Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Looking back at 2013, I have had a fantastic year! And looking in to 2014, it seems to be a pretty great year with some plans being made for upcoming trips and visits!

I wrote this in Feburary of 2010:

"Also, with this time, I have created my five-year plan. Hopefully, after PC I will travel through India and Southeast Asia, go home for a couple of months, and then take a job teaching in an international school or with the Department of Defense School System! Who knows!"

First, I am astonished that I wrote that (almost) 4 years ago, I am even more astonished that what I put in writing is what I am doing and have done (travel, go home, and then go teach abroad).  Four years ago Me was pretty prophetic. Now if current Me could see the next 5 years, that would be helpful! Hehe. Maybe add some Lotto numbers in there too...

The next five years I dont see changing much in terms of jobs or traveling.  I fully expect to keep teaching internationally and traveling on breaks. China for the foreseeable future but after that, its pretty open.  It is comfortable to have a job that affords such opportunity.

_______________________

Another piece in that post was a bucket list I started.  I mentally started it before I went in to Peace Corps, finally wrote it down in that blog, but decided to revisit this list for this coming year.

Turning 30 this year (eek!) and looking back on the last 30 years, I have been pretty fortunate. Every time I visit a new country, I add more countries to my list so I think including places or countries is too hard.  I will keep what I have already down on there but there are a few other things I want to add to my list now.

So now I have updated the previous list and crossed off things that I have finished.  Some of these look like New Years resolutions but they aren't only for this year.  They are life things to do. They include:

• Be happy.  This article says that we need to choose to be happy and strive for it through my emotions, activities, and those I surround myself with.
• Get healthier.  The older I get and the older those around me get, I realize how much more important this is.   
• Be nice.
• Learn Mandarin.  Simple to say, harder to do, but worth it.
• Be better about staying in contact with friends.  Even with social media sites, skype, email, and my blog, it is still hard to keep up with people but when I do, I feel so much better.  So I need to be better with that.
• Below is the updated list from PC.
• Get Masters Degree
• Peace Corps
• Backpack Europe
• Spend every birthday in new country (probably not possible every year- but something to strive towards) (almost every year since, a few times have been in the same country but haven't had a birthday in America since 2007 maybe?)
• Swim in every ocean, yes even the Arctic, I am thinking off the north coast of Alaska?
• Visit every continent (So far Europe, Asia, and North America are crossed off.  Still need: Australia, South America, Africa, and Antarctica)
• Visit Hawaii and Alaska
• Take an Alaskan cruise
• Get certified in diving
• Dive the Great Barrier Reef
• See a World Cup Football Match
• Go to an Olympic sport
• Learn Spanish fluently
• Travel to every country in Central America
• Write out a life Bird List
• Take a road trip from Florida to Alaska
• Macchu Picchu in Peru
• Ayers Rock
• Backpack India
• Teach in another country, not including PC
• Learn to appreciate wine
• Run with the bulls in Spain
• Participate in the tomato fight (Spain?)
• Go on an African safari
• Route 66
• Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Mt Rushmore
• Get more tattoos!
• Whale watching
• Spend a month in the United Kingdom
• Travel around Greece
• Swim with Sharks off the coast of South Africa
• See Silverback Gorillas in the wild
• World Wildlife Fund trip
• Go to a Super Bowl game
• Be involved in Girl Scouts
• Never have regrets!

• Other things to add:
• Dive with whale sharks
• Visit Maldives and go diving
• Travel around Australia for a month or more

______________________

 There are so many more countries or experiences that I would like to add to my list but I dont know if that is necessary.  I might add more later...  Its cool to see your goals/desires written out and crossing them off when you accomplish the task or experience. 

With that, I will end by saying I hope you have a wonderful 2014! Much love!

My Summer Whirlwind Tour

This took an incredibly long time to post even though I started writing it in summer.

For the first three weeks of my summer vacation I met my parents in MALAYSIA! Thats right, you heard it, Malaysia.  My dad went to Malaysia! He went on a plane, flew across the world, and visited his home country.  It was a pretty amazing experience and I am really happy I was a part of it!

This time around I met, if you can believe it, MORE family! This round I met my Uncle (Dad's brother), Aunt, and cousin for the first time.  It was a LOT of fun and very interesting.  My dad's brother and my dad have so many mannerisms in common, it was so fun to just watch and observe them.  It was a lot of sitting, eating, drinking tea, eating, and catching up/ talking about old times (and eating).

Did I mention eating? We ate and ate and while eating, we would plan our next meal! The food in Malaysia is amazing and some of the best food in the world.  It is the thing to do in Malaysia and if you are a picky eater, there is still delicious food that I am sure you will enjoy.

It was a wonderful trip but, as always, too short of a visit.  Not enough time with everyone,

After that I flew to Florida to spend time with my Florida family.  Then on a road trip to visit family and friends in DC, Virginia, Michigan and Indiana.  It was my mom, me, and the wide open road.  We have gone on a few road trips before and have planned and prepared for a month in advance.  This road trip was kind of just thrown together in a wonderful way! We didnt even make a playlist, we had to listen to old music cds, radio, or static.  Besides the lack of new music, the road trip was fantastic.

It was wonderful to see my friends.  Its hard being so far away from friends and family.  I met up with some college and PC friends in DC that I havent seen in 2 or 4 years. And once again, I didnt have enough time with them. 

I saw family that I havent seen in 5 years or so.  I saw my brother and family for a few nights and that was a great visit.  I also went up to Michigan and met some of the bf's family.  That was fun to be able to meet them and finally put faces and personalities to names and stories. 

It was a fantastic, very fast, and slightly exhausting road trip.  I spent another week and a half home before I was back on a plane to cross the Pacific to go home.  Home is China now and that in itself is weird and comforting. 

Coming Home

IM COMING HOME!!!!

For about a month.  This summer is going to be awesome! I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!

First, I will fly to beautiful Malaysia where I will meet up with my parents (eek!).  We will meet up with family and friends and have a grand old time.  Im excited to visit with my parents as an adult, it will be a completely different experience!

The main thing we will do is eat. Eat and eat and eat and eat... I cant wait for Malaysian/Indian/Chinese Malay food! And the outdoor food courts... and the breakfast of dosai... and the chutneys... the curries... Grandma's cooking... Auntie Ranjit.... I could go on and on.  Im drooling a little just thinking of it.

Once we have the grand old time with family and friends and food, I will fly home! I arrive home July 2nd and have the trip almost jam packed! Whew. I will need a vacation after my vacation! I am going to take a little road trip with my Mom and Aunt(s)! All of the details arent in stone yet and I havent completely planned everything but it is a work in progress.

I will have about 2 weeks after the road trip of home time where I will bug my dad endlessly about all the stuff I am buying.  And I will cook with my mom and my dad will bug us about that too with our 'arts and croissants" food.  It will be so much fun!

I am so anxious for June 17th and to get this summer started! There is so much to do between now and then, its crazy! We have end of the year events, a family fun day/ school carnival, reports, awards ceremony, staff parties, packing and changing classrooms, orders, all of that school stuff!  So overwhelming but so worth it!  I am so, so, so happy with my choice to come to Dongguan and work at ISD.  Things do seem to happen for a reason!

See you soon!

3rd Time!!!

A third time is a charm, right? This will be my third time to blog while in China and my third time to the Philippines. 

My life awesome right now (see previous blog post) and its just continuing. I'm debating about my summer plans but the more and more I think about it, I think I will be coming home. I didn't spend enough time last time with friends and family and I miss them.

I am a little stressed/ overwhelmed with everything right now. Lots of stuff coming up school wise; end of the quarter, finishing up material for this year while preparing for next year, planning events for end of school, field trips, and the kids are getting excited so behavior is changing. All of this means a well deserved spring break. Please don't misread. I love my job. The school, coworkers and students are great. I am all just starting to feel the crunch. My mom has always told me the end of the year feels like a marathon and I completely believe her.

So with all of the school pressure going on, I also have decided this would be a good time to be homesick. I know, ridiculous, right? I miss Peace Corps and the life I lived there. I miss the people, the other volunteers, and the life style. Granted living in it and reminiscing about it are completely different. Hehe. I don't miss the muddy snow, the cold, trucking up water, or the daily struggles. But it was a time in my life that I know I won't have again. I miss that.

And thinking of that of course makes me think of my ridiculous friends. I miss traveling by a marshutni for hours to visit a friend and catch up with life (even though we talked every day). I miss people completely understanding me, not just as a friend, but as someone who was going through the same struggles as me. It was a friendship unlike what I have found anywhere else.

Here in China, a lot of the struggles I have are not the ones because of culture. It's because of school stuff, job stuff that I would have anywhere. I don't quite know what I am trying to say because I am truly happy here. I just miss home. In the Peace Corps they told you not to write a blog or an email on the bad days... Now I know why. It sounds depressing.

Because of all that is going on, and we have a week off, we have decided to come back to trusty Philippines!

I am on the plane now. Oh, technology. And I probably won't post this blog until I get back so I will add more after the trip.

____________________
I started that post on March 22nd after a long day at work.  I am adding to it now, April 7th. 

Things are still hectic at work but manageable.  Vacation was perfect and just what was needed! We went to Dumaguete and stayed at a fantastic resort! Aqua-Landia! It is a German-owned, quiet, kind of secluded, 14 cabin, right next to the beach resort where from our front door to the pool/restaurant/bar was about 20 steps.  It was quiet and we actually got a lot of work done! No where near the amount needed but enough that I am happy with it.

We also went diving! Yay! I got to see 3 sea turtles and a few sea turtles come up for air while I was on the boat! It was fantastic! I wanted just to stay and stare at them all day.  A little creepy? Meh.  They wouldnt mind, they are too cool to care about anyone stalking them.  We only did one day of diving because as great as it was, it was more work than we wanted to do and we were quite lazy!

I definitely want to go back there and I really love the Philippines! It was the perfect vacation right before this rush of school. 

This week I am starting an After School Activity of cooking.  Another teacher and myself will be teaching a few kid-friendly recipes to some elementary students.  I am excited about it but there is so much going on! Whew, another thing added to the plate!

To finish up- I havent bought my ticket home but I really want to.  One week I looked and it was 1200, the next week 1500, and the next day 1800-2000!!! And now most of them have a 20 hour layover in either Detroit or Atlanta! :(

Well I think that is it for now.  I am excited to see everyone very soon! Just have to push through the end of this year!
Love to all!

Happiness!

I know it has been forever and a day since I posted last and I apologize but for a while there wasnt really much to post.  The life of a teacher, while dramatic and fulfilling and busy, is interesting in the moment but isnt really that interesting to sit down and write about.  With that being said about the day-to-day teacher stuff, I have had some pretty fun adventures in China and the Philippines.

The nicest thing about international schools is all of the breaks.  Now I know you might think Man, teachers get a lot of breaks! Do they ever work?!  Let me answer that for you simply: Yes. I work and I work a lot.  My weeks are devoted to school and I give myself Saturday to not think about work.  It has been fulfilling and wonderful to have a paycheck and a full time job that I enjoy.  It is stressful and overwhelming and sometimes I feel as though I am failing but I think that is all teachers.  We all feel as though we could be doing more than we are but I am doing what I can and doing it the best I can.

One of the things I have been doing at my school is coordinating events.  It is a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoy the stress and last-minute changes of it.  We have had a Halloween festival, an International Week full of events, and a Chinese New Year celebration that was fantastic.  There have also been smaller things throughout the year but those were the big ones.  We hope to have a Spring Festival but that wont be until later.  As you can tell, I am having a great time and I think that if I were to change professions, I would try and do some kind of event planning.  Although I dont have a lot of experience, the idea of it is entertaining.

Now, on to the breaks.  The first break  we had was at the end of September and that was to celebrate the Moon Festival.  We had a few days off and I spent it hanging out in Dongguan.  I went to a market that sold household/kitchen items (pots, pans, equipment, etc), drinks, and pets.  It wasnt a market as much as a street with specialty shops.  It was a bazaar combination of shops and incredibly sad to see those pets in confined cages and Im pretty sure most of them were illegal- birds, lizards, fish, etc.

That break there was a small festival that was happening outside of my house at a public square.  It was interesting to walk around and see some of the traditions that were taking place to celebrate the Moon.  However, I didnt really understand what was going on so it was more just looking at things.  It was nice to observe and next year I will know more of what is going on!

The next break we had was a fall break at the beginning of November.  Another teacher and myself who is also very interested in Service Learning flew up to Beijing to hear from Dr. Jane Goodall about the Roots and Shoots project.  She was incredibly interesting to listen to and an inspiration for dedicating your life to something you are so passionate about.  Through this Roots and Shoots project, we were able to meet with so many international schools and teachers!  It was a wonderful week and we came back with so, so, so, many ideas.  Also, because we are a brand new school, getting ideas from an established school was pretty awesome.  The schools I visited had so much tradition and history that it will be exciting to see how my school grows and begins traditions.  It is also thrilling and overwhelming to think that I am playing a part of creating those traditions!

While we were there, we were able to visit Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City! That was an awesome experience, so rich with history and influence, it was awe-inspiring.  The coworker/ good friend that I traveled with loves to try new foods.  She and I ate at so many different restaurants, it was great! Some of the food highlights were the street food that we had- some red bean pastries, veggie bread (?), and some other bread type stuff.  Another major, major highlight was the Beijing Duck we had! Oh my! It was delicious although A LOT of food! We basically ate a whole duck! Ugh, I felt so sick afterwards but it was so good.  We found this back alley and a restaurant that looked pretty decent and was also serving the duck.  It didnt look that fancy from the outside but inside was very traditional and we went at the perfect time because about 5 minutes after we sat down there was a long line outside.  And I just recently found a restaurant in Dongguan that serves Beijing duck- hopefully it will be as good as it was in Beijing!

The next trip we had was the Winter Break.  Two and a half weeks of freedom from all of the day to day stuff.  It was blissful!  And I got to go DIVING!!!  We traveled to Manila and spent one night in a decent enough hotel.  The next morning we woke up, walked around a bit before heading to the airport.  Apparently we didnt get there in time to get a seat so we got bumped to a flight for the next day.  The airline put us up in a hotel and gave us a free domestic flight (which I will be redeeming in March!).  It was annoying but it worked out fine.  We flew to Busuanga or Coron and spent 2 nights there before heading to paradise, also known as El Nido!  It was a perfect setting, beautiful, small and friendly!  Picture perfect beaches, sunsets and sunrises, and the diving wasnt that bad.

Diving was pretty great! We didnt go at the best time of the year because the visibility wasnt as great as was expected.  Because  my previous diving experience was in Turkey (more than a year before) and not over coral reefs, I was still pretty impressed with everything.  The visibility was about 5 meters and the water was kind of murky.  But I saw lots of beautiful fish and some pretty rare fish.  My dive master, Jeff from Palawan Divers, was AMAZING!  He was very patient and helpful. The other two I traveled with were getting certified, which helped me refresh how to dive.  It isnt hard and is pretty relaxing if you are confident about what is going on but it still takes a bit to get used to especially finding your buoyancy.

I would love to go back to El Nido for every vacation but it sucked to get there.  You have two options from Manila: 1. Fly to Busuanga and then take an 8 hour boat ride to El Nido.  Or 2. Fly to Puerto Princessa and take an 8 hour bus to El Nido.  We chose option 1 because we also wanted to see Coron but that boat ride left a lot to be desired.  I am sure that once Coron and El Nido become overrun with tourists and big hotels or resorts come in the boat ride between the two will be better.  I got sea sick both ways but the way back I was also just sick with a cold so it was not fun at all.  Totally worth it because El Nido is amazing but still not fun.

I had a relaxing and enjoyable time.  I celebrated Christmas on a beautiful beach, walked around to remote beaches, and just relaxed.  New Years I was sick and in bed by 10 but thats ok because I am not a big fan of New Years anyway.  It was a memorable trip and made me excited to go back to the Philippines again!  I was glad to be home and glad to have the routine back but loved the time I had there.

My next trip wasnt long after winter break.  We had a week off for Chinese New Year.  It was very exciting, at school we had a New Years Festival after school one day.  It was a lot of fun, parents brought in food, we had dragon dancers, a face changer- which is really cool to see, and some gymnasts.  It was a lot of fun and the whole school came out to celebrate!  It was the perfect way to celebrate with parents and students before going off on holiday.  (I say holiday instead of vacation now because Im so international. Hehe. That and people dont really understand vacation...)

So off we went again to the Philippines.  Instead of using our free domestic ticket (mainly because you can only redeem/book at the office in Manila) we decided just to go somewhere closer to Manila that had a beach and dive sites.  I am now addicted to diving and not sure of when I will have a vacation that doesnt include it.  We rode in style the whole way and even had a private boat pick us up to take us to the island.  It sounds really fancy and was but for the price and the less hassle it was completely worth it.  Im over backpacking now that I have a job! Ha! Not quite true because we are still staying at cheaper hotels, but paying a little more for an easier transit is something I can now afford to do.  I also dont have the transit time that I had when I was backpacking.  Spending a day getting buses and traveling for a day so I could save 50 dollars would be a day from a week's vacation that I would be lacking.  So to me, it is no longer worth it.

I feel a little like I have "sold out" the backpacking world and have changed from what I was doing a year ago.  But times and people change, I dont have endless months to travel and experience new countries.  I have weeks at a time to do those things.  Its a chapter of my life that has been closed and its sad but at the same time necessary.  I feel the need to have a job and be a "grown up."  I have to get my finances and student loans under control.  I need to start saving in case things happen.   These are things I never thought of before and now know they are important things in my life.  No worries though, I still laugh at farts and think talking about poop is entertaining so I am not a complete 'grown up.'  :)

Back to the Philippines, we went to a place near Puerto Galera and went diving with Scandi Divers.  They were awesome and completely helpful with everything.  I loved how the whole time we just had a 'tab' that we would put our breakfast or snacks on, diving and rental equipment.  It was a small part of an island called Little La Laguna Beach and we explored around.  This was probably the most relaxing vacation I have ever taken.  It was wonderful, we did what we wanted when we wanted, ate at a fancy restaurant while drinking wine one day and the next ate outside our cheap hotel some of the most delicious Filipino food I have had!  We dove a lot and rented a camera and took some awesome pictures!

This was the best diving I have ever experienced! We went to Verde Island, which was an hour away from our beach, and saw some fantastic underwater scenes! We saw an octopus!!! It was amazing, I took a few pictures of it and the next thing I know it disappeared into the rock by changing its coloration.  I still took a picture of that too but it really looks like the rocks.  It was crazy!  Then another time I was trying to take a picture of a lion fish when out of nowhere, a sea snake darted down in front of me.  I wasnt very scared of the snake because they only bite if you bother it but I was trying to get other peoples attention to show them the snake.  You cant talk underwater so it was completely hopeless trying to get someone's attention. But man, oh man, it was exciting!  It also felt like flying because the current was strong enough that it was almost a drift dive and the visibility was so fantastic that you could see for probably 20-30 meters around you!  Probably the best dive I have ever done.  Still havent seen a turtle and I am pretty sure there is a conspiracy hiding them from me....

So that was my last vacation and it has been back to work since then.  I am thoroughly enjoying my work and everyday is a new challenge and a new experience.  I have awesome ideas for the rest of the year and for next year.  This last break really energized me and in month, we get to have another break.  We have planned it out again and it will be smooth and easy travel once again!

My life is pretty awesome and moving to Dongguan was the right decision at the right time.  Everything has worked out and I am happier than ever! I am trying to just enjoy this and not think about "the other shoe dropping." 

I think that is it for now.  I wont let another 5 months go before I write in this again, I promise.  This summer I will have more adventures because I get to go to Malaysia to meet up with my Mom and Dad and the rest of the family!

I hope you all are happy, healthy, and enjoying life! Miss you all!
Lots of love!

China. Its happening now!

Olympics are awesome. Summer is awesome. My birthday is awesome.  And China, so far, so awesome. :)


That line was written about a month and a half ago and it is still completely true, although the Olympics are over and my birthday is another 10 months away.  Summer is still strong here in beautiful Dongguan, China but that is even starting to fade away with slightly cooler temperatures.

As my last post alluded, I am now living and teaching in China! I know that I kept mentioning DC or New York but this just worked out in so many ways.  I applied to quite a few places, interviewed with some and found my home with International School Dongguan.  Dongguan is a pretty big city (average size in China) and is about an hours drive outside of Hong Kong.  It is a factory-based city with a large immigrant and foreign population so it doesnt always feel authentically China but there are still aspects to my life where I think "oh my, I'm in China" (because I am).

I didnt really have a long chance to digest or ponder or rethink my choice, I was interviewed on July 24th and flew out on August 4th, arrived on the night of the 5th and started working at 7am the morning of the 6th.  So out the window went jet lag, nerves, and even thinking really.  It was just go-go-go and I think that worked out for the best.  When you cant think to be nervous or scared or worried, you arent.

My life so far has been work, work, and more work.  I have joined a team of 15 or so teachers in a brand new international school.  Because it is brand new, we have had to do a lot more work than the average beginning of the school year, i.e. get everything from desks and bookshelves to pencils and paper to curriculum materials and books.  It has been a lot of extra work and a lot of running around but it has been so rewarding and so worth it!  School started on August 16th with a bang and has been non stop ever since! It feels great to throw yourself in to a project and because this school, the people I work with, and the resources are available, I am really only limited by myself.

Enough about school for now, I want to explain more of my time here.  My coworkers are awesome and such a mix of people- families to single people, the ages and backgrounds are very diverse- but we all come together with a focus on the school and work towards that! It is a lot of fun and I know I made the right decision to come to China!  They also celebrated my birthday with me and made me feel special, which is of course the true test of friendship! Hehe. I half kid, half am serious about that!  It was memorable to say the least and this makes the last 6 birthdays out of the country.   Belize-23, Barcelona 24, Armenia- 25, 26 and 27, China 28.  On my long bucket list is "spend my birthday in a new country." It might need to be amended and say "spend my birthday in a country other than America." So far, so great!

I will be honest here and say that it has been a little weird living abroad and not living the Peace Corps life.  I mean the school I work for set up my apartment and it is nice.  Check out pictures: My Apartment.  I am definitely not in Peace Corps anymore and this has kind of given me a complex.  Its like I keep expecting my water to turn off or to have to struggle to get things done.  It hasnt happened yet.  Sure I have had challenges and my water wasnt *as* hot as I wanted it to be, but none of them compare to walking up and down 5 flights of stairs to get enough water to flush your toilet... perspective. But I cant continue to compare my life in Dongguan to my life in Armenia (although it is very hard not to).

My life in China hasnt been the rough and tough life that I kind of thought it would be but instead it is kind of posh and fancy.  There are 3 major supermarkets within a 10 minute walking distance, a Starbucks, 2 McDonalds, a KFC, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and quite a few others that I cant think of.  I have found just about everything I need.  There might be brands I would prefer but really cant get picky about that stuff.  The main thing I have been "limited" on are my spices and I couldnt even get all of those in America so it is not a China thing, it is a not-being-in-Malaysia thing.  And then with American products, I can just pay a little extra and I can get Cinnamon Toast Crunch if I wanted (I havent yet, but it is an option).  I try to buy mostly Chinese products but it doesnt always work out like that.

I have had a few adventures in cooking and eating! On my birthday we had a dumpling making cooking lesson! It wasnt specifically for my birthday but I dont let those facts determine my beliefs.  It was a lot of fun and an experience for all of the staff.  I wasnt too bad at folding the dumplings but it took me probably three minutes to make a dumpling look presentable.  In that same time, the person who was showing me how to make them had completed probably 10-12....

Another adventure was at this hotel/banquet place.  The school bosses wanted to give the teachers and staff a thank you because of Teacher Appreciation Day in China.  They took us to a dinner where it was family style eating and they kept bringing food.  It was great and I enjoyed most of the food! The unusual food I tried was fried pig ears, chicken feet, a seafood dish and this tofu dessert thing.  The dessert thing wasnt my favorite but that was mainly texture.  They had the best pork buns though! Oh my goodness, I need to learn how to make those!  I have yet to find the food stalls I imagined China to have and it is surprisingly difficult to find the 'local' cuisine.  I will make it work though.  I also have wanted to take cooking classes but havent found any yet.  I have made a few friends on staff who are locals and we have discussed cooking together so we will see if something comes from that!

I think that is it for now.  There are many other experiences and fun times to write about but for now that will be it.  Im not sure how this blog will play in to my life in Dongguan but for now it will be a forum to share a few of the things I have experienced and a way to keep family and friends updated about my life.

I hope you have enjoyed!
Love.

Big Cities

This summer I was fortunate enough to work for an organization that works half in DC and half in NYC!  The company is called Envision EMI and I worked for the Global Young Leaders Conference.  It is where high school students from around the world come to DC and NYC to learn about cross cultural skills, leadership, do a little model United Nations and visit a ton of places!  I was a Faculty Advisor, which meant I taught some cross-culture skills, some leadership and facilitated some MUN simulations.

Talk about an inspiring summer! Wow! These kids, or scholars as we called them, are amazing! They were literally the next leaders of our world, the next policy makers, prime ministers, Secretary General, diplomats, presidents, etc.  For only being on average 16 years old, they have accomplished things people in their 60s havent even thought of trying.  The amount of projects they are involved in, the charity/humanitarian work, the experiences they have had, the places they have visited/lived was astounding.  They really inspired me to apply to international schools and I have thus refocused my career plans.  But I will get back to that later.

Without doting on my scholars for too much longer, let me tell you what I was able to do and see!  Through this work I was able to hear from various speakers talking about their different projects.  A few of the speakers were 20 somethings who founded an NGO and are working with big name NGOs to solve some of the world's problems.  Talk about making me take a look at my life.  I also was able to go to the State Department and hear from a few speakers about various topics from Middle Eastern affairs to antisemitism to the diplomatic community.  I also was able to go to the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Australian embassy.  Also, while in DC I went to the Smithsonian museums, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the White House, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, MLK Jr Memorial, FDR Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, the Korean Memorial and got to hang out on the National Mall... all while being paid!  AND that was just in DC.  In New York, the program stayed on St Johns campus in Queens. Through the program I went to Times Square, Mary Poppins on Broadway, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Chinatown and Little Italy, the United Nations, Columbia University, New York University, Empire State Building, SoHo, South Side Piers, and a few other places I cant even remember. 

There were a few highlights of the trip that arent connected to the program itself but just connected to an experience.  I fell in love with New York.  It is everything you want it to be, it doesnt exceed expectations but it delivers what you expected. There are so many movies where NYC is featured so you feel that it cant actually be real or look like that, but it does.  It looks exactly like it does in the movies or tv shows.  For some reason this surprised me more than anything else.  Even Times Square is everything you think it would be.  One of my favorite moments of my summer was getting Halal food from a food cart (chicken and rice) and taking it to the middle of Times Square.  I just sat in the middle of everything and people watched.  It was awesome! I saw the naked cowboy, Good Morning America's newsroom, the New Years ball, all of the news tickers, the lights, NYPD, the yellow cabs, tourists, business people, all of it.  I even saw Tim Gunn of Project Runway and I totally turned in to the tourist that freaks out when you see a famous person. 

Another memory from this summer was on one of the breaks from working.  I met up with two travel friends who live in New York.  They are also foodies, so they showed me a whole different side of New York.  One lives in Brooklyn and so I saw a little more of Brooklyn.  She also showed me around a few of the neighborhoods around Manhattan.  The first night I hung out with them was on the Fourth of July.  We decided to go to Coney Island and go to a baseball game there!  How American is that? Baseball, Fourth of July, Coney Island, fireworks, Nathan's hotdogs, fairgrounds, beach... it all made the perfect 4th!

One of the most delicious places she showed me was Xi'an Famous Foods.  We shared the cold noodle dish and it was AMAZING! Seriously I cant talk about this dish enough.  It was amazing and perfect for the hot weather.  If you ever are in NYC, go here and eat this! Wow.  She also taught me how to order a bagel and the fact that you need to ask which ones are warm so that you know which one is the freshest.  Also, and even more important, Never, Ever order your bagel toasted.  They dont do that and they will judge you for it.  So just order the warm ones and you will be good to go! 

There were so many other awesome things I did this summer but I am tired of writing this blog.  I have so much on my mind right now.  As I mentioned earlier, these scholars inspired me.  They made me really rethink a few things, the main one being how badly I want to live abroad again and how I really want to start working in international schools.  So when I came home from this job, I applied like crazy to lots of places.  I heard back from a few but I think I have found my home.  I will update later once I have more concrete information.  :)

Jobs and Applications, Mother's Day!

I hate cover letters.  I really, sincerely do not like cover letters and dont see the need for them.  I also hate asking and re-asking for references, it feels like I am bothering people.  I know linkedin is supposed to be the place where you can put your resume online and then get jobs based on that, but it doesnt quite work for the education field as well as it does for the business field.  I am just so tired of applying to places.  It also doesnt help that the job-getting process is a whole waiting game.  Most schools dont know who they can hire until June so I wont know anything until probably July!  Patience is a virtue that I am not that strong in. :)

However, I did get a permanent substitute position working at my Mom's school.  It has been a lot of fun and re-affirmed that teaching is what I want to do for the foreseeable future. 7- and 8-year olds are ridiculous and tell the most random stories.  They also make very honest and innocent mistakes like abbreviating assistant to ass without realizing what they did.  Or writing "Im doing it in slow motion" as a sentence for their spelling word 'motion.'  You know, completely innocent things like that, where as my adult-twisted mind transforms it into something hilarious.

It has been wonderful to work and back on to a schedule.  I definitely had too much thinking time on my hands when I came back from traveling.  Although, I feel as though I have aged 10 years being back to work in the classroom.  I happily go to bed at 830 or 9 because I am so exhausted from working.  I use my Sundays to lesson plan and prepare for the work week ahead.  I mentally plan out my clothes because I have more than one pair of pants to choose from.  I make leftovers or sandwiches for lunch and make sure to have my bag packed the night before.  I drink coffee in the morning and not for the joy of coffee but because I am not sure how I would function without it.  Yes, I have become that person. I am working now and as hesitant as I was to fall back in to a routine, I am liking the stability.  I am also liking the paycheck and actually making money instead of just spending savings.  But this will only last until the beginning of June and then I need to figure out my next paychecks. 

I am still looking forward to my next adventure and my next step.  I wish I knew when or where that was to but time will tell.  I will find out soon enough.  I have enjoyed living with my parents but I am ready to move on my own again.  The next place I move will be where I start my own home, which is very weird to think about.  Every time I have 'flown' from the nest, I always had a room/storage place at my parents house.  I also knew that I would probably be back home, either as a layover or a place to regroup and go out again.  Leaving for college, I knew I would be back before I went in to Peace Corps.  After Peace Corps, I knew I would use home as a place to regroup before leaving again.  Now, the next time I leave it will be because I have a job, a life to start and if I come home again it will be because something didnt work out.  I wont use home as a base anymore, I will be making my base somewhere else. It is overwhelming, scary and intimidating.  At the same time, it is exciting, challenging and I am ready for it!

I feel like most people do this at the age of 20 or so, but I am doing it at the wonderful age of 27 and I dont feel wrong about it.  I dont feel old or like I am off the path.  This is the way my life has worked out and I am happy to be where I am.  :)

With that, I want to write a little about my amazing mother!  It is Mother's Day after all!  She is probably one of the only people that reads this thing anyways...

I want to thank you, Mom, for helping me, listening to me, comforting me, pushing me, challenging me, cooking with me, and above all consistently loving me for who I am even when I might not have deserved all of it!  You are an inspiring role model and one of the most understanding and accepting people I know.  If more people were like you, this world would be a lot better!  Keep being amazing!  Thanks for being the best friend anyone could ask for!

And to all those Mom-like figures out there, my Aunts, Grandmothers, Friends, and my friend's Moms, you all have done something amazing! You inspire, you support, you teach, and you unconditionally love those in your life.  Thank you!

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day and make sure you send your thanks to your own Mom and to those Moms in your life!

Love.

Home again, home again.

So I am home. And my family has been great, incredibly supportive and patient. Before I get to that, let me finish up my travel adventures. Malaysia was great one last time before heading home.  I was able to see family and spend more time with everyone before I left.  From cousins to grandparents to babies, I had a blast.  I am hoping to find a job that will place me closer to my Malaysian family because I would love to get to know them better!  We shall see how this all works out...

Now I have been home for a little less than a month.  The weirdest feeling happened when I got on the plane to start my 30+ hours adventure home... it was like the last two years and eight months had been a dream.  Gone... poof... out of the window. It was like it vanished.  Yet, all I can do is think to how things in Armenia were or how cheap the food in Laos was.  Its like my brain got stuck in this one specific area of my life and I cant think of anything else.

I went in to Peace Corps when I was 24, almost 25. I left when I was 27.  There were a solid 24 years of life before Peace Corps, yet the only ones I can think of are the last two.  The only things I can compare things to are the last two.  I compare prices of food to how much meals were in Thailand.  I compare clothes prices to how much they were in India.  I compare public transportation to that found in Armenia.  I talk about how I was certified in diving while in Turkey. I am kind of a jerk.  Who else talks like this? Yet, this is all I can seem to talk about.

For a coming home/ welcome home thing, my family had a little get together.  I invited two friends, one is another Returned Peace Corps volunteer from Cape Verde and also did a 3 month trip after service through Africa and the other is a teacher who worked in Spain for two years and took weekend trips to cities in Europe people would kill to visit.  While at this dinner party, we kept stopping ourselves and checking what we said or how much we would say. Thank goodness they were there so they could take some of the attention off of me and they could also talk about their experiences. 

Before leaving PC, we had a Close of Service conference where we talked about how to talk to people when you get back from PC.  While that may sound stupid or redundant, it was pretty interesting. People on the whole cant relate to what we, as returned volunteers, have been through.  We talk casually about things that people drop their jaws about.  The culture shock that surprised me when I went to Armenia became common place and I am having more culture shock about people not understanding it than the shock I had when I experienced it.  For example, outhouses.  Using the bathroom outside.  For me, it became normal.  When I was first in Armenia, I was skittish about using it and wasnt comfortable with it but it became normal and not a big deal.  Now when I talk about it to people who arent volunteers or dont have that experience, I am almost more shocked by their reaction to such things.

Another example that isnt PC related is the backpacking world.  Oh my gosh, the backpacking world.  I miss it sooo much!!!!  In this world, you are surrounded by like minded people doing similar things.  Especially in SE Asia, and I mentioned this before, but you are meeting the same people on a similar route.  The vibes with everyone is so relaxed and adventurous that you get caught up in it and you think that everyone in the world is like this and that everyone in the world wants to be like this... and then you come home and talk about how you carried 15 kilos (about 40 lbs) of all of your belongings and felt like you had too much stuff.  Then they look at you like you have a third eye because you wore the same shirt for a week and scoff at you for only owning flip flops and chacos!  It is such a difference!

I think I am experiencing reverse culture shock and the most frustrating thing is I dont know what it is that I am being shocked from.  When in Armenia, I could point to something and say, wow, that is different.  And I would know what it was, even if it was a cultural thing, I could still pick it out.  Here, I am familiar and unfamiliar to things in my own culture that I cant pick out what it is that surprises me or what it is that I am frustrated by...  who knows, maybe I will figure it out, maybe I wont.

It also doesnt help that I dont have a job yet.  I will begin substitute teaching once I take the sub class and that will be after March 6th.  Being back in a routine and doing something will be helpful.  I am also applying to quite a few places and now I get to play the waiting game... we will see.  I am sure other volunteers can empathize with how I am feeling. And for my family that reads this, maybe it will explain some of my mood swings. :) 

I am happy to be home. I am happy where I am in life, I am just trying to figure out how to blend what I have experienced with where I am at now.  Not always the easiest.

Thailand to Malaysia... Same Same but ending not beginning.

I have to hurry up and post about the rest of my trip before I get home, otherwise I will be really behind...

So from Laos, after the worst bus ride of the trip, we made it to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. It is a beautiful city, beautiful people, and really good food!  It is way different than southern Thailand because northern Thailand is all hilly and lusher.  Southern Thailand, at least the part that I saw, was beach and tropical. Both are beautiful and have so much to offer.  I loved Chiang Mai and would go back in a heart beat!

We didnt have a lot of time there because we were chasing the moon to make it to Koh Pah-Ngan for the Full Moon Party.  It wasnt something I was particularly interested in going but my travel partners were.  So with only a few days in Chiang Mai, we spent one day walking around at night, one day walking around during the day and taking a taxi out to see the temple on a hill for sunset.  Then the last day before our evening train ride, I took a cooking class and the others went ziplining.  I would have liked to do zip lining but I needed to learn Thai cooking and this was about the last time I would have the chance.

It was delicious and a lot of fun! Learned 6 dishes but got the recipes for about 18.  Full day course, including a tour through the market, and a grand total of 20 dollars!  Ridiculously cheap for the amount of food we had! It was a lot of fun and I made a few friends.  Some of them were at the beginning of their trip and were asking me questions about what I have done and seen.  It surprised myself how much I knew and how much I have done! Whew, I have seen a lot in this short time!

After the cooking and zipping, we met at the hostel, packed up and took the train to Bangkok.  Once there we figured out how to get a bus to the harbor, spent the night in the harbor, took the morning ferry to the island and took a truck to Haad Rin.  We jumped out of there, found a wonderful guesthouse behind a delicious restaurant and dropped our stuff off.  It was about 24 hours of traveling for a party... the most I have ever done!  But it was fun, a bit ridiculous but pretty fun.  I am not sure it was worth the 24 hours and maybe we hyped it up too much, but it was good.  I also went to bed too soon and apparently missed a lot but oh well.

The island of Koh Pah-Ngan gets a lot of crap because of the full moon party but it actually is a beautiful island if you go away from Haad Rin.  ze German convinced us to go on a death defying day of scootering around the island.  I was terrified but after about the first three mountains I went up and down over, it actually was fun.  We went around to the waterfalls and a few other beaches on the island.  It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself.  I didnt die, didnt crash, and enjoyed the mountains on the way back. I am glad I did it and glad that ze German talked me into it.

From there, we went to Krabi town to get a ferry to Ton Sai, little sister to Hat Rai Lea.  Beautiful, beautiful! It is a place for rock climbers so it wasnt completely my scene, but we went kayaking and swimming and got really really tan! Hehe.  Its already fading, so dont get too mad at me.  We had some delicious food and ate at Mama's Fried Chicken more times than I want to say.  But the green curry for breakfast canceled out the chicken burgers we were eating at night.  It was such a laid back time and a really nice way to part ways with all of our friends.  ze German and Tobye left us to fly out of Bangkok and Parksie and I went south to Malaysia.  We took our last ferry/van/train to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6 in the morning!  Taking the train, I realized this was my last one for a while.  Whereas Parksie will continually galavanting the world for a while, I will be flying home in 5 days to America land. Wow!

About 161 days we have spent together and it all comes to an end tonight.

I am not so sure how much I will blog after this or until maybe my next adventure.  I still have some earlier adventures through Europe and Central America that I want to blog about so we will see...

See you when you see me! :)

Final Countdown!

So it is ending. About 20 days left on this wonderful adventure of mine and then it will be on to America to start a new adventure.  Getting settled back home, moving in with the parents, adjusting to America, living out of a house instead of a suitcase, options on menus, driving, everyone understanding what I am saying, using English all the time… all the small things that I will have to readjust to while getting a job and starting to make some of that money! Whew. As overwhelming as that seems and will be, I am ready for it.  Well, half of me is ready, the other half is really, REALLY sad that I have to leave this lifestyle.  And yes, traveling is a lifestyle.  Wearing the same three shirts over and over, smelling, sharing bathrooms with 20 other strangers, learning to try and sleep on buses, planning your next few days, crossing borders, meeting new people constantly, being in situations where you don’t know what is going on but you need to understand.  It is a lifestyle.  It is a crazy and wonderful lifestyle that I will miss sincerely. 

But enough of that, more of what I have planned and what I have seen and done.  That is what this blog is all about: updating on my adventures.  Last I left you, I finished touring Siam Reap and the Angkor Wat temples, which are still amazing and one of the coolest things I have seen.  We headed from there to Battambang, Cambodia.  It is supposed to be the second largest city in Cambodia and I am not sure how. It was completely dead at night, not to say it wasn’t interesting or worthwhile, just not what you expect the second largest city in a country to be like.  We arrived fairly early in the day, dropped our stuff off, and walked around the city.  We basically saw everything there was to see within the city that afternoon.  The next day we booked a tuk tuk to take us around the city to the temples that were about 40 or so kilometers outside.  They were really interesting.  We went to the Killing Caves, which has a horrible background story from the Khmer Rouge.  It is such juxtaposition because the cave itself is beautiful but the history of what happened there is brutal.  We also saw a few temples around the area which were really pretty and one of them is supposedly what the main temple at Angkor Wat is modeled after.  We also drove through some rice fields and got to see a little of village life.  The kids are so friendly and they always smile and wave at you.  It is a lot of fun and really shows the happiness and simplicity in children all over the world.  Children are children no matter where you are and they all want the same things in life: to play and laugh. 

The next stop on our trip was supposed to be a fishing village outside of Phnom Penh and on the way to the border with Laos but our bus just kind of flew right by our stop and we ended up in Phnom Penh AGAIN! Ah.  While the city is great and I really do enjoy it, we have been there three times and only have planned to go there once! But it turned out for the better because we were able to book bus tickets to Don Det and the 4000 Islands in southern Laos and also arranged our visas ahead of time.  We probably should have just gotten our visas at the border but with so much conflicting information about the border crossing and visa on arrival availability, we just got it in advance.  The first night in Phnom Penh, I checked out couchsurfing.org and saw that they had a CS weekly meet up so we headed to there to meet some fellow travelers and also some people who live in Phnom Penh.  It was pretty cool and we met some interesting people who were doing short volunteer stints in Cambodia through various programs and organizations. They had some interesting view points about the city and I think it is wonderful to meet ‘expats’ because you are able to get an outsiders view of the inside. 

The next day we walked around Phnom Penh and saw more of the temples and museums in the area.  Southeast Asia is such a small area and there is such a backpackers trail that people we saw in Battambang, we met randomly again in a museum that afternoon.  This has happened repeatedly and is always fun because we are able to give and receive pointers and tips about the places we are traveling to.  It’s a great community (and another reason why I will be sad to leave). 

With our last night in Cambodia, we went out and ate dinner along the river and enjoyed the people watching that came along with it.  There really is a strange mix within Phnom Penh of locals, expats, wealthy, poor, ladyboy, and tourists culture that all works together to create a really good mix and vibe.  I did really enjoy the city, even if we only planned to go there once.

The next morning at the ungodly hour of 7, we were up and ready for our bus ride.  We were told the bus would leave at 7:30 but didn’t actually end up leaving until 9.  But it wasn’t too bad of a bus ride and we were stopping a little on the way to pick up more people.  Our first stop in Laos was Don Det which is a part of the 4000 Islands (Si Pan Don) in the very southern part.  It is part of the Mekong River and there are all of these little islands throughout.  A few of them are inhabited and some are too small to really be considered an island.  We went in low season so there were plenty of rooms available and we found a pretty affordable bungalow close to the main street.  We had to take a small boat over to the island and arrived pretty late at night.  One of the things we didn’t really take in to consideration was that Laos has an 11:00 curfew for business, including bars and restaurants.  We arrived at 9 and figured we would have time to organize ourselves.  But we ended up rushing through and found an Indian restaurant along the river that was pretty decent.

The next day we rented bikes and rode around the island, through the local area of the island and to the bridge that connected to another island.  It was a pretty decent ride.  We made plans to meet up with one of ze Germans in central Laos so we weren’t able to stay long on the island.  The next day we were on a bus up to Tha Kheak for two evenings before we met the German at the border.  The whole time the plan was to meet at the border and then go to Kong Lor Cave, which has been described as the creepiest cave you have ever seen.  German was coming from Vietnam and so we met up earlier than planned and headed to Ban Na Hin, the small city that you can base your cave adventure out of.  We spent the night there and the next morning woke up to head out to the cave.  Well our timing was HORRIBLE and we showed up in the middle of a village celebration that essentially shut down the cave.  It was really our only chance to go there and we had booked our tickets and trip for the next town already! So after all of that planning and traveling, we didn’t end up seeing the cave.  We explored the outside of it but never made it in!  Ah! So this just means that I will need to come back to Laos in the future, which I fully intend on doing because it is a wonderful country!

So night bus up to the capital, Vientiane, spent a few days sight-seeing around there, before heading to Vang Vieng, our Christmas destination! And oh my, what a Christmas it was! Vang Vieng is an interesting area.  It is basically a co-op of families that have decided by making money off of tourists and really boosting their economy and education system.  Pretty damn cool if you ask me.  We went to the tubing area for Christmas and mainly just hung around the first bar area and had a wonderful time and met lots of super cool people.  The area is a great place to meet others and just hang out and dance a bit.  We spent the next few days relaxing, tubing, people watching, and meeting people.  It was also Mr. Lee’s birthday during that time and we had a good time just tubing and relaxing.  Relaxing from what, I don’t know, but it was fun nonetheless. 

From Vang Vieng, we headed up to Luang Prabang where we would spend New Year.  We stayed at Spicy Laos Backpackers which is another hostel we have been recommended throughout our travels.  And I completely understand why, it was a great place to meet others.  We went to a waterfall on the day of New Years Eve and it was beautiful. I was a little skeptical of it at first but it turned out to be totally worth it.  So beautiful and a little bit of a hike up to the top but great view of the area. Laos is a beautiful country and I would love to come back and explore a lot more. It just looks like a place that is authentic and true to itself.  The people are so incredibly friendly and welcoming.  Beautiful people, beautiful country. 

We have been hearing about how amazing Laos is since Armenia.  We met a few backpackers that have done our trip in the opposite direction and all of them talk about the amazingness of Laos and I see why.  It’s not so much what you see or what you do but it is about the atmosphere and the people firstly and then secondly what you do and see.  I don’t know how else to describe it besides the fact that it is more of a feeling than an experience.  Hopefully that makes a little sense?

Well that is all from Laos.  Except the bus ride from Luang Prabang to the border of Thailand was by far the WORST bus I have ever taken in my entire life. It was about 17 hours of pure hell and NEVER again will I take that bus route.  And yes, I do plan on visiting Laos again. It was amazing!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday! I hope that no matter where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing, that you have an amazing time! Much love! :)

Koh Chang to Cambodia: Same same but different

"Same same but different" is a saying that both Thai and Khmer (Cambodian) people say.  Not sure why but it is interesting and expresses exactly what it means, this is similar but different. Thailand and Cambodia are not same same though. 

We spent our last few days in Koh Chang and had a beautiful time! I love that little island and could see myself going there many, many more times. Lonely Beach is where we stayed and it was just so relaxing with a nice mix of culture.  Although I didnt end up diving or taking a cooking class, I still really enjoyed my time there.  We met a LOT of people that we have planned to meet up with along the way.

When the day came to say goodbye to Koh Chang and Thailand, we woke up and took a taxi bus to the ferry, the ferry across to the mainland, another taxi to the bus station, and then a mini bus to the border.

*Here it is important to mention that I forgot my Lonely Planet on Ko Samui.  Southeast Asia on a Shoestring has been like my Bible on this trip.  I have taken notes, highlighted passages, drawn maps, wrote cross references, post-it noted the heck out of it, basically anything you can do to make your trip easier, I had in that book.  And I forgot it. But the Germans were there to save the day and they saw it and saved it to return to me at a later date.*

So we are at the border and without the book, we have been relying on other travelers and the internet for advice.  We saw online that crossing the border is kind of a hassle and on the Cambodian side, people will try and scam you.  So we were semi-prepared for it.  But we assumed it just meant for the visa, we didnt realize it was the entire process and everything after that.  Through being rushed through, being told that the last bus leaves in 15 minutes, exchanging money at a really bad rate, and a taxi driver driving off with some of our money, we were scammed and scammed a LOT! Very not cool and not a good way to say goodbye to Thailand and hello to Cambodia.

*The reason the book is important to this part of the story is because in the Lonely Planet, there is an ENTIRE section on border crossing scams and just about every one they list in the book happened to us... if I had my book, maybe we would still have all of our money. Grr.... *

We finally arrive at our destination of Phnom Penh at the Mad Monkey hostel after hearing a lot of recommendations for it.  It was a really nice hostel, quieter than expected but their neighbors arent too understanding of the 'party' hostel atmosphere. Understandable too because of the neighborhood the hostel is in... very close to embassy houses and extravagantly rich complexes.  I cant imagine they want to hear backpackers on a rooftop bar.  Anyhow, we arrived at the hostel tired and ready to sleep and forget about our day of scams.  We went to a restaurant very close to the hostel and ate some good noodle soup.  That was about all we could do and headed up to bed.

The next day we were meeting Parksie's friend, Mr. Lee, at the hostel and so we took a day to kind of get our bearings and look up where we would head to next. During the day we met a few people who were also hanging around the hostel.  When Mr. Lee arrived, he met three other guys that were staying at the hostel as well, so we all decided to go to dinner.  We met some other randoms in the hostel as we were rounding up all of our new friends and had 11 people in total: 6 Americans, 2 Swedes, 1 Swiss, and 2 Kiwis. Oh and myself and another American were the only girls in this group.  Weird ratios. :)  This was the most Americans I have seen in a while.  While traveling through, we have met more Germans and Aussies than anyone else. 

We all went to this street stall where we overwhelmed this woman who was stir frying noodles.  But she loved us and told us to sit.  Her grand-daughter was translating for her and making sure that everyone was happy and had enough food.  It was a simple noodle dish but really, really good!  I LOVE the noodle dishes from this area!  From there we went to a few bars and had a generally wonderful night! This is what I mean about meeting people in hostels.  One of the people that we met that night, we ended up following to the beach.  Two others, we keep in contact and might meet up in Laos with.  I love this kind of traveling.

The next day, we had a sobering day at the Killing Fields. Cambodia's past is one of turmoil and war and their history is pretty intense.  The current state of the country though is interesting in a weird way.  They have borrowed money and help from their neighbors and to pay the debts back they have sold a lot of their temples, land, and important historical sites. This website has an interesting debate about what this implies for the sites.  It is an adaption from an article but I think it is a good short summary of a memorial vs. profit.  The money from visiting Choeung Ek goes to Vietnam and not to the victims of the genocide.  That to me, is unacceptable and I didnt realize this before I went there.  However, the money from the National Museum goes to Cambodia.

Nevertheless, the memorial was done in a way of respect and memory.  The site had an audio guide that was really good and informative.  I must admit I did not know a lot about the history of Cambodia but after going there, I have gotten a few books that I have started reading along the way.  I dont like being ignorant about the place I am in.

From the fields we headed to the prison that has been turned into a museum of sorts. This was hard to see because it had so many pictures of the prisoners on display and gave some more of the history of the site.  This was a really hard day emotionally because it was so recent.  I have been to some concentration camps in Germany but this seemed harder because it isnt well known.  I would say most Americans do not know a lot about the genocide that happened between 1975 and 1979 where 20 percent of the population was killed.  It was so recent and anyone we meet that is over 30 was affected. Walking around the cities and meeting people, you always wonder how they were effected, how they are coping, and how they survived.  It is hard.

To kind of move away from that topic and in to what else I have been doing in Cambodia, I will continue with after Phnom Penh.  As I mentioned, we met an American girl that was heading south to the beach.  We had some more time to burn through before we met up with ze Germans to get my book back.  We planned on meeting them in Siem Reap and had a few days.  So of course, being us, we headed to the beach! We went to Otres Beach which is this incredibly relaxing, relatively quiet, and undisturbed beach.  It was really nice to get some reading done.  We spent a few nights there and then decided to head up to Siem Reap to meet up with our Germans. Not only were we meeting ze Germans, but we also met my new best friend who is also a German.  Suzie Q! We met her in Koh Chang on the infamous Thanksgiving night and convinced her to come to Cambodia.

Leaving Otres Beach, we were supposed to make it all the way to Siem Reap but that didnt end up happening.  Between the night bus being sold out, the bus breaking down, waiting for a new bus for two hours, and a bunch of other stuff, we ended up having to stay in Phnom Penh for a night before taking the earliest bus up to Siem Reap.  Even that bus was late and drove really slow while honking at people the entire time.  The transportation in this country leaves a LOT to be desired and we have been constantly having to add two hours to our journeys.  Frustrating.

FINALLY, we made it to Siem Reap and to the Garden Village Guesthouse where we have 1 dollar dorm beds.  They are actually pretty good, albeit noisy at night.  The Sunset bar is a great place to come up and relax (actually where I am writing this now).  Walking up the stairs to the bar area where we had planned to meet everyone, Suzie comes running down the stairs! It was so good to see her and sad that it was only for a few nights! 

That night we were also meeting up with the other Germans.  So we were catching up with Suzie while we waited for them to show up.  They stupidly bought tickets for 12 that night but I was able to persuade them to stay the night and leave the next morning.  It wasnt hard to convince them, I basically just changed their ticket for them. They very nicely brought my book and handed it over. It was beautiful and just as I remembered it. It was like I felt complete again! We went out and had a great night dancing and checking out the night scene in Siem Reap.  Ze German's bus was leaving at 7 and they had to be at the station around 6, so we all decided just to stay up to see them off and also go see the sunrise at the main temple of Angkor Wat. 

It was beautiful and a wonderful way to welcome ourselves to Siem Reap.  After sunrise we went back to the dorms and slept.  Then later that night we went to watch the sunset on a different temple and that was beautiful as well.  Cambodia has a beautiful country and a beautiful country side.  We took a lot of great pictures.  Then we had a pretty relaxing night, went to a good dinner and walked around the night market.

The next day we toured some of the farther temples and also met up with two other Americans (one from the beach and her friend that came out to visit).  We took a van and spent the day touring the temples.  On the way back we went to Angkor Thom and checked out the temple with all of the faces on it.  That was a really cool temple and I wish that we had a guide to explain all of the carvings on it.

Angkor Wat and all of the temples are relatively young, if you compare them to other temples.  They are about the same age as Notre Dame.  Most of the temples were built between the 9th and 11th century.  I had it in my head that they were a lot older, like Mayan aged temples, but they are a lot newer.  Dont let that diminish how awesome they are though.  They were structurally fantastic and their history is pretty great. Changing from Hindu to Buddhist temples and then the unification of the two from the 7th Angkorian king where he wanted an acceptance of both religions.  It was really interesting.  The day when we went to a majority of the temples, we had a guide with us so we were able to learn a lot more about the temples and its history.

Our guide, Brother Sava, was great and I highly recommend him if you come to Angkor Wat and need a guide for the day.  He was great and really friendly.  His email address is: sunsava2007@yahoo.com.

Also, in Siem Reap, I took a cooking class that I highly recommend!  It is through the Le Tigre de Papier and is amazing!  We had Savoeun and she was amazing!  If you are in Siem Reap and interested in cooking at all, take this course.  You get to go to the market, pick the dishes you want to prepare, have someone explain the recipes while you cook them... all for 12 dollars.  That is it, just 12 dollars.  By far the cheapest cooking class I have seen.  And quite possibly, the best.

Before the day of the cooking class, we had another German send off.  Suzie was leaving us to go back to Bangkok.  We had to send her off in a fancy way so we kind of did the same stuff, went out and danced the night away until almost the morning.  Her bus left a little later so she was able to get a bit of sleep before her 10 hour bus to Bangkok. It was still sad to say goodbye but we have plans to meet up again in Berlin, her hometown.  And we all know, I love Germany so I am excited for that.  Berlin is a place I havent been yet and have heard a lot of great things about it.

That is about it for Siem Reap.  The temples were amazing! The people that we have met along the way have been fantastic and now it is time to say goodbye to Siem Reap and head out.  Not too sure where or for how long, but its back on the road again!