Three weeks and counting

And so….it’s official!
I’ve purchased my flight and will be leaving for Cambodia in three weeks.
It’s completely surreal that my remaining time in good ol’ America is coming to a close.

Everything is coming full circle, and I’ll be spending the next 21 days tying all of my loose ends together but I feel so much better knowing that I have the major aspects of this transition taken care of.

I was seriously stressing about finding and paying for my flight. It’s such a relief.

My nerves are unyielding, but I’ve accepted the fact that they’ll probably stay that way until my feet are planted firmly in Phnom Penh.

It’s such an interesting combination of emotions; like nothing I have ever experienced before.
Maybe I’m simply too busy for my own good? I love it.

By setting aside the “fear of the unknown”, I can focus on the fact that I have more to look forward to than ever before.
(:

Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Only Love,
-Alex

While I’m Still Home..

My “To-Do” list is insane.
I’d upload it, but it’d probably chop my available storage in half.
I’m talking PAGES here, people!
Everyday I cross off a few items at a time but it never seems to get any shorter.
Meanwhile, Cambodia is getting closer. I can’t believe I am leaving in 27 days.

I’ve been wrapping up my last few weeks of teaching at the Salvation Army, but it really hit me this past week. I’m gonna miss those kids.

They’ve inspired me in so many ways. I never fully grasped the fact that there are so many brilliant kids in this country that get “swept under the rug”, if you will, through what could be described as a lack of opportunity in a discussion relating to the highest definition of success to the average Westerner.
My biggest challenge with them was somewhere between helping them realize that they can not only think for themselves, but that it is ok to do so.
I will never forget my first class with them. Their topic for the evening was simple: Tell me about yourself.
Only…it wasn’t so simple. They needed ideas from ME about what to write about THEMSELVES. So, I began jogging their minds. Here’s a basic dialogue of how this went:

Kids: “Miss Alex, I don’t know what to write about.”
Me: “Tell me about your favorite foods, or your favorite sports”, etc.

Kids: Staring at me
(I proceed to the dry erase board and write out ideas of what they can tell me about themselves)
Kids: Copying what I have written on the board, verbatim, on to their papers.

They just copied the board! Even if what I had written didn’t apply to them whatsoever. I could’ve written “I love vegetables and homework.” and they would’ve copied it. (and we all know that’s not true) lol

My “creative writing” class became so much more to me that night. I began to build relationships with them. I learned about their homes, their lives, and most importantly..their personalities! These kids are so much more capable than I think they’ve been given credit for.

I never used the dry erase board again! As you can see in the photo above, it just became a coloring canvas.

So, this past week I challenged them to a similar project to the very first one I ever gave them. I typed up a simple questionnaire about themselves, turned on some good Pandora Studying Station and BOOM! Pencils flying. They were excited to tell me about themselves. Some even turned the page over to write more on the back.
It was amazing.

I felt like they got my message and I hope that they remember and carry this with them forever.
I certainly will.