an amazing week

the past week has just been great in so many ways, now i feel like im in limbo land but thats cool... its just been really great :) and then tomorrow mom and sis is coming!!! bye for nowl....

sleeping with the enemy

Its funny where life takes us and well the way we look at other people. I went over to the US embassy last night to watch a movie with one of the marines and I remember in the beginning I wasn't that interested in them cause they were'nt really the type of people I would consider making friends with, but I've had to re-think this. After spending time with them I see that yeah, they aren't exactly a copy of me but they are sill really nice guys. They are nice, you feel as youre looked after, for example: last night he offered to come back in a tuktuk with me to make sure i arrived home safely), well raised, and just generally nice it feels like. BUT! here comes the twist, he started to show me pictures and then he showed me pictures from Iraq and small videos he had and it hit me. These are the people I have detested for so long, these arethe people who I consider mercenaries for a ludacris government. They've been in Iraq illing 'the bad people' (yep thats the ter they used) and they have pictures of it! It's just outrageous and it made me feel sick to watch and it makes me feel so confused of people and the world... and I also realise that I actually am one f those.... one of those who believe in love peace and understanding....

ouch that was deep, dont worry next time ill be back to my normal cynicism

Cambodia, the land of contrasts

Today I have, been blessed by monks, hugged and handed out food to brown kids, seen british international (spoiled rich) kids perform a play about moon hopping, and watched hardcore street kids breakdance..... great huh.. yeah mostly weird and overwhelming. oh and im surrounded by dogs that r lovely! im good

Human Rights Day

So there's a big rally at the Olympic Stadium for the Human Rights Day and I feel kinda bad for not attending, but I kinda woke up late, I'm supposed to call Per, etc, etc I have all these excuses not to go... Oh well.... LUCIA!!!!!!!
oh and another funny thing I've forgotten to tell you. Theyre doing construction work at the opposite end of the house and this has caused the foundation to move which has now lead to the floor in our ceiling to errupt like a volcano... Really bad.. and of course getting a khmer person to help us is more or less impossible.. so we'll see what happens... crazy....

A angry dove, high on glue flew to the embassy

Haha, explanation? Well it's simple really, on Thursday we were playing charades and this small extremly sweet boy called Nom was asked to do angry, he runs through the crowd and screams ANGRY!!!!! and then when he realises it he stops on the spot, covers his mouth and get an expression of Oh dear now they're gonna laugh at me. Which we of course did cause it was just too funny to control. It really was funny. Speaking of funny expressions there's another small boy at the center who everyday around lunch time also gets a very funny expression on his face, it's a Oh dear I lost my shoes again, I'm in trouble now... They've solved the problem by just letting him walking barefoot. I so wish you all had the chance to meet these kids who are all just charachters in themselves.
On my way back from the center on Thursday I was struck by two unbelievably contrasting scenes. We drove past two boys walking on the street, one of them tried talking to me (we were driving kinda slowly) the other one was busy breathing in a bag (it took me three months before I had to witness children sniffing glue) and then two blocks down we were driving past the sewage canal with its pitch black water in it and out of it flies a bright white dove, way surreal!
Jen and Gerbrand left on Thursday and Jen won't come back til after Christmas which means that I'lll be going in to the center alone now until the 22nd when I'm gone too. It's a bit weird cause everything just gets so much more Cambodian and real when there are no other westeners around me. Not to mention the fact that I'll be teaching all by myself now as well.. aaaahh! :)
Oh and if you're sitting there thinking poor Ulrika who are stuck in Cambodia, just hold your symphaties for a moment and listen to this.
- So Ulrika what are your plans for the weekend?
- Oh you know, just embassy hopping. Yesterday was the party on the american embassy, Saturday there are no definite plans but then on SUnday there's the party at the Swedish embassy.
How crazy does that sound??? If you would have asked me three years ago if I ever saw myself at an embassy party the answer would have been quite different.... life is truly surreal sometimes. What are your plans for this weekend?
Roger that, over and out.

Left to learn.

So two of the girls were sick today, and it really catches me off guard. I feel so helpless and I wish I would know what to do but I don't and I really don't know how to react. It just makes me realise that I have so much left to learn.