My parents visited me last week. They were more enamored with the traffic in cambodia than anything else, especially me. We went to Siem Reap and visited the temples at Angkor Wat. They were cool, beautiful, etc but they were in really bad shape and nobody has any real idea about what the artifacts and carvings mean. Truthfully, I wasn't blown away like expected. Perhaps my expectations were too high, perhaps i needed a tour guide, i'm not sure. But I'm returning this weekend, will be seeing some of the lesser-known temples and hopefully when I again wake up at 4:30am to catch the sunrise over angkor wat i'll actually be able to see the sun.

This was my monday (It should be noted that his day wasnt completely normal, but it wasn't ridiculously atypical either.):

5:30am - wake up (i almost feel cambodian), and throw on my suit. Thankfully I actually brought a suit from the states. It's been sitting in my closet collecting dust since I got here. at least I get to use it.

5:45am - breakfast is on the table, waiting for me. This generally isn't a big deal anymore, but my cleaning and i didn't go through our normal morning routine, which consists of me walking downstairs in my towel, saying hi to her, and dropping off my pile of laundry. It was so early, i just took a shower and got dressed. She must've sensed my presence or something.

6:10am - the taxi, with 3 of my colleagues picks me up. The 4 of us have to get to work early b/c the British Ambassador is coming to the Court to check out my office. I get to show him around. Hence the suit and waking up before sunrise.

7:00am - 4:30pm - work. I show the Ambassador around a bit; he's inaugurating a week-long training session for my office, everyone tries to talk to him. Everytime i walk by any of my friend's they all point, giggle and make a comment about me being all dressed up. i love maturity. I also meet and greet the presenters whil will be lecturing us for the next week.

4:30pm - I convince my boss that I need to escort the presenters to their hotel, which is conveniently the same hotel that our "happy hour" will be taking place. Free drinks from 6 - 8, and I'm get to the hotel bar at 5:15, so for me it's free drinks from 5:15-8. The Elephant bar is probably the nicest bar in phnom penh, and because I can't really afford to go there (drinks are between $4 and $6, and beers cost about $2.50 - cambodia is amazing) I'm taking full advantage of the open bar. This is probably a good time to mention my new fascination with exotic cocktails. They're loaded with booze, are always cheap and are rather refreshing. Because of this, I generally drink a couple everytime I go out and tonight is no exception.

8:00pm - happy hour is over, so i can either stay at the bar and pay for my own drinks or go somewhere else. I plan to head home, meet up with my roomies and since i'm already a little tipsy, keep drinking. As I walk outside the hotel i see that phnom penh is in the midst of a monsoon. No problem, the tuk-tuks have canvas walls to keep the westerners dry. Unfortunately the canvas walls don't keep the driver dry. the 20 minute trip home takes almost an hour b/c half the roads are flooded. The driver is constantly driving up a street, stopping, looking to see if he can navigate the flooding, shaking his head and turning around. He does this literally 10 times. You would think that the tuk-tuk drivers would know either a) which roads flood first and avoid them or b) if all the roads are flooded, stick to the major raods b/c they tend to be more driveable. apparently my tuk-tuk driver never got that memo, b/c he keeps trying to drive on these side streets.

9:00pm - I get home, the water is up to my knees. My security guard, Hoa, opens the gate and I see that he is having a dinner party with his friends. He invites me to join them. I sit down and am immediately poured a glass of "Special Muscle Wine." They have billboards for this stuff everywhere and I've never had it. It's apparently made from rice (but it's not sake) and is chinese but produced in Cambodia. Hoa tells me that I need to be careful drinking it b/c its 30% alcohol. Then the table toasts something and everyone chugs their muscle wine and soda water. Not wanting to be culturally inappropriate, I do the same. As soon as my glass is on the table, its full again and within a few seconds there's another toast and the glasses are emptied. The cycle repeats itself. I'm also being served beef soup, which is very tasty. The only problem is that the meat they're using is stuff like the trachea, intestines, liver and other innards. Organ meats are pretty much the only things I don't eat here (actually the salted, dried eggs taste like leather, literally, and have hard areas that feel like bones. I don't eat them either). While at the table I get invited to bachelor's party and a wedding - of course i'm in. Turns out that they won't be taking place until March - this is the worst part of my day.

10:20 - Ok, now i'm hammered and still haven't really eaten dinner. I thank hoa and his friends and head inside. my aussie roommate is making some egg rolls and offers me one. "Yeah, thanks I say" and head into the kitchen ready to sink my teeth into fried goodness. however in australian "egg roll" means a sandwich with lots of salad ingredients, a ton of mayo and a chopped up hard-boiled egg. This is what i deal with on a constant basis. After that ordeal, I go out to the balconey drink some wine with my roommates until i pass out.