This year has gone by all in a rush. So many things happened. Here's a quick catchup and update...
May
We jumped into school life after our long holiday, and definitely kept busy. Both classes and outside-of-school things were on the agenda.
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A last-minute, surprise birthday party with "the gang"
for one of my students (who is in the dark shadows on the left). |
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The Grade 8 Tech Studies kids made alphabets, took pictures
of them, and handcrafted messages on the computer. |
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Tim & Wendy's house got torn down because of termites,
and they began to recreate a new one. |
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I always enjoy spending time over at the orphanage.
This is Mat Sitha, at house 11, making bok svay (pounded green mango). |
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| Random violin practice. Hey, whatever does the trick! |
June
More of the same...
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| Hanging out at dorm study hall. |
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| Shannon and Sreya got engaged over one of the holidays. |
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We had a special baptism ceremony.
There were about 66 baptisms, it was special to see! |
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| Most of my "gang" got baptized. Special guys! |
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| Another birthday-cake celebration. |
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Laura and I tested out making some Khmer food.
It turned out yummy (though we've practiced more since then)! |
July
July was a month of wrapping up classes, writing exams, giving exams, packing for home, and wrapping up all sorts of loose ends. It flew by so fast, even though at times it felt like it was going slow. And all those goodbyes at the end... whew. Not so much fun.
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| A birthday party for a student's little sister. |
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| With my fellow volunteers. Fun bunch, these are! |
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| This smiley boy hung outside of my office window a lot! |
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| At the last Pathfinder outing of the school year. |
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Grade 7 class party just before exams.
Popcorn, bread, and old grade 6 videos made it lots of fun. |
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| Three sweet girlies I love! |
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| Exam time in Grade 8. |
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| Another party - this time after we finished exams! |
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| Lots of goodbyes! One of my grade 12 students. |
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| A couple of fun-loving grade 11 guys. |
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| One of my grade 7 girls. |
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| One of my little grade 7 guys whose family moved away after I left. |
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| A bouncy grade 7 guy! |
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| More goodbyes at my house... |
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| Even the little ones came. |
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| It was not cool to leave. Even the sky cried... |
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| Back home with family at last. |
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| Peaches!! |
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I spent a weekend at YD Camp.
It had been two whole summers since I'd been back! |
August
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| Fun times at ASI, seeing and catching up with so many old friends! |
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| On a walk with my sweet doggy. |
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| Enjoying my cardmaking stuff again... |
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Every Sunday night I hang out at my brother's apartment
and play games. Dutch Blitz is our go-to favorite. |
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| Our friends had a double birthday party - ocean theme! |
September
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I went to the county fair a couple of times.
Julianna and I had a good time watching part of the horse show! |
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| Great Sabbath evenings spent with friends... |
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| Kids, kids, and more kids + Legos = great fun. |
October
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| Laura and I have enjoyed FaceTiming more often these days. |
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| A few of my Pathfinder girls at the UCC Pathfinder Camporee. |
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| Christmas is already at Walmart!! I'm so excited! |
Now I'm in Canada at my friends' home, enjoying a nice long visit. As for the future... it's still unknown (whose future isn't?) but I'm doing what I can at home while praying for God to lead in the next few months. If things work out I may end up back in Cambodia in the near future. We'll see!
