one is the bitch, though. What to do now? Our plan? Figure out the city, find food, find an apartment, find a place to volunteer, the list goes on. But as easy as that all seems, sometimes it's just too much and a traveler finds himself (yes, I wrote in the masculine because it's the easiest) stuck. Sometimes the mundane is challenging because we are so used to being told what to do (go to work, raise your kids, go do errands), so doing nothing is when I think the real challenge and living happens, but it's hard.

Okay, enough of all of that. I know a few of you want the details: 1) Plane ride: LONG (17 hours total in-air time) but Sila was amazing. Really. He cried maybe twice, but the rest of the time he slept and watched Elmo. One benefit of not showing your kid TV on a regular basis? Complete zone-out when you do. 2) Culture shock: not at the moment. I'm staying in a fancy hotel ($27 a night!), typing on my laptop, and planning to go down and eat breakfast in a few. This will all change soon, though, because we only planned on staying here for a few days until our Western edge wears off. 3) Safety: we're safe; see number 2.

Thank you to those who support us and will follow our journey as we figure out our lives and ourselves this next year. I don't have any pictures to post, but I will soon. Much love.