I arrived back in Cambodia from Thailand with one week left of my trip--and it was the fastest week of my life.
At the beginning of my trip I would think fo myself "God I have 3 months here..." but by the end all I wanted was more time.
That last week, I went out for dinner most nights..I miss my 62 cent dinners and the to-go Ramen noodle stands. I came up with some extra fun CLFCA lesson plans that involved sports, music, and LOTS of picture-taking!
When it finally came down to second to last day, I was super busy running around saying goodbye to friends, coworkers, teachers, students--everyone. (I think I wrote a little about this in a previous post). I had bit a not-tearful farewell to CLFCA, and as I was leaving they asked if we could have class one more time the next day. It was kinda inconvenient to spend 2 hours of my last day at school when I needed to pack and run errands (to buy stuff for you guys who're reading this!!) But, how could I say no!? and of course, I wanted to go!
So, my very last day:
It was all very surreal. A place that had been such a huge part of my life..my home..where I met millions of new friends and had been completely immersed in a culture that's nothing like anything else I've experienced. Wow now I have to remember back...what did I do?? I woke up in the morning and ate my last dinner with Ta and Sa...and we had a photoshoot :)
After packing a bit in the morning and writing a letter for Bunleap, Thea, Ta, Kanara, and burning a CD for Sophannara, I went to an early lunch with Mr Pali at a delicious traditional resturau
nt. yummm. After lunch we went back to KHK so I could write something on the front wall that the students are decorating. AND luckily Thea was around on his moto so I got to say a final goodbye to him. We still e-mail almost every day :)
Then, bicycled over to CLFCA for a final goodbye..the day before had been stressful and rushed. We had ice cream and I gave them all my books and studying materials, but it wasn't very emotional. WELL. this time was different. We sang "You Are Not Alone"
without any music, several students gave me sweets and presents, and took more pictures together (I even took one with the always camera shy Heng! The whole afternoon....man... it was sad, trust me. So, teary eyed, I rushed home to pick up my toys and left over reading books to take to the orphanage (rushing because I had stayed WAAYYY later at CLFCA than I had planned).
Thank you for teaching me as much (if not more) than I taught you. I can never express how much you've given me. I think about you all every day and please keep e-mailing! I love each of you.
As always, the orphanage was incredible...they colored pictures for me and wrote me goodbye notes. I have no idea how they all know english so well...but they do! Better than most of my students who've been going to school for years!!
I miss and love you all. Good luck to all of you and remember that you can do anything your heart wants!
I stayed at the orphanage until about 8.......and Meng was picking me up for the airport at 9.............and I hadn't packed. but I made the most of my day and god to say goodbye to everyone important to me. I packed for a little while, cleaned out my closet, folded clothes, did all your basic packing stuff...until I suddenly felt really nostalgic and miserable about leaving. SO with 30 minutes to spare I got on my bike and went searching desperately for one last roadside noodle dinner. and wouldn't you know I couldn't find one of those stupid stands (when you're not hungry they're everywhere and as soon as you want them they all disappear..of course) until I had biked all the way back to Pub Street. But, the ride was enjoyable..it was well dark by then and while I had already said goodbye to my friends, I hadn't yet said goodbye to Siem Reap. That all sounds really cheesy but...I felt really connected with my home. It was so safe..I can't remember one situation where I felt even in the slightest bit of danger. I mean, there were probably times when I should have been more on my guard, but what can I say? I never ever felt like I needed to. Everyone and everything in Siem Reap was perfect, and I needed that last bike ride to complete my trip.
Noodles in hand, I hurried back to the hotel and relinquished my bicycle lock keys (hah but i kept one key as a keepsake!!!), smooshed everything into my suitcases, zipped and locked them, ate my delicious noodle dinner, said teary goodbyes to Ta, Soda, and Mr Eeing, and took my last tuktuk ride to the airport with Meng. He talked pretty much the whole 30 minute tuktuk to the airport...none of which I remember...I stared at the hotels and home shops, at the people in cars and the people pushing seafood carts saying mental goodbyes to everything we passed.
The airport was no problem..it's about the size of Augusta's airport, so really easy to navigate and basically no lines. After I hugged I checked my bags, paid my departure fee, went through security, spoke khmer in the giftshop with one of the sales clerks, sat in a seat at my gate, and cried until my plane came.
I must have looked like a basket case to everyone around. But ya know, you can think something's getting old after you've had it for a while, but once you realize that it's gone -- WOAH. Emotions hit you like a train. I spent the next 24ish hours waiting in airports, riding on airplanes, and eating delicious airplane food. When I finally set food on American ground, I was beaming ear to ear. lol and I was also being really stupid and ridiculous...I hadn't s
lept well on the flights and had had time to add up that I'd been awake for about 36 hours.Disheveled, I walked up to the first American airline worker I could find to ask where baggage claim was. I walked up to her and asked, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" and lol she said "Baby! Of course I speak English! You're in America now!" and later when I stopped in the bathroom to wash my face, I took a sip of water and said to the lady mopping the floors, "Excuse me, I just drank water out of a tap." She was like "ummmmm....cooooooolllll" haha it was really funny. I smiled at everyone and struck up a million awkward smalltalk type conversations 1) because I was so enthralled to be back and 2) because that's how I had been in Asia. Everyone I passed wanted to speak English with me, and I spoke back! One night a guy on a motobike (his basket was full of diapers and milk formula so I figured it was safe lol) stopped to ask about me and why I was in Cambodia. We sat on the curb outside my hotel for a half hour speaking English.
It sounds all so surreal...Americans are really friendly...but I can't imagine doing that IN America. In Bangkok, I stayed out my last night sitting in the middle of the downtown road until 7AM talking with expats and other travelers, sharing stories, speaking different languages! It was all so magical...weird, though, i know...but incredible. I think Americans are really obsessed with my stuff and my space and my feelings. We didn't set off fireworks on January 2nd because it would annoy neighbors....wtf? They're fireworks....they make noise for about half a second. Is that really such an inconvenience? And we care a lot about what people think about us..I'm not saying that I don't cause I still do...but the way we feel about ourselves seems so completely dependent on what everyone else is thinking. What about how YOU feel about YOURSELF? Isn't that the most important?
It's nearly 1:30 AM now as I'm finishing up this post...lol I can tell because I'm starting to ramble on about nothing inparticular. Cambodia was the best decision I've ever made. I feel like such a new person. People say that you're changed but "same at heart"..but I feel different at heart, too. I can barely remember things before...of course I do stuff the same, talk the same, blahblah and all that. But the important things. Opinions about the world, opinions about people in the world, opinions about me in the world--they're all different. And I like my new ones much better. Thanks, Mama Hicks, for allowing this all to happen.
Now it's early morning on January 6th. On the 9th, I'll wake up early in the morning, drive to the airport with mom, and board a plane just like I did 4 months ago except that this time I'm headed for Nairobi, Kenya. I have a 28 hour flight to Nairobi (..........) and lots to say. So much, in fact, that I'll save it all for another post. I'm gonna Swahili-ify my blog soon...if you didn't catch on, Suo Sudei means hello in Khmer and I think in Swahili it's something like Huijambo (luckily Swahili has English letters---YAY!! WAAAY easier than Khmer!) so i'll be changing the title soon. Thanks for reading for the past few months...Africa here I come!
4 days until my next adventure.
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