JEANS - I’M TALL !Kour- KOUR

We went to the Russian markets this morning .. when it was cooler. I’ve grown about 5cm since last summer and I needed new jeans, and because they cost USD9 here it’s where I get them. But, imagine a sauna, imagine a 1 metre wide alley, imagine stalls almost sitting on top of each other .. and imagine peeling on jeans with the sweat to try on under a dress? Mum says that if the jeans fit with dripping perspiration legs, they’ll definitely fit me in Sydney! (no photos - we just wanted to get our watermelon juice and mango smoothie!)

It’s funny being here because I’m TALL!

Everyone is surprised I’m 12 because I am SO TALL !! In Australia I’m the shrimp! I’m the shortest 12 year old amongst my friends in Sydney!! 

The main reason I’m so “tall” here is because lots of the kids my age have grown up with malnutrition, which means they aren’t getting enough of the right vitamins to increase their bone strength and growth. I met a girl at the end of the bamboo train in Battambang, at first I thought she was 9, she was up to my shoulders but when I told her my age she burst out laughing exclaiming she was 12 as well!! I guess Mum serving me my pink cauliflower and blue potato mash when I was two paid off after all!!!

Here’s someone else I’ve know since I was three. Kour, a beautiful woman. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Kour is definitely beautiful, every time I see her warm, loving, brown irises, her infectious smile and incredibly generous personality. I don’t even notice her acid burnt face. Mum’s bought all her books about Cambodia over the years, and she’s always been so loving to me. Someone threw acid on her face about 15 years ago, this is not uncommon in Cambodia. She has had some operations to graft skin and rebuild her nose, but again - I don’t even see it. 

Kour and me at the Russian markets

Here are just some snaps I took walking "home" this afternoon. 

Monk, motodop, SUV

Someone's drink waiting

Expensive shops are sprouting in Phnom Penh