"And if I die before I wake..." That was one of our experiences today. We tried a fresh cane sugar drink from a street vendor (we were told to not buy ANYTHING from a street food vendor). It was fascinating. The vendor cart was full of bees and flies (one of the "if I die" parts). The operator lady takes an 18 inch piece of raw sugar cane, and feeds it through a "squeezer." For those of you who have seen a REALLY old washing machine, it's like those hand crank rollers that squeeze the water out of washed or rinsed clothes. She sends the cane through again and again to get the sugar out. The final two times she adds some fresh pineapple - which adds to the flavor. When it's all done she scoops the squozen (don't think that's a word - but it should be) liquid and ladles it into a baggie full of ice (another of the "if I die parts" - no sanitation guarantee on the ice). Delicious. It's been 18 hours since we drank it, so I think we're ok. But if this turns out to be our final blog, know that we love you all!

During one of our visits today, the visitee set out plastic chairs for us, then dragged out a gunny sack full of empty water bottles for her "chair." Very inventive. A whole new spin on recycling. Fortunately, she only weighed about 80 pounds. If I tried it, the sack would explode. This faithful lady diligently reads her Book of Mormon scriptures every day, and does whatever is necessary to get her whole family to church on Sunday.

For "date night" we went to the "Mekong Crossing" restaurant for dinner. We sat outside across from the River and watched the evening festivities. Zumba dancing, kids playing hackey sack (they use a badminton birdie), families walking along the tiled river path, clouds darkening across the sun-empty horizon. It's like a scene from a movie - only we get to be in it. The food is served Khmae style - which means they bring out meals as they are ready. No such thing as bringing out all the meals together. There can be a 5 -10 minute wait from one meal to the next. Ours was pretty quick tonight - only 1 minute from Erin's to mine. We've been to this place 5 times already - each time trying something new. Fortunately the menu is HUGE. And the combined bill is always under $10.

On a sad note, I broke the fly swatter on a 3 foot cockroach (it wasn't really that big - but these are not small cockroaches you see in the US). We'll have to use flip flops for the roaches - electric tennis racket for flies and mosquitoes. We haven't really had many of any of those lately. Probably because we are able to keep all our food in the two fridges. Two fridges - the epitome of wealth.