I don’t know
how to write about every wonderful thing that’s taken place in the past two
days. It feels like the week in Vietnam that inspired me to revisit SE Asia
took place much less than three years ago!
The flight
here was brutal. The 14 hours from LA to Taipei seemed like 30, and the fact
that I had a window seat was not a good thing. The two ladies next to me didn’t
get up the entire flight, so I felt bad every time I had to get up to relieve
my bladder. I couldn’t sleep, either, and the words ‘deep vein thrombosis’ kept
running through my head the whole flight. The seats were too crammed to perform
chair aerobics, otherwise I would have tried it.
On my flight
from Taipei to Phnom Pehn, I sat next to a nice Cambodian who has been living
in California for the past 25 years. He was so excited for me to see his
country; he talked to me about everything from Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s
break-up, to his daughter’s poor spending habits (she prefers True Religion
jeans), to the best ways to get around the country. He also taught me my first
Khmer word, ‘aw kohn’, which means ‘thank you’ and I have been saying it none
stop since I landed.
Actually, the
first words that came out of my mouth when I walked off the plane in PP were
‘Oh my God’. Then after I said it I realized I wasn’t talking to anyone. The
heat: bad at first, (probably because I was wearing jeans) but after a five
minute tuk-tuk ride to our hotel room, I was used to it. Now, I’m in heaven.
Yesterday was
the first day at APCA, and the two other volunteers and I were treated to a
welcoming party. The founder of another Cambodia orphanage came along with us,
as well as Jennifer (the volunteer coordinator), a volunteer from the PP
orphanage, and an Aussie school teacher who wanted to donate some school
supplies she has been lugging around with her during her visit to Cambodia.
There was Khmer dancing, chicken, and plenty of kids running around until they
were asked to line up by size to receive clothing donations. It was amazing –
so orderly, quiet, and thankful.
Today I woke
up at 5:50am….I’m not sure if it’s still my jetlag or if the kids running
around woke me up. It’s nice to have the sun up and shining so early. There are
two other volunteers who are Australian students – one is a med student who
will be working on giving every child (there are 68-ish) a physical. The three
of us decided to ride bikes into the small market about a mile down the street.
We were accompanied by five kids who tried to help us negotiate our bednets,
fruit, and towels. They were a huge help and we treated them to ice cream and
oranges.
Since it’s
Sunday, it’s basically recess all day for the kids. It will take me awhile to
get used to the lack of structure, and I’m sure I’ll appreciate it. Right now
there are three girls throwing bricks at the dozen white cows trying to enter
the APCA yard. It’s pretty entertaining. We bought all the kids ice cream
(about $3.50 total) from a moto driver who happened to stop outside the APCA
entrance. Something tells me he’ll be coming around here often!
Tomorrow is my
first day of teaching. We’re going to make nametags first thing so I can start
memorizing the kids names! I think the first few days will be a review of their
English workbooks and notes. There were
workbooks left over from the past volunteer (thanks Jen!) that I will put to
use and try to supplement with the materials I brought.
The internet
is super slow right now, so I'll only be able to post a few pictures. Hope everyone is
doing well! Thanks for the comments. The spacing is weird..I'll try to fix it.
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