Cambodia

"Ugh! It's no use trying to sleep. I'm too light of a sleeper." I thought.  I opened my eyes and looked over at my friend, Gracie. She was fast asleep and had been most of the trip.
You see, during spring break, I went with the 8th grade of TAAS on their mission trip to Cambodia. My parents were both helping, my sister was going, so it made sense that I would go too.
Our adventure started at 3 in the morning. We all met at one of the MRT stations where we had hired a tour bus to take us to the airport. Once everyone was there along with their luggage, we set off on our long journey. At the airport we managed to get all 23 of us (counting myself and staff) through without any troubles.  The flight was about four hours. I sat beside Gracie, who promptly fell asleep as soon as the plane left the ground.

The heat smacked our faces as we stepped out of the airplane. Our first stop in Cambodia was Dairy Queen!  We hadn't had that since the States, but they had one right outside the airport.
The next leg of our journey was the longest; an eight hour bus ride to the orphanage where we were heading to.
It was dark by the time we finally arrived at the orphanage. We were surprised how hot it was even though it was dark outside! The director/founder of the orphanage and school met us as soon as we got off the bus. He showed the girls and the boys  to the different houses we'd be staying at.
We were separated into two rooms where they had some bunk beds for us. There were some scary squat pots outside as well as the showers.
Showers; those were definitely fun! Now, most of these eight graders are really rich kids and not used to poverty like this at all. I could tell from the very beginning that this was going to be an interesting trip. If you wanted to shower, you had to go outside where there was a pump and pump your water into a bucket. So, we had cold bucket showers. The first night, the girls were very loud and there were a couple screams when they discovered some frogs.  Although everyone was kind of freaked out by the bucket showers outside, it became a lot of their favorite time of day. The cold water felt amazing after our long days under the scorching sun.
So, after everyone had showered and set up their mosquito nets, we went to bed. The frogs outside were SUPER loud, but I was so tired I fell asleep anyways.
In the morning, we all went over to the boys house to have worship with Tim. After that he showed us around the area. I thought it was really cool they didn't have an orphanage, but rather many homes where there would be parents who would take care of and raise like ten kids or so. I think they would feel more loved that way and like they have a family.
After he showed us around, we were taken to the work site. The whole reason for this mission trip was to try and help build a playground for the orphans.

We were split up into groups and worked on different projects. Some worked on yielding the brick wall for a sand box, others on a swing set, and I ended up mostly helping with a climbing ladder of some sort. I learned how to chisel pretty well. I also helped drill the holes into the wood. It's was melting outside under the sun as we worked.

At about noon, everyone went and ate lunch. I always had to go to the hot, stuffy kitchen to cook my own food. But it turned out to be very difficult to keep the ants out of all my food. There was always surplus of delicious mangos though. After lunch the kids had the choice of either working outside again, or helping in the classrooms at the school.

After lunch on Tuesday, I went to help teach the kids at the school. I think I ended up in second grade, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. When I came into the classroom, there were two teachers. They had the students greet me with their traditional standing, then 'bowing' their head with their hands pressed together. They said something in Cambodian as well, but of course I was clueless to what it meant. After some difficult communication, I found that the teachers wanted me to play a games with the kids.
"They kids love to play games and get to know new teachers?" They explained. I quickly racked my brain for a game to teach and play with these kids. I finally came up with a game, the class Thumbs Up, 7 Up. Through translation, I taught them how to play. They really enjoyed it and played it multiple times. After they had finished, the teacher told me to do something else.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Anything!" She answered
"Well, that's helpful." I thought "I have no idea!"  Finally, the teachers gave some vague ideas and I decided what I could do. I had each of the children come and write their name on the blackboard. Afterwards, I pointed to a name and then the student would stand and tell me what their favorite thing to do was. It was fun learning the names of the children and what they like to do.

After we finished, class was dismissed and the teacher left. The kids quickly grabbed my hands and arms. I started swinging them around by their arms. They squealed and asked to do it again and again until I was tuckered out and it was time for their last class. I followed them into the classroom and realized there was no teacher! A few minutes later, Tim came by and saw me alone. He called the teacher but they didn't answer.
"Sorry to put you in this situation, but can you teach them? I can't get ahold of the teacher. It's Art class now."
"Uh, ok..." I answered somewhat timidly.
Tim brought me some colors, which I handed out to the kids as well as a sheet of paper. I just drew a bunch of things on the blackboard and had them copy it on their paper. I had a few misbehaving little boys, but that was soon taken care of when Tim stopped by and saw what was happening. He went outside with him and gave him a whooping with a stick! He wasn't munch trouble for me after that.
During our time there, we also took a trip into town with some of the older students and made some friends with them. We drove to a tourist shopping area as well as the regular market. We all road in the back of a tiny pickup and the road was no where near smooth, on the contrary it was super dusty and bumpy. Some of the bumps sent us flying and squealing.  We bought some souvenirs as well as traditional outfits to wear to church. On Thursday (my sister's birthday!) we went Angkor Wat. It was SO magnificent. It was all so cool looking. There was one problem though, and it was making everyone miserable.... It was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) !!! We were melting! It was worth it though. ;)

In the end, this mission trip was all about those cute little Cambodian kids. I only taught at the school once, but a few of my students would come to the worksite to see me every time they had a break. They would smile and  say "Teacher! Teacher!", then try to take me with them back to the school. I felt so happy that we could help build a playground for them. Before, they only played some sort of game involving sticks and rocks, I'm not sure how they play it, but a few of the other 8th graders learned and played with them. I'm so glad we could do something for these precious orphans, they were so thrilled at the idea of having a playground.

"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." (Romans 12:13 NIV)