Meat, Yoga, Service, New Apartment

It's crazy to think that I've now been here over a month. So much has happened, so many emotions have been felt, and so many challenges have been faced. It's incredible how fast a month can go by, and even though it's really not that long to be in another country, I feel so comfortable here, like I've been here so much longer than a month. This past week was great and was filled with lots of adventures and many good laughs. Here's a little "taste"......

Meat
I have now officially eaten meat for the FIRST time in over 2 1/2 years!!!! Not quite sure what brought it on, but the house mom's who work at the shelter cooked everyone food and I just couldn't resist or say no. Plus, the fact that it was a fried ball filled with tons of mashed potatoes (one of my favorite things in the world) that I could eat with ketchup...well, let's just say, made it the perfect combination for my first experience with meat again. I could hardly taste the bits of pork, and it reminded me so much of my family's famous tater tot casserole that we always eat with ketchup...YUUMMMMMM!! It was such a lovely experience and I quite enjoyed it, but don't get too excited....the door to eating meat didn't swing wide open, I've just opened it a crack so I can see a little beam of light :) Since then I have had a couple pork dumplings which had mostly veggies in it, and a very small piece of shepherds pie which had tiny pieces of chicken in it. That's it though, and there are ABSOLUTELY NO plans to eat a big chunk of steak or other meat like I see at the market.

Yoga
Went to yoga this past week for the first time with a few friends. I've gone to a couple classes back in the States and have always loved it and felt extremely relaxed after, so I figured it might be a good self-care tool for me. Did a few poses I've never done before, and focused a lot on balance and back stretching which was exactly what I needed. Was sooo relaxing and I actually felt sore the next day which always makes me feel good and as though I had a great workout. It's decided - I'm going to allow myself the pleasure of doing yoga a few times a week and see if it helps me relieve stress and stay relaxed!

Service
This past Friday and Saturday I got to hang out with middle school and high school children to prepare
and go to a day of service in the slums. A group of about 40 youth from the church got together and acted out the creation story for the young Cambodia children living in the slums. It was by far one of the cutest things I've ever seen and it was so much fun. Before the skit, everyone was just running around, teaching the kids how to have a human wheel barrel race, play "Mr. Fox, what time is it?", and just run around and have fun.  The Cambodian children got an absolute kick out of getting a piggy-back ride and trying to attack the other kids. I never would have guessed I'd get so tired from running around and carrying a young girl who ways maybe 20lbs (if that). Uh oh..does that mean I'm getting old?!! Anyways, the service day was tons of fun, and the kids are so stinking cute. I completely understand why Angelina came home with a Cambodian baby ;)

New Apartment
After a long day of playing games and giving piggy-back rides to adorable children, I went back to Central Phnom Penh and signed the lease to my NEW APARTMENT!!! Living in a hotel for a month was plenty, and while it was nice having my room and laundry cleaned for me every day, I've been dying to get out and feel like I actually live here and am not just on vacation. Now, I am the proud renter (with another Fulbright Scholar) of a fully furnished 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. It's still very close to where I was living before, has a rooftop terrace with an amazing view of the river and the rest of the city, and is close to basically everything I could possibly need or want. I spent my first night in the apartment last night and it was excellent. A lot of sunlight comes in through the windows which is a HUGE step up from the dark dungeon I was living in at the hotel, and my favorite part is that we have a lovely rooster as a neighbor who feels the need to let us know the sun is rising at 6am. Oh, and after the first wake up call, he wants to make sure we know, so he consistently reminds us every 5 minutes. If that's not enough notification that it's time to get the heck out of bed, we then get to hear the screaming and laughing of the kids who have arrived for school (which is the first two floors of the apartment building). The good thing I guess is that I will never have to worry about over-sleeping! The bad thing, however, kids go to school on Saturday.......this should be interesting.