bus rides, street food, and a thousand paper cranes.

our time in phnom penh came to a close, and with one last scrumptious breakfast at java, a cafe that caters to ex-pats and serves up absolutely delectable food while doubling as an art gallery, we headed off to the bus station to find the chariot that would whisk us away northwest. after fighting the mad dash to get on the bus, we snuggled down for the five or six hour ride.

arriving in battambang, i was struck by the relative clean and quiet of this fast-growing city, compared to the smog-laden haze of phnom penh. the paved main road wound through sleepy neighborhoods, the residents understandably hiding inside from the heat of the day, before depositing us, dusty and travel-worn, at the jesuit center. a seeming oasis of closely-clustered buildings peeking out from behind grand, green trees organized along a central, dirt road - i breathed deeply for what felt to be the first time in a long time.

being sunday afternoon, we had time to wander. meg gave me the grand tour of the various buildings, describing their individual purpose, creating in my mind a complex infrastructure of community services offered to everyone but especially targeted at the marginalized - children victims of polio or land mines, the elderly, and women. i marveled at the scope and breadth of work as well as the pervading sense of calm, peace, community. i can see how people come to visit and end up staying...

and here i am, sitting in the office meg shares with her staff at the women's health program. taking a break from chopping large, shiny sheets of what seems to be wrapping paper into squares small enough for origami folding. tomorrow is international women's day, and there will be a grand event here at the center. an estimated 200 women are converging from surrounding communities and villages to celebrate being a woman, standing for women's rights, and protecting women's health. we will share the task tomorrow of folding the individual birds, and i feel so blessed to be able to throw my wishes in with these wonderful women.

motos, tuk-tuks, and passionfruit rum

i'm in cambodia!

after a long, but relatively uneventful flight, i have safely arrived in phnom penh, cambodia, and into the open arms of my dear friend, meg. since she picked me up, we have been galavanting around the city, although the word galavanting might belie the relatively slow pace at which the excessive heat and humidity force us to move.

the afternoon after i arrived, we unceremoniously dumped my things at our guesthouse before heading off to a japanese salon where meg had made appointments to get our hairs cut. such a surreal experience - sitting in this ultra-polished, quiet salon, faced with my japanese hair dresser and her khmer translator. everything i said, filtered through this girl and then filtered back. the constant hovering presence of the assistants was certainly unnerving, but probably not a better introduction to cambodian customer service. although, meg assures me that invariably, when you actually need someone, there is no one to be found!

newly coiffed, we stepped back into the city streets, grabbed a moto, and headed off to the riverfront and grabbed a couple of fruit shakes. after a dinner of indian food (i'm in cambodia, i know, but meg assures me all i'll be able to eat in battambang is khmer food, so we're expanding out horizons while here), we headed off to the apartment of her friend for a little get together. seeing a bit of meg's life here is such a wonderful gift.

yesterday was more focused on sight-seeing. we started off in the big market, where i bought some wonderful fabric, and then we scooted over to a cafe near the tuol sleng genocide museum where we relaxed under the bougainvillea. after i felt a little less faint from the overwhelming heat, we entered tuol sleng, what used to be a primary school that under the khmer rouge (or democratic kampuchea, as it called itself), was turned into a prison, torture center, and site of execution for political prisoners. of the 20,000 people on record for staying there over the 3 years or so it was in use, only 7 survived. a place of horrific human brutality, definitely worth seeing, but so, so difficult at the same time. the energy itself in that place was so oppressive, so deeply saddening...

we capped the day off with a tour of some of the riverside bars, tasting an insanely delicious passionfruit rum made locally. the the sun tucked away for the day and the cool tendrils of the riverside breeze, it was an absolutely gorgeous way to end the day.