First week in Phnom Penh

The first week of the internship is now behind me. I have taken a deep dive into biodiversity in Cambodian rice fields and what possibilities there are to measure it. The topic is really fascinating me, and the more I know about it, the more I realize, how much I don't know. Many of the measurements done dor assessing the diversity of life, is done with quantifying abundance and species richness of insects. I have never paid much attention to insects before, or gone deeper in the taxonomic classification. But alone in this week I became very fascinated by the range of ecological roles and interactions that exist among insects. I am very curious and happy that I can dedicate the next few months to study the insects, and their ecological functions more thoroughly.

I usually work until 5pm and I feel quite tired in the evenings. But in some of the evenings I took the time to get to know the city a bit. I have been to various markets, I walked around the royal palace (which is huge), and I have tried already various cambodian street foods.

Being vegetarian is not impossible, but very difficult. Yesterday for example, I asked foor a vegetable salad, and somehow chicken feet ended up on it anyway. Besides chicken feet I am also enjoying a lot of fruits, lke mango, pineapple, passion fruits, dragon fruits, Guavas, etc..

Thursday I went to an Ultimate training with a small, mixed group of people. Their style of playing was completely different from what I'm used to - much less serious, very playful, and unorganized. But I ended up really liking it.

My only struggle was the 38°C and humidity, even with the sun setting. One guy was playing in flip flops, and I'm really not sure, if I was faster than him. The whole team was very welcoming, they talked in English, and it felt easy to be with them. THe coach mentioned, that there's a similarly casual team in Battambang, which I could join during my time there :)

(see guy in flip flops)

Phnom Penh has already given me a lot of new impressions and I feel actually very comfortable here. I will write more about my experiences here tomorrow.