In Transition

A looonnnnng hiatus since my last post--partly because I've been busy, but mostly because I've been uninspired to write anything.

I had hoped to write something about my final weeks in Japan, an attempt at closure. However, the final days were too hectic and emotional to digest at the time, and at present I am not quite sure what to say about the end of what was an absolutely enriching experience. Perhaps in time...

I am currently at home in the mountains of North Carolina, enjoying the comfort and peace of my parents' small farm. Its quiet to be sure, with only the sound of the cicadas and the bray of Sprout, our pet donkey, to distract. Without a job, car, or cellphone, its quite easy to do not much of anything, except of course read in a rocking chair on the porch, go for a walk with the dogs, or cut some firewood. I am incredibly blessed, not only for the opportunities that have led me far from home, but more so that I can always come home to Gurley Holler where I grew up.

However, my time here will be short, for I leave for my next adventure in less than two weeks. In September I will begin a volunteer internship with PEPY Ride, a non-profit organization in Cambodia. PEPY is working to improve educational opportunities in rural Cambodia and offers unique adventures for those looking to give-back while they travel. I'll be working and living at their office in Phnom Penh with several other interns and the director, but hopefully will have many chances to get out and see the country as well.

In preparation for my journey, I've been reading a lot about the tumultuous and often incomprehensible history of Cambodia, especially the past 40 years. The civil war in the 1970s, followed by the horrendous Pol Pot regime, the Vietnamese occupation in the 1980s, and the UN reform and rebuilding efforts are all well-detailed in Henry Kamm's Cambodia: A Report from a Stricken Land. Also,
Loung Ung's First They Killed My Father and Pin Yathay's Stay Alive, My Son are unbelievable and vivid personal experiences of the Khmer Rouge regime horrors. Both authors tell painful accounts of their time in labor camps, starvation, the loss of family members, and their eventual escape. Though sad beyond belief, I recommend all three books to anyone with even a slight interest in Cambodia...

Most certainly, my time in Cambodia will be an experience unlike any other. I am greatly looking forward to learning more about the country and its people, which have suffered something unfathomable. I sincerely hope Cambodia is on the long road to recovery and that I can contribute in some way (however miniscule) to its development.

I'll be sure to be posting regularly once I have arrived, and communicating all of my experiences and obeservations.