Pre-Pre-Pre-Farewell/Hello/What!? How Did It All Go By So Quickly?

February 2009 is about to roll into March 2009. It's hard to believe that I've been in Cambodia for over 2 years now. My Peace Corps service is about to come to a close, and I will no longer be a Volunteer as of May 1st.

My general plans, after that, are to travel for 6 weeks in Southeast Asia (sometimes with company and sometimes without) and then to go back to the US in June. After that I'll travel around the US to visit friends and family. Then in August I'll settle down to conquer some biology and chemistry pre-requisites in preparation for an academic career in biological anthropology (even though I still can't identify those organs in my morning bowl of noodles).

Going back to the US, we've been promised, is a big change, and not always easy. We're different from when we left, our country's different, our friends are different, our family's different. (When we left, the economic crisis was not even a glimmer in Lehman Brothers' eye; ol what's-his-name was still our president; nobody was watching Battlestar Galactica; and I thought stripes and florals didn't match.) Being Americans abroad is easy: we can just chalk up personal quirks to our upbringing in American culture. But being an American back home is a little more difficult: do we even remember how to do that?

So if you have any American culture/re-entry advice or observations, please don't hesitate to advise me or observe to me. I still check my e-mail weekly. And if you've been meaning to send snail mail in this direction, it's probably best to post it before St. Patrick's Day, or April Fool's Day at the latest. (April in Cambodia is a month of holidays, so the postal workers here may or may not be sorting the mail then.)

I'm going to continue posting on the blog, as several interesting events (knock on wood) should transpire between now and when I leave. But I think it will go by quickly and the strangeness and beauty of America will be mine to experience again before long.

Long-Promised AW Bike Race Report

Somehow, more than two months have passed since the Angkor Wat Bike Race. How did that happen? I looked up and all of a sudden we were on the far side of Valentine's Day, not to mention President's Day, New Year's, and Christmas. But I didn't forget that I promised a post about the race, so here's what I can tell you:

Looking back on the race, I consider it an unmitigated success because

(1) I got to spend a whole weekend in Siem Reap eating Western food and being decadent, aside from the pre-5 a.m. wake-up time for the race and the whole biking and sweating part

(2) Several contributors gave generously to the race (thank you all!)

(3) I rode the race in record time (1:13) for me compared to how long it normally takes to ride 28 km down the national highway to Battambang (1:20)

(4) As souvenirs of the race, I got a pretty green biking jersey which I wear all the time at site because it wicks and a delicious breakfast at Alliance Cafe

(5) As an added bonus, on this trip I got to visit Siem Reap's crocodile farm and throw fishes at the crocodiles in a not-entirely-successful attempt to get them to show their vicious natures (Would that we had had a camera!)

What more could I have wanted?

Here's a picture of me about to cross the finish line. Yes, I did the race in flip-flops. Tennis shoes are too heavy to put in my backpack for a weekend.

And here's a picture of Team Peace Corps after the sun came up and the race was over. We were down 2 members due to dengue and a forgotten helmet, but we made up for it by eating a lot of food at the post-race brunch.