I've Arrived!!

Well, it's official - I have arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia!! Gosh what a crazy journey it has been already... a 14 hour flight from LAX to Hong Kong where I know I ate "western vegetarian" meals, but can't remember what (pretty sure I was half asleep while eating), a short layover where I was tempted to try a Starbucks Caramel Coffee Jelly drink, and then lastly, a 2 hour flight to Phnom Penh filled with more food and of all things, COUNTRY MUSIC (in English)!!!!

It's pretty hard to believe I'm actually here, and I think it hit me for the first time that I'm going to be living in Cambodia for 10 months as I was looking at the aerial view coming into Phnom Penh International Airport. CRAZY!!

My favorite parts of the day, however, came after the flights. The coolest thing ever was the man from the US Embassy waiting at the bottom of the escalators, right after I got off the plane, with a little sign that said "Brianna Hodge"...I wanted to take a picture so badly, but I felt like that was a super dorky thing to do so I had to restrain myself. From that point on, it just got better - the man took my information, cut the lines, and got my Visa in a second! By far the easiest experience I've ever had at an airport - all I had to do was stand back and watch. :)

Then the man drove me to the hotel, and no kidding, I was fearing for my life and the life of everyone around me the entire drive over. There are definitely some lanes and street lights to direct traffic, but let's just say it's a free for all and people just go where they want, when they want. One lady came out of no where on a moto and well, our car either actually hit her or was less than an inch from doing so...ridiculous! Needless to say I was extremely glad to get out of that car!

All in all, the day has been great and I'm so excited to be starting this journey. It's pretty surreal that after a year of dreaming and planning, I'm finally here! It's been a struggle to stay awake so I can adjust to the time, but with the help of a dinner gathering with staff and interns from Transitions Global, the day hasn't been bad at all.

So far, so good - now it's time to try to get some solid sleep....let's hope my gift of sleeping whenever and wherever will do me well tonight and I won't be waking up at 3am!!