Arrival- August 19

Arriving into the Cambodian heat felt good. Familiar. Familiar is the general feeling that is at the forefront as I leave the airport and become acustomed to new faces, palms, the orange colour of the dirt, the numerous land cruisers and squatting moto drivers. The soft Khmer language hits my ears. At first it feels a bit distant and then I settle myself back into its familar sounds. My hellos quickly transform into hands in a praying position and a small bow. I do not do it as gracefully as the Cambodians though...there is a softness to how their hands meet in this gesture.
Driving through the bizarre traffic, I become aware that people are driving faster, there are more cars, more traffic. The cloud of exhaust smoke is much thicker. A flashing thought of my lungs inhaling this stuff for the next month makes me enjoy the current car drive. A hummer drives by us. It looks obnoxious set against the rickety store fronts and naked, dirty children.
The familar layer of sweet quickly forms on my forehead. Goldie, the dog, is in the back fully enjoying the wind, tounge hanging out. Dr. Jim is catching me up on what has been going on and introducing me to Pang, as he negotiates the stop and go flow of the traffic. We fall into an easy and light conversation. Welcome back...

I take a nap. I shower. I unpack a little bit. Read a little bit of the Cambodian Daily and guzzle water. We leave for the Australian compound for dinner in the late afternoon and have a lovely dinner with fascinating characters. One woman has worked extensively in the "HIV/AIDS world" of Asia. Another woman works at Hagar shelter (the one where Chan stays). Another man is currently living in Sierre Leone and in Cambodia on vacation to visit friends. He has warm and penetrating eyes and a striking scar on his forehead; I keep biting my tounge so as not to blurt out a question about it. We are all relatively new to one another but fall in and out of numerous fascinating conversations. I find myself at a constant intersection of colliding cultural interrpretations and misinterrpretations in a profound effort to understand and do some small piece of something in needy lands. I am inspired by their courage and fascinated by what drives them to undertake the lives they lead and do the work that they do...

Finally the jet lag over takes me. I am exhausted. Two days of travelling and 23 hours in a plane has left me dehydrated and longing to lie horizontally. I fall into a deep sleep and wake up refreshed, ready to head out into Cambodia...