 Still in Phnom Penh, and still loving it lots despite my general fear of cities. I've been working in the PEPY office since the trip finished, which doubles as the PEPY house, which means we live and breathe PEPY. It's very Real World, if the producers wanted to film in a developing country, and put a bunch of NGO types in a barbwire-gated colonial villa, snuggled up next to a rundown temple and some slum neighborhoods. Most of Phnom Penh is like this: poverty bleeds right into wealth. Even for the ambassadors and military types living in the gated mansion communities, you only need to step onto the chaos of the street to remember where you are.
Feeding the pepyaddiction has been fantastic, but I might go into withdrawal in a few weeks when I leave. Last weekend's highlight was a repeat performance by Tiny Toones, our little breakdancing friends. They performed at a new nightspot called Q Bar, which uses white white white everywhere and the biggest bed you'll ever see in Cambodia. Better than anything I'm used to in Okayama, but it has the desperation of a little bar that wants to be cosmopolitan yet falls short. Because of the kids, a lot of the hip-hoppers and thug men of the city were there, and we watched some of the foreign girls prey on that crowd on the dance floor.
As for daily life in the city, the food is good and you can get any type of cuisine you can imagine, due to the enormous expat community. The fusion food is the most fun because you can't get it elsewhere. This happy smiley fish was pretty phenomenal.
  And my pretty PEPY family is pretty phenomenal, too. Maryann is the interim director while Daniela is in the States. She is casually running things while working on her PhD in sociology and learning Khmer. Shannon is from Chicago and runs the office with an iron gavel, a chocolatini, and a box of pop-tarts. Finish your task list or else!!
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