Siem Reap and Sihanoukville

 

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Just hagning out at Angkor Wat

Abby, Sarah, Ariel, Evan, and Stuart on the way to the islands off Sihanoukville

like a dream

i've been to some nice beaches and this was up there

cutie ba'tutie

the veiw from the bar

Happy Independence Day Cambodia!!

the Independence monument given to Cambodia by France

My English roomate, Victoria and I

Abby (Main),  Suzzane (Holland), Annelou (Holland), Marijke (Holland), Fiona (France), Victoria (England), and some random Cambodian girls we asked to pose with us!

the killing fields and S21 prison

this is a monument filled with the skulls of victims found after the burial sites were descovered

a sign at S21 prison where men and women were held until there were later taken to the killing fields

one of the cells at S21

back at the killing fields

everywhere around the area you can still find clothing fragments of the victims stuck in the ground 

This is the area between apartment buildings

as you can see it's a very narrow path

I have pictures of the inside of the apartment but can't seem to find them on my computer...

I'm here!

I've been in Cambodia for a little over two weeks working at an orphanage. I came over with a group called Projects Abroad and will be here for 3 months... So being here I'm realizing i don't really enjoy being around 25 small children who don't speak english and don't like to share, i've also realized that there's no such thing as a third world country in the sense of lacking modern westernized amenities. And i've also realized that it's ok that all my expectations have been blown to shit. I've been talking to a lot of the other volunteers here who have traveled everywhere and they all come to the same conclusion, that when you think you're headed towards a stranded civilization cut off from the world it never comes. One of the girls came straight from Nicaragua working with a surgery team and she said even in the most remote villages everyone still had cell phones and running water. I absolutely am not saying that everyone is at the same level of this move toward westernization but it has really woken me up knowing that everyone is on their way. At first i was really disappointed about this but now I'm thinking i want to embrace it. I want to do more traveling and i think instead of my original plan of doing non-profit work my whole life my new goal is to someday work for the UN. I haven't exactly figured out what branch or how to do it, i just know if i believe i will, i will! So that's a summary of what's been going on in my head.
Being here has also made me realize what a slow paced culture Cambodia has. I'm really not expected to do much at the orphanage. I get here around 9am and either color with them in the painting room until 10:30 or help the kindergarten teacher by playing with the smaller children who aren't ready to sit still and learn. Afer 11 I wait for lunch at 12 then everyone has a break or a nap (i'm learning french with one of the other volunteers on my lunch break) after nap time is over i go back in the painting room or kindergarten until 4. As much as I do have some regrets about coming here for three months it's already been a learning experience for me and I know if i never did this it would be an even bigger regret. And those are my thoughts as of now. I'll post pictures soon.