Have a dance or two

The band was hot, and the ceiling fans churning desperately couldn't cool down the FCC Cambodia, a hotel/restaurant/bar/hang out on the Riverside, with a rooftop terrace -- only that it has a roof -- sprawling across the whole floor. Tiled floors and big tables with iron legs, iron chairs with leather cushions, and -- so I've heard -- a hopping happy hour.

A small stage for the band, this Saturday a Cuban band, blasting out all the hits in salsa form. They started playing at nine (they were supposed to start at eight thirty, but Cambodian + Cuban time equals delays). At the start, it was just a few dancers, the good salsa dancers per se, but soon enough the beats affected everyone -- including yours truly, and the dance floor packed up. The two female singers led the charge in the front, showing the steps. A few couples still bravely danced in the middle of the throng.

The bar sells cocktails in jugs, and where three of us began, soon became six, soon became nine, more and more chairs added to the table. There was a mix of expat and Cambodian people there I'd say, all just loving the band, dancing or watching the dancing, a lot of alive people with shining eyes.

Now that, I think, is a bit more my speed!

A side note about the various people I'm meeting -- there seem to be two types of expats, and I wonder which one I'll ultimately be, if either. Many, many people are passing through -- six weeks, three months, six months maximum. An internship here, volunteer work there. They are in Cambodia on a larger tour of Southeast Asia, or because there was an opportunity, or who knows. Some, I've heard, are just here because they can't make it anywhere else.

Then there are all the people who just stay. Who maybe came for an internship and never left, who are just here until they leave, like me. Who, for whatever reason, have just decided to settle their roots here, and will be for the foreseeable future. Until they happen to leave.

I have been here two weeks now, and have gotten up to all sorts of stuff since arriving. As I have a tendency to do, I have forgotten what it was like to live anywhere but here, and seeing as I'm not going anywhere for awhile, I'm doing what I can to make it as productive and epic as possible.

If the past two weeks are any indication, it shouldn't be too much of a problem...