Same same but different

Wow...so...back in Cambodia!! I got a little teary eyed as the plane was coming in for a landing at the Siem Reap Airport. The sight of the houses on stilts over the vibrant green rainy-season rice fields sort of got me all choked up. But I was like, okay Stephaney, keep it together.

When the plane landed, I gathered my bag, moved really quickly through immigration and waited outside for my Dutch friend Anne Marie to pick me up. Instead I was greeted by Anne Marie, my Aussie friend Tania, her husband Rem, and a group of my Green Gecko students holding signs that said "Welcome Pani Love" and "We Love Pani" !! So of course I completely lost it and cried and I'm so glad no one got it on camera because I was a blubbering mess!! They were the 15 or so kids that I knew best, and I was totally floored by how much they'd grown. After many hugs and kisses and "Oh my gods", we loaded into the flatbed and headed into town. It being rainy season, a massive downpour caught up to us and we got soaked to the bone. It was the absolute perfect way to arrive in Cambodia!!

I swear it's like I never left. There is a huge new glass and steel bank building, which didn't shock me as much as I thought it would (Cambodia maybe needs some permanence). Honestly, the most shockingthing is that THERE ARE NO BEGGARS on the streets. It's SO weird. And it's not as good as it sounds. A couple of years ago the king was coming to town (or maybe some other member of the royal family) so the police did the usual roundup of street folk and carted them out of town. You know, for propriety. But then they also made begging illegal, so most of the street folk just found another town or returned to their villages. Except for the Gecko kids,which have opportunity here, ie school, home, food.

So, like they say in these parts, Siem Reap is "same same, but different."

I'm staying with my friend Ann near to town in a nice little house, with my own bedroom...



Ann has the two sweetest cutest kitties ever. Here they're drinking out of the pour shower pot. I love the pour shower and if it was warm enough in the States, I'd have one. It's like bathing under a waterfall.
So I've just been tooling around, enjoying being back and not working, planning my trip to Laos, reconnecting with old friends, etc.

Okay, mossies are eating my feet, must go, more news later

Pani