Our time in Cambodia is coming fast to a close. We have under a week left before we say goodbye to our students and friends and fly to Malaysia. In addition to teaching we have had several off days in which we got to experience the culture. One of the girls from church is getting married so at the end of this month we get to attend a traditional Cambodian wedding! This is a huge deal and involves help from family along with the community.
We also had a more enjoyable trip to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest Religious monument in the World. It is also a “wonder of the world”. It was really cool to see it at sunrise and also explore other very large temples that are next door to it. On our bus ride home they put us on the wrong bus, which took us 4-5 hrs out of the way! Also on this trip we all decided to eat tarantulas! They tasted great!
Earlier this month we have visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This was an old high school used as a security prison used by the Khmer Rouge regime. There was a huge genocide that took place in 1975-1979. During this time an estimated 2.2 million died or were killed by the regime’s influence. We also visited the Killing Fields where many were brutally murdered and a site of many mass graves. Cambodia has had a very rough past, which I was unaware of until coming here.
All the remains are kept in this building
This month we have had a lot of down time since we take turns teaching the morning classes. But it still has been good so we have time to build relationships with our new team. Some months we are crazy busy and others we have a lot of free time. It has been cool to see that our cook remembers our orders since becoming regulars at a local restaurant. We eat there nearly everyday. One of the ladies speaks English and the other doesn’t so it is always fun communicating with them.
We just received word that we will be flying into LAX on May 30th. I still remember the thought when we took off in Atlanta that my feet wouldn’t touch American soil for 11 months. Now it is just 2 short months from being back!
