Normal

I'm stealing this post idea from my fellow SALTer LynAnne, so I will begin by officially crediting her genius.

A comedian I love, Christopher Titus, starts out one of his comedy specials with the line "65% of American families are dysfunctional. That means that we're the majority. Normal people are no longer normal" or something like that. I've been in Cambodia for 6 weeks now and I'm settling into this being normal life, not a long vacation. So I thought I would share a few things that are officially 'normal' for me now:
1) Rice with every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner
2) Traveling everywhere on the back of a moto (moped)
3) Bargaining for every purchase (though sometimes I am lazy and just pay whatever they ask)
4) Watching Korean soap operas and music videos every night
5) Going to bed early and getting up early
6) Dealing with a language barrier 24/7
7) Laughing at myself when I say completely the wrong thing is Khmer or get completely lost or make a huge cross cultural mistake
8) Being more emotionally vulnerable than at home, my normal coping mechanisms don't always work here
9) Using water instead of toilet paper
10) Always taking cold showers- which actually feel amazing
11) Not going anywhere if it is raining, the city totally shuts down, the streets flood
12) Carrying a helmet with me everywhere
13) Accepting that if you walk anywhere, you will be noticed because no one walks here

And here are a few things I just can't quite get used to:
1) Standing out everywhere I go, I'm always a spectacle
2) Attracting beggars like a magnet
3) Being constantly asked if I need a tuk tuk or moto everywhere I go
4) Not being out after dark, ever
5) Sweating constantly, and I mean constantly