sunday morning

Thank you for all the email messages of support. The sad news is that I cannot post via my laptop and therefore cannot send pictures. I would need a global PC modem bought and installed and I am cheap and chicken to test my computer in that way. So it is back to the hotel internet with it's weird keyboard.
Last night we wandered around Siem Reap and ate Cambodian food. Lots of lemon grass, basil and coconut. We crashed early and decided to go to the lake this am. Tonle Sap is about 20 minutes away by tuktuk which is a cart towed by a motor scooter. What we did not count on was how chilled we would get in our summer clothes. On the boat we were wearing the life vests to provide warmth. The floating village is boats that line the river and then move to the lake during the dry season when the river gets too low. they live on these boats and fish and then sell the fish at market. They have floating schools and 2 floating basketball courts, the old ladies with boats full of produce sell door to door, or boat to boat, there are markets of junk food. It is a simple way of life but contaminated by tourism as wehad a planned stop at the crocodile farm - an enticement to purchase stuff- and the store for school supplies where we declined to spend 5 dollars for 10 pencils. Our guide was very disappointed in us. He did remember when the Khmer Rouge came through his village and wiped out 300 people overnight. This is recent and painful history for these people.
Among the more amusing sights are the gas stations- they line the road and sell gasoline from old whiskey bottles. Johnnie Walker, both red and black, are very popular flavors of gasoline.
Tomorrow we start our real purpose and will put aside the sightseeing until next weekend. We are both anxious to get started on our assigned tasks and to see how we can be of the most use.
Thank you again for all the support.
Deb