sorry guys...three posts within the hour...i've been storing up all these things i wanted to share with y'all in for the past two weeks.

i've been living with chantha now, and it's been really good. it's been a bit difficult, though, trying to be a servant rather than being served. they still treat me like a guest, and chantha will not let me do certain things (i'm definitely clumsier and less efficient). so i've been trying to do little things, but i still feel like i'm so spoiled.

one thing, though, that she let me do was my own laundry. when we got back from battambang and siem reap, 'cuz of the dust and mud, i had a huge load to do...took me about an hour and a half, and i can't say that my clothes ended up much cleaner.

anyways, i just wanted to post some more random observations:

- oranges here are green

- i've noticed a lot of kids playing on the street with their flip-flops. they have this game of kicking their flip-flops across the sidewalk, basically playing with them as if they were soccer balls or something. there's not much by way of toys here...

- driving around the city, you see these street sweepers...usually women in green uniforms wielding long straw brooms. because of the dirt roads, paved streets get really dusty, so everyday, they stand in the street next to the curb, braving traffic, and sweeping the streets...

- in battambang and siem reap, we went to a few restaurants with beer promotion girls. basically, when you're first seated at some restaurants, 5-10 girls in uniforms (heineken girls wear green, tiger beer girls wear blue) or traditional dress converge on your table trying to get you to order their beer. they're usually young and pretty...the study that i'm working on actually surveys beer promotion girls as indirect sex workers...

- everyday on our way to work, chantha and i pass a long block fruit stands...there's this fruit called durian that's kinda spiky and greenish, the size of a football, and has a very distinct smell that pervades the area. i noticed that some durians have a red stripe, while others are just green, and i just thought that they were different types or something. then, a few mornings ago, i saw a vendor painting the red stripes on the fruit...must ask chantha about that...

- i've been watching some tv with chantha. cambodian tv is kinda limited...the most popular shows are drama/action programs imported china (and poorly dubbed in khmer...hehe), and music programs. every sunday, two channels show these live "concerts" all day, and some other channels just show karaoke music videos 24-7, which are also popular. haven't figured it out, yet...