"Kgnom Awt Sroul Clooin' Te" =(

Stuck at the hotel feeling under the weather today. I've been trying to soak up the culture here as much as possible...even if that means eating or drinking something that's a bit questionable. Eh, oh well! So, while I'm lyin' around, I thought I'd tell you all about my past month!








On Saturday, September 5th, mom and I drove to Atlanta to put me on a plane from Georgia to Soeul, Koreal. Yeah, 15 hours on a plane. But it wasn't all that bad! I ate 3 meals, had my own personal tv on the back of the seat in front of me that had movies, tv series, and CDs uploaded onto it (and also had a setting where you could see a map of our flight route), was given a toothbrush with toothpaste, was offered wine, and slept for at least 6 hours. It





was weird, though, that as we were moving backward over timelines and we all were getting tired at about midnight our time, it was still light out over the Pacific ocean into Asia. AND the luckiest part was magically waking up as we were passing over a mountain range in Alaska!!


Finally, I got to Korea. I think it was about 3 or 4 AM in Georgia time but I wasn't tired at ALL. Being in a different country by myself was so crazy feeling! That was the most liberated-feeling 2 hours of layover I've ever had.
After buying a subway sandwich, leaving my passport on a phone booth, freaking because I couldn't find my passport, running back to the phone booth, breathing for the first time in 10 minutes, and buying a couple packs of gum, I boarded my plane from Soeul to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I was not only the only white person on that flight, but I was the only native English speaker, too. The plane was small and all of the announcements were in Korean and Khmer (Cambodian). No English. That's when it hit me that I was literally on the other side of the world.

The flight was about 5 hours long, most of which I either slept, ate yet another airplane meal, or tried to learn "hello" in Khmer. When we got to Siem Reap Sunday night (remember I left Saturday mid-morning), the weather was so bad that we circled around for about 45 minutes before landing. I got in line to show my VISA, picked up my bags, met by Meng, my project coordinator and basically bff in Cambodia, and went to my hotel.

My first day living in Cambodia was so busy that it's basically a blur to me. What I did:

• Woke up at 6:30 for breakfast


• 7:30-8:30 My first Khmer Language Lesson


• 8:30-9:30 Orientation


• 9:30-10:30 Brought presents to a pagoda and was blessed by the oldest Monk I've ever seen


• 10:30-1:00 Went to lunch with Meng and bought myself a bicycle


• 1:30-2:30 Visited the Orphanage


• 3:00-4:00 Visited my first school (CLFCA)


• 4:30-6:00 Visited my second school (Khmer Help Khmer)


• 6:30-7:30 Saw a traditional Cambodian dance


• 8:00-9:30 Went to dinner with Meng


• Passed out by 10 in my room

YEAH. and the way we got around everywhere was either by TukTuk (Cambodian equivalent of a taxi) or by Meng's motobike. I also took about 150 pictures on that first day, all of which are on Facebook. Jennifer Hicks if we're not already friends.

Although that was one of the most hectic days of my life, it was also the most exciting. I couldn't WAIT for the days to come.

My first week was perfect:


I woke up early every day for breakfast,

had my Khmer lessons,

had from around 10-12 to plan my lessons for the day,

bicycled 3 km to CLFCA where I'm literally THE teacher (there's no assistant at that school; there is Heng who can translate when I need him. Heng rocks.),

bicycled 4km to Khmer Help Khmer where I'm the music teacher for one class, then the teacherteacher for two others (we're doing Imagine by John Lennon right now! I'm slowly converting them all to UUism haha..),

then biked home at about 7:30, skyped with mom and popo,

and was asleep by 9:30.




(Notice, that there's no lunch or dinner in there. For the first 4 or 5 days breakfast was my only meal because I couldn't muster up the courage to go biking around a strange, Cambodian city looking for some grub. I've since gotten over that. The first lunch I did go out to buy I found at this funny little Fast Food resturaunt. It was noodles, chicken broth, bones, something that looked like a heart, and a spinal chord I think.)





Also, during this first week in Cambodia is when the Fountain Incident and the Frog-Ka-Bobs happened. If you don't know about those, lol ask.

My first weekEND in Cambodia, Meng and I went to Phenom Penh (the capital) and Sihanouk Ville (the beach). When I agreed to go to Phenom Penh, I didn't know that it's not just Augusta to Atlanta, it's like Augusta to DC! We were on a Cambodian equivalent of a Greyhound for 8 HOURS. First thing we did when we finally arrived was go to the Khmer Rouge Museum. It was actually really interesting..I didn't know much about the history of Cambodia, so I was glad I went. Then, Meng and I split for a little, he went to visit with his relatives and I walked around downtown near my hotel for a bit. That night I went out to eat with Meng and 3 of his Cambodian friends.

That night has been really the only time I've been miserably homesick. And let me tell ya, I hope it doesn't happen again. It really sucked. Phenom Penh is kinda gross..it's just a big, noisy, Cambodian city..not to mention, I didn't have my laptop so I couldn't skype or facebook with anyone. Come to think of it, that's probably why I was extra miserable.

The next morning Meng and I headed to the bus station for another 5 hour ride to the beach! The beach was actually quite nice, the room was nicer than the one in Phenom Penh, and I ate some awesome foods including squid, octopus, lobster, crickets, and jackfruit. (and there was a HUUUUGE storm while we were there, you can see it pouring in the background of the pic) The next morning we rode back to Phenom Penh, tourned around the city for a couple hours, then rode the long trip back home to Siem Reap. And god was I glad to be there.

The next few weeks were pretty tame. I had bought groceries for lunches so I didn't have to go out for every meal, I was learning the names of most of my kids, visiting pagodas, finally getting a hang of Khmer, and really falling in love with my new life here. Then came my first sign of American civilization: Elderhostle.



Elderhostle is a group of spunky older people who go on trips around the world to learn about different cultures. The group in Siem Reap was 11 50somethin'-80somethin' year olds who were really some of the coolest old people I've ever met. They were here for a week which not only gave me a break to speak some English to people, but gave me a break from lesson plans every day! They brought arts and crafts, new great ideas, and entertainment for the kids that took a load off of my shoulders for the week...and gave the kids a break from EnglishEnglishEnglish, too. Also, while they were here, we went to Angkor Wat. :)










(that's our tour guide, Li. lol he's a goofball..likes to call me a lot hah)

When you're looking at ruins of anything, you have to keep reminding yourself (or at least I did) that all this what now seems like a bunch of crap USED to be freakin awesome. Imagine all the people who've walked right where you're walking: their lives were soooooo different from ours...AND imagine how long it took to do every single carving by hand!! Angkor Wat and all the temples (including Tah Prohm, the one where all the trees are growing out of the ruins) are really, truly breathtaking. But either I'm a teenager or the temples all look the same because after 2 days of touring, I was templed out. Majorly. Some highlights of our Angkor Wat weekend include that temple, the elephant ride!, and getting lost for 2 hours by myself at Tah Prohm.

So, that was two weekends ago. Angkor Wat Temples. I kinda can't believe I've actually been there! There're about 34,729 pictures on facebook, too. =)

3 days later, Elderhostle and I took an awesome morning trip to the Floating Village, a community where some of the poorest people I've ever met (mainly Vietnamese who can't legally own land in Cambodia) live in an enormous lake on boats. they technically can't "own" water. It was FINALLY a beautiful morning and we got a bunch of fantastic pictures!

Elderhostle left last Saturday. Like I said, it was really great having them here. (I miss them!!!)They came at the perfect time, too. I'd been here for just over a month and they were here to help break up the "same old same old" that can happen from doing the same thing every day. I like what I do, I love it, but...it is the same...every day. I hope to stay in touch with them via internet somehow--one even has facebook!! (like I said..awesome.) Also right around the weekend that Elderhostle left, Cambodia felt what was that huge hurricane/storm in the Phillipines.

We didn't have school on Wednesday or Thursday because of heavy flooding. CLFCA is surrounded by puddles but the school managed to stay dry because it's covered and slightly elevated, but KHK is more or less completely under water a foot deep in some places.

So, the rain is what's been causing problems lately.

ALSO on Saturday, Val Mulhern, an executive level business woman from Boston who's been to nearly 50 countries, came to Cambodia to teach for 5 weeks! It's SOO nice having some company here!! I had never thought of myself as lonely in Cambodia without anyone, but having her around to talk to and plan lessons with and go out to eat with really is a great refresher.
AND in a couple weeks another woman from the US gets here. We don't have a confirmed name, age, or duration of stay, but still! The timing couldn't be more perfect! I went from having nobody to having not one but two friends here! Oh life's been good lately.

I think you're pretty much up to date now. I realize I may have left out a thing or two, or five hundred. I've been living here for a month, getting a routine down, and really enjoying every second of it. I know not much of this was about how I'm feeling or deep inspirational realizations I've had--those are coming. I actually have made a bunch of decisions about my life lately. This has been the most life-changing thing I've ever done...I'm just blogged out for now. =) Also, hundreds of pictures on facebook. Facebook is for pictures, Blogger is for journal.

"Awkun chiran! Jooup k'nee-uh chapchap!"

P.S. - Happy Moon Cake Day!!!