It feels great to be home.

Things It Has Been Hard to Adjust To:

1. Parisian Time

I slept 14 hours last night to recover from jet lag. I only slept three hours on the plane, and had technically left my crib in Bangkok at 10 am, Bangkok time. I arrived at my house at 10 am, Parisian time, which would have made a sweet 24 hours of travel, if it weren't for those six hours between Paris and Bangkok. All in all, anything over 10 hours of travel is bound to screw up your body's rhythm so royally that you will need TWO average nights of sleep to make up for it. 14 hours it was, then.

2. Anything other than veggies-and-rice to eat

Starving because the only thing I had eaten in my 30 hours of travel was a bowl of noodles, I hopped downstairs and bought myself an emergency baguette and cheese. Then I considered puking it all back up again for about three hours as I writhed on my bed in pain. We went with the very wise veggie soup for dinner, which settled much better than the now unfamiliar bread-and-cheese combo. I am, however, planning on doing a strict recovery process in order to get my bod into it's usual love of the low-nutrient and high-calorie baguette and cheese.

3. French

Covered in swollen bedbug bites - something about flying irritated them - I went to the pharmacy. The pharmacist, naturally, spoke French, us being in Paris and all. But oddly enough, I didn't do so hot in the French department. And she was a chatty one, too, so we had quite the conversation ("how did you get so many damn bites in the first place?" opened a big can of worms) and I was amazed at how the language seems to have turned to mush in my brain in just a few short weeks. Still, she gave me an anti-itch cream, a dehydrating solution, and some pills, and by golly, the bites are going away. Ever. So. Slowly.

4. Duties

I have many things I have to do, and honestly, no urge to do them. While I was away, I remember thinking about these things and getting really anxious, almost excited to get these important things out of my hair. But now, back in my semi-normal groove, I'm just not excited by the idea of doing anything quasi-official. This includes going to the Sorbonne and telling them they made a database error, which is not going to be well-received by the incompetant secretaries.

5. French Keyboards

Five weeks is all it takes to put the a,q, m, period, and comma keys all in the wrong places in my head.

Things that Have Been Easy to Adjust To:

1. The Boy

Naturally, I wanted to see him very badly. When I came home, he was still sleeping, and his reaction to my arrival was anticlimactic, as it entailed him swatting my kiss on his cheek away as if I were a fly. Then he realized I was either one helluva a fly, or his cherie, and he woke up and said, "La Frontera! La Frontera! (his nickname for me) You've come home! I need to sleep some more." But two hours later, he woke up and we didn't stop talking for at least six hours straight, so I'm glad he was well-rested.

2. The bed

My bed is the most glorious bed on the planet. Although I haven't yet been to South America or Australia, I can declare this with a fair amount of certainty.

3. The weather

The Boy said yesterday that it seemed really muggy outside, but I felt that everything seemed quite refreshingly cool. I can really dig this sunny-but-not-humid thing for quite awhile.

4. The toilet

Never underestimate the power of toilet paper, toilet seats, and having a door that closes.

5. The phone

I called Kathypath last night in a zoned-out, exhausted mood, but our conversation was good nonetheless. Today, I can't wait to hear my parents' voices, and later I am going to call Omar in Paris to see what she's up to. It's so great to have friends and family within reasonable reach.

So this is going to be a nice, relaxing week, inch'Allah. I have a few things to take care of, but mainly I plan on enjoying myself and hanging out with Omar and The Boy as much as possible. I have to work on both of my web sites a little bit, and I have a book to finish. The Little Guy is coming on Friday with his mom and brothers, and then he'll stay and hang with us for a few days as well. Maybe we'll go to the park or something. I don't know, and don't really care... I'm just glad to be home.

I have to go grocery shopping now because we have nothing 'tall. I plan on buying all the fresh fruits and vegetables a woman can get her hands on in this country because I can't wait to eat some. It really is the little things in life that make a girl happy after so long away.

Last Day

26.07.04

On our last day in Asia, we had a plan.

1. Eat breakfast
2. Get photos developed
3. Shop some more
4. Get a massage
5. Get a facial
6. Shower thoroughly
7. Sleep

It might seem like that's not very much to do on one's last day, but our grubbiness factor was increased tenfold over the last week, to the point where I just tossed some of my clothes in the garbage can (outside the room) because I couldn't sit in my own stink anymore. To ease the comedown of the end of one of the most wonderful trips of my life, we decided that full-on pampering was the only way to go.

This week we spent on an island in a cabin with no electricity and a very unconventional plumbing system. It rained the entire time, or almost. Back in Bangkok yYesterday, we spent seven hours in the market, tying up loose ends and arranging gifts. Today, we finish the shopping frenzy and get our bodies back to a presentable status, after the beating it took from the island. Tomorrow, we ride planes and sit in airports.

This morning, armed with our plan as we walked out of our guesthouse, I turned to Kara and asked if she had remembered to bring the film because we were going to go get it developed a bit later. Without a word, we turned back to the guesthouse and tredged up the stairs. Kara started feeling around in her bag, and the searching got a bit more frantic, and then it plateaued into a sort of lethargic acceptance that we had lost our film. We went over the lost photos and sat, depressed, amongst the upturned contents of Kara's bag. We had little documentation of our trip.

Our assumption was that the film fell out en route to somewhere. I asked her when she last remembers seeing it, and it was over a week ago. Deseperate, I suggested we call the owner of the guesthouse where we stayed in Cambodia, and that we also check with the guesthouses we stayed at earlier this week in Bangkok.

There were two, next door to one another, because we had switched after a night since one of them was just full of drunk 18-year-olds. Kara went to one, and I to the other.

In all our trip, Thais speak the best English by far. But I don't think they know the word film. I spent at least five minutes explaining, sure that they didn't have it anyway. They asked me for my room number, but I didn't know. Finally, I said, "Small plastic bag with four film."

I swear the moment she pulled it out of the drawer I thought I was hallucinating. I breathed in and exclaimed a breathy "Thank you!" followed by a more squeely version as I realized our long lost film had been recovered. I flew out of there and ran down the street to the other guesthouse, where I saw Kara gesturing to a young boy (she later told me that she had been referred to him when the other people at the guesthouse didn't understand the word film). "Kara!" I waved, triumphantly holding up the plastic bag.

We giggled and thanked God and replayed the morning all the way to the film developing place. I just couldn't believe they kept it, couldn't believe the guesthouse had it after all.

In fact, I'm totally ok with that guesthouse now, even though their mattresses had bedbugs and I am covered in bites.

So we're going home in high spirits. I can't wait to see the miracle photos later on this evening. I'm excited to pack up my stuff and head home. I wrote my final email to The Boy, letting him know I'd see him in about 48 hours. I've got great memories, some jazzy gifts, and PICTURES! It's been quite an adventure, but I'm ready to get back to the land of toilet paper and fresh vegetables.

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Back in Bangkok

20.07.04

Thailand = tourists.

That's our overall feeling.

Here's how it worked: we took the most painful bus ride in history out of Cambodia. The roads were full of potholes, and at one point our driver had to get out and set up some sort of contraption to get us out of a major rut. On the other side of the road, a truck was unpacking all of the bags of rice it was transporting, hoping the lighter weight would help it get out where it was stuck just spinning its wheels. Our bus and their truck sat in the mud for at least 20 minutes, but we made it through in the end. The whole ride was quite an adventure.

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The girls on the Cambodian bus all rode for six hours holding their breasts. The road was so bumpy, we couldn't possibly do the ride any other way. It created an odd sort of comraderie... six hours of not even being able to hold a conversation through the jarring and rattling of the bus. When we finally spilled out of the bus, we all sat around on wooden benches, just staring into space and allowing our intestines to reorganize themselves.

Then we crossed the border into Thailand. Suddenly, the roads were paved, and we were being given an entire double-decker bus for ten people. The excitement of the new bus was pathetic, in retrospect. After such a harrowing bus ride out of Cambodia, we were like kids on a playground, checking out the bus with exclamations of, "Oh! And the seat reclines!" and "Oh look! The windows are clean!"

This made me initially love Thailand, but after being here for a few days, I've decided I prefer the road less travelled. Cambodia wasn't trampled by tourists, and I didn't feel as if I were just a part of the greedy, poorly-dressed western masse that had come to invade the country. Thailand, however, feels like grounds for one big hedonistic party. I've seen so many drunken tourists (three of them at 8 this morning), bellies hanging out, girls in bikini tops on the street, and men with their Thai princesses for the evening that it makes me wince.

Still, though, I'm glad we did our trek in the order we did. Coming back to Thailand is going to help ease the transition back into the West. We still have a few days left, and we're going to use them on the beach like everyone else. The Thai are friendly and things are easy-peasy here: everyone speaks English and transportation is affordable, comfortable, and timely. It's still pleasant and a nice way to wrap up one helluva vacation. I just don't foresee myself coming back to Thailand after having seen the other parts of southeast Asia.

We're off to an island for a few more days, where we are pretty much guaranteed to see lots of bloated pink bellies. By next weekend, we'll be back in Bangkok, where we'll head for the weekend market before spending our final day (Monday) just wrapping up odds and ends - and maybe getting a facial or something so that we don't feel so scuzzy for the flight home.

Both Kara and I are trying to find something else to wear on the flight; I don't want to submit the person I am next to on the plane to the terrific and terrible smell of my five-week vacation. My clothes are all rank and I can't wait to throw out every piece of stained and ripped clothing I have brought along. Nothing has escaped the dirt of Cambodia, and most things have stretched and become so disgusting that I hestitate to wear them even here, where disastrous fashion is the norm. I dream of the day I get to go home, take a shower, maybe put on heels, and wear some new, clean article of clothing. The crazy thing is that that day is now only a week away.

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Out of Cambodia

16.07.04

Today will be our last day in Cambodia. We've absorbed the culture and have done the obligatory tourist stop at Angkor Wat. In general, we feel the timing of our trip has worked out perfectly. Kara and I are both the most pathetic tourists to have travelled southeast Asia: we really don't care to see the typical sites, preferring to stop in a cafe and drink sweetened coffee instead of visiting another wat or some royal palace. Still, though, Angkor Wat was a must-see, so we did it. It was cool enough, but neither of us felt it merited a 7-day pass or anything. I don't know what people do there for seven whole days.

So now we're planning on rounding the bend back into Thailand. We're going back to Bangkok for a day or so - hopefully to catch a Thai boxing match while we're at it - and then will head south for a few days (more beach time) before coming back up to the city for our final weekend. Should be wild.

We're both feeling good and have adjusted to the heat. I can't believe how quickly time has passed... at this rate, before I know it, winter will be here. Luckily, by then, my tailor-made winter coat should have arrived. So no worries.

I finally bought the batteries for my digital camera two days ago, so I've managed to snag a few photos. Unfortunately, most of our pics are on 'real' film, and I doubt we'll digitize them.

I did, however, get some snaps of the monkey family we saw yesterday off the beaten path at Angkor Wat. We had said, on multiple occasions while checking out the site, "Where are all the monkeys? Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is so unrealistic.' But I guess that it wasn't so unrealistic after all, because there really are monkeys there. It was very exciting for both of us... the Camobidans thought our enthusiasm was pretty funny. As Kara put it, 'It would be like if someone came to America and got really excited about all the pigeons.'

But dude, we saw monkeys.

So there we are. I honestly can't believe we're going to Thailand tomorrow. This trip is passing with lightening speed. Yesterday we were surprised to find out what day of the week it was... I still feel like it's sometime mid-April, but here we are, July 16. I head home in 10 days. That's insane.

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