i really should preview things!

Ahhh i think this is the clip

Long time between drinks!

Ok, my last post was a jpg not a movie file.....so liz!
but here is the video.

It is of May and I in Siem Reap having our feet tended to by Rufa fish.

The little devils nibble at anyhting they can find and generally make you feel very strange.
$3 for 20 mins, money well spent

And our feet felt smooth and tingly for a day afterwards.


Now i wonder what a bath of them would be like?

Rufa fish in Siem Reap

Why do i sound like Homer Simpson here?

End of year

A collection of images from the last year

Love you cuz

Missing home is something that creeps up on you in the quiet moments.
To be honest when you're busy with the everyday actions and thoughts of the here and now you dont think about the place and more importantly the people who you surrounded yourself with for such a huge part of your life.



So often here i sit amidst a swirl of language that i can only comprehend a tiny part of, an observer of the everyday rather than a full participant. And yet i'm happy, i'm where i'm meant to be, with the person i want to be with.



But at odd times i find myself enveloped by the face/places/times of Welli.
The good, the bad, the immortal.

I think about my mate

Much love to all of you celebrating this weekend for Jase.

We are mobile!

Well, we are finally able to choose when we go places!
Went shopping for a moto in the weekend with May's dad and his mate (It is amazing how helpful it is to have a Khmer speaker when shopping)
Found a Honda Click which had only 7000Kms on the clock and had a clean engine and sound frame (yes i had a look under and inside the bike but my knowledge is laughable !)
Next was a stop down Helmet selling street to have a look at some of the many helmets that are available in Phnom Penh (the build quality of some are questionable in the extreme... think Ware Whare Bob the builder plastic but with "cool"stickers to make them look tougher)
We settled on a couple that felt heavy enough to be useful but not full face as in summer that will be sweltering.
Then came the difficulty, who was to drive our new bike?!
lol
Up till now i have been a passenger most often as May has borrowed her sister's bike (crashing that is not something i wanted on my head!!)
So May felt that the status quo should continue........... I on the other hand was keen to get riding again, to get more confident in the sometimes chaotic conditions on the road.

It is turn taking time.

Although i think May was a bit cunning by suggesting we go for a "sedate Sunday drive"along the riverside last night!!
It seems every family, teenager, tuk tuk, moto driven food seller, 4x4, truck decides to drive up and down the riverside and around the roundabouts near Independence Monument.
with May sitting side-saddle i wound my way without any skill or daring through the jam. (i will be honest, our conversation was terse lol, as a first nite time ride it left a lot to be desired)

Rode this morning to work, and then May took the moto to her mothers, a much nicer run along Russia Boulevard which is paved well and wide!
I will catch the bus home each nite but ride to school as it will allow me to get up later than 5.30! and spend some time with May each morning before i go to school.
Will post a vid showing our route to school soon.

Looking over Phnom Penh towards the slowly filled lake

The lakeside area of PP, where I and many first time travelers stay is being filled in to make new land for real estate developers.
The people who lived on the lake and beside it are being squeezed out as they are anywhere in Cambodia where their property is worth more to someone more connected than they.

Im sitting in my class, getting my breathing under control

Damn, i take my hat off to every guy I know who has ever had a child.
The ability to go from regular day to a ALL STATIONS panic is an eye blink now.
May has been ok up to now and apart from the many little changes for her, from some sort of Steve Austin like olfactory powers (not the best super power in Phnom Penh!) to the need to not try and do the things that she could do so easily only a month ago, she has coped really well.
Each day i go to work i hope all goes well, i understand the dates and chances that problems will occur or at least I did in a textbook way.
Getting a call minutes before my grade 3 kids came in for class, from Bom (May's older Sister) on May's phone telling me she has a lot of pain in her pompoy/stomach (my spelling) and should they go to the local Khmer doctor or across town to our Doc at Rattanak made everything come into perspective.
May and the baby are ok, the ultrasound showed no problems with either of them thank what ever deity is looking down on us. (credit has to be given to Buddha as i had several long chats during the quiet moments as i waited for the phone to ring)

I understand that having the baby come to term safe and well is still very much a case for statisticians to debate but if emotional force could influence it we would be having our baby safe and sound in Sept!

I will be making an offering tonight to say thank you for letting us get another day down the road.

If you want to do something similar, I'd appreciate it.

First Ultrasound

Friday afternoon, a day that saw us go from a couple to something more.

A very good day in Phnom Penh

Matt and May in Laos Dec 08