First off, apologies for the delay. It has been over two months since my last post and I've been traveling for about 3 weeks without blogging about it! Thanks for being patient, and as always, thanks for actually reading :)
Like all trips, I leave from home in the States, but this time I left from the west coast. I was lucky enough to go to one of my college teammate's wedding in Capitola, CA, near Santa Cruz. It was simple, elegant, relaxed and just plain fun. On top of a fabulous wedding, it was a mini team reunion--so nice to catch up and see what everyone is up to!
The morning after the wedding I hopped on a plane to Korea and landed in Phnom Penh on a Monday night. It was a quick turnaround to jump into leadership team training on Tuesday, but our team was ready to rock. With all of us SeriousFunners back together for a second year, we picked up right where we left off. Everyone was excited to be back together again and we had fun facilitating some new sessions. Of course, we kept to our routine of lunch at the Boat Noodle where we feed 10 for $20. Once again, we savored every bite of Villa Langka's breakfast and in the evenings headed to our fav food spots, sometimes sitting at the same table as last year. A new spot we tried was Dine in the Dark, a restaurant that trains people who are legally blind to work as waiters and waitresses. Unlike activities that are intentionally in the dark (haunted house, movie theater), this was a routine experience turned upside down by taking away our vision and forcing our bodies to use every other sense. The three of us could not stop giggling as we were led to our table in a conga line. Throughout the meal we would burst out with excitement whenever we identified a taste--we said bacon a lot! And we laughed at the fact that all of our mouths were probably 2 inches from our plates! We also discovered a coffee shop that has doughnuts and bacon, egg & cheese bagels...and we ate a lunch consisting of 80% French bread. Can you tell what food we miss?!
The next two weeks flew by. Some of the highlights include Emma climbing up to her treehouse bed, finding delicious pumpkin risotto, and sharing the weeks with Silvia and Saranya from Camp Rainbow Bangalore, who were on Staff exchange to learn from the Camp Lotus team. Together we marveled at the beauty of the Camp Lotus site, giggled at lunchtime mime skits and ate many-a-bowls of white rice. On the weekend we strolled through the Night Market (found angry bird pjs) and ate dosa together (a South Indian spot right around the corner!)
The Camp Lotus team has grown so much since last year and it was very special to see them take initiative and be so confident in their roles during the camp session. Stage Night is always an incredible night, however this year at Camp Lotus, it was particularly powerful for me. After lunch that day, the energy was different--there was a constant hum that was slowly building. At dinner, I could feel the jitteryness of camper's nerves and nearly see the level of excitement rising inside of them. On stage and in the audience, they were bursting! Even campers who had been hard to contain or content to sit out of activities during the week, were so happy to be in that moment and did not want to be anywhere else! The Camp Lotus team does a phenomenal job with entertainment and evening programs, helping campers realize they are unique and THAT deserves love and praise.
More to come on this multi-part journey with Ethiopia and Turkey still to come! A cold and congestion to start the trip, and a hold on my debit card that is hopefully solved, have been the only slight hiccups. Fortunately, I am surrounded by wonderful people who help it all work out and remind me how lucky I am!
Now...off to find a baby duck egg to cap off Camp Lotus round two!
hugs
Mary
