I'm so bad about updating this blog and I apologize.
My life has changed dramatically in the past 2 months. It's been such a positive change and I'm so happy. There are a few major things that have happened that I'd like to share with everyone. First of all, and most importantly, I moved to a new family!!!! Things were starting to feel a little hopeless with my old family and I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to move. I was starting to get into a pretty bad depression and the thoughts of leaving and going back home were becoming more and more prevalent. My old host family wasn't bad, my host brother and sister were really good people but they just never talked to me and it was very isolating and lonely to be in that house. They also had three very young children that were very loud. I was getting irritable and angry all the time being in the house and I needed to get out for my own mental health. However, after about 2 months of searching, I finally found my new family. They are related to my old family and they are absolutely wonderful. I now have a mom again, which I really needed, and all my "siblings" are around my age. I have a host sister that is 21, and two host brothers, 20 and 23 years old. My mom is an amazing woman too. She's helped me so much and I can tell she really cares about me and is happy to have me in the house with them. She's a crazy woman though. Not like my mom in training at all. My new family likes to push my buttons and they get on my nerves a lot but I think that's how family should be. They are definitely not what I pictured a typical Khmer family to be like but I love them just as much as I loved my training family. We all sit around and talk a lot and my mom likes to get drunk every now and then which is hilarious. They are just a fun crazy family and I'm constantly laughing and having a good time with them. I feel like I can be myself and that they've really accepted me into their family. It's nice living with people that you know have your back. I could probably go on and on about them because in the 2 months I've lived with them so many funny/crazy/weird things have happened that I could talk about but I'll cut this short and just let you know that I am so happy with this new family. No matter how much they annoy me and drive me up the wall, I'm so glad and I feel so lucky that things worked out and I'm in such a great environment now.
Also, in this new house, my room is huge, I have wifi, a refrigerator, my own bathroom, and an awesome fan. I'm living the high life in Cambodia. I almost feel a little guilty because I probably live better than most volunteers AND I'm in a city with a ton of Western conveniences. But I feel so lucky and so blessed.
Another big thing that has happened is that I've lost 26 pounds and counting! All my clothes are too big for me now and I'm going to have to get them tailored. It's such an amazing feeling. I just hope it keeps going so that by the time I come back to America I'll be able to surprise everyone. I'm finally starting to look in the mirror and see myself as beautiful. However, it's a little scary to be getting down to a weight that I haven't been since freshman year of high school. The security blanket is finally being shed. This is all pretty new to me but I'm just so happy that I'm just going with it.
So overall, my life is going fantastically and I'm happier than I have been since training. The only thing I'm a little bummed about is my work. I haven't taught in so long, there are so many random holidays that keep preventing me from teaching and I feel like a slacker. I'm not used to having so much free time. Hopefully when school starts back up I'll get up the motivation to work again and give the students my full attention like they deserve. I need to find some other things to occupy my time as well. I really want to be productive and make a difference and so far I've been slacking. But now that I'm in a good place with my family and my environment I think I can start doing some good work. Cambodia deserves my best and I intend to give it.
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