Three weeks in and my life here is starting to feel more familiar. I go to language class three days a week where I study Khmer with a 19 year old girl named Retsmee. I've loved getting to know her and she has been very patient with me and my insecurities in learning a new language. I met with the dorm leader this week and we talked about me doing some conversational English with the dorm girls and hopefully building in some class time on specific things they need help with. I'm excited about just getting to hang out with them to start with and hoping this will be a helpful avenue for me to better learn the language as I try to help them with my own. Here in Cambodia learning English really helps with job opportunities because you are able to communicate with locals and foreigners. I also found out this week that there is an anti-trafficking ministry here that helps people who have physical handicaps and have been emailing with that ministry hoping to volunteer with them some. Other than that I've been studying, hanging out with Carrie some at Daughters and doing a variety of other things to learn more about the culture and to get to know the team here. This next week I will leave for Thailand for a women's retreat which should be a pretty neat experience. As promised here are some pictures to get a better feel for life here...

The girls who work with Carrie (my roommate) at Daughters, an anti-trafficking NGO, are making these for the rooms at the White Linen Hotel. They made me this bouquet and taught me how to make the flowers. Mine didn't turn out nearly as well. If you'd like to learn more about Daughters you can go to their website at: http://daughtersofcambodia.org/about-us/what-we-do-why

Carrie and I went to dinner one night and excitedly ordered egg rolls... they brought us this omelet :)

This building is a memorial at one of the more well known Killing Field sites, Choeung Ek. It used to be an orchard but became a killing site for the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. 

One of many views on the way to our team meeting.

This is the street that goes in front of my apartment. 

The Russian Market is about a block from my apartment and a few of us took a stroll through it yesterday.

Something I haven't captured yet but is pretty fascinating is moto's driving with live chickens hanging on the back upside down. Pretty sure this is their fate.