Weekly update...

I woke up this morning and realized that we had not posted in quite sometime, and so I made “posting” my big goal for the day.

It is Sunday morning here, and I am currently sitting at coffee shop called Java, (we typically end up here at least once a day, or every other day, as they have good coffee and cheap internet) which is across from one of the few parks in Phnom Penh. Well, the term “park” is generous. Actually, it’s just a strip of grass in the middle of the city, but on a cool evening it has the tendency to feel “park-y.” It’s about one kilometer a round, and in the morning, if you’re in the mood for a jog, this is the place to go. Typically you’ll find walkers, runners, and a group of women doing some sort of yoga thing with a sword—I haven’t figured out exactly what they’re doing yet. Anyway, I am across from this park, sitting at Java, writing a post.

The last week has been hectic and relaxing; hectic because, Monday through Wednesday we were commuting back and forth from the city to our university about twenty kilometers outside the city. NPIC (The National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia) is surrounded by rice patties and cows, no seriously, rice patties and cows as far as the eye can see. As our Korean representative said (it is a South Korean school), “It is the good country life!”

Anyway, on Monday NPIC sent a large moving truck to meet us in the city, so we spent the majority of our day arranging our new accommodations. Andrea and I were given two rooms on campus, one of which we converted into our kitchen/dinning room, and the other into our bedroom. We have a ways yet to go, but our new home is slowly coming together.

After our moving day, we trudged the twenty kilometers (I say trudged because without transportation it’s rather difficult getting there) back to NPIC to meet His Excellency, the Cambodian University President. However, plans were botched, and even though we ended up at NPIC we didn’t get to meet the His Excellency. So, we did some more arranging, a little cleaning, and headed back to the city for the night. Yet, late Tuesday night we received a phone call from the Korean University President (yes, I know, it’s extremely confusing) that we needed to head back out at the school at seven a.m. to try and squeeze in another meeting with His Excellency. We really weren’t happy, and let me tell you why: it had been raining all night and day. By this I mean we were in the middle of a Southeast Asian monsoon! So, we knew it would be a difficult journey. Yet, come the morn we put on our smiley faces, braced for the rain, and headed out. We grabbed a tuk-tuk to the NPIC shuttle pick up (about a fifteen minute ride) only to find out that the Korean President, though he demanded our presence, forget to tell the shuttle to pick us up. So there we were soaking wet, with no way to get to NPIC.

Now, in Phnom Penh you can’t just hail a cab, because cabs are only at the airport, so we had to hop back in the tuk-tuk, head to the airport, and grab a taxi out to NPIC. All in all, the trip was about two hours, and cost us about twenty bucks, but we made it. We met His Excellency, well “met” is a bit strong—we shook his hand. However, we had fulfilled our NPIC duty, and so we headed back into Phnom Penh. We will be staying in the city until the twenty-second of September, doing a little more training with our team, before we permanently move out to the country.

Needless to say, the first part of our week was a little hectic, but after that it settled down rather nicely. The last few days we have been studying our language, exploring the city, and training with our team. I (Ben) have a soccer match this afternoon, and am greatly looking forward to that. I feel like today is the day, the day I score my first goal…and don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted on that front.

I am also exuberant just finding out that Notre Dame beat Michigan! What a great day! I’m a little sad we couldn’t watch it, but for those of you who care, I got a feeling deep inside my bones that’s screaming out, “NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!” Well, okay, maybe not, but at least they beat Michigan (T.R., no offence).

Alright everyone, I am rambling now. I don’t even know that I said much, but I am glad to fill you in on a small piece of our lives. Take care, and know that we love and miss you.