A long, long time ago...since the last post.

Hello again everyone (or anyone who still checks it out), sorry for the delay of posts. A lot has happened since the last time we have spoken. We have had an American Thanksgiving in which we prepared food for 40 people, successfully at that, we camped around the North Island for 10 days, had a hot Christmas in Wellington, went to a five day music festival to ring in the New Year, and traveled the South Island for a month, camping most of the time. And that's all just New Zealand still. It was more difficult than we expected to leave New Zealand. After five months, we ended up investing a lot more than just time in the country. We met wonderful people, saw awe-inspiring scenery, had some stomach-hurting laughs, and most of all, had an unforgettable experience. For all of us, it was our first true taste of independence and life after college. For the first time our lives were not planned out for us--our obligatory school years were over and this year was completely our decision, so much so that some of us had to defy the well wishes and hopes of our families and do what we felt was right for us. So, without beating a dead horse anymore, New Zealand (and half our trip) has come to an end. We are sad, but so eager and feeling very fortunate that we have so much more left for us.
I am now posting from Cambodia. Yes, random, exotic, unfamiliar and very enticing. We are drinking it all up. We are in a land that has experienced a very difficult past. After years of coos, forceful communism, persecution, mass genocides, starvation and many other forms of abuse and killings, the Cambodians are trying to rebuild their country and their lives. This is home to Angkor Wat, the largest set of religious temples in the world. Before and after they have become a World Heritage Site, these temples have been the pride and joy of the Khmer(Cambodian) peole. As I entered the sites of these ancient temples, I felt like I was on my own "Tombraider" expedition, and who doesn't like to feel that they are the first one to discover a treasure of this side and historical importance. It's exhilerating. We also visited a floating village. For anyone who thinks I am using this term loosely, let me be clear. It is literally a village, consisting of homes, markets, churches, shrines, schools, basketball courts and "corner"-like stores that are bobbing up and down freely on a river. An entire community commutes soley through the use of fising boats, rafts and I kid you not, small baths. It is like nothing you will see in the Western world. As stunning of a sight it is, it is also, unfortunately, comprised of some of the poorest families. A home for as many as you can imagine is a small raft with sticks creating three walls and straw/sticks/leaves creating the roof. We toured through it on a boat and saw catfish and crocodile "farms", which are basically shockingly small portions of the water roped off to raise thousands of these creatures. We are so much, however, enjoying the sweet spirit of the people who not do not just need the tourism money to survive, but who are also proud of their country and want to show it off to those who come. We still have about a week and a half here in Cambodia until we return to Thailand. Soon (I promise b/c internet is really cheap here) I will post again telling you all more about Cambodia and more about Thailand (I have plently to say about Bangkok already). Until next time...