apparently, before attending to the business of adopting an adorable cambodian orphan, angelina ordered a pineapple pizza at "cool place pizza" in lovely downtown siem reap, which is where I just had a delicious black olive and onion pizza and warm iced tea (I've had enough fried rice and khmer food in the last four days to last me a lifetime, so I decided that today would be grilled cheese and pizza day. I couldn't be happier.)
sidenote: I'm at a low rent internet cafe typing this. the "r" and "t" keys on my keyboard are sticky, so pardon the occasional dropped letter.
so, no sure if I mentioned this in my last post, but siem reap is a town in northern cambodia and the gateway to angkor wat. angkor wat is a 13th century buddhist/hindu temple and one of the seven wonders of he modern world. although i's the most famous temple,sprinkled around the area are hundreds of other amazing temples. in the last two days, I've seen 11 temples, 2 terraces, a couple gates, and a wall or two. patty's favorite temples:
1. bayon - a temple wih over two hundred enormous faces carved onto 37 towers. please google it.
2. ta prohm (I think) - a temple where huge trees have made their home smack dab in the middle of the ruins. google it, or rent jolie's masterpiece, "tomb raider."
3. banteray srei - a pink sandstone temple built by women, with the most exquisite carvings I've ever seen.
tomorrow I'm spending the day sketching my fool heart out at bayon. it's oppressively hot and humid here, so I may pass out after one or two drawings.
the last two days have been wonderful. after what I'm now calling my "heart of darkness experience" (the robbery, the visit to the killing fields and the genocide museum), it's a been a much needed change. the temples are awe-inspiring and I'm learning how to manuveur my way around the hordes of japanese tourists (they have a completely different concept of personal space than we do. and, I don't know if you know this, but they sure love taking pictures!)
right now my biggest concern is that it not rain tonight. I gave all of my clothes to the guy at the guesthouse to wash (thinking they had a washer and dryer) but when I left for dinner and asked him when I could pick up my laundry he told me tomorrow morning...if it doesn't rain tonight. (I'm assuming that means they're washing my stuff by hand, and my bras and unmentionables are air drying in some local cambodian's front yard. I would like a picture of that.) so, I don't know when I'll get my clothes if it rains tonight. and I doubt they'll let me enter the temples naked, so, I'll probably jump some unsuspecting cambodian kid and steal her tee-shirt and shorts. if I get caught, I'll bribe the police and tell them she was asking for it.
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It's a sunny day in Los Angeles and the weather has cooled down some. Today I got in my car and drove 20 miles for a taco. I walked by Marshall High School --this amazing 12th century gothic brick architecture with high steeples reminicent of an early Byzantine Period. But something was very wrong. Where were all the kids? Certainly not outside in gym class. It was eerily silent. As I was about to notify the local authorities I looked down at the paper in my lap, and get this: it was sunday! Oh, dear me. Just a little slice of home there for ya......I love reading your blog, Patty! Keep writing! And I really hope the last leg is a bit less dramatic (in the criminal sense) and amazing in every other sense. Missing you! Michael U.
this "los angeles" you speak of...where can one find this remote village?
thanks for the encouraging words. miss you, too.
p
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