organized chaos.

From New York to Anchorage to Taipei and 23 hours later.... we finally made it to Phnom Penh! The picture above is the view right outside of the Phnom Penh International Airport; couldn't get a snapshot of this, but there was a PHO24 outside of this too. Off to a good start, I suppose... Our relief that we FINALLY made it to our destination, however, seemed to be a temporary victory. Shortly after we arrived, we got our SIM cards, registered our phones, and waited around for our exec. director to meet us/pick us up at the airport.

There was yet another message lost in translation... "When/has Mr Chanthan left to pick us up? If not, how can we get a ride to our hotel? We don't speak Khmer... uhh..." Some things we, as students, are naturally going to panic about when things don't go as 100% planned. Fortunately, after about forty minutes of stressing.. we got the message that we weren't forgotten. About two hours later, we were finally picked up from the airport. Initial panic --> success --> good story for the future.

Upon getting picked up from the airport, our "short" ride to the hotel seemed to be a rather longer, and eventful journey. Some things you'll pick up quite rapidly: there is no law when it comes to vehicular traffic and motorbikes are abundant. Even when it's flooded in different neighborhoods.. motorbike never fails.

We got to meet the CSSD staff afterwards. Their enthusiasm, youth, and hospitality made me realize how incredibly lucky we are with our partnership. This is our very first year on GROW and so far, it makes me  think that every year will be just as good and trusting as this year. :)