off for the 2nd part of my adventure!

As expected, yesterday was a very sad day as I said goodbye to the children.  We had probably our best day yet together, and the 'no hugging' policy went straight out the window.  Fine by me!! :)

Here is how my last day was broken down...

6:45am - woke up, packed a bit, got all the last stuff together for the kids

7:30am - had a cup of coffee at my place, yum!

8:00am - started by bike ride to the orphanage, a little slower than usual as I was thanking God for my time there and asking that I truly be present for my last day, and not anxious about the 'goodbye' part.

8:15am - during the course of my bike ride I picked up some of the kids favorite treats to give out as prizes for games.  For a whole $2.80, I got so many goodies that I knew the kids would love!

8:40am - of course, I stopped to watch the monkeys again (I don't think that would ever get old.  In fact, one of them just had a baby monkey, and it was holding tight hugging the mom's belly as she walked, and was so tiny and frail looking.  It must have been born during the time I have been here as it's the same pack of monkeys in the same place every day, and was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  Ok, maybe tied with when I caught a couple of them partaking in a certain 'physical' activity that we would get arrested for doing in public.  haha! :).

9:00am - arrive to the orphanage, and you could tell the kids knew it was my last day.  They were all super energetic and excited and wished me so many 'good mornings'.  Class was awesome, we did a long school lesson, learned some new words, and then played a LOT of games, including of course BINGO.

11:30am - we have some super nice visitors from Germany stop in and bring a bag of rice (which will last them 4 days... they eat it for every meal!), some fanta and sprite (the kids LOVE), some lychees and bananas and some dish soap.  It was another very nice treat for the day, as lychees especially are one of their favorites and something they don't get very often.  I had many while over here, and they are delicious fresh!

12:00pm - lunch!  they actually had my favorite... rice with cooked cucumber, and sauteed eggplant. I have definitely gotten better at the eating thing over the past few weeks, and now get seconds every day (which is very customary in Cambodia.  Never just one bowl of rice).

1:00pm - helped Leng with some MBA work he had to get done... (he got a scholarship that Shirley helped him apply for). Although it was way over my head, it was fun to help him research and explain what certain things were and meant.

2:00pm - off to the local Market (which is nothing like I have ever seen before) with 2 of the older girls, and 2 of the older boys.  They all picked out new shoes for all the kids, and not too surprisingly, the boys took longer than the girls! ha!!  Was a 2 hour long process, but we walked away with 27 pairs of new shoes for all the kids to start school with.  Thanks to all those who supported, the kids LOVED them!

4:30pm - arrived back at the orphanage and gave out the shoes one by one.  The girls all put on quite a fashion show for me, and the boys all guarded their own pairs with their lives and hid them immediately in their bins.  Was one of my best moments.

5:00pm - Pholy, a 10-year-old amazing, brilliant, beautiful, graceful, super happy girl came up to me, grabbed and hand, and in an excited state, said 'here! come with me!' and pulled me into the girls room.  As I ran with her, kicked off my shoes before entering and went with her into the room, she ran over to her bin and gave to me an amazing painting of a butterfly and flowers.  WOW!!!

Oh, but it doesn't stop there...

Then Channy gave me her painting of 2 butterflies and flowers.  Then Sok Vun.  Then Sak Maly.  Then Chanda.  Then Leak.

Then, Tong Heng (shortnamed Heng) came into the girls room, grabbed my hand and took me to the middle room, to give me a painting he had done of a butterfly.  Then Loth.  Then Pheary.  Then Pheak.  The Srei Vet. Then Thai Hong.

You can probably guess my reaction.

I was completely overwhelmed and amazed, especially since none of them had every painted butterflies before.

5:30pm - I packed up for the venture back to town, gave lots of hugs (that rule went out the window last week!), gave kisses to Leng, exchanged lots of 'thank yous' (but never enough, right?), and then headed on my way.  As I was leaving, all the kids shouted out "BINGO!" as I rode away. And, turning back at one point as i rounded the corner, I yelled also at the top of my lungs, "BINGO!".  It was perfect.

Onto my adventure with Tiffany, in another part of the world, and another part of this journey.  I am certainly missing all of you, but do feel as though I could have stayed longer.

As I told the kids as I was leaving... I will be back.  That is certain.