Sunday in Phnom Penh

The heat is a bit oppressive today, and as such it is not quite four o'clock and I am dead tired. I just spent some ten minutes lying on my back and staring at the ceiling. I imagine there will be more of that before the end of the day, in fact a nap is looking increasingly likely.

This morning I went for a short tour on the bike -- hello thighs, we haven't spoken in awhile -- around Phnom Penh. I started by heading over to the riverside and biking north along the quai. It's very lovely, with the palm trees, and the sky is clear today, hence the heat. There was a bit of traffic, but nothing you can't deal with if you pay attention.

The city is small; it doesn't take long to bike. I didn't go all the way to the north, just up around street 88, then turned back and zigzagged my way back through the narrow streets to get home. My sense of direction is still as terrible as ever, but maybe it's getting better because I didn't get lost once, there were only a few times when I wasn't sure what street I was on, but that's understandable as there are very few street signs, and only on the main roads.

I really like the city; it's small and I suppose by American standards the streets are pretty narrow. All the signs are in Khmer and English, lest you forget where you are. As I've mentioned, of course, the tuk tuks are everywhere, and in the midday the drivers can often be found in the back taking a nap. Besides the restaurants, there are the nomadic food carts, their owners walking them along and tooting their horns to announce their arrival. Kind of like vendors at a sports game, only without the shouts.

I was only out for a half hour, but it was plenty enough to wear me out. I headed back out again for lunch with some friends around one thirty, to a place nearby called Khmer Surin. It's a guest house as well as a restaurant, and absolutely beautiful. The place seems to explode with plants and greenery. Dark wood and low tables, with red and gold cushions. Though you're inside, and cool in the shade, you feel like you're outside, with the green and the sky opening up above.

I had pad thai, which I know isn't Cambodian, but it was a Khmer and Thai restaurant and it was very good and cheap. I just learned yesterday the word for chili sauce and put it to good use, succeeding in ordering some. I was quite proud of myself...

We stayed a long time. The food was very good and it was so calming. Just next to us was a little pool and a fountain, and what with the green, you could just stay forever.

However, we didn't, and the bike ride home was enough to dispel whatever cool I had managed to gain at the restaurant. I'm now trying to decide what to do with myself for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is the start of everything and I admit to being somewhat apprehensive, but mostly just exciting to kick things off. As many people can attest, I don't do nothing very well.

I'm supposed to meet the dean of the university of fine arts in the morning as well, and I don't know for the life of me exactly what I plan on asking about, but I figure it's someone very good to know and I'm sure I can extemporize. Talking to people has never been a problem...

It looks to be a busy week, and all the better. Vacation -- if you can call it that -- is over, and now back to life. As I noted after graduation, I have nothing else but that for as far as I can see.