Laura's Blog Jan. 8

I’ve never had such filthy feet and been okay with it. The dusty air and potpourri of smells have become comfortably familiar. Cambodia is great! We spent most of today at the daycare center in Battambang. The children were initially shy; later tonight I learned that the last “foreigners” to visit were dentists. But we weren’t there to pull teeth and they quickly became attached. Literally, attached… At one point, Ariel had one child on each leg. We played duck-duck-goose Khmer-style and ran through the playground playing red-light, green-light. The sense of friendship and responsibility among the children was intriguing. If someone tripped; there was immediately another set of little hands to help. The child-minders were fun and eager to learn the teaching techniques offered by Dr. Shaw. Lunch was great too. I have a newfound passion for the flavour of fried morning glories. The best part of my day, though, was counting with a few of the children. I’ve learned how to say and write the numbers one through ten in Khmai. As a crazy math dork, I found this amazingly exciting. After returning to the hotel, some of us went to the Central Market to examine jade pendants, taste tamarind, and people-watch. Always in the mood for adventure, I took a motorcycle ride back to the hotel wearing my knock-off Prada sunglasses from Phnom Penh’s market and a mischievous smile. It was an eventful day.