First Days

Dear friends,

We made it! After some long flights, we all arrived safely without any major snags. It's been less than three days and already we've gotten settled at our temporary guest house, acquired cell phones, met our teammates, had a stomach bug, explored the neighborhood and started language school. We'd give you a Khmer greeting, but we don't remember. We're going to blame that on jet lag.

On Monday we begin orientation and training with our team. This will jumpstart our education into Cambodian culture and the realities of the sexual exploitation that surrounds us. Soon after we will begin working with local children at a park that surrounds a Buddhist temple. More on that later! Also in the coming weeks we'll begin searching for an apartment to call home.

It's been quite a journey to get us to this place. Walking off the plane and realizing we were finally here - that this is our new home, our new country - was surreal. Thank you for all the support and prayers that have made this possible!

There will be many stories to tell in the days to come. We'll post pictures and more frequent updates on Facebook. Feel free to e-mail us any time; we'd love to hear from you.

Much love,

Kimberly, Becki, and Rachel

Wonderful snacks left for us by our team.

We are getting around the city in tuktuks.

Fried bananas and bread on the street--a very yummy snack!

A beautiful gate in our neighborhood.

A vendor selling coconuts.

I can't read Khmer, but I think this is a dentist!

Bamboo scaffolding at a construction site--notice how the wheels are up in the air.

There are NOT underground power wires in Cambodia.