Today was so freaking sad! 😩😭 It was our last morning with the kids and it was so hard to say goodbye! Tears, cards, and lots and lots of hugs. When I told Therith I was going home, he said “No, you stay” and grabbed my arm and turned into me into a hug 😭 Sorry friends, not coming home. Awful. Hugging kids at apple break, them asking if we would come back on Monday. Asking if we would come back at all. The absolute worst. So of course, we HAVE to come back. NHCC has provided a home, medicine, and an education to these sweet sweet children. The smiles, the hugs, the jokes. Just sad to leave. Kate and I went to say bye to Amy’s class and they drew and wrote us goodbye/thank you cards 😭

We went to say goodbye to my kindergarteners which was so sad! So bright, the tiny tiny humans. Filled with loves and hugs and asking to stay, to come back.

It was hard to leave. I don’t know how the teachers do it. It’s rough. Here’s some of the photos from goodbyes and hugs.

After apple break, Kate and I raced to help Amy. It’s the Khmer New Year so she wanted to play traditional Khmer New Year games. One of them involves racing to eat apples off of string. So, with a bus to the airport leaving at 9:30, Kate and I raced to get the apples set up for Amy. Down to the wire, we sprinted back to grab our bags and get into car to head to Phnom Penh. As we left, we saw Amy’s kids doing a hard boiled egg race game first. We got out, gave hugs, and left NHCC.

We took an hour car ride to the airport. The longest car ride of my life. Those of you who know me well, know all to well about me and motion sickness. The absolute worst I have felt on this entire trip. The thing about the rules of the road here is.. there are no rules. Except honk to let someone know you’re there. It’s total madness! Impressive madness, but madness. Someone going too slow or in your way, go onto the other side of the road and create a new lane. Too many cars? Drive your motor on the sidewalk, who cares. Tuk tuks? Wherever you want to go. Madness. You impatient LA drivers would lose your minds driving here. So the ride to the airport was stop and go traffic, exhaust, and strong cologne from the driver. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to make it. I couldn’t breathe. The world was ending. Then, we got to the airport. AIR! There was air. We said bye to John, the founder of NHCC and headed straight into the airport for AC and a snack. I got a cheese and tomato sandwich and a blended mocca. Food. Air. Bathroom. I felt good again. We went outside and got a tuk tuk to give us a ride into the city.

We took our first tuk tuk! It was a blast! Gotta hang onto our bags because apparently theft is high with people just reaching in. It was fine, and so very fun. Our ride was an hour and we finally got to Envoy, our hostel in the city. It’s beautiful! Absolutely beautiful.

We put our stuff in our room and began figuring out what we wanted to do with the rest of our day. Originally we wanted to go on a sunset river cruise to see the floating villages tonight, but it was a 70% chance of rain. So we opted to swap events for tonight and tomorrow and tonight we went the theatre to see traditional Cambodian dance show. Until then, we wanted to eat and shop! We decided we were going to go to the Russian market to shop and one of Debbie’s favorite vegetarian places for lunch. IT WAS SO GOOD! Nice not to eat a meal with flies for once. Did I mention that before? There were SO many flies with every meal. Just, on the food. You just kind of got over it and moved on. Our first meal without flies! It was fantastic. I ate crunchy noodles with a spring roll. Debbie ate Vegetable Amok with brown rice, and Kate had a Greek salad. Sooo yummy.

From there we headed into the market! What a blast. Vendors everywhere. Working and selling all kinds of goods. Food, clothes, souvenirs, electronics. You name it, it was there.

We shopped around, excited to buy clothes. Dresses for work is what I am on the hunt for. We had a short time to shop because we had to get back for the show! We all got a few things, got in the tuk tuk and headed back to the hostel. We showered, changed, went back out for another tuk tuk and headed to get some food before the dance. We got to the theatre for $4 and ate at a westernized restaurant. Now that we are in in the city, food and lifestyle is very different than the village. Less trash, more cars, more touristy. But beautiful. Kate got chicken and potatoes for dinner and Debbie and I shared a cheese pizza and a beer 😬 Angkor beer!

We waited FOREVER to get our pizza. Kate ate all of her food, and we still didn’t have our pizza! We had to get to the theatre because seats were first come first serve when doors opened at 6:30 for the 7:00 show. It was 6:35. We ended up getting our pizza to go. We carried it to the theatre, walked in, to a beautiful beautiful theatre outside of a local museum. Kate went and claimed our seats while Debbie and I sat outside swallowing our pizza whole and talking for a bit. Finally, we watched the show. 

Oh. My. God.

Unbelievable! It was amazing!!!! So beautiful. They told you where each dance was from, what it represented, and why it’s performed. Traditional dance, music, clothes. Beautiful, I have no words. Photos. Lots of photos. Here’s a few of my favorites.

After the show, we grabbed a tuk tuk back to hostel. We walked around the shops for a bit to poke around and look. GUYS!! I’m pretty sure I found the largest Starbucks in the world. It’s here, in Cambodia. We walked by it tonight and I could not believe it’s size!! This HUGE two story building- no joke!! It’s here. I found it. I won’t buy anything from it because it will cost a stupid amount of money. But I can look at this ginormous building.

We got back, Kate went to bed, Debbie wanted another slice of pizza, and I sat down to write. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, we are going to the killing fields which I know will be emotional. Telling us the history of the genocide of the Cambodian people. Debbie always says people always remember her because of her white hair. Because so many people were killed in the genocide, there’s not many elderly people here. 


BUT DEBBIE IS YOUNG AND FULL OF LIFE AND NOT OLD AT ALL AND WILL LIVE FOREVER.


Four times today Debbie has run into people she knows here in the city. One was a woman who works at the hostel, one a tuk tuk driver, and one a woman who works in the market. All of them! Remembering her, asking if she lives here. Number four is her friend Paul, who is sitting across from me now. The entire time I have written this they have talked and caught up, which is nice. Debbie heard Paul was coming to town and thought she wasn’t going to see him. And he’s staying in the same hostel! It’s been sweet to watch them catch up. Debbie cried. Also, we got chocolate cake. Debbie’s friend who works at the hostel, it’s her birthday! Kate, you missed out.

Today was our last full day here at NHCC (New Hope for Children of Cambodia). It has been an amazing experience so far. Today was definitely the hottest day and what felt like the longest day. The kids are rambunctious because it is almost the Khmer New Year, which means a 10 day school break! This Saturday the whole school, the kids who live at the orphanage, are going to the beach to celebrate. 


Kate and I made the rounds to different classes again doing what we do. We went to one amazing class, which was Christopher’s class, grade 3A. They were so wonderful! They were excited, involved and just the best class. We had school allllllllllll day. 


Lunch we had rice, veggies, and some meat but for dessert they had dragonfruit. Oh my goooodd it was so good! I didn’t even realize I had never seen dragonfruit until it was in front of me and I was asking what it was. It was delicious. I can’t even explain. It doesn’t have a strong taste, but is refreshing the way watermelon is.

I got to watch the kids in PE today, which was absolutely fun. The teacher, Danny, had created this new game for them and they were running around screaming and playing. I was headed back to kindergarten when they were leaving for lunch. So I headed toward Amy’s room where Kate was. As I was walking in, I looked at the whiteboard and could long division math problems on the board as Amy and Kate were setting up. Amy said, “We’re about to do math” and they both gave me this look of exhaustion. I said “Uhhh…I’m not sure I want to stick around for this” and Amy said, “No really, don’t. It’s too much, get out while you can” so I turned right around and left! 😂

Kate came back. Still hates math. Still thought it was awful and hard. Still doesn’t understand how teachers do it. I was happy I didn’t go.

After school we went over to Debbie’s and ate some hard boiled eggs (yum!). Debbie also took us to see a young Cambodian man who stays on the grounds named Chivoun. He is a fabulous artist! It is unbelievable the work he does with just black ink pens. The dedication and commitment is unreal. I can’t even begin to explain. He needs to sell his work and they are working on making prints soon. The images in his head that he can create and put on paper is unbelievable. I wish I could have taken photos to show you. 

We also ate TONS of chocolate. Awful. I keep telling Debbie I don’t want it, but she gives it to us anyways. We FaceTime with Lisa (Hi Lisa) and promised we would take video of the orphanage. We took one video of the outside of the volunteer cabin and then… did nothing else. We forgot and had to go.. and.. I think it rained.. and I don’t remember. But. Sorry. 😬

Kate said you’d be mad if I didn’t mention our FaceTime. Sorry, Kate.

After dinner went to the library to help with DVD rentals. Debbie opens the library so students in grades 3+ can come rent DVDs and enjoy them. It really is a great opportunity for the kids but truly takes a village to complete. Amy was at the door, managing how many kids could come in at a time and was absolutely marvelous. Hysterical. She kept telling the kids if they put their feet in “I’ll chop your foot off and put it in the bin!” And they would giggle being anxious in line. She is so great with them. They would come in, Debbie and Kimmy would help them sift through DVD options and once they had what they wanted and it got marked with a sticker and Debbie’s log, they told McKenzie who got the DVD, and came to Kate and I where we managed the hardest part: stickers. But really, kids were only allowed to take 4 stickers… but you know kids! They tease and want to take more! It was stressful and fun.

After, Kate and I got more bracelets! Vutha, Soksan, and Sreymeas made more bracelets and gave them to us in the library. It was adorable and very sweet.

It POURED today! So much. On and off from the mango rain I guess. Kate and I showered and got soaked running back, it was so fun. Debbie offered an umbrella but we decided to risk it. We got soaked. And here’s a frog. There’s frogs in rooms, bathrooms, wherever. Little tiny cuties.

So, my mom and Kate’s mom went on a road trip.. last year? They went all over the Midwest/Eat coast. On this road trip of theirs, they each bought us a pair of “soul socks” which are the same colors but mismatched socks. Mine were purple based, Kate’s were blue. We both brought them on this trip to wear them together and take pictures. Which we did tonight, which turned into this weird photo shoot thing of our socks. I’m only posting three. I’m ashamed to admit how many there actually are. So enjoy. Tomorrow, into Phnom Penh.