Getting oriented.

I'm in Cambodia.

Here's the brief: Somehow, I got on a plane, closed my eyes, and ended up in Cambodia. After 20 hours of flying, with stops in Hong Kong and Korea, I arrived in the capitol. Someone from Sustainable Cambodia came to pick me up, we got on a tuk tuk (motowagon), and went to meet up with May's sister. (May is a girl I met a couple weeks back at church who said I could stay at her house in the city.) Next thing I know, I'm being shown my own room and bathroom in this huge house and that I should get some rest because I have a wedding to go to. Lunch was a feast. The wedding was out of control extravagant. So, that was my Thursday. How was yours?

I realize that I have SO MUCH to write about in the brief 36 hours that I've been here.

In true fashion, when I first got on the plane, I sat in the wrong section. I was kind of distracted since I was on the phone till the very last minute. The flight to Hong Kong was... strange. I watched Sex and the City and The Office on the little screen in front of me. I sat next to a Vietnamese guy who wouldn't really leave me alone and asked me for advice about what to get his niece. He also told me that the mosquitoes in Cambodia will pierce through all my clothing and that I really should have bought bug repellent. Oh yeah, did I tell you? I forgot to bring that. Don't worry, my friend Heang took care of that earlier, right before she sent me over to this internet place so I can write to you all now.

I have so much to say just about my arrival. And it's only my second day.

On short notice, the airline told us that we had to stop in Korea to refuel because of weather conditions and rather than arriving in HK at 5:40, it would be delayed by two hours. My connecting flight to Cambodia was at 9. Only a little over an hour to get through security? What actually ended up happening was we didn't land until 8:15 and I didn't get to my gate until they were flashing "FINAL CALL" because everything took so long. People were running to their gates.

When I arrived in Phnom Penh, even the air felt different. As I was making my way to customs, one of the officials held up a sign that read, "Ms. Wendy Bi" and it was so exciting because I kept saying "That's me! That's me!". What a dork. He was in charge of giving me my visa clearance.

As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I was filled with every emotion possible. Shock. Disbelief. Terror. Regret. Inadequacy. After my 30 minute tuk tuk ride and seeing the city all at once, I thought, "Okay. I've seen it now. I can go home." Part of me wants to relay every detail of the past day and half to you. Part of me wants to take this time to pour out all of my emotions. I'm trying to not think about how long I will be here because it gives me constant anxiety. I can't even make sense of my life right now except I know it's happening. The swelling of my pinky from a small bite is real. The rash on my left foot is real. The fact my luggage is arriving a day late and I have to go back to the airport is real. The $5 I spent to talk to my mom for 1.5 minutes is real. This is all real.

I travel to Pursat by bus tomorrow. I've been so grateful to spend my first two days in the city because now I can actually leave it. It's helped to know that I don't have to stay here for my GLT because I would be so overwhelmed. So while my first two days have been really intense, I can only imagine how life will slow down and start being intense in other ways once I actually settle in to where I will be living. Though Pursat will be so more taxing on the body and fewer amenities will be at my access, I look forward to being in a small town where I can really get to know the people, the place and the language. Khmer is a fun language and I can already say things like "Wash face" and "I'm hungry for rice" or count to ten.

To my friends: I wish you could be here with me. Not having instant communication with any of you is going to be hard. Write me, love me from where you are, all of these things will be enough to keep me anchored until we can be together again. P.S. Come to Cambodia!