HJS

For those of you who don’t know, we’ve set up a joint Facebook page and would love to see you there. Search “Joel N. Heather” and it’ll come up. We’ll keep making occasional blog posts here, but for little, everyday, still-alive stuff, check us out on there! We love you!

I’ll admit that crossing the border back into Vietnam after twelve great days in Cambodia didn’t supply that typical “glad to be home” pleasure. The apartment’s still beautiful and we were glad to have foiled robbers with our laptop disguise (dirty underwear and Christmas tinsel). But after Cambodia, brimming with UNESCO heritage sights and non-greasy food and people who mean their smiles and negotiate fairly and don’t carry huge chips of confused political pride on their shoulders, I half-hoped that the man at the border would deny us entry.

He didn’t.

But I guess that’s the mid-contract blues talking. We’re back to work Monday for weeks 9 and 10 of this term, and then we’re off for another (unpaid–so don’t be too jealous) week. When we return March 2 to start the next term, we’ll have four months to go. Then I’ll be happy. I need an end in sight.

I want to write all about Cambodia. There’s so much to tell. I don’t have time to do it justice right now, but I will say that if you’re planning a trip to Southeast Asia, Siem Reap should top your list. Everything important to see in Vietnam can be covered in less than a week, and Thailand (from what I hear, though I might contradict myself later) is Las Vegas of the East these days. But I could spend a month in Angkor and learn something new every day. Gawking at 1,000-year old carvings, riding my bike beneath towering trees as I whiz past monkeys and elephants to the next site. It was the best travel experience of my life. Easily. I daresay: better than Paris.

I’ll write more about that later and post some wonderful pictures. For now, though, I have to go and cook Joel a bland dinner. He’s had a few stomachaches over the past month; yesterday we went to the doctor,  who discovered a tiny parasite–a souvenir from the new Vietnamese restaurant in our neighborhood. It’s common here and he’s on medication to kill the creature. Ah, Health Departments. What a novel invention those are. 

I look forward to sharing a pristine taco-truck meal with all of you soon. So long for now…