Arrival

Today I arrived in Phnom Penh. Flew Cathay Pacific from Vancouver to Hong Kong, and then Dragonair Hong Kong to Phnom Penh. My first flight was delayed an hour and a half because of Prince Harry's flight from New York (apparently they shut down the skies for him), so it was a close stopover - I arrived at my departure gate in HK just one minute before boarding began. But I made it!

I was met at the airport by 3 of the AIESEC Cambodia Co-Founders: Jess, Jan and Chrissy, as well as one of the CfD employees. They took me to my workplace where I met my boss (Narak) and the other employees of CfD. They all seem like very friendly people and I am looking forward to learning from and working with them. We work in a multi-level building, and my office (I have my own room!) is overlooking the road/building entrance, so I can watch the hustle and bustly of the city from my desk.

Apparently we have a meeting with the World Bank on Wednesday and I will be making a presentation to them, so I will be putting something together tomorrow. They usually start work at 7:30am but Narak was sympathetic to my jet-lag, so I'm starting at 9am tomorrow. Whew!

After stopping in at CfD, Jess (from Canary Islands). Jan (from England/Germany) and Chrissy (from Ireland) took me to Chrissy's place where I had a much needed shower. Then we went to lunch where I met Evgenia, the Russian intern who I will be living with. Currently sitting in a little expat hang out cafe, drinking a cold chocolate drink and typing away on Jess' laptop while her and Jan work on AIESEC things. A group of four of them weren't sure what to do after grad so they decided to start up an AIESEC chapter in Cambodia last November - such a great idea! And it seems to be going very well so far.

Going to see 2 apartments with Evgenia this evening, and start work at 9am tomorrow so I'll be back at Chrissy''s and sleeping like a baby pretty early I expect.

I love the energy in this city. Everyone seems so friendly. I'm going to need to get used to the traffic and chaos here but it is quite the adventure!

Off for now,

Kat