This is my house. I live in Kampong Speu (Spuh), Cambodia. About one and a half to two hours outside of Phnom Penh. I teach English every day and spend a whole lot of time with kids that cling to me with everything they have in them. I hear "Hello Lesley!!" almost every where I go by many young, excited children.
Cambodia has been and is such an amazing experience for me. I have been teaching English in the village of Kampong Speu and I wouldn't change anything this month for the world. Teaching is something I am very passionate about and my team has really enjoyed seeing me in my element. I am most myself when I am teaching and when I am around children. And there are plenty of children here to bring out my crazy, goofy, care-free self.
One night, during team time, we all told the person to our left what kind of cereal they are. Daniel told me he thought of three. One, I am cocoa puffs because I can be a bit coo coo at times (in a fun and good way); two, I am fruit loops because I am very colorful and there are many flavors to my personality; and three, I am rice crispy cereal because I am so energetic that I snap, crackle and pop everywhere. I thought all those were pretty funny, so I thought you might enjoy them too. And they are pretty spot on.
I love Cambodia so much that I learned as much about their language as I could! I now know how to write about 15 names in Khmer (Kah-my) and I am learning the different letters; 33 consonants and 23 vowels. The people in the village are so surprised that I can recognize some of the letters and tell them what sound the letter makes. I read my first word the other day! I can also have basic conversations with people!
This is my name in Khmer!
The first one says Malerie and the second one says Lesley (my middle name). I don't go by Malerie in many of the countries because it is a difficult name to pronounce and Lesley is much easier. So I don't write the first one very much.
I have made so many new wonderful friends here in Cambodia. They love to practice speaking English and love to hear anything I have to say. My team went to Angkor Wat the other day and we brought some of my new friends with us. It was so much fun to hang out with them, not as their teacher but as their friend. They are so much fun to be with and easy to joke around with.
I am going to miss Cambodia so much. Specifically, Kampong Speu. I fell in love so hard with the people here. I wish it never had to end. But there is a season for everything and the next season of my life involves me being in Africa.
I visited a bunch of monkeys this month. They live in or around a temple and some were so cute! Others were mean and stole the food I had. I got a lot of photos and videos of them. Here are a few.
It was so neat visiting Angkor Wat, which is one of the 7 Wonders of the World. It was built in the 1100s and the details that were put into a lot of the carvings is immaculate! And here are some photos of Angkor Wat!
It's not every day I can go visit a place as neat and exciting as that. I will be able to visit one more Wonder on this trip too. The Taj Mahal in India!
If I am to get to India, however, I need to be fully funded. The deadline is only a few days away and I am $4,000 away from reaching it. I am not finished here. God is not finished with me yet. I need to stay here and continue learning and walking in the way God has for me.
My heart breaks at the end of every month when I have to say good bye. Most of the people I have met on the race I will never see again. At least not on this side of eternity. I was told recently in an email "We saw the love of God in your acts of love. Thank you for leaving your mark." I read that and cried. I am leaving a piece a chunk of my heart behind in every country I go to. And just when I thought I would start running out of chunks, my heart just grows bigger and allows more chunks to be left behind.
These past 6 months in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia have been the hardest and the greatest months of my life and I couldn't imagine anything better. I am so excited for the next 5 months in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Nepal and India. I am half way through the race, but I am already a whole new person.
Please help me stay on the race by praying for me and supporting me. You can click on the button under my blog photo on the left of this that says "Support Me." It is easy and takes about 2 minutes!
Thank you so much! And if you can't support me, please share this blog on your twitter or facebook. And if you can support me, please share this blog on your twitter and facebook! 🙂
Much Love,
Malerie
