Well, the very existence of this blog posting is testament to the return of the prodigal suitcase:   As promised, it came on the next flight and was promptly delivered to the guesthouse, including the electric current transformers which allowed me to revive my dead Macbook, iPhone and iPad by morning!

As it was being delivered, I was out finally having the chance to spend some time in-person with the JWOC crew rather than coping with Skype conversations!   Sarah Crowley (Education & Volunteer Programs), Tom McLean (Fundraising & Communications), Alex Plummer (Executive Director) and Brandon Ross (Co-Founder):   We ate at a terrific restaurant called Haven that’s a training restaurant for at-risk young adults from orphanages, safe shelters, and poor rural areas. At Haven they learn quality work skills and life skills, getting support in their transition from institution to real world as well as giving them a chance to step out of the poverty cycle. 

After a great night’s sleep, I got up and set off on my day’s mission to acquire a bicycle.  I’m not sure if I just wasn’t paying attention on the tuk-tuk rides yesterday, but from my seat in the back, I watched and learned today how to merge into traffic…    This came in very handy later when I was on the bike by myself… just kidding!!

We reached the Phsa Leu Market intact and my driver kindly dropped me off right in front of one of the many used bike emporia.    Prior to leaving, I had gotten great guidance from Voleak, my hostess at the guesthouse, as to my criteria (including axle type, automatic light, bell, basket, lock, handlebar and seat style).  After a bit of searching and discussion with the shop owner, the winning cycle was culled from the herd   And then it was assembled.  Kind of cool actually.  They have shelves full of pedals, baskets, locks, lights, bells, etc. and put all the pieces on after you pick.    It took a little while, but that was ok.  The shop is a full-on family affair and I spent the time chatting with the owners’ wife (who thankfully spoke pretty good English since I haven’t gotten past “thank you” and “can I have my bill please” in Khmer so far).  I also got to meet their two adorable kids — a 2-1/2 year old boy (Chiang) and an 11-month old girl (Miriel).  It was bath time, so they were in silly kid moods and once they were (partially!) dressed, they were deposited in a couple of hammocks that hang in the workshop area for some serious spinning and tickling. I think that was supposed to become nap time next, but they were pretty chipper and wound up when I left!  

If I have enough energy left (both mine and the juice in my MacBook) before bedtime, I’ll add another couple of posts on fun things from the day.  Hopefully that’ll give me some room to slack off a bit on the blog as JWOC is open again tomorrow and I’ll be heading over there to start learning and working on the (many!) projects we’ve mapped out for the coming weeks.  Really looking forward to it!