Day one of my return.

So I'm back in Cambodia with my kids a couple of days before the tour starts. Well actually one, but its a jetlag day so it started super early and gods willing it will not be too late...I'm living with a Elsa who is 20, Vincent at 17 and Liam at 15. So no it won't be an early evening. 

Flying here highlights to me how weird this planet is. We left on Thursday and basically arrived on Saturday...so we lost a day. The flights were easy. Eleven hours from Seattle to Seoul and six from Seoul to Phnom Penh.

This was a day their phones would get really pushed to their limits

We came in a hour later than I thought, and when we were getting the kids visas it was a little stressful. Not as bad as last time but the officers didn't really understand my story and were wondering about the kids. In the end it all worked out and the kids didn't get too frustrated with me. There seems to be a baseline of frustration, and they didn't get too high above that. 

Tree met us outside. I really enjoyed introducing him to my kids...

He has played such a great role in my return to Cambodia and has become a very dear friend. I love sharing their first minutes in my home land with him.  

I was a little disappointed because we arrived so late at night that the traffic was light and the kids didn't get to see the ordered chaos that it can be. 

Tree drove us to the Okay Boutique Hotel where we are going to live for the next four days. Its the same one Madeleine and I stayed when we were her last time. Our room is nice, we each have our own beds and the view we have is of the Palace and we can see the Mekong river too. 

I think the kids were feeling shy around Tree, but once we got to the room they started sharing their thoughts. None of them felt the climate was too bad. I don’t remember them ever being in a climate like this, and I thought they would grow to like it…but might have to adjust. They all have what we have always called tropical skin, which is always dry and scratchy in non-tropical climates but it comes alive in humid conditions.

I’ve experienced this many times and now my kids get too. Elsa’s first comment was, “Oh, my skin is soft.” Although I have told them some outlandish things over the years this is one that came true.

As I laid in my bed, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment and pride…the first step of our journey was done and no one was openly weeping…they were however all on their phones.