November 1

everybody knows that life can be wonderful
47 reasons to be ecstatic (that i live in cambodia)

1. walking to school on quiet mornings
2. my wonderful, imaginative, good-spirited students
3. how my girls kiss me on a daily basis, and say, "teacher, me you kiss you one more!"
4. moto rides in the city, the wind blowing through my hair
5. mean, michevious monkeys in the park at wat phnom
6. psar toul thom poung (the russian market, packed with cheap clothes, pointless aesthetically-pleasing trinkets, rad art, etc.)
7. my kids dancing to black eyed peas "where is the love", or anytime any music is played
8. sweet chili sauce on everything!
9. fruit stands in the marketplace
10. mango smoothies at morning cafe
11. tom yum gai soup
12. our preferred teuk teuk driver whom we just call "jolly man", yes, he’s jolly
13. 7:00 worship at Rithy's, every night
14. my neighbors from Laos, 6 guys, close to my age (between 17-22), funny, inclusive, ridiculous, here in SE Asia, they’re some of my closest friends (they have all graduated from high school, but are students at CAS, doing a 2 year program, just focusing on learning English, enough to get into the adventist english college in Thailand)
15. the over-chlorinated (or something funky) swimming pool at the plaza hotel
16. elephants! they exist, and are around to see
17. that baguettes are the national bread of cambodia (and those baguette sandwich street venders)
18. rice, rice, rice
19. thai ice coffee (with condensed milk)
20. jump-roping with my kids
21. art class
22. those sneak attack hugs from behind (which I get from every student, all times of the day)
23. eggplant
24. Jars of Clay coffee shop
25. Occheuteal beach
26. cheap massages
27. the dead fish tower at Siem Reap
28. the fact that when I'm alone (without my Caucasian roomates), most locals speak to me in only Khmer; so the fact that I blend in alright, and am not stared at nearly as much as my roommates, or at all (and on a side note, they are not discreet at all and are devoid all tact)
29. Zenya (green tea and pomegranite, pronounced San-ja)
30. scarves, scarves, they're everywhere and cheap and sold in bright colors in beautiful fabric (I can’t help but wear them, even in this weather, yes)
31. pirated dvds (in every marketplace, where I can even find indie movies and tv show seasons for super cheap)
32. saturday night movie nights with my neighbors (Lao guys), they like comedies, action, and their favorite of all, romantic (serious), once they even looked at all of Ben and Kim’s wedding photos and sat around talking about how much they want to get married
33. Benjamin and Kim (some of the hardest-working and compassionate people I’ve ever known, not to mention talented, in seemingly effortless ways, i.e. music, cooking, communication)
34. eating out with Liz
35. Rambutan, asian pears, the good fruit over here
36. my reader/helper (from 8th grade) Rassmey
37. visiting churches in the provinces, that are basically houses on stilts, the church is a room with bamboo mats on the floor (i am still trying to get used to sitting indian style for hours on end without my legs falling asleep)
38. the fact that I almost run into cows on my bike, and I live in the city (why? I don’t care, such situations are so ridiculous, they turn whimsical, magical, odd yet endearing)
39. the gelato stand just outside of lucky market
40. the art gallery upstairs in “The Warehouse” in Siem Reap
41. the over the top (often horribly and wonderful creative) décor of the asian
42. lucky bakery (or any bakery over here)
43. exposing my children/students to (what I feel is) quality, creative music (the pompous pseudo-hipster speaks) with good response (sure 7 year olds would be fine with the radio clichés, but they do and are acknowledging that the good stuff, is, indeed, good)
44. the monumental smile of Ker San Sotha, he smiles with his whole body, (and I’m not just stealing from my favorite quote from High Fidelity), his eyes crinkle, his body bends, the kid dances to his own drum, he might just change the world
45. doing homework with Ly Chard after school, and just the fact, that, I know, the little guy just loves to be with me
46. imagining the possibilities for the lives of my kids
47. attempting to work, and getting free wireless, at tea&coffee cafe, tuol kork