First Impressions

We made it! 

We left Niagara in the afternoon and headed to Toronto to spend some time with our children. As evening drew, we had dinner at Jack Astor's with both sets of parents. A slight feeling of dread loomed in the air as our parting time drew closer.

At the airport, we checked our luggage and received great service. I am sworn to secrecy as to the great service, but we had an angel who helped with our overweight items. 

Saying goodbye to the children was absolutely heartbreaking. It felt inhumane to be torn apart from my children. Even though we know technology can allow us to speak everyday, it felt like my heart was being torn out.

We flew Eva Air, 15 hours from Toronto to Taipei, a 3 hour lay over, and then 4 hours to Phnom Penh. Our flights were totally uneventful - nothing like our flights to Bangladesh! Once you arrived at the airport connecting you to Dhaka, it was pure craziness. Both our flights with Eva were 100% civilized in every way. Greg and I were seated together and even had the first row by the Emergency exit with tons of leg room. We recommend Eva Air in terms of their flight time because we left at 1:45 am, meaning we slept for at least 8 of the 15 hours. The only problem is that it is an Asian airline so the seats are very small. If you're overweight, that seat belt made for Chinese bodies is not going around your gut. The early morning departure time has seemed to make jet lag more bearable.

Upon arrival in Phnom Penh, we were shocked to see the order at the airport, the ease of obtaining our visas and the quality of the washrooms! There were to be no crazy washroom stories like when we arrived in Doha traveling to Bangladesh.So far, so good. We were met by Ratanak Staff and driven home to unload our luggage before going out for lunch. My dear friend Taara was waiting for me at our house and our anticipated reunion began. We had a look around the neighbourhood. It is lush with a well kept park in the gated community where expat families feel totally safe to let their kids go play on their own. In the evenings, families gather there to visit whilst their children play.

Just months ago, I started parting with all of my "stuff" as we did not have a shipment with our move abroad. We've spent the last two days buying "stuff". It is all necessary stuff to live - cutlery, dishes, a gas stove top, electric oven, washing machine. Actually, as I think of what we've purchased and had installed in two days in Asia, it's shocking how much has been accomplished. 

One of Greg's colleagues who is a Cambodian raised in an American home in PP has been accompanying us, translating for us and helping us find what we need. He is quite a gentleman. Having his help has made the first few shops much easier than it may have been.

Yesterday, we did some shopping in a tuk tuk, which is an open pulled trailer behind a motor bike. It's hot and the air quality is not great and by the end of the afternoon, I was questioning why we thought moving here was a feasible idea. After 10 hours of sound sleep in our new comfy King size bed, we were ready for some more adventure.

The traffic is not as congested as Dhaka and doesn't have the beggars or the rickshaws, but there are motorbikes everywhere - driven by locals and expats. I would describe the traffic as a never ending game of chicken. I can't believe that my friend Taara drives here! Maybe a few years down the road I'll get a moto. There are 

 families going about their day on a moto in the same traffic where there are families driving in Land Rovers, Lexus SUV's and Porsches.

I've discovered that it's almost cheaper for Greg and I to eat our main meal out every day than buying groceries. Some things are much cheaper in the grocery store but imported things are very expensive! Most of those imported items are what we shouldn't be eating anyways! 5 of us ate out and we all had a main course as well as a fancy drink and the total was $30. This $3 soup is worth a visit!

Today we had the NGO's air conditioned jeep to shop for some larger items. We bought a gas stove top and a washing machine and had them both installed today. One thing we find weird is that there is no hot water in the houses. There are electric, instant hot water heaters for the showers. So, we either wash dishes in cold water or boil the water in the kettle.

Friday nights have been declared Pizza Company Pizza night and Grey's Anatomy at David and Taara's. We are meeting people in the neighbourhood and are confident that we will meet life long friends in our own little part of PP.

Ultimately, we are confident that we will one day settle and not feel so overwhelmed by all there is to learn. It is an amazing opportunity and honour to contribute to restoring hope to the exploited in Cambodia.