I was still stoned! Super friggin stoned!!!
Obvious to me at this point there was a lot more "Happy" in that Pie than I expected.
I showered, hoping to take the edge off while smacking some life back into my ass and headed down to breakfast, secretly hoping that last night's arrival party was all still sound asleep.
I levitated into the dining room to find my cousin sitting at the table alone (thank god) eating a watermelon with a look of absolute glee, like a lion devouring an antelope.
I knew at that moment my inherant pizza pie intoxication was not just a result of low tolerance yet a sign of the potency of "happy" provided by our chef in last evenings Italian kitchen.
I sat down across from my cousin and immediately confirmed with a look in the eye that I was not the only space cake in the cafeteria.
I was able to get through breakfast, meet and discuss today's bus ride with a few students and get my bag down to the front desk in time to say goodbye to the Phnom Penh group and load my ass as well as cool cuz into our van by 10 am.
The ride north was interesting and filled with the sound of horns. Our van horn that is. I think we had the fastest van taxi in Cambodia. He simply laid on his horn with pedal to the metal and drove. Weaving in and out of traffic and leaving a cloud of road dust in our wake.
The roads were rather sketchy and actually turned to dirt numerous times before returning to blacktop once again.
We traveled up the Mekong with amazing views of the rice paddies and river delta for hundreds of miles.
After the 9 1/2 hour trip ended we arrived into Ban Lung. It was just long enough to pass through with a wave to some locals.
The van arrived to Ma Monie's home just after 7 pm. The entire Family poured into the dirt road to meet us and carry our bags into the house. Ma Monie came out of the darkness in the front yard sweetly yelling. "My son Patreec. Where is my son Patreec?".
Monie and I had only been emailing each other for a couple of days but had spoken a half dozen times in the van on the way up.
The driver would get a phone call and hand the phone to me. "Are you on your way Patreec?", she would ask.
The next call came a short time later, "where do you want the driver to stop for lunch Patreec?".
Or just a random call to see where we were and to tell me how excited she was to be having us for their family new year party.
Monie's whole family was ecstatic for our arrival. A dozen or more kids filtered into the street to greet us as we came out of the van. All smiles and a bunch of hugs and handshakes.
We were lead into the open air house.
(outdoor dining/party room)
The home was huge. Wooden framed with old thick timber and posts holding it high from the ground. The humongous kitchen is the nucleus of the lower level.
No doors or windows enclosed the lower floor. A couple of rooms wrapped the kitchen with the bathroom, traditionally set in the back yard.
We were immediately handed cans of beer as plates of unbelievably delicious food started appearing on tables.
A few plates of steaming pork stuffed squid bites flowed into my range. We were all directed to sit at the long wooden table outside & in the front courtyard.
The party was to follow but the food flowed like a Hollywood Hills red carpet catered event. I loaded my guy with amazing grub. The pizza from the night before was finally (almost) completely out of my system. I was ready to rock in the New Year with our new friends.
Many beers, glassedof Chivas Regal, red wines and (I think it was
) Jameson I was on my matress in bed. I shared a bed with CC(cool cuz) and a room with 4 other students, one on the porch. We all had mosquito nets and the sleep was sweet! Of course morning arrived way to early but it was a looooong day.
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