My new life begins at LAX a journal of my 3 months living and working in Phnom Penh, and beyond.

The CWF semester is winding down. There are less than 2 weeks left of class. Last weekend we took a trip to Kirirom Mountain as a way to have a little fun with out students before we leave. Joe and Rattanak (along with some of Joe’s students) arranged the trip, and they did a great job. I think Joe was really stressing out about the trip, but it was a great success and everyone had a lot of fun. There were over 100 teachers and students there, we had to hire 4 buses. Kirirom is about 60 miles from Phnom Penh. It is a national park that has a bunch of waterfalls, it is a popular destination for Cambodians on the weekend. 5 of my students went and one brought her brother. We left CWF around 7:30 on Sunday morning. It was about 2 hours to the base of the Mountain and the another 45 minutes up the mountain. Once we got there we rented a bunch of bamboo huts with mats next to the river. We brought a meal of chicken and rice with us. After eating we went swimming in the river. The water was cold, there were a few mild rapids. One section had no rocks so you could go down it like a water slide. The time went by really fast, next thing I knew we were getting back on the bus to go back to Phnom Penh. On the way down the mountain we stopped at a tea plantation that had another, larger waterfall. We stopped there for about 30 minutes, some of us climbed on top of the waterfall. Took some pictures than got in the bus and headed back to PP. I had a lot of fun and I think the students really enjoyed themselves. It is rare for them to get out of the house and have fun with their friends on the weekend, so I think it meant a lot to them. Thanks a lot to Joe, Ratanak and their crew for all the hard work.