sunburnt and twisted

lots to say today.

its been a really hectic week and to be honest ive been really stressed. im still not sleeping well and have a load of stuff on my mind, so its been a really testing week.
i read in the paper about a half marathon at angkor wat in december and ive decided to give it a go. well im going to check out the web site now! i ran three times round the northbridge football fields...which is quite a distance. i recon i ran 2 miles before i started to feel tired. so i have a way to go before i could run 13. im going to see if my american friend dave wants to give it a go. should be a laugh.
we played expat football on tuesday night which was great. a whole mix of people from all over the world. its mainly westerners and its with a full size ball on a small concrete parking lot it was really competative, im going to make sure i get there every week. its a really good work out and ive met a bunch of good people.

went out with sothy yesterday (pronounced so-tea) he wanted to introduce me to his friends at university so we first went and walked up the riverfront and watched the boats getting ready for the river festival next week, then we had a coffee and went up to the uni. unfortunately i wasnt allowed into the university , the guard said it was because they were having classes, which i understood but then i thought that seems weird because surely they are always having classes. anyway sothy reconed he wanted a bribe to let me in and i didnt have any money on me so we left. it was good to relax together and see each other to build our friendship. it is good having someone of that age that i can talk to about stuff. he was telling me all about his girlfriend and showed me a picture of her. none of the men get married untill they are 30 and have a decent job. sothy seemed to think that if you get married in your 20's you are destined to get a divorce. i think that is one of those cultural things that i will never understand.

im going to get a licence and a motobike soon. the reason i want to do this is because it allows you so much more freedom and the amount of money im spending on transport at the moment is quite alot. so by the end of my year here im sure i will save money by getting one...plus their so cool. there are thousands of them on the roads here.

i was chatting to mum on the phone earlier i cant believe its been 8 weeks since ive been here. which means only 8 months to go! she was please to remind me that i will be coming home...love you mum. cant wait to hear about all their adventures in india.

im a little sunburnt today which is the first time that has happened but my skin is slowly going a browny gold colour. im not sure if this is because of the sun or the dirt either way i still stand out a mile from the khmer.

livin it up.
ben.