Week 1

Hey there, 

The squad of 45 arrived safely on Thursday the 14th of September around 3:00 pm. One team member was not able to travel with them. She was stuck in the Dominican Republic due to the hurricanes. She arrived safely later this week. The squad now consists of 9 guys, one of which is a squad leader, and 37 girls, three of which as squad leaders. 25 of the squad will be working with us. Three of them are guys and the remanding twenty-two are girls. They are all between the ages of 18 and 21 years old.

When the bus first pulled up to the house and they started filing out, I suddenly realized I had no clue how to act around teenagers any more. I was suddenly stuck with fear. I haven’t been around that many people of my age for years and I was of a sudden was doubting my capability to socialize. I think it was mostly fear of judgment and making a fool of myself. Jordy did a great job at introducing herself despite the fear. But they were so sweet and eventually came to me and introduced themselves to me.

The mornings are calm and beautiful

I slowly but surely met them all. I am terrible with names. So, even after a week with them I cannot remember all their names. I am roommates with 37 girls which is really fun but as I’m sure you can imagine it gets really hot and really messing. So, after the first night of not being able to sleep due to the heat a bunch of us decided to sleep on the roof. The roof is like a terrace and every night somebody has joined the group of us up there. It is very cool up there at night and the stars are beautiful! The second morning we were woken up by rain at 4:50 am which, to be honest, I was not mad at. I have been waking up at 5:30 am since they got here. I really enjoy getting earlier and having time to myself. The majority of the girls are still sleeping so I get to shower in peace and do my devotions in the quiet. You can also imagine how hard showing is with this many girl. We have four showers between us. However, by the third day one of them had broken along with two cracked toilet seats (I have no clue how it happened and I wish I knew how!).

On Friday we had an adventure day. 25 of us took some tuk-tuks for a tour around Battambang and the surrounding area. We went all over town and did all kinds of things. We stopped in the middle to get some lunch then continued on. We saw some temples, a crocodile farm, a suspension bridge, the killing caves and the bat caves. I rode in a tuk-tuk with Ash, Joe and Yannick. It was a lovely day that ended in celebrations for two squad mates birthdays.

A suspension bridge over a river with goats on the shore.

 Each week 2-3 of them will help me in the kitchen to make meals for everyone. Last week it was Ash, Caroline and Leah. We had a meeting to figure out the menu for the week. It was so much fun to work with them and through cooking we have gown closer. Together we buy cake for birthdays, deliver lunches and just laugh together. One day we were very late for dinner because we forgot to put the chicken in the oven. So, we decided to blast some music and the whole squad had a dance party in the street. They are so much fun and I'm so glad to have other my age around. I'm sad that we will be parting ways with those three girls next week but I'm also so excited to get to known some others. It will be fun to work with different people and learn new things from everyone.

The cooking squad week one, plus Jordy

I'm looking forward to see what God does with all these young people. I'm sure He will do great things and I'm so grateful I'll get to witness them. It's only been a week and I can tell it'll be difficult to say good bye. Our hearts have grown close and bonds have been made.These people a positive, fun, loving, caring, hospitable, wise and so much more. Please be praying for them and their time here!

With love,

Darcy