i'm here!! and i'm sweating like crazy!! i have never downed so much water in my life like i have in the past 24 hours. but seriously, i sweat it all out...to give you some idea, if i drank this much water in la, i'd be going to the bathroom like crazy, and my pee would be clear. here, i haven't been going to the bathroom more than usual, maybe even less, and my pee's pretty concentrated...that's how much i'm sweating. (okay, i know, i know, tmi...)

gosh, i don't know where to begin...i guess i should start with my flight...art and dad took me to the airport and stayed with me an hour while i went through all the necessary lines until i went to the terminal. it meant a lot to me that they were there...though i think it made me sadder than i would have been had they just dropped me off...the first leg of my trip was to taipei (13.5 hours), and i think i slept at least 8 hours (yaay!). the only thing is, before i got on the plane, i bought myself one of those funny-looking u-shaped travel pillows (i've heard from a few people that it was worth it), but stinkin! the pillow's too fat or something. when i put it on, i couldn't put my shoulders back against the seat, so it's actually kinda uncomfortable...so much so that i couldn't sleep with it on. i just stashed it away, kicking myself for buying it. i mean, there's only one size, so i dunno, is it just me?

but yes, i still got 8 hours of sleep, without the darn thing, and the other 5 hours i got to watch "win a date with tad hamilton," eat two airplane meals (i actually like airplane food...they put everything in those cute little containers, and they usually have really good butter - i really like good butter), read the first two chapters of "on being a missionary" by thomas hale (really good first two chapters...will have to write more about that a little later - don't have the book with me now), and write in my journal. (i felt productive)

had a 3 hour layover in taipei...their airport is really nice, then another 4 hour flight into phnom penh. one of my co-workers picked me up and got me to my apartment, which is this really nice (but a little bit smelly) one-bedroom, two bath place a block away from my work. the owner of the apartment building is actually super nice...he took me around the city a little bit yesterday and even invited me to dinner with his family. so i got to see a good bit of the city yesterday...i can't even begin to describe it! like no other place i've ever been...but i'm really enjoying it. i got to explore a bit today on foot...one thing i will say, i totally see why the doctor warned me about motor vehicles here...it's crazy!! the primary means of transportation is by motorcycle/scooters...there are hundreds of "motos" and their drivers everywhere. basically, there's a seat added onto the back of the motorcycles, so you just hop on behind the driver, but it's not proper to touch the moto-driver, so you just gotta hang on...i dunno, i haven't tried it yet...a bit scared to. but it's definitely the way to go...i think you can get anywhere in the city for less than a dollar. i wish you guys could see the way people drive here, though...most of the street lights don't work, so for the most part, people just force their way into intersections. for every car on the road, there are at at least 5 motos...with no enforced traffic laws, it can get pretty crazy.

there's so much to say...but i hope as i continue to blog over the next few months, you'll get a clearer picture of what it's like over here. one thing i do want to say from the get-go, though, is that there is poverty everywhere. i'm actually in a nicer part of the city, but it's evident everywhere you go. it's hard...please join me in praying for this country.