Aloha from Cambodia

I have arrived!

The trip was a long one, but surprisingly not bad at all. Our first flight from Honolulu to Incheon, Korea was about 9hrs long, but Korean Air treats it's passengers like royalty. We had the individual screens that played all of the newest movies I watched The Lucky One (I have a soft spot for Nicholas Sparks while traveling), What to Expect When You're Expecting (that one's for you, Paris), and parts of Men in Black III, and that weird Johnny Depp/Tim Burton movie about the vampire. We also got two nice meals, hot towels, and room to spread out. All in all, Korean Air.... highly recommended.

We had a blast during our 3hr layover in Korea, we made ink traditional Korean letters to take home with us, spent $4 on gelato (it's only $1 here in Cambodia), and ate legit pho. Our second flight from Korea to Phnom Penh, Cambodia was about 5hrs long. That one was great too, I just really started to get restless. 

We were quite surprised at how quickly everything went, from checking-in in Honolulu to customs in Phnom Penh. We we out of the airport in no time. After a long 18hrs of traveling we were so happy to be greeted by Botevy, her daughter Yaya, and her little son Rissai (thats how it sounds, not quite sure how they spell it) who ran up and gave us all huge hugs. Botevy is one of the two founders of CICFO, the orphanage that we are helping out at. She has the most amazing story. (I'll write more about that later).

We are staying at Botevy and her family's house. Its super beautiful, located in a higher end neighborhood. One of their families forms of generating income is by renting out rooms to people visiting on trips such as ours. We are seriously living better than we were in Hawaii, we have a fridge in our room, internet, and wait for it... AC! I havent had AC in years (not counting my few week stays at home). Its heavenly after a long hot day!

Our first day here was amazing! We went around the market place (the new market) and bought everything we needed for super cheap. For lunch we ate more pho, they seriously feed me so good here, I felt super bad for not being able to eat more. Every time I would get close to being done with one type of food they would pile more on my plate. They kept saying "Are you full?" and "You're so little." Never had I been looked at funny for having a small appetite.

After lunch we went to buy bikes, they are going to be our main source of transportation during the next few months. But, let me fill you in a little on Cambodia's traffic... its INSANE! There are exactly 2 rules. If you are the driver of a moto (moped) you must wear a helmet (the one to six+ passengers do not... yes we have actually seen 6 people fit on one moped. Note to Kara: We need to beat that) and rule number two, don't run red lights. And that one is pretty much optional. Like I said, insane. 

I will try and add some video footage later to help you get an idea.

So there are cars, bikes, touk touks (those buggies pulled by bikes) and motos, weaving in and out of each other going whatever direction they choose, paying no attention to lines, and only minimal attention to lights. It's crazy but so awesome at the same time. 

Once we bought our bikes, mines bright orange and has a "monster" energy drink sticker on it, we were thrown right into the traffic and had to follow Botevy's car to the orphanage. It was the thrill of a lifetime, not even kidding. I'm surprised we survived.

The kids at the orphanage are even more darling than I imagined. When we got there, they lined up in two rows, much like the Von Trapp family in The Sound of Music. One by one they came forward and introduced themselves, Aria and I decided we need to make flash cards in order to learn all their names. I believe there are about 32 children in all, ranging from ages 4 to 18. After the introductions they sang a few primary songs. From the moment I walked in, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. 

Four of the girls showed us a traditional dance, that I call the Neai Neai, (which were the only words I was able to pick up, which aren't even words). Later they taught me a little bit of it, I did not catch on very well. =) But I hope to have it mastered by the time I go home. 

The children do not speak English much at all, there are probably 2 or 3 of them who can communicate with us. But they are all smiles. They taught us how to play Tom and Jerry (English cartoons are big here) using signals and broken English. That is one thing I am not used to, being on the minority side of a language, but I am thankful for every minute of it. 

I don't know if I'm experiencing much culture shock, maybe because I generally think of that as a negative term. I'm more enthralled. I love it here! I love how different it is from any place I've ever been in my life. I love how different I feel here, how there is so much for me to learn. I do miss my family and friends so so so much. But I really wouldn't want to miss this opportunity for the world. 

Experience of a Lifetime!

Guess where this girl's gunna be in 11 days...

That's right...

{CAMBODIA}

I am one of two chosen

to spend three months in this beautiful country

teaching English and Computer skills to children

ages 4 to 18 in an the CICFO orphanage. 

I am stoked beyond belief to be chosen for such a wonderful opportunity

and I couldn't be more grateful.

More info to come =)

Maui, Hawaii

{Maui}

I realized that I should probably catch up on my Maui adventure before I start compiling Cambodia memories. Sorry it's a long time coming. 

First of all, here's a little back story: 

My friend Stephany's dad and her live on Maui, but I met her here at school (BYU-Hawaii). She loves to take groups of her friends to visit home during the breaks, which is fabulous for us because we get to see the real (as in not as touristy) Maui for super cheep. 

This time she brought along us 6 adventurers. 

Adam, Erik, Stephany, Sara, McKae (me), Dan, & Joe

We all met here at school, some of us just a few days before we left, but bonded so much over the course of that week in paradise.

One of the best things about that trip was that it actually felt like vacation. Yes, we go to school in Hawaii, but with work, classes, and life in general, it's hard to take time to just breathe. So, by going to Maui, we were able to take in our beautiful surroundings without the stress of every day college life.

Our second day there we went hiking around La Perouse (Peruz) where lava rock covers the ground all the way from the mountain to the sea. Needless to say, it was definitely one of the hotter hikes we went on. But, it was awesome. There were old structures built by ancient Hawaiis, old hammocks and swings (most likely built by more recent Hawaiians), and lots of great coral.

The hikes were amazing in Maui, we went on so many while we were there. A few days after visiting La Perouse we went to a family friend's house, the ________. They invited us over to hike on a trail that started just behind their house. It was so much fun!

 Although these hikes were great they were absolutely nothing compared to the Commando hike. Thinking back now, I have no clue how we made it out of that one alive. So disclaimer: Do not do this hike without someone who is very familiar with it, and even then be SUPER careful. Stephany had done this hike multiple times and is pretty much pro at it, so I felt slightly safer knowing that.

We did not take cameras on the Commando hike because you're swimming about half the time. But, thankfully Adam brought his go-pro! I made a video of some of the footage he got.

*Video*

It was kind of hard to do it justice. So to clarify a bit. The first part of the hike we walked over rocks along a riverbed, the vegetation soon got super thick and the only option of continuing was by walking/swinging on vines that swooped down over the river but below us (my favorite part). Then we got to the cave opening, where we had to straddle up the side of a waterfall. Getting further and further into the cave it got super dark so we weren't able to get very good footage. One moment there would be rock under our feet, the next were in bottomless pools of various sizes. Then came the room of terror (that's what I called it due to the terror I felt when I saw what we had to do.) I'm not very good with measurements but the room was probably about the length of half a football field with a super high celing. It was HUGE. But that wasn't the terrifying part... there was no floor. The entire room was a bottomless lake and our goal, a hole in the wall about 10ft above us located all the way on the other side.
Steph threw a glow stick and it stayed bobbing in the middle of the lake. I am not a fan of dark confined spaces and definitely not dark water. So I swam my little heart out and got across as fast as I possibly could. But, that wasn't the end. Another waterfall, about twice the size of the first one, stood in front of us. Above it, was our way out. If I hadn't been praying as I swam through the water, I for sure was now. Steph went up first, as we held a light for her to see. At one point, while climbing, the rock juts out on the ledge so you have to lean back as you keep climbing. She climbed with ease and thankfully was there to help pull each of us up after her.
Once we were all safely up, we finally were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Just a little bit further ahead we could see natural light. We exited the cave through a slanted grate to a waterway and the adrenaline rush was over. The rest was a stroll, about an hour long, along a dirt road down the mountain we climbed through.

The Commando hike was probably one of the scariest, most awesome experiences of my life. After finishing, I seriously felt like I had just conqured the world!

We spent the rest of the day traveling the Road to Hana. A friend from Papa France's (Steph's dad) let us borrow their mini van during the trip so that we could conveniently travel around the island. Which was so super sweet. Once we got into Hana we set up camp for the night and were surprisingly awake enough to play a few rounds of Mafia before we passed out.

 Because of our exhausting Commando excursion and not so pleasant sleeping arrangements, most of us we're pretty grumpy the next day (me included) when we found out there were about 4 more hikes scheduled in our near future.

The hikes were beautiful and fun, I just didn't have a lick of energy, so I'd have to say it wasnt one of my favorite days. But, we did go through another death defying experience that got our adrenaline going again.

Over in ______ there is another cave that lots of tourists go see. In it, a clear blue pool of water. Most people go to the right and enter a big room, but Steph said the real adventure was to the left. The wall of the rock kind of curled in, so from the outside you cant even tell that there is an entrance. As the water got deep we held to the rocks, in front of us, just above the water level was a small tunnel that could fit maybe one and a half of me laying down. It sloped down about a foot or two into another room. Now remember how I said i don't like small spaces... yep, wasn't too excited about this one. Steph slid in and I went after, once I popped back out of the water I realized we were in the smallest, darkest room known to mankind with no way out. Nothing. My mind started racing, going 100 million miles an hour trying to find out if there was a way I could climb back out the way we came (which would have not been possible). I held on the rugged rock wall breathing as little as possible, convinced that we were soon going to run out of air, due to the fact that Dan was breathing like crazy fast beside me. Once everyone was in, and super squished, Steph moved to face the opposite wall and said "I think this is where it is" and then disappeared under the water.

I started freaking out, now breathing even faster than Dan. But within like a second and a half (seemed like an hour) we could see a light on the other side of the wall (it was pretty thin). We one by one followed suit, with me getting out of there as fast as I possibly could, and were finally safe. The next room opened up to a huge rock slide looking wall that we could climb to get out. All in all the whole adventure lasted maybe 15min. I'm just happy we made it out alive.


***This post is a work in progress, I just want to get it up before I start writing about Cambodia, so stay tuned for more to come. ***

And introducing...
Danielle- 
          Hometown: Allentown, PA
          Education: BYU-Idaho, Stony Brook Univ. -NY
          Favorite Place I've Ever Been: Orlando, Fl for an entire winter!
          Place I Want to Visit Most: Greece!
          Languages: English, Creole
          Languages I'd Like to Learn: French 
Well, here I am. Better late than never right? (:

A Little Bit About Us

McKae-

          Hometown: Connell, WA

          Education: A little bit of college, BYU-Hawaii

          Favorite Place I've Ever Been: Assisi, Italy

          Place I Want to Visit Most: Venice, Italy

          Language(s): English

          Languages I'd Like to Learn: Italian, French

Adventure of Epic Proportion

          A dream to travel the world unites two prior roomies in an Adventure of Epic Proportion!

          ... Ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic; an adventure, this definitely will be, and we do, one day, hope for epicness. But, for now, we're just two starving college students with a passion for both traveling and writing. And you gotta start somewhere right? So here is our first attempt at travel writing. Here are our thoughts and impressions about the world just outside our front doors.

Our Top-Ten Places to Visit:

(subject to change)

1- London, England

2- Australia

3- Venice, Italy

4- Greece

5- India

6- Africa

7- Brazil

8- Egypt

9- Prince Edward Island, Canada

10- New York City, New York