What I've Learned This Time Around

With full transparency I am writing this post at home.  

I have been physically home for three days, but I am still in Cambodia too. I believe I always will be. I feel more at home there than I have in most other places.  I cannot express how good it feels to be surrounded by people who look like me.  For most people on this planet, they get to grow up with people who look like them, stay with the people who look like them, or get to return to those same people even if you visit somewhere where people look different. 

It is a big deal to me, and it makes Cambodia feel more like home...I don't feel noticed there...I don't feel out of place and I don't feel judged.  Except for my own personal fashion choices.  


Just like my last trip home, this time I learned so much I can't possibly cover it all, but I might as well take a shot at it. 

1. My skin feels amazing in the heat and humidity of Cambodia.  I thought that skin is always supposed to be dry and itchy...



2. Through the magical nights of Khmer New Year, I figured out Khmer traffic. During the nationwide water gun fight, I noticed that no one took anything personally.  People who were out got sprayed with water, got talcum powder smeared on their faces and dumped on their heads and then got sprayed again.  No one took it as a personal affront or insult.  Which I think is indicative of the Cambodian people anyway.  I also think it translates into their drive.  People are always getting cut off, and getting pushed to the side and being creeped up on. The basic rule is don't be were someone already is, and try to predict and avoid places that someone might want to go...and with the 'don't take it personally' mind set, driving makes sense. 

 

3. Buffets all over the world are the same...too many choices...not enough stomach room and avoid the sea food you don't recognize. 


4. Using a weaving loom is another thing I'm not smart or coordinated enough to do. 

5. Elsa is really good at learning languages. I however am not. During her brief time in Cambodia she picked up a number of words and seemed to get the accent too. I have been there twice and can only use two words comfortably.  Or kun (sp) - Thank you and Cha Kai (sp) - Dog.  She's also good at weaving reeds into baskets. 


6. When riding our bikes and going down hill, I seemed to be able to coast much faster and longer than the less chubby people...leading me to the almost law of physics - Chubby objects in motion tend to stay chubby, their motion is purely a function of what kind of motion it is and if there are French fries at the end of it. 



7. I learned what some of the hand gestures in Khmer traditional dance mean and immediately forgot. 

    

8. I have the legs of a Kun Khmer Kickboxer. 


9. The Khmer People love a Street Party

 

 
10.  One of us has a huge forehead and one of us a long trunk.

 
The one of us with the huge forehead has always had a huge forehead and is not losing his hair.

11. Every single frick'in kid in Cambodia is a cutie...there are no ugoes. 


 



12. Angkor Wat at sunrise is beyond beautiful, this is almost spiritual. I could feel my physical connection to the building as the sun broke and the sharp contrast of the tower against the melting dark sky gave way. You have no idea how amazing this place is until you've actually set foot there.  Pictures do not do it justice. 

 

13. You just know when you meet family... My family is significantly larger since I started this process six years ago. However, after this trip, the feeling became more solidified. Having Kouy, Christal, John, Suzy and I all in one place experiencing the same things and relating through our shared understanding of our past made it more real.  I guess it made it more collective and communal. 


14. If home is where my heart is then Cambodia is my home. I love the land, the sun, the water, the history, the tradition, the people and the soul of my mother land.  I may never find my parents or any family, but I'm developing a form of peace around this. There are so many more people to care for me and for me to care for...love you all. 

 
 


 
 


        15. As my fellow babylifters return to Cambodia in the years to come, I want to be there. Not that there is anything special about me that can help their healing process. 

I think they can help mine.


Why do they look so confused?





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