2016

It's 2016. 2015 ended really badly and 2016 started off pretty rough also but I think things are slowly getting better. There are some things that are still causing me some frustration but also some things that are making me a bit happy and that's good. I've been reading a lot which I'm really enjoying and happy about. Doing some things to help me. Talking to a friend has been helpful also.

First post in a long time. My last post was near the start of the year and this one is near the end. It's been a really tough year. There was a point where I thought things were really going well. I felt so much joy, happiness and hope. And then it all came crashing down. These last few months and especially these last few weeks have been extremely difficult. I feel like so much of myself has been lost and crushed. I lost my best friend. I lost the person I was closest to and who I wanted to share everything with. I'm trying to heal from this. Every single minute is a struggle.

Missing those months in Washington. I have to get out and do things again.

Cambodia

It is hot. It is really hot. And the humidity. I thought I was used to humidity, but wow this is something else. The air is thick like your aunt's thick pumpkin soup. It's an inescapable, unmoving mass that you have to wage battle with as you make your way under the relentless, burning sun. And when you're out visiting temples the only respite comes from the shade that the temples themselves create. Their shadows taking on the form of the stories carved into the walls. It's the dry season and if you go certain places that means that your sweat (and you will sweat, it's guaranteed) mixes with the dust kicked up from all the passing vehicles to slowly form a paste that cakes itself to every inch of your exposed skin. Your clothes slowly turn a shade of brown as they accumulate a layer of dust. But this distracts from a country of warm people making ends meet in a chaotic swirl of tuk-tuks and motorbikes. Two cities vastly different but equally interesting in a country linked together by both a rich and terrible history. The markets are dark, dirty. Patches of light filtering down from skylights and lonely light bulbs reveal the hidden wares being sold. Kids run between stalls making use of unused space for games. The scent of raw meat and mysterious things lying in the dark announce your arrival into a different section of the market. Monks instantly stand out from the crowd in their bright orange garments, and children kick a ball a stone's throw from the swarm of tourists making their way to and from Angkor Wat. Whole families whiz by on motorbikes, taking their place in the flow of traffic which itself is almost like a living, breathing beast. It's a totally different story outside the city where kids slowly bike home after school. Food vendors set up shop on the sides of streets creating restaurants to feed the transiting masses who sit on small, plastic chairs. They leave behind piles of napkins. This is from a few scant days in the country. I barely scratched the surface but that's the way things are.

From back before