Day 2: Cambodia

It was a productive day and a day of firsts in the Kingdom of Cambodia. We started the day with a fabulous breakfast at the hotel including pancakes which I've been craving for weeks...not dosa or idly, real pancakes :) Then we got some work done and banged out the schedule for leadership team training in Vietnam next week. We grabbed lunch in the middle and then took a little rest later in the afternoon. At night we went to dinner with Vuthy, Thnou and Phorn, the camp director and 2 LT members from Camp. It was so so nice to meet them and I'm so looking forward to coming back and working with them for camp in July! The night provided my first ride in a moto and first dinner at a real local joint...where I didn't know what anything was! After dinner we got a little tour of Phnom Penh and some stares--tall white girls on the back of motos aren't an everyday occurrence here. Surprising, right?! ;)
Enjoy the pics of the crew...
Love from the travel bug

Cambodia!

Sunday was an emotional day saying bye to Sofi and Chrissie (our SeriousFun teammates) and sending the bus of staff off to camp. I'm definitely missing the Camp Rainbow team but with a new adventure awaiting in Cambodia, there is plenty of distractions. Tim and I left India around midnight and arrived in Phnom Penh at 1030 am local time today. The people are so so friendly, there are beautiful green spaces, and though I love India, the extra space here is a nice change. Most exciting was reuniting with Haley and feeling a little bit of home in her presence. Part 2 of the Amazing Asian Adventure is well underway and here are a few photos to go with it:
1. This is how excited we are to not be sweating like we were in India
2. Beautiful sky
3. Fireworks show during dinner

Lots of love
Mary

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is an exclusive edition May 12th blog dedicated to all the moms near and dear to my heart! 'Mothers and their children are in a category all their own. There's no bond so strong in the entire world. No love so instantaneous and forgiving.' Enjoy one of my favorite paintings below, Mary Cassatt's La Toilette. To my mom, nana, godmother, Aunti Patti and Auntie Barbara, thank you for being you and making life so special. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day :)

On a travel note, today is my last day in India and Tim and I fly out to Cambodia tonight. Its emotional leaving the team here, our little SeriousFun crew and the Camp Rainbow folks. At the same time I am excited to see a new country, meet more amazing GPP people, and see my colleague and friend, Haley!

Before signing off, a huge shout out and massive hugs to my friend Amanda Weaver who gave the last boot to cancer with a successful surgery this past week. I am so proud of you Weave!

Hugs,
Mary

Day 15: Pondicherry

With no schedule to follow and a breeze from the Bay of Bengal, we were able to relax today. My day included a morning walk along the beach and Rue Suffren, croissants with orange-ginger marmalade, some much needed quiet and meditation at the Sri Aurobindo ashram and touching a real live elephant. It's late and I doubt I'll be able to form any more complete sentences so enjoy the photos!

Day 14: Pondicherry

Greetings from Pondicherry! After a successful week of staff training at our site, we are taking a weekend holiday to relax, sleep in, eat non-Indian food, and see the elephant temple here (and celebrate Tim Sir's birthday!) Sofi found a classy and adorable boutique hotel called gratitude on rue rolland romain (for future reference if life ever takes you to pondi) with a courtyard, rooftop deck and simple, elegant rooms. Upon arriving yesterday evening, taking a shower, eating cold food, and drinking cold water were the highlights for me. These trips certainly remind you to appreciate the little things :) I went for a walk this morning but didn't take many pictures, I will when we venture out! Below are a couple from our digs!

Day 8: off to camp!

This morning we are off to the site to prep and get ready to start staff training tomorrow morning. Yesterday we had a day to venture out and saw much of chennai from an auto. We also walked around Anna Salai and down by Elliot's Beach where they have a carnival on Saturdays. It was beautiful down at the beach, nice breeze, cooler temperature. The sunset was gorgeous and also reminded me how strong the sun is here! We had dinner close by at Bella Ciao, our third trip there this week (still doesn't beat the record set by Tim and Sofi). Enjoy the photos!

P.S. a shout out to Flying Horse Farms for sharing their 'we go to the mountains' song. We'll be singing it at our first night campfire at Camp Rainbow!

Day 5: lessons learned

It's crazy to think tomorrow is the last day of leadership team training 2013 at Camp Rainbow. The week flew by and next week 30 staff will make their way to camp for the start of an incredible 4 weeks!
Since typing on my iPhone isn't the easiest, I have been keeping these entries short. Today's post is going to consist of 4 things I have learned in the past couple days:
1. King prawns are by no means king-sized. They must be cousins with jumbo shrimp...(photo)
2. A bottle of below-average imported wine is both hard to come by and overpriced in Chennai. I suppose that's the whole supply-demand theory in action. (Photo)
3. Despite being twice as big as the native folks here, we can fit 4 adults in one auto...costs a little less in rupees but a little more in sweat.(photo)
4. The combination of capacity and dedication is incredibly powerful as evidenced by the leadership team here at Camp Rainbow. It has been extraordinary learning from my peers here this first week and I look forward to witnessing the magic at camp over the next couple weeks!

With a full tummy and even fuller (is this a word? I didn't like the sound of even more full) heart,
Mary