I popped out of bed and started my morning routine. Climbing down the stairs to the first floor, slipping out the back door into the alley, until reaching the breakfast room. I made a cup of coffee and then carried it back up to the rooftop to write. Sython arrived at 8:30am and he looked different. He seemed tired, normally arriving with smiles ear to ear, bouncing his shoulders up and down while laughing at his own stories. I asked if everything was okay and w...

I had a dream that Dunkin Donuts opened a store right around the corner from my house. We don't have these in San Diego, so it really was the best news I could receive. I was overjoyed and began picking out all my favorite donuts to eat. Chocolate glazed, the vanilla cream filled powdered donut, laughing as I explained to the clerk how much I love their donuts. My dream didn't stop there. I arrived to my friends house. Her daughter was selling Girl Scout cookies ...

I woke up and crawled out of the mosquito net to an empty house. I climbed the steep ladder down to the ground and tip toed passed the baby cow sleeping in the yard. Entering the house next door, I found the mother cooking breakfast off the back room on a big black pot. "We will have porridge today," Sython announced as he sprung out of the bed in the one room home. He climbed up onto the table and sat Indian style waiting for our food to be served. Valentina ca...

Valentina and I quickly packed up our room and met Sython in the lobby. This was our last day touring Siem Reap and then he would be taking us to stay overnight in a village half way to Phnom Penh. He climbed in the Tuk Tuk and clapped his hands together. "Today we grab breakfast, American for Julie and then we go to the flooding villages." The Tuk Tuk arrived to the same place we ate the night before. Sython pointed on the menu as he spoke, "Julie, you get the A...

I woke up in the middle of the night to a dark room, I could not recognize. Half asleep, I couldn't figure out where I was. All this traveling was beginning to play tricks on my mind. Once I looked over at Valentina asleep on the bed next to mine, the panic slipped away, and I closed my eyes. I woke up the next morning to Valentina tracing her eyes with dark eyeliner while she explained we had thirty minutes until we had to leave. I quickly slipped on my...