My time in Cambodia is finally coming to an end. I'm leaving in a couple of hours to the airport. I created a video with some pictures that were taken during the trip as a recap for those who might be too lazy to go through all the pictures. :) One of my favorite songs is playing in the background: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow, What A Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole...so soothing and hopeful. I had to upload to Vimeo since Youtube disabled the audio (copyright issues)...so let's hope Vimeo works out! The video was loading very slow for me after I clicked the play button, but not sure if it's because I have a slow internet connection...so be patient if it doesn't pull up right away. :)
I've learned so much about my past and Cambodia in the last 10 days than I had in the 28 years living in the US. It's definitely an experience I will never forget and I'm glad I was finally able to make it here to visit and meet my relatives. A part of me is happy to be leaving...since it's just too poor and too dirty for me. But the other part of me is sad to be leaving my relatives...I don't know when I will see them again. My relatives have been fantastic this whole trip!! I've noticed that they are so selfless...always putting the needs of others before themselves. I think it's in the culture here...I see it in my parents as well. It's a great quality to have and it's not something you see very often...especially in the US. I can definitely learn from them and I'll miss them very much! It's been a wonderful and humbling experience to see how fortunate we are to be living in the US and to see how the simple things that we take for granted (like air conditioning, paved roads, and western style toilets) would be a luxury here. It makes me so sad to see the poverty...little kids as young as a few years old on the street selling things to survive and begging for money. For those of you reading this...just know how lucky you are!!!
For my friends and coworkers who said I was high maintenance, you'd be proud of me for sticking it out despite the conditions I had to deal with! :) There were a couple of times I got sick from eating the food, afraid to sleep on the hotel beds in Siem Reap and Kratie, and even afraid to use the restrooms, especially on the road! But I made it through and roughed it out like the locals! I don't see myself returning any time soon...but perhaps when I have kids and they are older, I'll bring them back here so they will understand their past and history as well.
I leave for Xi'an, China today and will be staying at a volunteer house until Monday morning. We have orientation on Saturday and the rest of the weekend is free for us to explore Xi'an. On Monday, they will drive us to the panda conservation place and my work schedule is Mon-Fri until 4pm each day. There's only one computer with internet access, so it may be harder to keep the blog updated, but I will try my best! Still not quite sure what I will be doing yet...but hopefully the place will be cleaner with fewer mosquitoes (I doubt it though)!!! If not, I might have to cut my panda trip short!!! :P
