Boat at First Sight

Sunday and Monday we took a trip to Kampong Cham province, where the boat is currently stationed. It’s about 3 hours from Phnom Penh, which afforded a good chance to see the countryside. This is a gorgeous land filled with beautiful people and funny billboards. (It's not a ghost... It's Casper the Friendly Condom!) Arriving at the boat, we had to navigate between cows, chickens, pigs and their laughing farmers in order to reach the riverbank.

Turns out, boats are fun! Vanny and I shared a cozy cabin with cute bunk beds and teensy biting gnats. I'll use more bug spray next time. Vanny is our secretary and was also my translator last time I was here. She brought her fiance, Da, with her. They just recently became engaged and haven't had much time to spend alone together since Cambodians don't date. I've not seen such cuddling since I was engaged!

The Nutrition Program will be expanding into Kampong Cham soon, so we spent Sunday and Monday surveying kids in two villages in that province. We got to go back across the bamboo bridge, which was just barely wide enough for our 12-passenger van to scrape through. Then, we got to try to squeeze past motorcycles with five passengers in the middle of the bridge. The moto driver was actually hanging onto our side mirror with one hand, his 2-year-old daughter with the other and hugging his moto between his legs at a dangerous angle, trying not to fall into the river with his family. More fun than boats!

After surveying about 50 kids, we headed back to the boat and arrived there just before the afternoon rains hit. We get a good storm almost every day now, which really cools things off in the afternoon. Makes for a muggy morning but pleasant afternoon. The next day we visited another village where we saw another 50 kids before hitting the road back to Phnom Penh. Exhausting trip, but it'll be good to get a nutrition truck set up for those kids.