Happy Halloween!

So I'm seeing how the Camodians do Halloween today... and they don't. That's not a big suprise, though. After talking with my group members, it sounds like the US is really the only country that gets into Halloween as much as we do. So I think tonight will consist of going to bed early so that I can wake up for my 6am bus ride into Vietnam! We're going to end up in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow afternoon... I'm so excited to go to a new country! Cambodia is really wonderful, but I think we've seen most of what there is to see. I'm sure we could go deeper, but I'm happy with what we've done :).

Today was a bit of a somber day... we visited the killing fields where 20,000 Cambodians were killed in the genocide. We also visited an old school building that was turned into a prison/torture chamber. The Pol-Pot Regime started a genocide in order to eliminate all potentially threatening people from Cambodia, (the Regime wanted ultimate power, so they considered anyone who was educated, or from a family where someone was educated, as dangerous). So, they gathered up as many educated Cambodians and their families (even the babies), and took them to the school house... renamed S-21. We had a tour that took us through all of the rooms. They converted school classrooms into chambers for people to stay, the chambers were literally about 3 feet x 4 feet, and each one had a chain attached to the ground where they would keep the prisoner stationary. They showered only once every two weeks, and were allowed to empty their waste at the same time. They even had to ask a guard for permission to turn from their left side to their right when they were trying to sleep. It was horrifying to see what the Regime did to those prisoners... completely inhumane. It was amazing to see who the guards were in the prison, too. Just 10-14 year old boys who had been brainwashed to think what they were doing was right. They were uneducated boys, too (which was ideal for Pol-Pot because the guards were not a threat). So... it was an eye-opening day, and really powerful to be right where all of that had occured... just 30 years ago! It makes you appreciate being born in a Country like the US, that's for sure.

As I said, tomorrow we're going to head over to Vietnam. We have quite a few days there... I'm excited to see what it's like. We have 4 people leaving from the group at that point, and we are also getting a new tour guide. I'm excited to see who will join the group, but it's hard to imagine it being any different than it is now... our group is great! Also, Kakada, our tour guide, is the best I could imagine. He gives us every bit of information we could possibly ask for, and more. But I'm sure the next one will be just as good.

I hope you all have a happy halloween!! Eat lots and lots of candy for me! Especially Milky Ways. PS Mom, thanks for the milky ways you stashed away in my bag... I have one especially saved for today :). I miss you all!

I'm still testing out the pictures! Facebook ended up being a disaster... so this is going to have to do. This is me and Kaitlyn, a girl in my group who is from Australia, on one of the islands off of the coast of Sihanoukville. Kaitlyn is really sweet. This was a big day... lots of snorkling and hanging out on the beach. What a life! Please notice the frolicking couple ini the background... I didn't know they were there :).

Me with one of the many statues outside of the temples of Angkor Wat. I decided to cuddle up to one and give him some loving (Sorry Jake).

This picture was taken the day that we visited Angkor Wat. This is the sunrise coming up over the temple. The temple is in the left corner... those three towers. The temples were aboslutely amazing... I wish that I could post all of my pictures up but it's just too slow. I'll be on here for years!

We took a tiny boat out to the floating village outside Siem Reap. I believe that I wrote abou tit earlier. This is what a standard house looks like. They just jump off of their deck into the water. We saw one guy taking a bath in there. And another one emptying out his toilet stuff...

This is still at the orhanage... these two girls were so cute. They hung around me most of the time we were there. We brought bananas with us when we came, so they were loving those. The girl that I'm closest to learned how to high five... and right when you were about to high five her back she would pull her hand away and punch you in the stomach. Haha it doesn't sound cute, but it was a big hit. She kept trying to get us over and over... but we caught on (eventually).

This is going to have to do for now. I'll try and and post some more up soon! I love and miss you all!

Testing out pictures...

Alright so I tried uploading pictures to the blog, and it takes about 20 minutes a picture. I finally got this one up though. It was taken at the orphanage we visited outside of Siem Reap. The orphans learn traditional Khumer dances and perform them all over the city so that they can earn some extra money for rice and clean water. One of the orphans (Akea? It's hard to tell what their names are because I can barely pronounce any of them!) wanted to show me and Maria (A girl in my group from Sweden) how to stand like a Khumer woman. They use that cup in numerous dances. We saw the same moves when we ate dinner at a restaraunt where Cambodian women performed the same dance. It looks easy, but that stance is actually really hard, and it hurts your wrist like none other! I don't think I'm going to be able to post any more pictures on the blog unless I get a faster connection somewhere soon. So for now I can put them up on facebook a tiny bit faster. Try and check there and see. Mom and Dad, maybe Scott will give you his facebook name so you can look on my page... unless you want to sign up for a facebook account... but I don't recommend it! Don't be one of those parents with a facebook page. Ok, sign up for one if you want. But really, don't. :) hahaha I love you.

Beaching it

Hey everyone! Sorry it has taken me a while to find a good internet spot and update you all. My days get so busy, by the time 8pm rolls around I'm ready to pass out. It's amazing how tired you get when travelling. We have been running all around Cambodia for the past few days. We left Siem Reap and headed to Kompong Cham for a day just for quick stop. We stayed at a hotel overlooking the Mekong River. It was so wide... it reminded me of home a little bit (but the water was even dirtier than the Willamette if you can believe it). Then we went up in the hills into the jungle to stay with a cambodian family for the night. It was nice to meet some of the locals, but we didn't have much time there, so I didn't have much of a chance to truly learn about them or their family.

Right now, we are in Sihanoukville. It's a small-ish beach town on the coast of Cambodia. So far it's great! The humidity is down here, but the sun is still shining. We had the chance to lay out on the beach yesterday and do a bit of relaxing. When I got into the water, I was shocked! I am used to the Oregon coast, but the water here is honestly like bath water. Some people were even saying it was too hot (crazy people)! So we just swam around and enjoyed the tropical water. One of our assistant tour guides doesn't know how to swim... he was hilarious! So we were teaching him how to doggy paddle and kick like a frog. He was doing pretty well by the end of our time there. This morning we are leaving to do a bit of island hopping off of the coast. We're going to snorkle in each place. I'm so excited... it's going to be another big day. Then tomorrow we have a free day... I'll be at the beach no doubt.

I'm trying to get this all written in 5 minutes... we are leaving to go snorkling now so I have to cut myself off. I miss you all and think about you every day!

Oh PS- I promise to try and put up pictures soon. I have talked to a couple group members who have tried... and they said it took over an hour just to get about 10 pictures up so I'll wait until I have a pretty good connection.

What happens when you're bored...

...the population of your country jumps from 4 million to 14 million in nearly 29 years. That's Cambodia. Our tour guide was explaining the history to us today about the genocide that happened here, where 3 million Cambodians were killed. (Most of you know how bad I am at history... so names of Regimes etc just don't sink in, so bear with me. Also, I can't understand my guide, Kakada's, accent a lot of the time, so I only get a few of the details). The Regime at the time that was killing off the Cambodians was overthrown, ending the genocide in 1979. At this point, Kakada explained that the strife was over and the people were bored. Apparently they found a way to kill the time... resulting in the birth of 10 million people 29 years. I never would have thought it was possible... but they proved me wrong.

Cambodia is beautiful. I love the people, the food, and the sites we've seen so far. I'm trying to be brave and expand the foods that I order. I have had a couple bad run-ins with chili powder, but other than that it's been great. For $3.00 I get a feast!The people are so warm and interested in learning everything they can about us. People will stop me pretty often just to ask me where I come from and what my name is. It's great to see that they don't mind tourists being here, but that we are just part of their way of life now and they embrace us. I've seen some pretty incredible sites just within the past day of being here. We took a boat (real long and skinny with just enough room to fit our group) out to the floating village outside of Siem Reap. There are 3 million people living in tiny houses that sit on stilts above the water. The water is contaminated with all of their waste... but it is the source of all of their food and it is used as the main roadway to get from A to B. Everybody has their own boat... and traffic in the water is just as crazy as traffic on land. They just don't have any sense of space or safety- if you want to go, you go! Seeing those villagers living in those conditions made me appreciate how easy life is at home. We have clean, running water, electricity, cars, and overabundance of food... etc. It comes to us so simply at home. I wonder if they ever think about the way other people live... probably not. That is their life and they seem content with it. The children in the villiage were so happy... they would jump in and out of the water the whole time, scream at us and wave and smile. Maybe they are completely fine without the things we consider necessary... and I guess they don't miss what they never had at all. It's just incredible how drastic a difference their lives are from ours.

Tomorrow we are meeting at 4:45am and heading to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise over the temples. We'll be there all day, even to watch the sunset at around 6pm. I'm so excited to see the temples, I imagine that it's going to be an incredible site. But the early start means that I have to get to bed now... otherwise I'll never make it through the day. Take care, I love you all!

A quick update

We made it into Cambodia, and the trip has officially started! Siem Reap is great, I think it's going to be an amazing place to see... but it was a journey (to say the least) getting here. My group is 16 members plus a guide and 2 guides in training. We packed ourselves onto the tiniest bus of all time, and took a long, sweaty ride into Cambodia together. you wouldn't believe the humidity... it must be 100%! I will sweat through a shirt within a couple hours... not a good track record with only 6 shirts packed!

The ride was bumpy and crazy! There are no lanes, and people will just pass whenever they feel like it, whether or not there is oncoming traffic. I may have a hernia. But it's entertaining! Especially when we get stopped by a herd of cows in the middle of the road.

I don't think they see many blonde people here... because I get stared at everywhere we go! I'm the only blonde person in the group... and the only one from the US, so I stick out to say the least. When I was at immigration to cross the border into cambodia, the officer behind the counter couldn't stop staring. When he took my passport to scan it, a couple extra passport photos fell out... and he said "I need to keep this". I laughed and asked if he truly needed to, and could see it all over his face that he didn't. So I started to laugh even harder and said "no you don't! give it back!"and I snatched it away. Then people will pull out their cameras and take pictures of me with their phones. It's so strange... Now I know what Jennifer Aniston must feel like :) Haha... just kidding!

I had the chance to tour a little bit of Bangkok before leaving today for Cambodia. I went to the grand palace with a couple of girls that I met in the hotel. It was unbelievable! I can't imagine how much time and energy they put into constructing those temples. I'll try and get some pictures up when I have a better connection. I'm excited for tomorrow... We get to visit a Cambodian orphanage, see a floating village, and check out the local market. Then the following day we are visiting the temples at Angkor Wat. This is one of the things I am most excited about!

I'm sorry that I have to cut this so short, but the connection in this cafe is terrible, so I need to make it quick! I promise to try and get some pictures up soon, and I'll update you on the rest of Cambodia. I miss all of you very much! xoxo

I made it!

I wanted to check in really quick with you guys and let you know that I made it safely into Bangkok! I have another 24 hours until I am meeting my group... so for now I'm just trying to sleep off the jet lag and figure out how to navigate Bangkok. It's so funny... I ask people simple little questions and they just kind of stare at me, and then start laughing. Then I start laughing because I know I must look ridiculous trying to mimic "spoon" because they don't understand what I'm saying. I've had about 6 hours of daylight... so I ventured out into the city (ok... down the street) to find the local 7 Eleven and grab some little necessities. That was an eye opener itself- people everywhere on the streets and little motor bikes that aren't afraid to drive about a foot from you. It looks so hectic from my perspective, but the drivers seem like they know how to work the roads! My taxi driver from the airport would pass people by straddling the lane lines- coming so close to the car, and then passing back into the lane. And that's what everyone does. I swear, half of the time all the cars are just stradling the lane lines rather than driving in the lane. At one point, the speed was 40km... my taxi driver decided 110 would do. Haha!

That's pretty much all I've been up to so far... I'm catching little glimses of Bangkok in between random naps. But I'm sure I'll even out my sleep schedule soon. I love you all and I can't wait to see you soon! Only 52 days or something... whew! Eat a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats for me... that's sounds wonderful right now... :)