Update and Photo Dump

Remember when I said I'd update this once a week? Me neither. So in an attempt to stay on track I'll just do a quick check-in with what's been going on and then a photo dump documenting what I've been up to.
Some thoughts about the past few weeks:
-I am adjusting to the new normal, like when a guy is riding a bike with 30 dead chickens hanging off it, he doesn't get a second glance. Or, if some electricians are working on a power line that go across a busy street and a worker is standing in the middle of said street, holding the drooping wire up with a stick to keep it off the road, ain't no thang.
-Working for an NGO is frustrating when the real problems need solutions to come from the government, which is conveniently corrupt.
-People here are damn resilient, especially the elderly generation. It is astounding to look into someone's eyes who has lived through a genocide and see laughter.
-Fried crickets with salt (MSG) and spices are actually good, but it's weird when their legs get stuck in your teeth
-I saw a kid hustle a pool table to sell bracelets and made a killing off of the 3 or 4 white dudes that were there. Kids are resilient too.
-It is uncommon to see expats and Khmer people hanging out together. I don't think it's intentional but for whatever reason, there are some boundaries there that are infrequently crossed.

On to the photo dump! I finally got to do some field work in the Svay Rieng and Prey Veng provinces. My project is focusing on using lime (the mineral, not the fruit) to treat household wastewater so that it may be reused as fertilizer on crops. Beyond the metropolitan areas there is no waste management program of any kind and almost everyone is a farmer, both for subsistence and income. To know if this lime idea will be feasible in Cambodia, we need a better understanding of how people use lime day to day, where it comes from and how much it costs.

Drying out the dry-season rice. It's still in the husk so it looks brown.

A lake, Boeng Kampong (I think), in Prey Veng Province

One of the people we interviewed grew their own oyster mushrooms on the

                                                                                       ground floor of their house

Ubiquitous rice

I'm checking out the ladybugs that were all over the rice

                        Old ladies like to chew on lime paste spread on betel leaves plus some sort of red palm nut                                         that makes your teeth turn black and your lips red. This spunky gal also added a pinch of tobacco. 

Then I went to the beach. The glorious, glorious beach. We stayed in Otres 2, a quiet, off-the-beaten-path stretch of sand where the water was a mere 70 or 80 ft from our room. The bungalows were basic, but how often would you really be inside at a place like this?

 My ridiculous tropical Skittle bus

Basically the view from our bungalow

Sunrise

Sunset

 I think this dude just plays congas all day

 Monks playing on a tire swing

 Twisty tree on a rock

Adorable kid we befriended. I think he was the owner's son. He literally just gets to play on the beach all day, every day. 
Rough life. 

Until next time, friends and family!