Packing and Money

Ah, yes, the two big issues before any big change - how on earth to pack all of my stuff and how am I going to survive until October when I just got my last pay check last week?? And, to top it off, I am living in the sweltering desert of Arizona and my car air conditioner just died. It has been on the way out for a few weeks, but I was hoping it could hang on at least until I got back to Texas. No such luck. It is going in to the "car doctor" tomorrow. Thank goodness my parents are going to pay for it because there is no way I can afford anything else like that - especially since I just got a new starter last weekend, if you can believe it. My car is falling apart right before my eyes!

Okay, okay, enough of my self-indulgent complaints that have nothing to do with my travels....

Cambodia:
Here are a few more things I have learned.

* There are flush toilets in the dorm, but you cannot put used toilet paper in them. That all goes in a separate trash can. I hope I don't accidentally forget! And, this does have me a little worried, but I imagine I'll get used to it.... I guess it really isn't all that different than our composting toilet at home, if I think about it like that.

* I will need some nice, crisp, and clean US dollars for Cambodia as they just use the local currency for things under that amount. I am planning to bring some with me, but apparently it will be easy to get more there, too, at any bank. I am with Citibank and, of course, they do not have a branch in Cambodia, though there is one in Vietnam.

* Speaking of money, I have applied for a capitol one credit card since it doesn't have any fees added on if using the card out of the country. Unfortunately, I don't think it is going to work out. This is a bummer, and I have to figure out what to do. I am not too worried about Cambodia, but Romania will be for a much longer period of time. I wonder if I should open a bank account but I also wonder if that will be hard since I will be in two different cities. Hmmmmm.

* And, more discussions of money. I have been able to raise a little money to help with Cambodia. Some family, a few friends from Texas, and a club from my high school all raised some money for me. This is not really for me to use but all for the girls. With the money from the high school, I am going to buy one digital recorder for them to use during interviews. I am going to buy a few more with the other money. All of the recorders will be left there for other future projects. I also would like to use some of the money to take them on a field trip. Apparently the dorm generally pays for the field trips, and I am hoping they will be able to do so for a trip to the National Museum. I also hope that I can set up a behind the scense tour with a curator. I think that would be a great experience for them! However, I also would like to take them out to the local zoo. Apparently it is a fair distance outside of town, so I would use some of this donated money to pay for that. On the way, we would pass the killing fields, and we definitely will stop there if the girls haven't been. I think this would be a great day trip, but I will have to work it out for a Sunday. It is the only day the girls don't have university classes, but I would have to work out with Vanna (the dorm manager) to change their classes at the dorm for that day. Maybe they could all be in the evening or perhaps cancelled. Oh, I should find a movie about animals to bring over and show that night - have the whole day be sort of animal themed. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that it is wonderful that I was able to raise some money because otherwise this kind of thing would not be possible.

Wow, up until now all of this has just been talk, but I actually am leaving Arizona in just two weeks. I am sooooo ready to leave!!! Then, I'll be home two weeks and off to Cambodia. It is so soon!