Penny and Fred

Here’s the post you’ve all been waiting for…

Hi All,

We are very sorry that we have not written for so long, but you know how life goes…  I wish we could say that we have been up to a heap of exciting things and seeing the country, but sadly, due to how busy I have been with work, we have not been lucky enough to get out of the city since our trip to Kep.

I have alot to update everyone one so here goes, I’ve gone for dot points as it may be easier for everyone to follow, in no specific order:

• Since Kep work has been full steam ahead.  From one day to the next we are never quite sure how long I am going to be in a job.  Damn, those greedy Yanks and their involvement in the stock market.  It’s meant that humanitarian dollars all over the world have dried up and we, like many other NGOs in Cambodia are feeling the financial pinch.
• Kylie (my flat mate from University) and her boyfriend Graham came to visit.  Although, only a short trip to the capital, we managed to cram in a heap of site seeing and most importantly eating…
• We ate frog for the first time and then the second and the third.  Needless to say, we thinks it’s YUMMY!!
• Took a trip out to the province for Pchum Ben (festival of the spirits - at least that is the best way I can explain it).  It’s a very low key affair where Buddhist’s go to temple to make offerings to the monks who will bless them and pray for the spirits of their family members.  Cambodian’s believe that everyone has 7 spirits and not all of them move from this earth when they die, with some remaining earth bound for a variety of reasons.  I think praying for them helps them to reconcile what ever keeps them here and helps them to move on.  No doubt it’s alot more complicated than that, but that’s all I could get in the translation of the event.
• Continued to drive the Land Crusier around town and country, with mixed results.  I have not had an accident yet, but yesterday I thought I was going to die when a truck was coming right at me on my side of the road and had no intention of getting out of my way for anything.  Needless to say that after a 4 hour round trip I was exhausted…
• Visited the family of one of my colleagues, south of Phnom Penh in Takeo province, a really beautiful part of the country, but marred with sadness.  We traveled along a 2km stretch of dirt road and both sides of the road were dotted with elderly people and young children begging for food and money.  In all the things I have seen in the past 5 months, this was the thing that broke my heart the most…  It felt like it was from a scene in a movie, when a war is over and people are starving, with their hands held out in absolute desperation for survival.
• Saw a mashed rat on our street and I swear it was as long as my forearm, hand included - it has been turned into flat Stanley - not a pretty site, but was obviously a nice meal for one of the local dogs, as its remains didn’t stay around for too long.  Unfortunately, Fred missed out on seeing it…  I’m sure this will turn into his greatest regret about Cambodia, having not seen the squashed rat.
• We celebrated Fred’s 31st Birthday…  Not to anyone’s surprise we went out for Japanese, tasty, but expensive and sadly not up to par with our favourite Mutsie’s in Northcote.  Looking forward to a visit when we come home for Xmas…
• We celebrated my 31st Birthday…  And again we went for Japanese… What can we say… We’re so predictable some times.
• We moved house… We now live 2 streets from the office, just far enough for me to get away from work, but close enough for me to be able to conveniently walk to work each day.  Our new place is great and the spare room has fresh sheets on the bed for anyone wanting a tropical south east Asian get away…  Anyone? Anyone?

I think that’s about it…  I’m sure we have done a million other little things over the past months, like talk with our local restaurant waiters, great for practicing our Khmer language skills and very entertaining from both sides.  They love us so much now, that every time we go there we get a free mug of beer.  No complaints from us…

Hmmm, maybe I’m forgetting something… What is it?  I remember…

WE’RE ENGAGED!!!

Looking forward to ready your replies from the post and keep the “about times” to a minimum please people.

There are photos to come, but because I am technologically challenged, you will all have to wait for Fred to get his act together to post them.

Over and out until next time (hopefully in less than 2 months time)

Love to you all. xxoo

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