Mother Knows Best

My mother used to tell me that everything happens for a reason. She would say it after something hadn’t gone my way to help ease the blow but it was never what I wanted to hear.  Of course when you’re growing up, your parents don’t know anything!!  I would think, “what does she know?!?!”  Through my travels, and the people I’ve met along the way, however, I’ve learned that no words are truer.  Last fall after 5 failed attempts to book a trip to Hanoi (power outage, lost credit card, visa office closed, travel agent system crashed twice), I gave up and stayed at Wat Opot.  Sure I was frustrated and upset at first, but decided to see what this blessing in disguise would bring, and what a blessing it was!  Had one of the things that kept me from Hanoi not occurred, I would never have met Zurich’s finest pediatric nurse Ms. Olivia Steinmann, whom I now hold very very close to my heart.  We shared a few days together at Wat Opot, and then had an incredible trip to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.

Me and Olivia, mein haexli <3

Ancient ruins of Angkor Wat.  Viola, myself, and Olivia.

This philosophy proved itself true once again on my way back to Cambodia last week.  To make a long story short, I missed my connecting flight from Chicago to Los Angeles and failed to make the standby list on the last two flights out that night.  Just as I had started to panic about being stranded in Chicago and missing my next connection to Taipei, my dad back home contacted his best friend in Michigan City, Indiana who came to my rescue.  Jim Burris and my father have been like brothers since before they could walk, and he and his wife, Donna, and their daughter Amy have always been so special to my sister and me.  We used to visit them every summer but with jobs and school and always running out of time, I hadn’t seen them in 5 years.  I was still upset and teary-eyed when they picked me up.  I worried about my ticket to Asia being non-refundable, I worried about my luggage, which was already en route to Los Angeles, and I worried about whether I would EVER get back to the kids at Wat Opot.  All of my worry and sadness disappeared when I walked into the Burris’ familiar home and gave hugs to people I had missed and love so much!  I made calls and got everything taken care of, getting listed on the next flight out of LA two days later for a reasonable fee.  I spent two nights with the Burris’ and loved every second of it.  What started as a nightmare ended in an unforgettable side-trip that I now cherish. 

Jim!

Mom, you were right.  Everything does happen for a reason.  There were so many small factors that added up to me missing my flight in Chicago and even being routed to Chicago, and had one of them not occurred, who knows how long it would have been until I saw the Burris’!  In the end I made it (and my luggage, too!) back to Phnom Penh.  I immediately got in a tuk tuk headed straight from the airport to Wat Opot an hour away.  It was a long hour, but I arrived just before the weekly family service at the Pagoda next door and was greeted with big hugs and smiles.  I had no idea how much I missed these kids until I was back here.  Suddenly anything I had stressed about: the delays, the extra cost, the headache… all seemed so stupid.  What could I possibly have had to complain about in the end?!  I’m back at Wat Opot with the children I love so much, and nothing else matters :)

Melinda sent a tuk tuk from the village near Wat Opot.  He was standing outside of the airport holding a sign that read, "WELL COM KAT"

"KAT CHMA KAT CHMA"

I missed Chai and his famous smile :)

Phnom Chisor

March has arrived! I'm anxiously waiting to make my big return to Wat Opot, and am looking through pictures nonstop getting more and more excited. One album I just rediscovered was our trip to Phnom Chisor back in November. Olivia, a volunteer from Switzerland, Chihomi, a volunteer from Japan, and I took about 25 of the kids to Mountain (or Phnom) Chisor which is about a 45 minute walk from the main campus. On the top there are ancient ruins, vendors, lots of trouble for kids to get into, and wild monkeys. Everyone was so excited about it, especially the little ones and we had such a fun day :)

We passed by this beautiful little home in a village on the way to the mountain.

Samrat and the boys. On the way we practiced Khmer and English with each other and they tried to trick me into saying naughty things. Good thing Chihomi picked up Khmer very very well and saved me. They're all wearing long sleeves and it was so hot!! I kept asking if they were okay, but they insisted they were comfortable. By the time we came down, however, I ended up carrying an armful of sweatshirts while their eyes were peeled for a stream to jump into.

A bunch of the kids (and me somewhere in there) once we got to the top. They were already exhausted but still excited to play around in the ruins.

Exploring!

Chihomi! I miss her so much :(

Taking a rest on the ruins. Some are still smiling, but most of the kids were wiped at this point. I was too, those 500-ish steps to the top were a lot for someone who was totally out of shape!

LongDy checking out the view. He's also recovering from a scary run-in with a monkey. I got it on video but no pictures.

Chaney! So sweet :)

Olivia, Mr. Chai, and me.

Some of the ruins overlooking the view

We stopped for a hammock break before making the descent down and the long walk home!

On the way there, everyone was in groups and happy and laughing, and jumping on each other. On the way back they're in a single file line, no words, no smiles... miserably tired :(

Long Dy rode his bike back with some of the little ones, and recruited other big kids to come back with bikes and motos to scoop up the others.

Vandy and I brought up the rear, making sure everyone was accounted for. We took our sweet time getting back. It was a looooong trip home!

I'm looking forward to many more trips to Phnom Chisor, especially with Cora Marshall my very close friend from home who is coming to Wat Opot to teach for 2 months :) I couldn't be happier about her decision to join me and the Wat Opot family this summer!!!!