I Did Things in January & February, Sorry I Can't Come up With a Better Title

This last blog post has been a difficult one to write. There are lots of things that have happened since Christmas that I could talk about, but I wasn’t sure which one I wanted  to focus on. I was finding it really hard to talk about about one thing, so here are a bunch of things that have happened!

All of the Don Bosco schools in Cambodia got together in Phnom Penh to celebrate. This is when we had our volleyball competition that we’d been training for. Our secretary girls didn’t win, but our Laura girls did and they were over the moon excited! Princes Norodom Arunresmy even stopped by and talked about how she loved the Don Bosco mission and all the wonderful work Don Bosco was doing for the youth of Cambodia. She was even impressed with the amount of international volunteers that Don Bosco has (from the Philippines, Germany, Australia, Spain, and the USA) and how much of a passion we have for working with children and young adults. While she was talking about the international volunteers, I took a moment to wave to her, and she totally waved back and said hello mid speech! I will admit I fangirled pretty hard, but I’m disappointed in myself that I did not wave to her as I had been instructed to in The Princess Diaries- thank you for being here today. Anyways, the bicentenary was a huge success and we had a blast! It was so great to see the Don Bosco community get together and hang out like one big family reunion. I think Don Bosco would have been really proud of the Salesian spirit in Cambodia! 

The school was also visited by the blood bank and they were really looking for donors who could help out.  Maggie and I weren’t sure what the protocol was on whether or not we could give blood, but then we decided, why not? We didn’t have many donations, because the girls were either underweight or nervous, but a lot of them tried, and that counts, right? A few of them gave me tough girl faces (left) and others couldn't even keep a straight face if they tried (right), but the whole morning went smoothly. Everything was really safe, and I’m so proud of my girls who could donate for doing so! They're such troopers. Countries like Cambodia really need as many blood donations as possible and Maggie and I were excited to be giving back in a different way! Maggie donated blood in 3 minutes! That has to be a record somewhere, right?

Cake on cake on cake! Yum! 

I also celebrated my 23rd birthday this past weekend and everyone was really sweet. My students totally surprised me Friday; I did’t know they were so sneaky! I don’t have my second year students on Fridays so I’m usually free in the morning, which is really nice! I was working on my lesson plans when one of my second year students dropped by the office and asked me to come upstairs. I tried asking what for, but she told me just to follow her anyways, so of course, I do. I get upstairs and five girls shove their undone homework and tell me they don’t know how to do it. I’m not going to say this happens often, but it’s typical for one or two to tell me they don’t know what to do, not my whole class! I was a little irked because I thought it was relatively easy homework. As I’m trying to wind down, they pointed me towards the board where they’d written “Happy Birthday Tr. Amanda!” and presented me with a cake and a very loud happy birthday song! I couldn’t believe they’d gotten me! Their other class was starting soon, so pictures and cake sharing happened after lunch, but I loved every minute of it!

Of course, my first years wouldn’t be outdone! Two of my first years asked me to play volleyball with them after school, so of course I said yes, but I did think it was odd. We’re actually done with “volleyball season” (I say that loosely, I think it’s always volleyball season in Cambodia), and neither of those girls particularly like sports, but of course, Maggie and I were happy to play. After school we found a flat volleyball so we ended up playing basketball and showing the girls how to pass the ball properly. I’d honestly thought they’d be up to something, but after 30 minutes of basketball passing, I realized they just wanted to play and that’s cool too. Just as I was letting go of my suspicions, one of the girls turned me around to look at the plane in the sky. There was no plane. The next thing I hear is the striking of a match and the girls yelling “NOOOOO!” An odd concern that my hair might catch on fire passed through my mind, but soon they were all laughing and told me to turn around, only to present me with another cake. They sang happy birthday to me and we shared cake in front of Mama Mary. It was the sweetest day!!!

I woke up with flowers at my door from “ur angles,” which I later learned were from the Laura girls. They woke up extra early to make me flowers and even sprayed them with perfume. The sisters greeted me at breakfast with warm wishes and a parade of hugs, which was sweet. I spent the day with time at the gym, playing Banana Grams, and watching Downton Abbey with Maggie- we’re mostly caught up, but no spoilers please! I went out for Mexican food, which was a comfort. The jalapeño margarita and queso were a success! Actually, my birthday in Cambodia was a total win!


So, as you can see, it’s been a busy month and a half, and the time is just flying by. The girls are busy working on different things, like a speech competition for the first years, and a debate for my second years! I’m super pumped for all our events at the end of this month! There are so many cool things that we’re getting ready for and I’m proud of all hard work and effort the girls are putting into these projects! Oh, and in case you haven't heard, Maggie and I are going to a wedding in March, and we're going in tradition Khmer dress! We went for our fabric a few weeks ago and the dresses are at the tailor. We are beyond excited! Fashion show, fashion show, fashion show at lunch! Well, not at lunch, but when we get our dresses, we'll make it known.