Out of the Office

A relative just sent me an e-mail commenting on how far behind I am on my posts. This was nice to receive - someone out there cares!

I sort of have a good excuse for this - I was out of town for about a month, mostly because I was on vacation with M in a couple of other Southeast Asian countries. Over the course of 24 days, we traveled from Bangkok to Saigon. Our route took us through eastern Thailand, Cambodia, and some of southern Vietnam.

Highlights included:
*Taking in the sights of Bangkok while zipping along on a Chao Phraya River Express boat
*Revisiting Wat Pho and getting an intense Thai massage
*Accidentally eating a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
*Reuniting with my friend Pen and meeting her fiancée, who I met while working with Volunthai in 2006 (http://www.volunthai.com/ - a very cool NGO which provides assistance to schools in northeastern Thailand)
*Getting creeped out by a large bucket full of swimming eels that seemed to have no eyes
*Nearly running over a large lizard while exploring the beach-filled island of Koh Samet
*Navigating out of an intimidating town at the Cambodian border
*Delicious chicken curry at our guesthouse in Siem Reap
*The magnificent temples of Angkor Wat (of course!)
*Visiting the Tuol Slueng museum in Phnom Penh (definitely more of a low light)
*The sights on the Mekong River as we crossed into Vietnam
*Riding a boat named "The Super Dong" to Phu Quoc island
*Consuming pho (beef noodle soup), french bread and creamy cheese, brewed coffee, and strawberry shakes in Saigon

Unfortunately my digital camera was stolen the last time I was in Manila, so there aren't any pictures from our long trip. Sheesh, what a bummer.

At the moment, I'm back here in Bicol. Classes start again on June 10th, so I've just been getting organized for the upcoming school year, running errands and hanging out with my host family. My best friend on our compound moved away to Manila while I was on vacation. She went to go look for a job, and she won't be back until August when we'll have fiesta. I miss her a lot but we've been keeping in touch via text and the other ladies on the compound are an excellent source of company and entertainment. I can't complain too much. Life is good!