Paradise and Cambodia!

The Dancers

Timmy dancing

little mermaid!

my view :]

hellooooo, islands!

lunch on Koh Tan

water break in Myanmar

Sorry, I know blogs are a long time coming, and i'll try hard not to overlook anything-

Finals week! It was CRAZY! I had been studying in between dinners and plans and group activities, etc., but there was always more! I had a Thai test Monday, a test on Southeast Asian Economic Development Wednesday, an essay test Thursday, and a paper due by 5pm on Friday.  I got it all done though, mostly well researched! I flopped a bit on my paper, because by the time I got to working on it each night I was so done with academia that I couldn't form a cohesive paper.  Bad idea.  Anyways, in between were a last trip to the Sunday Walking Street, the Dance class' performance, more studying, and a last-night-in-Chiang-Mai fling Friday night, staying up all night until our 645 train, at which point I passed out the minute I could! 
   That was Saturday the 16th, and we were on the train ALL day :[ .  We slept, ate snacks, chatted, and slept some more until arriving in Bangkok around 11:3o pm.  We had an early bus to catch, so we headed to Khosarn Road, a huge farang [foreigner] destination, so there were guaranteed cheap hostels, and Gina had stayed at one the weekend before when they went on an adventure.  We got our rooms and dinner, and then showered and went to bed around one.  The next morning we had to scramble, because the bus we planned on catching we found out was half an hour earlier than we were told, and it was the only bus because it was a Sunday.  Thank goodness Tim missed our train and took a bus down, because he got there before us and got us to the right bus station and held the bus for us.  It was a miracle!  The bus ride was pretty long too, but not as bad, and much more comfortable.  Plus we had frequent stops so we could stretch our legs.  We got in at 7 and hopped the ferry [which was included in our bus tickets], and I laid on a bench and star-watched the two hours it took to get there-very relaxing and quite fun!  When we got there we took a taxi that didn't quite know where it was going, but luckily we spotted a sign and were able to get there before getting totally lost!  When we arrived they had to figure out where we were staying [we were staying there thanks to a friend, so we didn't follow normal check-in procedure], and then dumped our stuff and jumped in the ocean!  I had a nice sandwich after I called home to share the sound of the waves, and then after hanging out and more swimming we called it a night.  I couldn't find much room on the bed [there were 5 of us on a double and twin bed], so i slept on the floor for a bit before crashing on a lounge chair under a palm tree on the beach.  The sound of the waves was perfect, and just what i needed to lull me to sleep.  I woke up once to the lady from the cabin next to ours [which was ON the beach] sitting in the chair next to mine, and a second time to see a water buffalo begin led to down the beach.  Good ol' Thailand!    That day, Monday, we just relaxed by the beach all day.  We had gone to breakfast down the beach at a nice little nook called the MaeNam Cheer [Maenam was the beach we were by], and I had a yummy pancake that had bananas and pineapple in it, and it tasted a bit cornbread-y, but it was delicious!!  I made a PB&J for lunch, and then napped for a while before going back out on the beach, to sit int eh sun with a piano colada and my book [Harry Potter], my idea of fun while others were in town sightseeing.  Tuesday we headed up to see a waterfall, which was really fun! We r rode all over trying to find the waterfall.  When we got there, it was QUITE a hike to the swimming area, and there was sweat galore!  When we finally got there though, it was so worth it!!!  The water was cool and perfect!  We just sat and soaked in the greatness, before taking "Little Mermaid" pictures and heading back to return the trucks. Four of our group had rented motorbikes, so our group was quite a scene!  When we got back, Burgundy and i headed into town and got pizza at a bar with wi-fi so we could connect with our friends and families back home.  We were supposed to have a BBQ on the beach later, but that didn't pan out, unfortunately.  Some friends took us to a Reggae cub they knew, which felt like a shrine to Bob Marley, and we hung out drinking and dancing.  After my "No Woman No Cry" drink and a round or seven of dancing we decided to leave, but rather than go somewhere else I went back and to bed early because I was exhausted from our day in the sun, and we had a big day planned for Wednesday! 
     Wednesday - thanks to the bartender at the beach bar, we were hooked up with a day boat, two all to ourselves for the day, to go where we wanted.  We headed out to the reef to snorkel, our main plan of action.  The reef wasn't as great as we thought, but the fish were pretty cool and snorkeling is snorkeling, so for $8 it was pretty legit.  After, we headed to a gorgeous beach to nap, tan, swim, and relax.  I napped under the boat cover [too much sunburn!], and hung out with some friends.  After that was lunch at Koh Tan, which was great.  While we were waiting we saw a man walking his monkeys. Yes, monkeys.  After it was time to return the boats [it was just about 4], and then we headed back.  Dinner was just whatever [peanut butter sandwich again], and later the bartender's friends had their birthday bash on the beach, with free barbecue ribs that were AMAZING, with bbq chicken wings and potato salad.  Later there were fire dancers, which gave it a bit of a Hawaiian luau feel.  The dancers were really good, and the fire flinger was amazing! He could twirl the fire around like it was nothing, and would come talk to us to show off, then went down to the beach to fling embers in a peacock-esque display.  As it was our last night, the party went on for a while, and since Tim and Skylar weren't coming back, and I would only have a week, there were a lot of held back tears and memories. 
        Thursday we got up early to see off the part of the group switching islands, and then everyone else went to our farewell breakfast at Maenam Cheer.  After that was packing, and then teary goodbyes when it came time to go to the bus station.  As was becoming a bad habit, we were again late to the bus, and had to tell the song-tao driver, who wanted to drop off his friend at the massage parlor, that we had to be there now, which he attempted to do by barreling along the road at breakneck speeds, including such feats as driving in between the lanes uphill on a curve in between two cars.  We almost wet ourselves!!  Well we made it, luckily, and commenced on our 14 hour bus & ferry ride to Bangkok.  Skylar and Tim sat across from me and some random guy who ended up being really nice, but who snored so loudly that I didn't end up sleeping at all.  Needless to say I was super cranky and hungry when we got into Bangkok, because my cup o' noodles didn't fill me up at all.  We got in, stayed at the same hostel, and then after much deliberation Timmy and I got some McD's for dinner…which we realized after we had ordered that we weren't even hungry for anymore.  Fail.  Well it was good anyways, and after that we hung out a bit before passing out around 6am.  After the past week, my body hated me so much from my crazy sleep habits that sleeping until 2 the next afternoon was quite justified!  We had a nice late lunch [I had breakfast], and then walked up and down exploring.  We took a break for massages [they were amazing!] and Timmy got a haircut!  The masseuse was really skilled, and was working so hard that I ended up cracking her wrist and fingers just as much as she cracked mine!  For dinner we found a vegan restaurant with wi-fi and we hung out there for a while before going back to hang out in the room.  After a while we decided to go out and found a fun bar to hang out at and dance, but didn't stay super long.  Then, as we were walking back down the street we saw a group of kids breakdancing, including an adorable kid about ten.  They could do some really cool stunts, so we watched them for a while before heading to bed.  The next day we had to check out by a certain time, so we waited for the bus we had booked the day before to the airport, and it was a few minutes late [which had made us nervous, especially when they didn't answer their phone], but we made it to the airport quite early.  That would have been great, except that we had to wait for Adam with our tickets, so by the time we got in the super long lines and waited for a while, check in for our flight was almost over.  We then had to struggle with weight issues, because Air Asia is an economic line that only allows one carry on and one checked bag of 25kilos max.  This was such a problem because we were living in Asia for 4 months, so obviously we had a lot of luggage.  I barely made it, by taking some things out and stuffing the crap out of my backpack [which also had a weight limit, but luckily they didn't check!], but Tim and Skylar weren't as lucky and ended up with massive fees for their bags.  There was no way around it-for 3 extra kilos I would have had to pay almost $1oo.  Thank goodness the lady was understanding!  Then we had to RUN through the airport trying to find our terminal, get through passport control, and then run onto our plane.  After all that work the flight was just under an hour long, and before we had even gotten to put our music on we were there, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  We were met by Peter, the Vice President of the University of Cambodia, and ushered through the airport ahead of all the lines by an immigrations officer, who was also a student at UC.  Since we were last to check our luggage, it came out quickly, and before others had even gotten there we were off again, headed to the cars, by which the Southeast Asia TV network, part of UC and also a national news channel, was waiting to interview us!  So my first night in Cambodia I was on national TV in leggings, a panda shirt, and my headband across my forehead like a ninja, because I wasn't expecting to be on TV…I'm attempting to procure a copy for your enjoyment.  Because I was the closest, I was the only one to speak, so all of Cambodia knows that Anna K. Limbrick from Illinois was here to study, and to watch out for the crazy girl.  Then they took us in a nice escort to our hotel, which is really nice and in a great area!  The Golden Mekong is right behind the palace, and there are plenty of shops and restaurants, etc.  It's also a very safe location and near many things, especially the school.  We had an hour to shower and change, then met up to go out to a welcome dinner at a restaurant called the Bodhi Tree with Adam, our professor Kyle Latinis, and two representatives of the Seam Reap NGO Pepy, Maryann and Natasha.  Kyle ordered a vast amount of everything from bruschetta with salmon to soups to kebabs, and everything in between, much of it Khmer, but not all. We were so stuffed full of good food and wine, and then dessert  came!  Most people had brownie sundaes, but I got a delicious crepe with some filling that I'm not quite sure of its name, but it was good!  Then Adam took us out for a drink and we chatted before bedtime.  I was upstairs while there was someone else from Payap in my room, and it was kind of nice to have my own area, let alone room!  The upstairs room was bigger than my permanent room, but my permanent room is equally as comfortable.
    The next day, Sunday, we went to The Shop, a café around the corner, for breakfast before meeting the group for a quick tour of the city.  The tour included going to the school, seeing a great little Chinese noodle shop, and getting our own bicycles [and helmets!].  I'm a little nervous about biking around the city, because traffic is crazy, but I have to get around somehow!  My will is going to be published soon just in case, and if you've read this blog, I probably love you.  Just remember that!  Meanwhile, we had another dinner at a Khmer BBQ restaurant, and foodstuffs include such gems as beef in famous Cambodian pepper with limes, and squid, along with many other delicious dishes.  We walked back to aid digestion, and then turned in to relax in our own ways.  Tim and I had developed a ritual that will probably last us the entire break of going outside for his smoke break.  We were standing by the curb, and like the night before despite our naysaying, the security guard who sits across the street brought his chair and the second one next to his across the street for us, got another, and resumed his position across the street.  We're planning on becoming best friends with this guy!  We just sit and talk, and its great alone time together [if that makes sense, with 3 of us we never get time just us two].  There has been an addition to the tradition, but more about that later!