And we're off

So it's day one of the build. We start out early - breaki at 6 for a 7 am bus departure. Yummy breakfast buffet offers everything from custom-ordered omelets and custom noodle soup to pain au chocolat. I note that I'll need to make future plans for my caffeine needs.

Bus 3 (containing teams for houses 10, 11, and 12) is my new home away from home away from home. I'll spend hours here over the next week. Once on the bus, roll call begins as the sweet local Habitat guy makes sure we are all there by attempting to pronounce our western names - many snickers over "Semen" (Simon). I'm Zuzanne.

Michelle makes a grand entrance carrying a big inflatable kangaroo, complete with both a Joey and boxing gloves. The busload of mostly kiwis jeers and calls for "pns" and other sharp objects in order to pop Kangie. Our team leader, Andy, immediately starts blowing up the inflatable kiwi bird he brought.

Various incarnations of Kangie were beloved mascots on Michelle's earlier builds. It only seems right that she makes an appearance in Cambodia.

The bus ride in is fascinating, interesting, sobering. Phnom Penh traffic is bizarre, but somehow works. Trucks give way to bicycles and tuk tuks vie with motor scooters carrying, on average, 3 people. The family commuter car here is not the 4WD. I promise myself I'll take a picture when I see more than 4 on a scooter or if they start building on the second story.

PP clearly has some money, but beautiful new house are built amongst ramshackle wooden huts. Bently and Lexus cars are also around the place, but so are horse-drawn carriages on a main street in PP.

Many business names include "international", "world" and "global", including the World's Best School, a rundown small bedraggled compound. There is also a weird emphasis on dental clinics - my favorite sign proclaimed a business to be the Shine Your Charming Smile Dental Clinic.

As we get into more rural areas, there are cows and dogs and chickens roaming free. We see fish farms and a roadside stand every 50 meters. They sell fruit, water, sodas and trinkets. Kids wave at the buses full of westerners going past. Michelle reminds me that being in the window seat means I must fulfill my waving duties.

We pull into the Oudong Tourist Resort - there appears to be a temple of some sort and a marketplace, but nothing else about it says resort to me. It is beautiful country - very green with lots of water. We finally arrive at the build site. I estimate that it has taken about a hour to get there.