The 20 minute tuktuk ride through ‘real Cambodian living’ is littered with plastic bags, bottles, cans, all faded this dusty color, faded by the sun and environment with certainly no sign of decomposing. The amount of litter, it is over whelming. And judgement hit me first, really questioning how an entire population can live in such filth? Why doesn’t anyone care to pick this up? Then my narrow minded western suburban lense slapped me across the face upon realizing- there is no designated place to put it, and no organization to come pick it up and put it there. So for all the times I’ve complained about hauling the garbage 20m to the end of the driveway, I am sorry. And then I begin to wonder how many of these country dwellers, forced to the city to find work which averages $80 USD a month if lucky, miss the serenity of nature, or understand an outsiders perception of ‘living in filth’. 

The Tuk Tuk pattered to a stop on a small dirt road, after twisting around the part of the city that the faint of heart does not want to see. From the dilapidated buildings surrounding us, I questioned, are we here? Where’s the school? Where’s the children’s laughter? It sounds like we are in a major construction zone. The Tuk Tuk driver needed to reassure us and give us another nudge in the direction of two men. I wonder what our faces looked like to them- immediately our politeness took over and the confusion in our eyes before was now matched with welcomes. Pero nate and (3rd teachers name) seemed so very grateful to meet us. Yung is from China, and michelle and I from the states. Like any formal first meeting, they welcomed us into the "office" to sit down and better understand our teaching experience and what level we should be placed in. The office had no electricity,and to get there, we needed to climb over metal poles covering the floor. They apologized for the noise- they are building walls. Until a $2000 donation came from one of the volunteers last week, the school did not have walls.