Christmas...

I hope you're all having a great Christmas.  Or as I am now thinking of it, 3 days before my return to Cambodia.  For those of you who don't know, I went to Cambodia earlier this year with some friends to visit Angkor Wat.  And while the temples were of course amazing, I found myself far more engaged learning about the culture and people of Cambodia.  This time I'll be returning to Siem Reap, Cambodia for 7 weeks as a volunteer at the Savong School.  I'd like to say more, but to be honest at this point I'm not exactly sure what to expect. The plan is to work at the medical clinic, but I hope to be able to help out wherever I can at the school.  A lot of people think the healthcare stuff will be challenging and I'm sure it will be, but I actually think the cultural and language barriers will be far more difficult.  As far as I know, Khmer has nothing in common with Mandarin Chinese.  Hopefully there will be a few people there who can help translate or I'm going to have to depend on my rusty (but admittedly awesome) charade skills.

The luggage is about 75% packed - mostly consisting of medical supplies and mosquito repellant. By the time I finish packing, there won't be much room left for clothes.  However, I just had a stroke of genius (or possibly madness) the other day - to only bring a few items of clothing.  When I arrive and empty out my luggage of all the medical stuff, I'll go out and stock up on local clothing.  This way, I'll be supporting the local businesses (who probably make most of the clothes I get at REI anyhow) and maybe even stick out a little less.  Aside from the packing I have been getting things ready for my dog, Finn who has definitely noticed the luggage and no longer lets me out of sight.  By the way, I am touched (and a tad jealous) by the outpouring of concern for him.  My father will be staying at my place and watching him while I'm gone, so he's in good hands.

As well as being my first volunteer trip, this is also my first blog, so who knows what will happen? Quite a few people I know have blogged about their travels.  I've always found their blogs to be enlightening and enjoyed reading them so I thought, why not?  No guarantees on any enlightenment but I hope there will at least be a few good photos.  Plus, I think it'll be a good way to keep notes on things I want or need to remember.  There's supposed to be WiFi where I'm staying so I'll do my best to post with some regularity.  Until then, thanks for stopping by.  Leah sen heuy.