Weekend News

Nothing has happened. The end....

JUST KIDDING!!!

Holy smokes so much has happened in the last few days. Not only have I gotten to meet some of the most amazing people in my life, but I've gotten to see fantastic things and taste the most wonderful foods. Not to mention the shopping! Let's just say someone in my group bought a full on gorgeous bag for like $6.00 What? So, where to begin?

How about Saturday morning, when I had the most delicious fruit platter. Or my first night on the town. Or the time Morgan almost got run over by a motorbike. Alright, alright. I'll just start at the beginning.

So, after my first half day in Siem Reap I was asleep within minutes. We're talking passed out. Holy cow can you say jetlag? However the next morning was very nice to be awake and showered by 6am and ready for the day before it got sweltering hot. By the way if you think you know what heat is, reconsider that thought if you have never been in 36 degrees Celsius  (104 Fahrenheit) weather with oh about 90-95% humidity. I too once thought I knew heat, but I was so very wrong. Anyway, woke up Saturday and ate this great fruit platter with pineapple and watermelon and banana and dragon fruit. Delicioso. Hung out with my group (Morgan, Sarah, Shawn, Jelica, Rylie, and Leka). Then we mosied on over to Khmer lessons. We trudged on through the previously mentioned heat for roughly 20 minutes before we came to stop at a place called Vitking's vegetarian Khmer food. So good! I will probably say this again a million times, but everything I have eaten here has been so amazing.

Khmer lessons were hard. Whatever you think a word looks like it might sound like, you're probably wrong. But it is a beautiful language to listen to. I am proud to say that I can say hello, yes, no, thank you, and brother/sister. Also egg. The rest I'm working on. From there we traveled back to our hostel the Babel (pronounced bah- bell) inn and rested up for an hour or so before we went out to dinner at a place called Temple Club. Oh, the curry was fantastic! We also saw a show in which college Cambodian university students performed traditional Apsara dances. It was so much fun and so great to get a lttile bit of insight into the culture and how people are able to preserve it. Later that same evening myself , Sarah and Shawn walked the night market and saw everything from tshirts to fish pedicures. I will definitely be going back soon.

That brings us to today. I swear, I feel as if so many things have been happening every single day that I don't know what to do when it comes to writing it all down. Anyway, we all started the morning by walking to a pagoda for what turned out to be a very enlightening discussion between my new friends and our group leaders Stefan and Erika. Let's just say that I have the utmost respect for each and every one of these incredible people that I am so glad I get to spend the next few weeks with. Also, I got to learn a bit about myself as well, which can always be good for personal growth. From there we braved the scorching sun to find a place for lunch. I had yellow noodles with vegetables and a fried egg with Khmer sauce. Tastebud explosion! So amazing. We then made it back to Babel for some lesson planning. First day of school is tomorrow, and I've got to admit that I am both excited and perhaps a little bit afraid. But do what scares you right?

So after brainstorming for a few hours we finally packed ourselves into tuk tuks - the only transportation you will ever need in Cambodia, look it up they're awesome- and headed off to meet Raan. He's a monk by the way. No big deal, but y'know super cool. We spent about two hours just learning from him about Buddhism and himself. Such a fun guy! And so informative and kind. After eventually saying our goodbyes we walked back to Pub Street - the central hub- and walked around a bit before having dinner. Anyhow , dinner was once again splendid. I have not had a single meal here that has not been super delicious. We rounded out the night with a nice walk back to Babel in the cooling evening.

Overall, Cambodia has been so incredibly beautiful and I am more thankful everyday that I am here right now. I can only hope that the experience continues to be this amazing.

Also, please have patience as I am currently working on being able to upload videos and photos.

'Til next time,

Mikayla