Still an Adventure!

It has been 5 months now that I have lived in Cambodia, and every day still proves to be an adventure. I will try to sum up the last month or so as much and as quickly as possible so you can get the details!

1) Bad thing - I have been sick off and on for the last month. Last week it was finally bad enough that they dopped me up on antibiotics and brought me to Phnom Penh. Thankfully my tests for parasties all came back negative but our nurse thinks that is just because the antibiotics killed everything! :) Feeling much better now and hoping it stays that way!

2) I was able to see several friends from the States! Three girls were here from Lee completing their internship, Dr. Cuellar came to visit them, Dr. Doolittle brought another group from Lee, and I reconnected with some missionaries in Siem Reap town that I had met 2 years ago. It was very nice to be able to see people from home! The girls came and stayed a couple nights with me in the village which was quite an adventure.

3) The last week of June, I biked to visit Autumn, the volunteer in the next district over and the only other volunteer in my entire province. It was about a 20 mile bike ride there so I left early....about 6:30 am, stayed a night, and returned the next morning. It took me about an hour and a half to get there....I was not tired but boy did I have a sore bum! :) It was a wonderful ride though and definitely released a lot of stress! I felt very proud that I was able to do it. While at Lee, I too lazy to bike the 3 blocks to school in the mornings....now I'm riding 20 miles and barely feeling it!

4) This past week I have been in Phnom Penh for 4th of July festivites. I arrived on the 1st of July and will go home tomorrow on the 8th. The actual 4th of July passed rather uneventfully....most of the volunteers that were in town, including myself, kind of forgot about the fact that it was the 4th until we saw fireworks coming from the Embassy! On the 5th, a few of us helped run an all day English Camp for high school students from around the country. We had 85 students at the embassy and played games, sang songs, and basically had a blast (see picture above....singing "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes." Our real 4th of July festivities will take place tonight at the embassy....big part with hot dogs and hamburgers...we are looking forward to it! Phnom Penh has been a lot of fun....I have seen many things including the palace, a genocide museum, a big temple, and the national museum. Been great to be in the city! Last night Peace Corps rented a river boat for us and provided pizza, soda, and dancing...great fun! I am looking forward to heading back to the village tomorrow however!

5) We are officially allowed to travel out of our provinces now so I am excited to go visit other volunteers starting this month and seeing a little more of Cambodia. First on the list is Battambang town! :) Can't wait!

6) My school year has finally finished. I will be teaching some English clubs a few times a week, but other than that, the next few months should prove to be rather relaxing...if not boring at times! I've got some great books, however, and plan to continue chugging through the classics and working on my Khmer! I have finally started to become a little more literate in Khmer and have successfully read a few words on my own. It's fun when the squiggles and dots finally start to mean something!

Other than those few things, life is an adventure but is becoming more..."normal." Many people ask me about the exciting things that I have done...and while many things may seem to be exciting to all of you, they are just life for me now. It is a happy feeling to finally feel a bit settled and like I am just living my life. It is especially important to start feeling that way when I still have 21 months left! While 5 months have flown by fast, there are some days when looking ahead at 21 more seems rather daunting! But life is good and I am continuing to enjoy it! I have realized daily how it's the little things that get you through the day... like squirt gun fights with my brother, bike trips on the highway, crowded buses, May bringing me coffee home from the market, playing in rain storms, and holding babies.