Life in Cambodia

I just can't sit still long enough to write a blog post anymore! I think I'm just not introverted enough or something.

Anyway, I'll write a little about what our life is like here. One might think that the reason there haven't been any of "Michele's Occasional Updates" lately is because I don't have anything happy or exciting to write about. But it is just the opposite! We have been enjoying ourselves and having so much fun that I just haven't had time to think about my blog.

I am a volunteer music theory and piano teacher at the Royal University of Fine Arts. It's hard because most of the students don't understand English and I of course do not understand or speak Khmer. But I am using my education and I am excited about that. I'm also teaching piano lessons at a private music school in our neighborhood. I have never thought of myself as a piano teacher but there is a big demand for piano teachers here so I'm doing it!


We have a nanny/house helper. She helps take care of Anna, goes to the market, cooks dinner for us, and cleans. It is strange to think that in New York I was the babysitter and now we have our own. The best part about it is that I can spend so much more time on the floor playing with Anna because I don't have to make dinner, do the laundry, or scrub the bathtub. I love it!

Sometimes John and I reflect on the differences between living in New York and living here. In Cambodia, we get to go out to eat as often as we want. We get to go on trips. We have reliable transportation. John enjoys his job, I enjoy my job. We have money in the bank. In New York, I had to cook, clean, shop, do the laundry, take care of Anna, and deal with all kinds of other things (BED BUGS) that people who live in New York have to deal with. We realized that in New York, we just lived from one crisis to the next. In Cambodia, we look forward to each day as it comes.

But of course there were some up sides of living in New York: Broadway shows, good food, museums, parks, hanging out with some of the best people and best friends we have ever known.

And there are some down sides to living here. The biggest one is that we are so far away from our family. There's no substitute for family.

And now for some pictures I just pulled off my phone. The girl in the second picture is Alice, Anna's current best friend. She lives across the hall from us and they play together every day.