November 23rd, 2019
Saturday….
…..was a very VERY early wake up call. 4am to be exact. I met the “wall” by 9pm Friday night so just went to bed despite the Cambodian pop music playing at A decibel level I can’t even describe until I believe, around 10 PM. Not a problem as I slept through that but I did NOT sleep through the blasting of the traditional Cambodian music that started from these speakers at 4am. These speakers are at least 8 feet high. It was very much like an 80s rock concert except it was 4am and it was traditional Cambodian music. Which I actually do like…..
Oh yeah, those are right outside my bedroom window. (Which wasn’t really a window)
It’s all good! I’m in this for the full experience ❤️❤️
So after chilling with the most beautiful children
we had some 3 in 1 coffee and got dressed for the day’s ceremonies. I was so blessed to be fully included in all ceremonies as a representative of Landon’s family. There were ceremonies that only Jan and I participated in even. We started at 7am and at first I didn’t understand but as the morning progressed, I see why. It was definitely to capitalize on the temp being 78 degrees instead of 92 (which is where the Mercury ended up by 3pm). More pics forthcoming, but this is what I have for now. For the record, I didn’t know what exactly was happening or I would have chosen different flip flops to start with. I wised up as the day progressed. 😂
The ceremonies concluded by noon and then we were able to relax for a bit. The PARTY wasn’t due to start until around 5pm.
At around 1pm the van with Landon’s work friends came. Let’s just say a lot of beer had already been consumed and that continued on through the afternoon and into the evening. Ritchie was there too and I met a couple of administrators for international schools here in Phnom phen. So who knows where that will go 😉.
I brought candy from the states and gave some out on Friday night and the remainder tonight. Suffice it to say, it made me very VERY popular with the village children! One of the little girls got the idea to bring me flowers so that caught on and then I had more flowers than I could hold. Not exactly sure where they got them all from but I suspect that there were some bare spots in the decorations?? The little girls begged me to dance and honestly they were so sweet I couldn’t refuse. There may or may not be video of that somewhere 😉. I also learned some traditional Cambodian wedding dances!
By 10pm I was wiped and I headed off to bed. Once again, no problem for me to sleep through the oontz oontz as I was beyond exhausted. Ritchie was staying with us tonight and he had to sleep on floor. Poor guy. I offered to share my mattress but he said he was fine. Does this look fine??
I am
praying that there’s no 4am wake up on Sunday….
