Time of my Life in Temple Town

 Good morning everyone! 

As Summer draws top a close in Europe, the wet season is creeping closer to a close. It's not to say that we're not still getting downpours (Universally timed for when I'm out on a bike ride). However, our booming thunder and strobe lightning are gradually fading away. My time in Temple Town is taking on leaps and bounds.

It's been a while (well, since I cracked that bone in my leg last year) since I've been in an environment that has allowed me to unleash my best self. I've been confident but overran with laziness, or lack of motivation, or deprivation for the urge to social. Being the social human you all know me to be, that's a real change. 

I usually thrive in high-intensity environments (see my eight-month stint on that cruise ship or my contract in Tenerife as a hotel animator and scooter-riding-pirate) and for the most part, the past eighteen months or so have been....well...not high intensity, slow, and quite...boring. Arriving at Siem Reap and having a new city to call home is the strike of inspiration I've needed to take myself to the next level of whatever it is that I need next. 

Right now it's a great time to find the balance between my health, socialising, keeping fit, finding an output for some backed up creative energy. I've been going to art classes, made a bunch of new mates, cycle 50km every day, teaching myself to draw, I'm starting to play Ultimate Frizbee, writing a shit-tonne...and been drinking 4L of water a day. Adulting, achieved. 

So that's my latest little update. Might write about some funny stories coming up soon. Currently phoneless, alas, no photos at all. But you can just imagine me in full freckled glory, beaming at the camera! 

Cambodia, Cancelled Classes and Corona

There's this little thing happening at the moment, dunno if any of you have heard about it...? Corona Virus? 

Anyone who knows me will know how cynical I am of the media, and how much I frankly haven't given a sh*t about this Corona Virus. But now it is what it is, it's impossible to not talk about. So what is the update with me? Not a lot really. My plans haven't changed too much, still avoiding the 40+ heat, still doing yoga and Zumba, still leaving Battambang this weekend and cycling to Phnom Pehn to head to the islands. 

 

My visa is valid until May here, and the border with Laos is still open (for now) so I'll be going there in May. I can get a 90-day extension and bounce between here and there. Hopefully, by then it's all blown over and we can all carry on with our lives and stop stockpiling toilet paper and talking about how awful Boris Johnson is. 

FUNNY THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED RECENTLY: 

• I had my first parent/teacher night. We have a translator because I'm sure I could get by with "you child he good, write good, speak good, but naughty. ABC make me happy" but not sure how much they'd appreciate my Khmer. SO ANYWAY got one parent and I'm like hey, your daughter is amazing, best in class, speaks perfect, keep her on the right track! only for me to give him her paperwork and him to say "this isn't my daughter" and she is actually one of the slowest in the class...oops. 

• Hearing that drawing a tiger on your neck will scare away the mice in your body if you have mumps.

• Having to deescalate a guy who was getting very passionate about the CIA following him. Then explain that an ESL teacher in Cambodia who speaks Khmer is not the perfect cover for a CIA agent (and if I was I ain't gonna be hanging out in a hostel following his boring ass). 

Till next time, spending this tough time in Cambodia isn't the worst place to be. Sending out the posi vibes to all my famalams and friends who care to check here now my life isn't so exciting anymore haha

Bettering myself in Battambang

How are things? 

They're good...if you ignore that I got left in a bomb zone a couple days ago and the apparent apocalypse of Corona that is heading our way... I'm doing great! 
 
I'm still attempting to touch my toes and find mindfulness with yoga classes twice a week...still drinking 2L of water a day (sometimes even infused with cucumber, get me) still working on my Rubix cube solving times. It's a slow life, that I'm not quite ready for just yet- but it's nice.

School is good, although it can be challenging at times, also hella fun especially your kids are calling each other crazy, or that they stink of shit...or they're saying it to me and I get to tell them to shut up and that I understand (all in Khmer, the Cambodian language)..

My adult class is fun, although this is a challenge this week as we start our new topic of "Future Technology" when we're in a country where my housemate asks if my Grandma's hip replacement is "magic" because it sounds so futuristic conversations like this happen:

Chit (my housemate): My sister just told me a lady in my village is having a baby now, so she had to run and get the old lady for her.
 Me: Old Lady?????????
Chit: Yeah, the old lady who helps the baby come out
Me: ????????????? ....... the midwife?
Chit: What's that?? You just get the oldest lady in the village because she's had the most children and seen the most babies so she helps

another conversation we've been having in class about medical advances 

Me: Okay, so what would you have done if you broke your arm 100 years ago?
Class: ????? I don't know, the same as we did 20 years ago? The same as people do in the countryside now??? 
Classmate 1: You rub a baby chicken on it and plants and put it in bamboo? 
Classmate 2: No, it's not a dead baby chicken, I had fried leeches and plants and ginger and then bamboo? But now, I'd just go to the hospital.  

so trying to explain even Dolly the sheep is a little bit mind-blowing for some of my students (who are also Monks...). But hey- if it's not a challenge it's not exciting. Right??

They've been doing some work on excavating the river bank to do some beautification in my town and after the civil war here in the 70's they've been finding dozens of unexploded bombs and grenades. So I'm in class doing some homework and I finish a couple hours late, so I pass through reception and there's nobody there? I go outside and there are no cars?? But there is the Army and bomb disposal squad, so the whole road has been shut off and I'm there like lol what. So yeah, had a front-row view of the detonation.

Only a couple weeks left in this sleepy town now before I'm back to the Rong where I belong, and coming up with my plan B now as China is looking off the table.

Oh, btw, I went to Budapest, and Vienna (and other photos)

Greetings from Graz

Broken Bone Becca here with the latest update from across Europe.

After 7 Days of inhaling the smell of old lady shit and methane, laying in bed and trying to avoid eyecontact out of fear of being coaxed into conversation.

I'M FINALLY FREEEEEE

enjoying another great
night of sleep in E237

I had my operation, and obviously it all went to plan. I roll into theartre and Dr Jana says I'm on local aesthetic. This means some injections in my spin. Now- I don't make this public knowledge but I HATE INJECTIONS, so the thought of having some in my SPINE wasn't too appealing but hey- do what you gotta do. So I think they've done them, and I'm like PHEW WASNT SO BAD! GLAD THATS OVER! Nope. It was just the pen showing where they needed to do them. D'oh. 

Dr Jana then asks if I want any music whilst I'm having my operation, and what I want. I said hey- play anything. I just don't like country music. So what does she put on? Dixie Chicks. What a joker! But I ever had my very own pee bag, more people peeking at my privates than I'm used to. People putting suctions on my chest then causally forgetting to cover up the puppies after. Hello fixed leg, the only price? Dignity. 

But the leg hasn't been too painful for the most part. Not as painful as having a rag-and-bowl wash, getting round to giving the grand canyon a wipe and the attractive, young, tattoo's nurse walks in and you make eyecontact mid-butt wipe. Dignity. 

So since Wednesday I've been back to Fort Dennis. I don't have to ask when I want to pee, I can est nice food again! I don't have to suffer through German Big Bang Theory, we can watch Eurovision at our own free will. We've been to the cinema (WITH A HUGE POPCORN) to see Detective Pikachu, soaked up a rare bit of sun, eaten lunch with some Camels. Freedom never tasted so good. 

my chauffeur 

Amster-damnn

The 11th of February has put me in a place I never thought I'd be two years ago, 6 months ago, 2 weeks ago or even yesterday... still in the grey confides of my bedroom in Crawley. Alas, I am still here and awaiting a winter placement (if one ever shows up).

But it has meant that I've finally (almost) cleared everything from my family home, got to spend some quality time with the family, pop over to the Netherlands for the weekend and see my old favourite band play a venue about 20 times the capacity that I'm used to.


My phone call that is my ticket to slopes, snowboarding, and scenery still hasn't come through. So me and my Dad went to watch some football together. Fair to say he was more excited about the game than I was (Psst, we won 5-0) but I was just happy for the social. And helping Dad to not fall in the road after a couple of 7.5% ciders ;)

After getting home on Saturday night I realised it was my first birthday since my 18th (6 years ago!) that I've spent in the UK so needed to change that so convinced Mama to book a last minute day off work and come on a 3 day break to Amsterdam with me, leaving home at 6am the next day.

So that we did, packed our overnight bags, booked a Botel (it's a hotel on a converted boat, geddit??) and attempted to catch our flight...only to realise I'd actually booked it for November 2019. Well it's always been on my bucketlist to show up at the airport and book the next flight...

We ended up doing a fair bit when we were over there, my personal favourite was my birthday unlimited-pancake cruise. But after walking every ounce of them over the weekend (not weekend) we covered the whole city (in the sleet) by foot, we met up with a Koh Rong friend, Ilana, on her native territory and she showed us the best food place ever. The pictures speak for themselves. 

 

 

mum sized car


Other ventures out of my house this week have seen me and my, uglier, sibling discover my new favourite band in London (and a few bevvies with Natalie Webb) with Estrons and seeing my old fav band Don Broco finally headlining Wembley (and getting in for free... score!) 

 

Home, Sweet Home.

December 18th saw a shock and a very messy bedroom to the family household as I decided to make the pilgrimage back to the UK for the Christmas season!

A quick nip up to the ever-so-sunny Blackpool, Glasgow and down the Coast to Cornwall. A smooth flight over to Poland and now awaiting my flight to my next adventure. Hitting the Alps for Round 2. 2019 style!

Highlight include;

• The big family reunion! And having some decent food, and a fridge full of it! 
• And coffee and cocktail catch ups with everyone from the past few years I haven't seen. 
• Dancing the evening away to Madness in Brighton. Family bonding over some ciders and ska.
• Christmas and New Year. Even the quiet ones are never really that quiet in my family.
• Going to Blackpool and hitting the arcades, missing out on the infamous illuminations, apparently switched off for my arrival and the closed piers. 
• Spending a few nights with my Scottish family, (massive shout out for putting me up K.B, Gwen, David and Jenna. And helping me out with my Veganuary). Getting pished, almost getting knocked out by Jenna when she was flossing through the Panto, eating a whole tube of salt and vinegar pringles (okay, that's not a highlight for sure haha) 
• Condiment Chaos in Cornwall
• My bus driver getting knocked out on the way home.
• Reuniting with Karma from Koh Rong in Warsaw. Making the most of the cheap alcohol and pretending to speak wayyy more languages than I do.
• Having to evacuate my train and rejoin a new one.

A few snaps from this time, and my last trip through Thailand.

being normal at madness

snowboard squad 2016

80's night with drunk juliette

-11 at the somber Birkenau

cheers to getting pished

apparently not the eiffel tower

head first into scottish culture with some dragon soop

did someone say "flaming absynth"?

catch ups with lucy lou