I wake up to the sounds of roosters crowing loudly. I actually love the sound, it’s a consistent reminder of where I am and how much I love it here. Our days are jammed packed with exciting new adventures. Those adventures typically include, laughing, sweating, and being eaten alive by all the bugs. It’s a simple life over here in Cambodia but definitely not one to overlook.
Every morning we eat breakfast at 8:00am and then start the day by 8:30. This past week we had a manual labor project that took the majority of the morning. We started building a fence surrounding the perimeter of the orphanage. That included shoveling dirt and carrying it back and forth for three hours. We had to get used to being covered in dirt for the rest of the day.
Anytime between 11:30 and 12:00 lunch is served. We eat the same things everyday and our meals normally consist of rice, fried chicken and cooked veggies. Often we get a sweet treat at the end of the meal and we always try to guess what it will be. My favorite treat to get are the mangos. They are so incredibly delicious here.
Between 12:00 and 3:00 we have “free time” however, it isn’t exactly “free”. We always spend this time laughing and playing with the kids out in the hot sun. The crowd favorites are card games of War and Go Fish. If we aren’t hanging out with the kids we are having devotionals, writing blog posts or even taking naps due to mild heat exhaustion:) The weather stays consistently around 100 degrees and I don’t think I’ve stopped sweating since arriving in Cambodia. I wouldn’t have it any other way though, there is something hilarious about all of us Americans sweating together.
At 3 o’clock we start school and all the kids gather into the small one room school/church/eating area. There’s no air conditioning anywhere so there are always fans blowing at us from all directions. School is always an experience and presents new challenges and obstacles everyday but I love it. It’s so awesome to see how brilliant these kids are. We are teaching them english and they are doing really well! We normally end up coloring pictures and playing games by the end of it to incorporate the lesson and words they just learned.
School ends at 5:00 and we all know what comes next. The kids take their shoes off and I put my tennis shoes on and we race to the rice fields to play soccer (or fútbol). The rice fields are dried up right now because it is the dry season and they make for the perfect fútbol fields. I’m horrible at soccer but it’s such an incredible bonding experience, it’s worth all the bruises and rolled ankles.
Once 6:00 rolls around we are called for dinner by a child screaming the word “EAT” at us and we are so thankful for the next meal. Dinners are very relaxing and it’s a great time to process the day we had and share funny stories. After dinner we play with the kids for about 30 more minutes and then we say our goodnights. Saying goodnight to them is one of the hardest things to do each day and I’m dreading the day we have to say it for real.
Each night we have ‘Team Time’ and it’s a time to decompress and prepare for the next day. It normally includes some quiet time with the Lord, prayer and a couple card games. Then we shower, go to bed and do it all over again.
Our time is coming to an end in Cambodia and I am so thankful for everyone I’ve met along the way and all the amazing experiences I have had.
