Time is passing quickly now, as most of our time is consumed by volunteering. Classes are going well, and Conan and I are enjoying teaching Cambodians. They are beautiful people: gracious, timid, and have huge hearts.
On one rainy Saturday when Conan took Sila somewhere, I had the opportunity to visit the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek), a place where the Khmer Rouge systematically eliminated over a million Cambodians. The fields, ironically, are one of the most beautiful spots in Cambodia that I have seen: massive trees (one which guards used to swing babies against--by their feet--to kill), a beautiful pond, and rolling landscape. What one quickly discovers, however, is that the "rolling landscape" are mass graves. There is an estimated twenty thousand of these. Appropriately, there was a slight drizzle as I visited, and it served as a reminder that beauty sometimes isn't what it appears to be.
There has been a lot of rain recently, which I quite enjoy. It reminds me of Florida, and when there is rain, clouds, winds, it feels as if everything is alive. Moving. Changing. I don't know if it's just because I love the warmth so much and that Cambodia's landscape reminds me a lot of Florida, but I really do love it here. It's so beautiful.
Lastly, we just went on holiday (been spending a lot of time with Brits and Kiwis), and we all decided to head to Siem Reap to visit the ever-famous Angkor Wat and the multiple surrounding temples. So okay folks, here is what I have to say about this area: AMAZING. Honestly. I was blown away with each temple that I visited. I have been a lot of places, but this, by far, blows everything out of the water. It's really hard to describe why it's so awesome, but it is. I've seen Machu Picchu, the Amazon, Patagonia, the Louvre, etc. Angkor Wat is by far the most awesome. So if you're thinking about visiting, you must. Come see us in Phnom Penh, then we'll all travel to Siem Reap to do some more temple watching (as my Brit friend, Charlie, calls it). My pictures really don't serve this place justice, but here goes:
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