Settling into Life in Cambodia

Six short weeks ago I arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It continues to amaze me every day that I'm actually living and working here, and that as much time has already gone by. There are no words to explain what my life is like, or how much I am enjoying being here, but again, here is my attempt at shedding some light on my experiences.

Hypochondriac or what?!
So I have to admit that ever since I've arrived in Cambodia, I'm pretty sure I've turned into a hypochondriac. Now, let's be real people, I know I'm not, BUT, please explain to me why I've been to the doctor 3 times in less than 2 weeks. First time (maybe about 2 weeks into my time here) I went because I had about 20 some bites on my legs that proceeded to get EXTREMELY irritated, red, swollen, and then the best part, blistered. Gross, right?! You don't have to tell me - I was the one who had to live with it. Anyways, you could be pretty confident that they were mosquito bites, but I was convinced that there might be something wrong because I had NEVER seen a reaction like that to a bug bite...well at least not on me. Literally, my legs felt like they were on fire! And yes, I did take some pictures, but I'm going to spare you all. Anyways, I decided that I just HAD to go to the doctor to make sure I didn't have some crazy disease or something.

Then, a couple days later I noticed my throat was a bit sore (which went away after an hour or so) and that my right gland was really swollen. That's happened to me a million times, but because I had no other symptoms of a cold, sickness, or anything, I decided that again, something might be seriously wrong. So literally 3 days later, I went to the doctor again. Turns out I had a white spot on my tonsil, but that's about it. Hasn't been an issue since.

A few more days go by, and then all of a sudden one night I got this horrific pain in my lower right abdomen. It was really painful, so I went to bed and hoped it would be gone in the morning. Woke up, it was still there - same place, same intensity, etc. So, I proceeded to look online, and everything I read said "go to the doctor". Therefore, again, I went to the doctor - poor people in that office were definitely thinking "what is wrong with this girl?!"No joke, I was thinking I had appendicitis and was just imagining having to be airlifted to Bangkok for surgery and just the total mess that would've been. Anyways, the doctor did a sonogram of my entire abdomen to check I didn't have kidney stones, infections, blah blah blah. Everything of course, was perfectly fine and there seemed to be no explanation of what was wrong with me. Well, that left only one thing that could have been affecting it, and well, I will spare you the details.....

All in all, being in Cambodia is making me crazy. I have a quick pain or funky situation anywhere in my body and I think I'm diseased or something. Pretty ridiculous, but entertaining. Let's hope the doctor doesn't have to see me for a looong time!



Mad Moto Riding Skills
I noticed something the other day that got me so excited. I was riding on the back of my "Moto Man's" moto and realized I wasn't holding on for deal life. In fact, I wasn't holding on at all! My hands were nice and relaxed, just hanging out on my thighs. For some reason, I felt so cool and like a true Cambodian just casually sitting on something that was swerving in and out of cars, motos, tuk tuks, and bikes. To top it off, today I go on the moto and was actually holding and drinking my coffee as I was being taken to work. That was the ultimate moment of coolness for sure. The one part that makes me stand out from most Cambodians, however, is that fact that I wear a helmet. After 4 weeks of using a moto without one (oops), I finally got one and now I'm sporting a sick helmet that makes me feel so trendy. Jealous, right?


Hybrid Accent
Interestingly enough, as more time goes by, more and more people tell me they're surprised I'm from the States. After hearing me talk for a bit before I mention I'm from the States, people seem to be a little confused and think I'm either from Canada, or somewhere else. They're never too sure, but they are sure that I don't sound like an American. The part that tells me my accent must be mixed up is when multiple AMERICANS tell me they didn't think I was American either. Apparently I have developed a strange hybrid of accents, and don't really sound American anymore. I think it's pretty funny, but I have definitely noticed that I have slight different inflections, and sometimes say words or phrases that aren't typical of an American. I blame all the people I hang out with! All of the people I hang out with speak anything BUT American English, so I'm constantly hearing an Australian, British, or New Zealand accent, which apparently is starting to rub off on me and creating a very strange hybrid of an accent.

I'm sorry fellow Americans, it's definitely not intentional! I've seen it happen to other Americans as well. Two Americans I can think of who I know here have lived in Cambodia for a few years, and no joke, will sound British in one sentence, American in another, Canadian in the next, and then Australian after that. It's a strange concept, but it makes sense when you think about it I suppose. I mean, how and why do any of us have accents? It's because we pick it up from the people around us. I'm just not quite sure this is already happening to me after less than 2 months haha. Maybe I'm secretly wishing I had another accent, so my brain has decided it's going to slowly make me speak with a different accent.  Who knows. I swear I still love the USA. Although you have to forgive me because I was an Aussie for a day this past weekend when watching the Rugby World Cup. Sorry Wallabees...looks like I didn't bring you the luck you needed. ;)