Wild Horses

(Catherine here)
Maybe I am just a bit saddle sore from my new bike (kong) but arriving in Battambang feels like learning to ride a wild horse! We are moving forward at quite a pace but I am not sure that I have got much control over where the horse is going..... The ride has been smooth so far but I am not sure whether I am going to get bucked off at any moment.

Has the horse got a saddle, stirrups and reins?
Tim feels like the saddle helping me feel secure.
The local expats (mainly filipino) and khmers we have met so far feel like the reins helping me get a handle on how to talk and learn where things are.
Any ideas what the stirrups are or how they work?

I feel that if I can just maintain my balance long enough to make friends with the horse we will be ok and be able to enjoy the ride.

Coming of Age

Hobbits have their coming of age party at 33 years old, which is much more realistic I think!
Anyway, I (Tim) had my coming of age on monday, which seemed significant and apt as it was the day we arrived in Battambang (our destination for this year's language learning adventure).

I had a fab birthday party. In Brighton I enjoyed saturday morning brunches with my closest friends; it was one of my favourite things about Brighton. This year saw a sunday lunch at Chit Chat coffee house with all my closest friends in Cambodia - lovely!

Back in Bodge

It is good to be back in Bodge!

This week we have been in Phnom Penh, just slowly settling in to being back.

We have spend a lot of time seeing old friends:
Nigel, Milet, Sean and Jasmine Goddard,
Jim and Agnes Verner,
Kristin, Susan, Kaleb and Emma Jack

Tim has know them all for a good number of years (9,10 and 7 respectively). It seems most of the friends Tim made in his firs few extended visits have turned out to have stayed in Cambodia long term and are all old hands now. This is quite amazing considering the turn over rate of ex-patriates here.

It has been so good to see them all and has really helped settle us down. We have had some good fun and Forrest has enjoyed the company in particular. They have all been so helpful too and helped us find our feet with a place to stay while we are in Phnom Penh, getting us and our delayed bags from the airport, gettting year long visas and a SIM card for our phone (+855-12-916451).

Cambodia is a funny place:
It is harder to get a SIM card than a year long visa, they will let anyone in here but apparently it is going to be a nightmare to gt our shipping through customs!

Forrest is loving being back. He is a very happy little soul and eating better than he ever has: rice, noodles, fruit - he loves it so far.

Catherine is wanting to be in two places, here and back with her family - it is both good and hard for her at the moment.

Eden has learnt to turn over (both ways), started to drink water and had his first suck on food - a very juicy watermelon.

So all is going very well. We are off to Battambang at the begining of next week to look for a house to rent. Before then we are taking a quick trip south to Kampot.