Two weeks.

I have now been in this country for two weeks.

We had a visitor from England yesterday who has been sponsoring one of the children and so she wanted to come and meet the kid and also learn about the projects here. I received an impromptu invitation to go out to Mong Village and I gladly accepted, partly because I really wasn't doing anything else, and because I like that village. By moto it takes about 10 minutes. I can hardly begin to describe what I saw and felt. Of course, I did not have my camera with me so I was forced to be fully present in the moment and remember with only my mind. And oh, how I will always remember. Unlike my other visits, this time, we were able to go pretty far into the village. Out here, we are surrounded by hectares of land. Imagine how amazed I was to find out that the chief of the village is a woman! (It made me want to immediately email my favorite female Global Studies professor.) I saw women weaving baskets, a young boy zipping down a papaya tree, white bees imported from Thailand producing honey, freshly cooked palm sugar from a palm tree. Naked children chasing each other, laughing, smiling. Women spinning flour to make a cake for a wedding tomorrow.

Every time I go out to a village, something happens inside of me. Fascination. Ignorance. Joy. I do not yet know what it all means. But I love the children there. I love that all you have to do is say hello and extend a hand and they will grab on. I am so curious about village life. Questions constantly form in my head. How long has this village been here? Are they happy to be here? How are the children raised? To live in a straw house built on wooden stilts. I don't think I would jump at the opportunity to move in but I know I must go back, I must spend more time there. This much, I know.

In the mean time, I am moving in with a homestay tomorrow! The process has been comical and at times, awkward.

When I came here, everyone knew that I was eventually going to move in with a local family. Soknay suggested that I get to know some of the high school students and then during a meeting with them, I was called in, presented to the whole lot and was basically auctioned off to whoever was willing to house me. Since then I have been able to make house visits and even have dinner at one of them. Her mom came in from an hour away to cook for me. How ridiculous and generous!

Everyday, all the students ask me if I have picked a family yet. Such pressure and attention.

Alas, I have made my decision though I had a feeling from the beginning of who it was going to be. They are Chinese-Cambodian, though that had no bearing on my decision-making. People can think whatever they want about that. They don't speak Chinese and were all born and raised here so I will really be challenged to learn Khmer now. After spending about two weeks in the volunteer house and getting comfortable with having my own room, my meals cooked and an indoor bathroom, it is time to move on.

A new social and cultural experience awaits. New awkwardness, new adjustment, new anxiety. And so it continues. I am ready to settle in and stop living out of a suitcase. I take all this as good signs.

On an endnote, I have also received a tremendous amount of love and good words from friends back home. I am loved. Seriously loved. Thank you. I cherish you guys.