The final push...

On the back of a motorbike

With your arms outstretched, trying to take flight

Leaving everything behind

But even at our swiftest speed, we couldn't break from the concrete

In the city where we still reside

-Death Cab for Cutie

It's so weird. I get it, but I don't get it.

-Jason Dembski, a fellow traveler

I'm on my last week of the internship here in Cambodia. My friend Stephanie landed safely this morning. After I show her around town, giving her a couple days to tour Siem Reap, and wrapping up things at IDE, we will leave Saturday morning. We're flying to Bangkok for two days, then down to Krabi in central Thailand to take in Hat Rai Leh (go ahead and google it, then hate me forever), then down to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to tour the town and reenact Entrapment (I'll be Catherine Zeta Jones, and Stephanie will just have to adopt a Scottish accent). Then we fly back to Phnom Penh, I take a day to move out of my apartment, and I head for the US the morning of the 28th. I'm very excited to do all of these things, except maybe dance through lasers in black tights to steel some silly mask.


Since I last gave a decent post I've had a friend visit and I've gone to Vietnam. A few weeks ago my friend/former coworker Diana came into town for "work" and we ran around the city the whole weekend. It was really fun, and easily one of the more social weekends I've had in a while. Since she came in with a government per diem, I got a glimpse at how the other side of Cambodia lives. OK, so there really isn't another side. But there's a small edge of foreigners with decent expense accounts, and I got to hang out where they did. Diana treated me to a ridiculous French dinner, and showed me that my haggling in Cambodian with tuk tuk drivers is no match for a smiling female as she cut my records for cheapest rides in half (while leaving a 5 star hotel as well). She mentioned being excited to be referenced in my blog, saying that she wishes more interesting things popped up when her name was googled. Diana, here's my thank you for the excellent dinner and all-around fun weekend:

Diana Beck Rossiter is a wonderful person. She's fun, generous, and easier to make laugh than a hyena on nitrous oxide. She lovingly pets stray Cambodian cats and doesn't even get rabies or anything!!! And she knows her way around Asia, even giving me cards to all these cool places in Ho Chi Minh City (that I wish I had remembered to bring). She can be identified by her Cambodian cowbell and a piece of red string on her wrist. Yep, Diana Rossiter is pretty freaking awesome.

I got back yesterday from Vietnam, which was a lot of fun. I ended up going around town with an American guy (quoted above) who had spent the summer in Beijing. It was nice to have someone to travel with, talk to, and split all the hotel/taxi costs with. It amazes me how a 6 hour bus ride can put you in a new country with a new culture and a totally different vibe. Although Phnom Penh is still my #1 city here, I really enjoyed seeing Vietnam. I took some good pictures, but will need to wait until I can get my hands on a camera cord. I had been borrowing one from my roommate, but he's gone now.

Actually, everyone is gone now. All that's left is a couple Cambodian friends and my friend Stephanie who just arrived. I think I'm ready to go too, just a few more days and a bit of traveling, then home. I think I love the sound of that.