Final Destination 4-19-11

So after a long, tiring, sickening flight I made it to my final destination Phnom Penh.It is just very different here in words I cannot describe. Basically your either very poor or very rich no middle class. You look at one part of the street and it is this gorgeous house, then you turn your head a foot and there is a pile of trash and a dump. The Khmer culture that is based in Cambodia is no where near the American culture. Rules and customs are so different: men show public displays of affection but not men and women, never touch and elders head or shoulders, never point the souls of your feet at anyone, so many rules you just can't imagine. Even though the rules are a bit crazy the people are not. Everyone greets with a smile, they are all so friendly, no dirty looks. Later after our orientation for the Cambodian Voyage we stopped at a market, the Russian Market. This place was just astonishing. This little building has hundreds and hundreds of shops. Anything you could ever want or imagine: jewelry, toys, fans, lamps, engine parts, tires, meat, fruit, drinks, clothing, and on and on it is a shopaholics dream place. While here I got to start using my Khmer language with simple phrases and bargaining while shopping, After this fun stop we were all ready to head to CHA, the Cambodian Hope Association, our orphanage. No one I mean no one could understand the transportation here unless you have visited, it is out of this world. There are 4 types of transportation cars, tuk-tuks, motos, and bicycles. For the most part everyone is on motos or a tuk-tuk.  We take a tuk-tuk it is simply a carriage hooked onto a moto, a moto is somewhat like a small motorcycle. Any who, the streets are insane there are at least 5 motos or tuk-tuks lined next to each other in one lane. It is very nerve racking but so much fun at the same time. So we take a tuk-tuk to CHA as soon as we get there we are greeted with a few orphans who live here. With the smile and hugs they gave us it would never seem like they were orphans without parents and lonely. None of that matter to them they don't need a family because they already have one there at the orphanage. Every single kid there was so friendly some shy but most came up and started talking to us they ask you simple things like name, age, and where we live. The first person I really bonded with was an eleven year old girl named chtidda don't know how to spell but basically you pronounce as (teedaa). The size of her probably stoke me as first as a seven year old then she tell me she is eleven and I couldn't believe it. She took me to the farm to see their crazy livestock. It was pretty gross and tomorrow I have to clean it.....GREAT. When we got English but was so kind and always was laughing and smiling. Then I started to read with  a little boy or girl we couldn't tell named Whicta. It was so funny and nice he couldn't let go of me when I had to leave.I'm so excited I get to work with these amazing people and amazing orphanage.  Cham Reap Lau goodbye.