Week 3 in Cambodia

Paint cups - we have the thrilling job to remove the dried paint each morning.

I have had an amazing time in Cambodia and don't really want to leave. While I still don't enjoy starting to sweat at 8:30 in the morning, sleeping in a room that is 84 degrees, and getting poked, prodded, and/or slapped - I'm getting use to it now and to an extent don't mind it. I'm getting better at remembering to drink 3 times the amount of water that I would normally drink. I now only flinch/squirm half the time kids pokes me in the side and to make up for everything I love the hugs. I think the part I love so much of this project is how much the kids look forward to my attention and care. I love being able to give a kid a hug or hold them when they might not be getting this attention at home.

Andrew, Louise, Sandi, and I at the underwhelming waterfall.

Sandi and I playing with the shrimp we were going to eat for dinner.

In my last week at CCPP we will be taking a four day trip to Angkor Wat with about 40 of the kids ages 10-17. We will have two 12 hour bus rides and two days looking at Wats. All of the kids are excited and I'm overwhelmed by the idea but it will be an amazing experience being with the kids. This trip is a huge deal for them to be able to do this. I will then get to experience Angkor Wat again with my parents a few weeks later.

Me and Kosol - I bought one of his paintings.

This is what it looks like when we have a full house painting in the morning.

I'm getting to this strange place where a month ago I wanted to go home (I was homesick) and now the idea that I only have 5 weeks left is sad. I will be leaving Cambodia to meet up with my parent in Vietnam which I am very excited about but now that it is so close doesn't seem real. When I was leaving for Laos from Thailand I was on skype with Terry in tears because I was so freaked out about going to a different country and the idea of going to Vietnam or Cambodia on my own was no problem. I'm getting a hang of the traveling on my own and things have worked out well for me. I'm excited to be able to show my parents around. The tables have switched for us and while they are nervous and don't know what to expect I'm more carefree and know a little on how things will go. I get to be the tour guide this time and that excites me.

Thang aka "Hot Lips" - it's lunch time and he's eating it all.

Me and Teb hanging out in the studio.

I was thinking back on the last year and am so happy with my decision to travel. In a lot of ways I'm not sure how I have changed but think that once I get home I will start to see things differently. Last month I questioned whether being away for four months was a good idea and now I wouldn't change a thing. I really love being on my own and experiencing such different things. With that being said, I really do miss having the people I care about so far way. Someone asked me if I would want to stay once my parents left and part of me says yes. I think it would be fun to be able to have a long weekend at home and then come back here. There is still so much that I won't get to see that I want to. I have also had people tell me that they couldn't do what I am doing and right now this doesn't seem strange at all. At times I forget that I am in a different country and I like that it feels familiar.

You can check out more pictures of Cambodia at http://www.flickr.com/photos/33972836@N04/ - these are Andrew and Louise's pictures.