Journeys of L: Cambodia Love

Today was a great day, probably my favorite yet here in Cambodia. We went to work this morning and we were able to go with a few of the kids to see where they live. It was a pretty good distance from LRDE, especially for little kids. These little boys were so excited to show us where they lived, we followed them down backstreets and through alleyways wondering where on earth they were taking us. We ended up back behind this crazy alley and I could not even believe this is where these kids come from every morning. The floor was just mud (and who knows what else), there were flies everywhere, dogs, cats, and some weird chicken/bird mix were running around everywhere. The little huts were made of tin and fabric and that's it. So many little kids poked their heads out to see us, and some came and followed us and just wanted to be held. They live directly over this river that is without a doubt the filthiest thing I have ever seen. The water is literally black and it smells absolutely rancid. After this they took us to some other places that were a slight improvement, still just tin but at least these were a little further from the river. They wanted us to take a million pictures so we were packed in this tiny house with a dozen kids, a dozen dogs, and 60 million flies taking pictures of the kids. It really is unbelievable that anyone is allowed to live like this, Elle and I have decided to take the matter to the king. I'm sure we'll get things turned around in no time.

New paragraph (Better Jeffery?): After work we went back to the house for lunch and to chill for a bit. I finally went for a run!! Granted it was on the roof and it was 9 million degrees but it was fantastic nonetheless. I just lapped the roof about a hundred times but I'll take it. We decided to check out riverside, it's a pretty touristy area on the Mekong River. We took a tuk tuk there and just looked around and shopped for a bit. I got some cd's I have been wanting for $1.50 each, you can't beat that! We got some smoothies of course, and then got indian for dinner. It was so so good. After dinner we were walking by the river when we saw what looked like a flash mob dancing in the park. Turns out they do these dance classes every night and a million people come out and jazzercise in the park. Naturally we joined in the dancing and it was hilarious. All the people just laughed at us but it was so fun.

Tomorrow is our last day at our placement, I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks! It's a national holiday so we are having a huge "birthday party" for the kids. Since most of the kids have no idea when their actual birthdays are they are celebrating 500 kids birthdays tomorrow and all the kids are going to be at the shelter. They have been practicing a program to perform and they have 500 birthday cakes! Tomorrow we are supposed to be there from 7-7 to help get ready for the party and then to help once everyone gets there, it's supposed to be a pretty big deal! Should be fun.

On the other hand, we are getting kicked out of the volunteer house on sunday night... turns out our program only goes until the 2nd but our flights don't leave until the 4th. They have more volunteers coming on sunday and the house will be full so we have to relocate. They are suggesting we stay at a guest house, but we can get a nice hotel for $20/night so pretty sure we will be opting for air conditioning and a pool to celebrate our last night in Cambodia!