"Mayday Mayday"

Life has a way of getting busy all of a sudden, and it is often true that, "when it rains it pours". (Either often true, or a completely tautological statement, depending on how you go about defining "pours".) Find an example of raining and pouring below.


I am writing this from the relatively opulent haven of my old residence in Phnom Penh. I've been kept busy at the new jobula, and am still riding the wave of excitement about doing work that I haven't yet done - with the expectation that my excitement will likely wane once I wade ino the work. Oh how pristine the lake looks before you jump in, and how cold and large is seems once you're swimming!

The last coupla days in battambang have been interesting to say the least: I met a prospective masters student, and realized just how much work I have to do; I decided to try and live in the house where I sleep, and realized just how much stuff I need to buy; I wore a sweet belt-buckle to work, and realized just how cool it is to live in batmanbang. Since we're on the topic, lets commence part 1 of Battambang vs. Phnom Penh.
NOTE: this will be an assessment for my life only, since it's all I really know.





Pros of Phnom Penh:
Sweet house, with a big bed, a gym, a pool, air-conditioning, p-units, a cleaning lady, meals cooked for me, and a WIDE variety of eateries and cafes...and fast internet.

Cons of Phnom Penh:
No cool development jobs, lots of traffic, fast-paced lifestyle, fairly irritating moto and tuk-tuk drivers, hard to get around.

Pros of Batmanbang:
cool name, super-chill lifestlye and people, my own place, a bicycle, easy to get a round, cheap food, pleasant locals (and foreigners), sweet job, lots of opportunity. CHEAP MANGOES. badminton.

Cons of battambang:
cockroaches, rats, no bed, no fridge, no other appliances (except the toaster oven I just bought), no furniture, no real source of income, no internet in the home, no laptop (it stays with the p-units), loud 3-day wedding sand funerals, lots of dust in the air, lots of heat,


So far, Phnom Penh is winning for easy-nice-life-factor, but Battambang is the harsh land of opportunity...and it is quickly softening. I will explore some of these pros and cons, and likely some additional ones in part two, where I give you a qualatative taste of life in PP and BB.