Living in Cambodia

Ok I have been wayyyyy slack on the posts but the speed of the Internet leaves a lot to be desired. Not to mention that it is 98 outside and 101 in the Internet cafes. It drops down to a cool 81 each night but by that time I am clean and tired, going outside to the cafe to send e-mails has little appeal.

Everything is good in PP. Better than last time. I feel like a local now. I know my way around, I speak ok Khmer, I know where to eat, where to do laundry, where to send e-mails, even where to grocery shop. It is alllll goooood. I could live here...seriously. Once you get in the groove, it is like living anywhere else. Except here it is BITCH ass hot and dusty. Hmmm, kind of like DC in August.

I have learned a few tricks since being in PP and I would like to share them with the world.

1. Underwear not needed. Yep that is right. Stupid to wear it cause you will change it AT LEAST twice a day. Ladies it is a must to change it 2 times a day but if you don't wear it than there is nothing to change. It is too hot to wear it and it gives your butt a rash. Yes, even cotton underwear will do that.

2. Babies don''t wear diapers and it is not because people can't afford them. I was amazed last time I came how many Khmer children don't wear diapers. I just chalked it up to poverty. Nooooo not true. Now that I hang out with expats, I see that none of their children wear them either. It is SO FUCKING hot and humid that the diaper rash is rampant and painful. Solution: get wood floors or tile and remove the diaper. Babies don't have that much volume of waste and I am told it is much easier to clean up after a 1 year old than treat diaper rash all the time. Very jealous that I can't run around naked like that. Well I could but...So Cambodia is full of nude babies, brown and white, and it has nothing to do with poverty.

3. Best way to wash clothes is to wear them in the shower. That's right. I put my underwear on my head and lather my scalp at the same time (on the odd occasion I do where it) and I put my socks on my hands a scrub my body. I put my shirt and skirt under my feet and let the suds soak them. Then I SMASH them down like grapes. Saves water and a trip to the laundry lady. I am starting to think like an expat and I was appalled that the price of a basket of laundry went from $0.60 to $0.80. I am boycotting.

4. Magic word: CIPRO. Cures everything from anthrax to extreme diarrhea. I am more concerned about the latter. You don't need a prescription for anything is this country. Just walk up to the pharmacist and put in your order. Amazing they even have doctors anymore! There is nothing worse than being in a developing country and having the runs. Trust me on this. I will worry about my year long yeast infection when I get home. It is unavoidable...6 weeks of 1000 mg a day will surely do me in. Small price to pay for not having to sit on the toilet. Which leads me to...

5. Squatting toilets are really the best. I used to avoid them because they were just weird. Now I am sold. One word: Gravity! Since I don't have the runs it always helps to have a little gravity on your side. Did I mention that women in SE Asia don't suffer from incontinence the way Western women do?

More tips from Martha Stewart's Cambodia living next week!