Night Crawlers

All Angelina jokes aside, the past few days that I have spent in Cambodia have affected my life deeply. I am seeing poverty on a level that I never have felt before.
I am approached daily by children, often in packs, on the street begging for food or money. It is a regular occurrence to walk by a mini-mart or by a fruit stand and have a small child take my hand and literally cry in hunger.


 I was not aware of Cambodia's long history of war and genocide before I came here. But have learned that only in the past ten years has the kingdom seen a glimmer of political stability. And although the country is now fairly safe to travel in, the devastating effects to Cambodian society, infrastructure and the economy is still being felt today. One of the greatest challenges facing the development of the country is access to basic human rights, more specifically, education. Half the population is under 15 years old and many have lost parents. Orphans are “rescued” and forced to beg or "work" full-time in the street. They work to support themselves and for their adult guardians. The adults who "care for" and organize the children are typically handicapped from mine blasts and cannot work themselves. Hidden in alleyways, he waits for the children to return with a shiny American coin or slice of bread.

'Cause we all know that little Bambi eyes are much easier to give to than ANY adult.

Kids here are not kids; they are full force professional sales people. They may not know how to read but they can speak to you in English, French and Chinese. They know the capital of your state. They are CUTE. A child can lead a foreign hand into a shop or collect a dollar before they are out of diapers.


Despite the emotional battery that I have endured, I am walking away in awe of the spirit of the Cambodian people. As a culture devastated from war, genocide, corruption and greed, they still are so proud for their country. 

I could not be more inspired, as an educator, to give children the tools they need not only improve their own lives, but to build sovereignty.

If you are interested in volunteering, donating or learning more about children's rights in Cambodia check out:
http://www.cofcambodia.org/

Happy Halloween! See you back in Thailand.

Sunrise at Angor Wat

Mai Pen Rai

Mai Pen Rai is a phrase that Thai people say all the time that pretty much sums up the mentality of Thailand. It literally translates to It's nothing, but can be used in a looser context as: its whatever, no worries, oh well, nevermind.. you get the idea. Obviously a pretty laid back place but it can be a little frustrating when these things apply to .. say.. your job and/or finding a place to live. My unplanned-plan in Thailand and taken the expected, unexpected, turn that I figured would happen at some point, and I am embracing it fully. It's a long and complicated story that I don't really feel like explaining but the current memo reads: Taking a three week trek across Cambodia and northern Thailand while I wait to be placed with a teaching job.

Doesn't being unemployed suck?

In other notes:

• I love teaching way more than I expected and find it unbelievably rewarding.
• I secretly enjoy pretending like I am being deported everytime I get on a ferry boat.
• I am still holding strong in my refusal to sing karaoke despite its blasphemous popularity.
• And I have officially overcome my hiccuping reaction to spicy food.

Don't ask me about the bike wreck- I don't want to talk about it. And yes, I fully plan on bringing back 5 kids from Cambodia.

Hoolahooping elephants, Motorcycles and Monks with WiFi

So I am now in Ban Phe doing my teacher training in a Buddhist monastery.

The scene of my first day will forever be imprinted in my mind:

We rolled up to the beautiful hillside temple on our motorbikes to discover at least a hundred beautiful bald dark-skinned boys draped in ethereal orange cloth waiting for us from each balcony of their four story building. As we stood dumbfounded at the bottom and the chattering monks stared back down to us, I realized that they were just as curious about us as we were about them. I have no other way of explaining it other than having a feeling like I had landed on another planet to find other beings for the first time. My moment in sharing this mutual curiosity was a glimpse of something profoundly deeper into nature of humankind. As I knelt and bowed to the head Abit, I nearly broke down in tears of overwhelming compassion and appreciation. Then two white poodles ran up and started licking my feet. And I suddenly was getting a tour of the monastery flat screen computer room with high speed WiFi. Are monks into social networking?

Baby its a wild world.

maps are for kids

So I made it to Bangkok. Sweet.

That was an adventure in itself (cough cough thanks stone street.) I packed everything the night before: plane ride.. black out.. sushi in Tokyo... black out... customs..cab ride..chaos..blackout... pretty standard.

Anywho, Thailand is, thus far, everything and more. It has been relatively easy for me to cruise around and communicate, however it did take me about 24 hours in the country to care about getting a map. When I did, I figured out the local longboat river taxi system and went to check out some temples. I have been devouring fantastic thai street food and getting massages/pedicures for such ungodly amounts of money that I won't rub it in by telling you how cheap it is.
I like Bangkok a lot-- the bells, smells and colors are sensory overload- in the best kind of way. The palaces are incredibly inspiring and have the magic of creating time travel down to an art beyond words. On Khao San road, where the monks in their whimsical robes weave through the hip thai college kids and burmese street vendors banter at the Australian-Euro-hippie backpacker trash that is, life is a straight up freak show. Clearly, I fit right in. I only wish I had not brought so much luggage because anything you could ever want, or not want, can be bought here for nothing. (Note to friends- bring an EMPTY suitcase.) I am trying my best to learn how to use my electronics.. I have never been a camera person (despite my attempts in professional wedding photography) but like my thai, spice tolerance and jet-lag-- all things come with time.

Crusin' solo at the Grand palace- I got a Japanese girl to take this for me :)