Visuals!

My former bed. As you can see, I was sleeping on the roof under a rather femme mosquito net.

This is a view of my town from the roof of my former house. In the foreground you can see the building-materials business my former neighbors have, in the middle ground is National Highway 5, and in the background are houses, shops, and trees that line the road to the south of the town market.

This is my new house! My family sells gas, cigarettes, drinks, ramen noodles, soap, sugar, hats, and candy. You can sort of see my bad-ass mountain bike in this picture. I've mastered riding it in an ankle-length skirt. My host sister is in white, and the neighbors are sitting at the table.

Nerd Alert

Ants heart my retainers.

I don't know why. Of all the delicious things to eat available around the house (and believe me, there are many), they are drawn, inexorably, to my bright red retainer case, labeled with my name, containing my two retainers. They especially like the all-plastic lower one.

Please note that I will henceforth strike the phrase "like a moth to a flame" from my daily usage and replace it with "like ants to my retainers."

It's kind of sad that I am no longer squeamish about putting them in my mouth, even after the ants have used them as their tiny playground (for those weak of stomach, I do clean them before I put them on). It's also kind of sad that I'm posting about my retainers. *sigh*

The News

Here's what's new: I have a family! A great family! I moved in two days ago. I have a mother and three siblings, an extended family nearby, a room of my own, and a classroom on the ground level. My family sells shampoo, sugar, gas, cold drinks, and other stuff I haven't yet examined at the store out front. A month of unsettledness has turned out to be worth it.

The other news has to do with why I have internet access today. The branch of the bank in my town doesn't give out cash (hey, it's always an adventure), so discovering that I was down to my last $4 with no credit-card cushion and no local access to money, I ventured in to the big city for a visit to the bank. Which is a complete trap! Because when you're in Battambang, you have to spend money on the delicious Western food and things like beautifully illustrated Khmer-language books and possibly, possibly, musical intruments. I've got to get out of here before the temptation takes hold...

And Some Administrative Crap

I think I'm going to have to password-protect the blog. Or something. Some Peace Corps policy says it's "recommended." Be ready.

My Awful Confession

There is some old saying, yes, about a picture being worth a certain large number of words? Which in theory means I could make this blog much more compact simply by making entries that look more like this: [picture]? Or: [picture]! Or even, most efficiently: [picture]

However, my titular awful confession is that I am intimidated by my camera. It's a nice camera, and I had enough foresight to buy it the day before I left Idaho, cleverly leaving the bill to my unsuspecting parents. The problem is, after taking these lovely pictures, I don't really know what to do with them. So here's my ambitious promise: next time I'm in Battambang town, I will post pictures. (Note the "s"!)