So as my title says, I am absolutely LOVING Cambodia!! It is exactly what you would picture a third world country looking like, which I have come to love. Take me out of the fancy cities and get me on the dirt roads, out in the villages.. that’s where I love it most. Plus, this month we are biking everywhere.. thank you, SLO for preparing me for this. My tire is very low, so I will be stopping at a “bike repair” tent this afternoon. People on the side of the road just waiting to make money by whoever stops for assistance. They apparently have tire patch kits for $1, not bad. They also have barber shops right next to it under a different tarp. Just pull up on your bike and hop off. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pay $60 for a haircut again. 
Our ministry this month is right up my alley (perhaps why I am loving it so much)… TEACHING!! We begin each morning helping at a preschool that just started, two mornings a week we teach English at a drug rehab center for men, and in the afternoon we go to a village and one group teaches English to children while the others work with the adults.
I was having a mid-twenties crisis a few months ago as I realized on this Race I have tended to want to do ministries that do NOT involve children. (This month I am teaching English to the mothers in the village.) My teammates noticed that I’m not much of a “hyper, run around screaming”, kinda person pretty quickly and I began to question if teaching was really what God had in mind for me. I was even asked, “Don’t teachers have to like playing with kids?” I wrestled with this for a bit. I came to the conclusion that the children we were working with this year have not been in school, they are extremely hyper and excited when we are with them and there is no organization at all. Correct, I do NOT enjoy being around children in this setting. While I might not be the best in those situations, I DO LOVE teaching children. I love having organization and routines, and expectations with them. I LOVE trying to figure out ways to teach a topic that is going to make it exciting and memorable. And after this week of teaching, I can say confidently “YES, I love teaching.” I might look into ESL (English as a Second Language) classes so I can be certified to teach abroad or teach adults in the States at night classes, I remember hearing in Santa Maria they offered this program. Expand my horizons in case I realize I want to be abroad more, Cambodia, maybe?! 🙂
So tomorrow Traci and I am in charge of the preschool, oh boy! Yesterday I had to chase a “runner” who snuck out the gate and took off. Quite a sight: a blonde girl sprinting down a dirt road chasing a crying Cambodian boy. Haha! The teacher, Fe asked me to do PE and to develop her PE curriculum for the year.. I was so excited because teaching PE last year is coming in use! I love it when God secretly prepares us for things and we later realize why.
I had an awesome day working with the rehab guys this morning.. they got really into the lesson and we had a good time laughing and teaching them hangman.
The village is probably my favorite though. There are single mothers whose husbands have left them alone with 3-5 kids. Adorable babies are sick with mumps. Their garden consists of weeds, which are supposed to feed them and be their source of income. Two of the women have husbands who work, but as laborers, barely make enough to live off of. A 15 year- old boy who joins us for English lost his mom one year ago, the father left, and now his older brother is taking care of him and paying for his public school costs. So much that in the States we don’t have to worry about.
Anyway, yesterday I taught the mothers how to write their name. Pastor Noel brought some notebooks so we would have paper, and we scrounged up some pens and they learned how to write their names and alphabet. Some of the women didn’t even know how to write their name in their native language. I can’t imagine. Such a simple joy it was to watch them learn yesterday with smiles on their faces. Today we are going to work the garden and we donated $10 for seeds and a watering can so they can keep it up. 
That’s a little of my life right now.. I am simply loving it and growing to love God so much more through it too. My perspectives are changing and seeing the simple blessings in life is giving me so much joy! I’ll add pictures as we get to know the family more..
Love you all so much and can’t wait to hear from you all!
