Returning friends

A very dear friend of mine returns from spending a year with VSO in Cambodia and I'm so looking forward to getting together and catching up.

Wendy in true reporter style has emailed all her friends roughly every week of her year away and has amassed a round of stories and pictures which have the making of an excellent book / blog.   She may have to edit however to protect the innocent or not so innocent depending on what was happening at the time.

As I browse through here are some snippets:

• people in authority not making decisions - I did wonder why she thought it might be different but heh-ho! bureaucracy gets everywhere.
• learning Khami - or not
• silk farms set up to train and educate local women and children
• visits to Phnom Penh to eat junk food and shop
• surviving the 'durian' season.   Some of you might know that this fruit stinks but tastes very good - I could never get it past my nose.  
• the transport of pigs upside down, tied to the back of a moto.   The transport of dead animals being illegal. 
• being ill - well all that junk food must have surprised a tummy getting used to rice for breakfast dinner and tea.
• an inordinately wet - wet season - worst since 2001.   
• difficult getting used to peddling hard to keep your momentum on the bike to get through the water and a brilliant work out - which I'll take her word for
• senior management meeting cancelled because of seaside workshop.   Managers get paid extra to attend workshops so of course the seaside is more appealing
• management deciding to reduce the bonus of people who don’t attend work when they should 
• attending 3 day wedding celebrations
• and very much more .........