Goodbye Cambodia...Hello Thailand!

So I had my last day of volunteering on Friday the 5th, and it was quite a sad day. The 3 weeks I spent there were just enough to let myself get attached to the kids, and knowing that I probably won't see them again was hard. But I decided to make it a fun day instead of a sad one, both for them and me, so we played games and I gave them their present: a photo album of pictures I'd taken of them over the duration of my volunteering. They were absolutly tickled pink, and it wasn't until I saw their excitement that it dawned on me that these kids have probably never had a photo of themselves. So the album was a hit, and I'm glad I took the time to do it.

Saying goodbye to my older students wasn't quite as hard, but it was still sad. I was showered with all kinds of gifts, from carved wooden owls and scarves to photos and keychains. Such sweet kids and so thoughtful! One of the girls (she was a bit of a keener) also asked if she could record my voice! So I talked about my time in Cambodia while she recorded - gave me a chuckle.

After teaching I met up with Sophanit and 3 volunteers from Germany that I'd met my first week in Cambodia for supper. We ate at a place called Queen BBQ - a local hot spot that has all you can eat Cambodian style BBQ. It's kinda hard to explain what a Cambodian BBQ is like, so you'll just have to wait and see pictures!

Saturday afternoon I caught the bus to Phnom Phen, and it was a wondurfully smooth and straight, 6 hour trip. I arrived late enough that there wasn't much time to do anything, so I called it a night early and decided to start my Sunday bright and early at 6.

My first stop was to the Killing Fields - a place outside Phnom Phen where the Khmer Rouge held mass executions. Words can't possibly describe how chilling it was to be there. Thousands of women, children, and men were brought here to be killed and then buried in mass graves. Some of the graves have been dug up, while others have not. As you walk along the paths you can still see clothing poking up from the ground - it was a depressing start to a depressing day.

My next stop was the S-21 prison. A school prior to the Khmer Rouge takeover, it was converted into a prison and held captive 20,000 people, only 7 of whom walked out alive. The classrooms were converted into interrogation rooms and cells, which now hold gruesome photos of tortured prisoners and their mugshots upon arrival to the prison. Just being there is enough to make anyone sick to their stomach - the 30 year old blood stains on the floors and walls topped it off.

So that was how I spent my last day in Cambodia - not exactly what you'd call uplifting.

I caught my flight from Phnom Phen to Bangkok at 4:30, and arrived in Bangkok around 6. After a night in the airport and a 10am flight this morning, I'm now in the town of Krabi awaiting a fairy over to the island of PhiPhi where Brin is waiting for me! I got accepted to volunteer at the Elephant Nature Park for a week starting on the 15th, soI'll have about 6 days with Brin on the islands, and I'm really excited to see her!

Oh and speaking of exciting, you're never going to belive what was at the Phnom Phen airport....a Dairy Queen! I think my jaw almost hit the floor when I sw that red and white sign (for those of you who don't know, the members of my family all have a DQ addiction, and for me I've been giong through some serious whithdrawl these past 11 months!!) So I walk into the DQ and pull out all the money I have left (a measly 73 cents) to see what I can buy. To my dismay, the cheapest thing on the menu was a DQ sandwich, at 80 cents. The woman behind the counter must have seen my dismay, because she said to me " I discount for you", and then took my crumpled cash and exchanged it with a DQ sandwich. Well bless that woman's soul!! I was the happiest girl around!

Well that's all for now...just wanted to end the blog on a happy note!