I'm starting to adjust to the time difference. Last night was a struggle as we walked around the mall; I was so tired that all I wanted to do was find a bench or chair to sit on while everyone else shopped. The only thing that I remember happening after my head hit the pillow was waking up at about 5:30 in the morning. A solid eight hours of sleep!
I woke up and did some writing in my journal about the events of the past day. Usually at home, the first thing I do after I wake up is book it toward the kitchen for a nice bowl of cereal. These days, I usually wake up and try to get some things done first, whether its reading a book or writing in my journal. I began one of my workouts, but Tuni came over about five minutes in and the three of us caught up. I soon forgot about my workout and we instead went downstairs to converse with Om Lon and eat our delicious breakfast of mangoes and chicken wings.
I haven't had a very difficult time adjusting to the food. I find it to be much healthier than my diet in the States. Not that I ate unhealthily in the States, but here my diet is void of many processed foods and is instead replaced with more fresh protein, vegetables, and fruits. The mangoes are definitely a favorite of mine, and Om Lon's cooking has yet to disappoint.
Want to know something else I have yet to see? I have yet to see an obese person here in Cambodia. Actually, scratch that. I saw one man in a restaurant we ate in today that was pretty overweight. He wasn't Cambodian, though; he was clearly caucasian, more than likely of the American type. "Of course," I thought to myself. "Of course the one person in Cambodia who is overweight, besides Buddha, is American. Well done, America. Way to hold up the stereotype."
Anyway, back to my day. After breakfast we decided to try out the internet café down our alleyway and around the corner. We were able to get an hour on one of their computers for only fifty cents, and the connection was actually pretty decent. I sat on a small leather stool and watched out the open doors while I patiently waited for Lauren to finish. Traffic zoomed by, and I couldn't help but notice that there was a fair amount of cars on the road. They weren't just cars, though. They were nice cars, vehicle brands that people who are considered to be "well-off" in America would enjoy driving. I couldn't help but wonder to myself how such nice cars came to Cambodia.
We went to Mike's house after our hour was up and met his host family. The dad showed off his gold teeth as he smiled from ear to ear, wearing only a sarong. Mike sat at a large table, eating breakfast despite the fact that we were going to eat lunch in a little over an hour.
After a little navigation from the market, we found our way to the indoor mall to meet Spencer and Ang for a meeting and lunch. We briefly outlined what we would be doing for the next few weeks before we began with RACHA and ate pizza, a welcome change to the Asian cuisine.
Looking at our options of things to do, we weaved our way through traffic on foot to the Olympic Stadium. The inside was enormous as a team of young Cambodians practiced volleyball to the tune of screeching bats in the high rafters above. A soccer game was being played outside, but you had to buy tickets to get in, so we watched for a bit from afar. It was an amazing sight as we watched a Cambodian man, probably about 25-years-old, squeeze through the bars of the gate. We all clapped for him after he got through.
We tackled the Olympic Market. Actually, we barely scratched the surface. There was vendor after vendor carrying the exact same products as the next man or woman, all crammed in a very small and stuffy building. I'm still trying to figure out how they make any money at all. They have to buy their plethora of product from someone, but then they turn around and sell it for dirt cheap. Not only do they sell it for dirt cheap, but they have a ton of competition situated around them in every possible direction. This system of business definitely doesn't work in America, so I’m curious to know how the Cambodians make it work, if they make it work at all.
Once we had seen enough of the market, we headed back to Kaitlin and Spencer's for a Cambodian lesson. We sat around for a while, doing stuff on the internet and watching America's Next Top Model while we waited for Spencer to come back. Finally he did and we were able to tackle the Cambodian number system. Basically if you can count to five, you can count to anything.
Everyone came back to our place afterwards. I was only around for about three minutes before I decided it was time to hit the shower. I hadn't showered since the morning I left for the airport, so I decided now was the time to stop the madness.
Om Lon made us a delicious dinner of leftover fish, beef and pineapple, potato and carrot stew, and mangoes. Oh man, the mangoes. I could probably eat those all day. Spencer told Om that we loved her cooking, and Lauren
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