Laos, how i love thee....

on christmas day, we flew from phnom penh to luang prabang, laos via bangkok.  we arrived mid-day to a quaint airport in which one walks on the tarmac to get to the "terminal".  applied for visas, waited in two immigration lines, and picked up our bags to be picked up to go about 20 minutes outside of town into the jungle.  after a bumpy ride, we arrived at this oasis in the jungle.  it was gorgeous!  we stayed in the jungle for two nights.  the time was great, relaxing and full of rest.  we ate, slept, talked, played, and just did a lot of nothing.  it was fabulous.  the first morning there paul and i walked to the elephant village about 15 minutes away to ride elephants.  it was amazing.  it was early, there was a mist looming over the jungle and we rode about 25 minutes or so.  the cool part was that we walked into the nam khan river.  very cool.  i took tons of pictures and our mahout took some pics of us too.  a great morning activity.  the rest of the day we ate, napped and paul played some video games while i read.  the weather in the jungle was quite chilly which was a nice change from the hot and steamy of phnom penh.  i really loved sleeping with all the doors and windows wide open listening to nature's soundtrack.

the next part of the trip we stayed in town in luang prabang.  the guesthouse was small, simple and sufficient.  we did some shopping, ate at various places, had massages, and took heaps of photos.  the first night in town we met friends from seoul that were spending the holiday in laos as well.  we had dinner at the nicest, best rated place in luang prabang--l'elephant.  it was quite good, to be honest.  i had the best pork loin i have ever eaten with garlic mashed potatoes that melted in my mouth.  for a starter, i had a fabulous pumpkin and coconut cream soup with kaffir lime.  wow!

overall, paul and i loved laos and we will go back sooner than later.  it's a unique, laid back, and edgey country.  we loved the vibe, the people, the food and the company.

click here for pictures from our adventures in laos.

holidays are here.....

well, it's official....i am on holiday break.  slept in this morning and just planning on hanging out for the next three weeks.  friends arrive late on tuesday and will spend three weeks with us and we could not be happier about that.   it's been a crazy semester and hard to believe that we have lived in phnom penh for almost six months....nuts!  we love it here and pray that it continues to be a great place for us.

emotional

this is the best way to describe my today.  not all messy, but full of a range of emotions.  so much i don't want to go into it, but i will leave you with this...

today i felt:
tired, sick, angry, frustrated, sad, bored, impatient, stressed, vengeful, thankful, happy, pissed off, solitary, hungry, appreciative, uncreative, trapped, tearful, sorrow, joy, full, loved.

looking forward to the long winter break that starts three days....

have not fallen off the planet....

just trying to get my report card comments written and out of the way so i can get back to said blogging and writing/sharing for fun!  will return before the weekend....i hope.  if not, i might just quit all together.

shalom!

december photo project ~ 4 dec 2010

homemade apple pie....it's what for breakfast!

shockingly, i am up quite early for a saturday morning in the falgout house.  i am hungry and don't want another bowl of oats, apples and cinnamon.  so i went with option #2--homemade apple pie.  i am catching up on this week's episodes of grey's anatomy and private practice while paul sleeps in more.

december photo project ~ 3 dec 2010

i totally am in love with animals.  currently, i want a dog more than anything.  last night we went to dinner and stopped at a new shop called the warehouse.  it's a wine shop that had all sorts of good stuff to gaze at, taste and buy.  the owner is quite nice and has a dog called "lunch".  he is a golden/lab mix and a huge ball of fun that i got to love on while tasting a white chenin blanc from south africa.  it was heaven to me.  it only makes me desire for our own dog more, but so worth it and fills a piece of my animal loving heart.  the hard part is knowing that lunch has about nine pups that need a home....stab a spoon in my heart.  we just don't live in a house/apartment that is conducive to dogs.  sadness.  i love my cats a lot, but i also love the idea of having a dog i could take everywhere with us.  i have even flirted with the idea of asking if i could have a dog as a class pet.  how awesome would that be.  i equate it to having a therapy dog or training a seeing eye dog.  the kids would love it and i would hope the dog would to.  who would not love being loved on by 19 lively kiddos all the time?  ok, i am done for now.  still missing a dog in our life......

december photo project ~ 2 dec 2010

today  i introduced the concept of tangrams to my students in relation to geometry.  we followed step-by-step directions to cut all seven tans out of a pre-cut square.  then when they had finished cutting all the bits, i asked them to put them back together in a square.  they had such a time trying to work that out....anything from "this won't work" to "it's not possible".  the joy of watching them work it out.  i am reminded them that just a few moments ago that they took a square and cut it up, so it was truly possible.  it's so rewarding to watch them struggle and have tension in their thinking.  it is true learning and thinking which brings me pure joy as a teacher.  good times at school today!  love these kiddos!

evaluating....

i can't believe that i have been blogging about life overseas for almost four and a half years now.  time has flown and so much has happened.  i am in the process of re-evaluating my blog life and what i want to do with all the blog such things i love and like.  i don't plan on ceasing to blog, but maybe just narrowing/fine tuning my focus a bit.  i love blogging and the "friends" i have made through keeping up with life.  stay tuned for more.

december photo project ~ 1 dec 2010

on the way home from school i pass all sorts of stuff, but i think this best describes my "home"--cambodia.  currently there is some conference going on and whenever diplomats visit from surrounding countries the khmer government buildings deck themselves out.  it's funny, sad and a bit odd to me, but whatever they need to do to make themselves feel better.  today the weather was nice on the way home from school and i thought all the colors out front of a building for the cambodian government looked great!  so glad to catch a shot of the flags as i drove by in the tuk tuk.

canon powershot sd1100is

December 1...YEAH!

It's honestly hard to believe that it's already here.  Hard to believe that we have lived in Phnom Penh for almost six months, I am near halfway through my first year of school at the my school, our trip to Laos is getting closer......nuts! 

I have also decided to find ways that I can be creative and share my artsiness with others.  I have decided to take part in the December Photo Project.  I found the idea from Sara's blog who encouraged me to join too.