February 8th, A Glorious Day

Today ranks up there with one of the best in my life (on a scale of pleasurable days)

First, I went with my dad and shaku to the Baha'i Centre for prayers in the morning. Then, around 9, I hopped on a moto-dop, picked up some walnut pain complet, and rode to Jarnah's for breakfast. My english class had been rescheduled to 2PM, which provided me agolden opportunity to have breakfast with friends. Breakfast was nearly prepped when I arrived: eggs with baby tomato and onion, whole passionfruits, the aforementioned bread with butter and jams, fresh croissant, artichoke tea (actually decent), and "whispers of summer" juice. It was a delightful breakfast with friends on Jarnah's roof. We all sat on a large, low table, and felt like we were Mediterranean royalty. This was my first memory of encountering fresh passionfruit, and it was so good. I actually felt the passion flowing into my veins as my body digested the fruit. I also felt the prayers slowly entering my soul as i digested the words. Overall, very healthy morning.

We helped Jarnah clean the house up a bit, and Kai and I had to battle with this old floor-carpet that just would not let go of all of its dirt. After both sides sustained heavy injuries, we consulted, and finally decided to effect a unilateral cease-fire - stopping all further carpet-bombing.

I know, it just came out that way.

We explored around russian market for a bit before I decided to head back home for quick swim. It felt great to both have energy, and an opportunity to use it. For some reason, those two rarely seem to line up in my life. I also discovered that I had received my password to log into an online post-grad course called "Constructing a Conceptual Framework for Social Action". Looks to be interesting, and I'm going to go print my materials tomorrow!

Then, I went and tutored Veth at Anise Hotel for an hour and a half, while enjoying a cheap, yet delectable lunch. Our class ended with me promising Veth I'd teach him how to talk to ladies...comic! My class with him revolves around a book called "walking the straight path", which has a series of short moral stories, all with excellent language-education material tagged on.

I then went to the living room to meet up with Jarnah, Beattie, and Kai again. We had some nice times chilling out, and I hazarded an espresso on my recently-recovered belly. It was so good.

Following the days trend towards awesomeness, we went for massages (my first ever!) and it was hilarious! The place seemed okay, but the masseuses turned out to be a little bit sketchy! if it weren't for three of us getting massages in the same room, it might have turned from massage therapy to massage the-rapy. Either way, I was fairly relaxed by the end of it, so I would chalk it down as a success.

Next was a return to the faithful Dosa Corner for some cheap eats, and then a trip over to Neissans. We arrived for a night which I had never imagined possible in phnom penh: sheesha and hokem. You see, Neissan managed to finnagle the import of a houka from malaysia, via a visitng friend. Kai is visiting, but knows how to play hook, and Quddus is also visiting, but was willing to learn, and learnt quickly. Thus, with a convergence of such disparate means, we were able to produce a night of great entertainment and joy.

Amazing day!

but lets get real about this business. having started my day off with prayers, I characterized the whole day in reference to God. This was great, because I felt none of the guilt that the religiously-inclined often do when life is good. I spent the whole day in a state of thankfulness and prayer, and it just would not let up! The day continued to deliver on little bits of grace and joy every time I took a breath. Also, I was a little down in the morning, but my dad, right before he went to Sa'ang with a bunch of the baha'is, held my shoulders, lifted them up, and said "don't look so down, stand up straight, and go grab hold of life." Or somesuch fatherly pep-talk. Surprisingly, it worked. Contemplating Words of Beauty, heeding my dad's advice, and just loving my friends was enough to make the day excellent. So I hope if all yous who read this give it a shot, you might have similarly sweet days.