HA.

Blogger thinks I speak only Khmer and continues to add in random words into my posts like "furniture" and "for example" and keep rearranging my english around! It's trying to fix my english! Ah! 

So. 

I'm trying wordpress:

Check it. 

Also I added pictures here. 

http://missmelissamaree.wordpress.com/

Jah, bong!

OKAY OKAY! I get it! You all are dying to know what I've been doing the past few days right? Starting riots and for example in the U.S. of A for my wit and Lack of pictures in my blog posts. Am I correct ? (Of course, I'm right. Nod yo head, foo). Well you just calm down, my friend. Missa will take care of the thirst for information. Speaking of thirst. I am SO thirsty. All the time. sweat You imaginable from every pore. You think you're hot stuff, Utah? Colorado? California? Arizona?? Forget about it!! Dunno what choo choo talkin 'bout. Is not got nothing on the hot season in Cambodia. We arrived at the hottest time of the year. Thankfully Furniture Means it can only get better from here, right? * Fingers crossed *. Last night was nice. A cool breeze blew along the land (and by "cool" I mean "less hot") . I wonder, tuy nhiên, if Their seasons are just "hot hot hot", "hot hot", "hot" and "not so much hot but still hot." We Shall see. This is my biggest struggle. Shall I come off conqueror though! Jah! 

So what have I been doing these past few days. Every day feels like three sweetly making sleep come over at night. Seriously we go to bed at 9 or 10 and wake up at 6 (sometimes 5.) We have the full week off from work Because its the King's birthday. woot! I wish I could take a full week off for my birthday in the states. Party. Party. Party. So I have not actually started working with NGO CEDAW AKA Licadho yet . I'll let you know what I'll be doing there whenever I know what I'll be doing there. 

Fun side tidbit before I get into the whole updating thing: our bathroom floor decided to turn into a snake wormy thing last night . AAAAAH. 0_o. Seriously. I woke up to go pee and shower (after realizing I had fallen asleep with dirt and sweat still crusted to my skin). Often when I use the loo at night I go in the dark Because the light is noisy and I have to open our host family's bedroom to reach the light switch (we share a bathroom). I know, I know ... I'm so considerate and thoughtful for doing that. Anyway, needed a shower - the hot water machine-- I can not work it without light. Turned on light. Went pee. When suddenly the black grooved bits of tile, which I thought was just part of the tile decided to turn into the Snakey black wormy thing and started slithering towards me with it's nasty self! AAAAAh. I would have screamed if it hadn't been so late at night (again, how considerate, jah?). The bathrooms here are much different. There is no separation Between the shower and the rest of the room.  Basically there is a drain in the corner behind the toilet and you shower next to your toilet and sink. The toilet is always wet and if you do not move the TP .... well .... Anyway, I blasted down the drain wormy thingy and banned it from returning. I did not sleep very well after that. I kept dreaming of bugs and creepy crawlies. I have about 15 mosquito bites on my legs too and suddenly they all began to itch all. It became so bad that I got up. bathed in some sticky mosquito repellent and fell back asleep. Camboland is pretty fun. :) It really is fun though. I love it here despite the wormy thing and the bug bites and the heat and being sick for almost 48 hours from Sunday until Tuesday ( I wanted to die no joke ........ maybe food poisoning? Weak American stomache.) Tuesday we did a cooking class. I still felt queasy so I did not eat very much but it was delish! The teacher took us to the market first. And then we saw the BYU Ambassadors perform. I was sick Sunday night, all day Monday, so I missed a lot of fun activities. But that's okay. I'm here for three months. I'm sure I'll get my fill. I'll post pictures and write more later. We are going to a Buddhist temple here in a few minutes. 

Love you all! 

Life Lessons

First full day in Cambodia. It feels like three. Things I've learned today: 1. Fresh mangos with a touch of salt are absolutely amazing. Papayas, on the other hand, not so much. 2. Riding a bike in Phnom Penh=an adrenaline rush and so much fun. Basically you have to act like you are the only person on the road while simultaneously being aware that you are definitely not the only person on the road. There are lanes, but nobody stays in them, and stop signs but nobody stops. Stop lights but those are sometimes optional too. Blinking to turn? Forget about it. Riding a bike along, oh hello, truck. Please see me. Everyone just kind of zig zags and loops their way through. Lots of scooters and bikes and cars and took-tooks (sp??). Hesitate? Not aggressive enough? Consider yourself road kill. I love it. Imagine if America was such a way. A rhythmic chaos of bikes and machines. Also, no sudden movements. The key is to be gradual and...to wear a helmet. Honestly, I'm debating on buying a gopro for the traffic alone. 3. You do not throw away trash in the bins. You put them in piles along the street. On the ground. I guess there are people who make their livelihood off of picking up said trash. They go along, picking it up, recycle it and get paid. 4. Milo is delish! It's a chocolatey ish drink with sweetened condensed milk in the bottom. Ooooh so yummy. 5. Don't trust crushed-up ice. We watched as a couple of men slid these rectangular blocks of ice out of the back of a dirty truck, onto a rusty, dirty metal ramp, into the hands of the man waiting below who collected it and threw it into a sketchy machine to crush up and sell to the happy customers. 6. I'm not a very good tourist. Didn't take a single picture today...next time, next time... :) 7. This is definitely a new experience. So tired. Must sleep. Weird to think it's day time in the USA. Love you all!

Cambodia? What the heck?

I leave tomorrow! Tomorrow I leave! To Camboland to Camboland! Let's see if I can dig up some insight before I take off on that plane. Gorsh, not sure what to say.... *digging* digging* thud* Got something! The main thing I am hoping for from this internship is experience and a different perspective. I plan on going into the country with an open mind, an open book, tabula rasa!--ready to take in the good and the bad. I don't expect to change the world in my first development experience and if I make at least one friend in Cambodia, that'll be absolutely wonderful! I do plan on it being challenging and a bit confusing at times trying to grow accustom to the language and culture of Cambodia but I'm also excited to have this experience and go through this challenge. Also, having grown up in a desert all my life....heat + humidity= game face. Overall, I'm so grateful for being able to afford this internship and for being accepted into this program. A gracious shout out to both sets of Grandparents (goodness, you guys are the best! Thanks so much for supporting me both financially and with all that loving only grandparents can do), to the coolest big brotha and sista-in-law anyone could ever ask for (thanks for the groceries and for giving me a place to stay and letting me borrow your car and eat your food and for using your washer/dryer and for being really cool and for getting that bug out of my soccer ball (what?)), to my wonderful parents (I'm kind of scared too to leave the country...haha! Confession! But no worries, I got this! Thanks for all you two do, you work hard and love so much and I'm grateful for everything you have done for me (especially in the past 22 years of life (does that cover everything? (too many parentheses? Too many side-tracked thoughts? Nah. (okay, NOW there's too many (here's one more))))!), to the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Foundation (scholarship--wow! So nice!), and to the Kennedy Center (Suzy, I am forever indebted to you. Perhaps you shall never read this blog, but if you do--thank you for putting up with all my last minute--too-late-application nonsense. You're the coolest!), and to the rest of my brothers (just because, I think you are all the best people I know (Alex, Andrew, Jon, Erk, Tommy). I'd also like to thank the academy (because that's what you do, right?) and my dear friends Natasha, Selene, and Natalie. Thanks for the encouragement, for the love and support and for writing those rad recommendation letters. I love you guys. And to the rest of my family: thanks for the support and love! Miss you already! And thank YOU for reading this blog and taking an interest in my life. Even if I did do the cliche thing and create a blog, so vainly convinced that someone somewhere will care enough to take note and read it diligently (you will read it diligently, won't you? *big puppy dog eyes* special effects* is this computer animated* cheap tricks, Michael Bay, cheeeeap*) So yes. Cambodia. Here we go. :)