April 18th, 2020 was supposed to be our final day in Cambodia. Yet, April 18th, 2020 marked 1 month and 7 days of being home- in the US.

Truthfully, the last two weeks have been difficult. I think it has started to hit me that the flight here was not for a quick home visit and that I will not be returning to my students and my warm life in Cambodia. Although it is hard, I remind myself of all of the things I learned, the personal growth I went through, the smiles I received, the relationships I built and the people I grew to love. I appreciate every second of my journey and I am happy to have the memories.

Other than missing my students and friends, this has been so difficult for me because I am worried about them. In the Fall of 2017, I learned that my days of struggles come to an end. Before starting my journey as a Minerva Fellow, I knew that I was going to face several struggles in my placement. I prepared myself by expecting to struggle and face challenges but, I knew, that at the end of those 9 months, my struggles were going to come to an end.

I am constantly saying how I felt much safer in Cambodia and how I wish that I was still there instead of here. Every time I say this or think about this, I feel guilty. I feel guilty because I know that Union decided to remove us from our placements because if anything did happen to us, if we did have COVID- 19, we could properly get treated here (saying this lightly) and be with our families. I worry that my students and friends will contract the virus and not have access to a hospital. I worry that my students and their families would get the virus because they cannot work from home like many of us here. I worry that my students and their families would get the virus and not know because they do not have access to tests and therefore infect others around them.

What About Us?

The day we got to say goodbye to some of our students, one of them asked “What about us?” when we told them that Union thought we’d be safer in the US. And seriously, what about them?! I wish there was a way for me to be in constant communication with them. I wish that there was something that I could potentially do for them and their families to make them feel and stay safe. But, there isn’t. If I were to still be in Cambodia, I would be worried about my access and the hospital’s abilities to help me if I were sick, but, I am here and not there. The worry of having access to a hospital and proper care is a struggle that I no longer have but I know that various people in Cambodia do. This along with many other scenarios/situations that I encountered throughout my journey reminded me and helped me acknowledge my privilege. My heart is with all of my loved ones in Cambodia and I am always hoping for the best.

Here are some photos of my last two days

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Tata and Ana became family. From the first day I walked into Latinos Bar & Restaurant to my last night in Cambodia, my relationship with these women grew immensely and they always had my back! I already miss these women dearly and I cannot wait to see them again! Hasan and Lupe are two beautiful and happy babies that I spent a lot of time with and grew a lot of love for. They both have grown a crazy amount in the little time that I’ve been home and I am so sad that I am not there to witness it!

What is next?

Since our return, us Minerva Fellows are trying to spend a lot of time with family. Sadly, we cannot return to campus like we were supposed to so, we are making virtual presentations on our experiences to different Union courses and departments.

I am unsure on the type of content that I want to write about for my future blogs. I might catch ya’ll up on the last two months of my journey in Cambodia (since I got lazy and didn’t post) or I might continue catching ya’ll up on what I am doing now (not much and no where near as exciting)..

Stay tuned, stay safe and please practice social-distancing!

Until next time!

I contemplated writing this earlier but decided to wait until I had semi-processed what is going on. Two-ish weeks ago, Tyler reached out to all of Gen 12 Minerva Fellows explaining that because of Coronavirus, we unfortunately, would not be completing the entire time in our placements. We did not know if this meant that we were going to be pulled out within a week or maybe three. To the say the least, WE WERE STRESSED.

A few days later, Tyler reached out to us again explaining that Union had officially come to the decision that Dalila and I would be returning to the US earlier while the other fellows maintained in their placements with caution of being pulled out if things drastically changed. We were told that we’d be departing Cambodia at the end of March. Although this still meant that Dalila and I weren’t going to finish the time at TGC as planned, I was grateful because I was very worried that we were going to be pulled out of the program by the end of that week. Which this then meant that I would not have time to properly say goodbye to my students and friends. I was so afraid that I was not going to finish what I had started but being told that we had roughly 3 weeks left, made my day!

As soon as we were given the news, we made sure to let our boss (Dara) know so that he was aware of the changes that he would have to make to the schedule once we were gone. We decided to wait til we had an official date of departure to tell our students because we did not want to give them false information nor get them sad ahead of time.

The Gods & Goddesses now know how much I wish that I told them when I found out!

Although Tyler & Michelle warned us that there was a possibility of everything going downhill and changing, I did not see that happening. On March 3rd, a man was tested positive with the virus in Siem Reap, Cambodia- we did not panic nor think anything bad about it because it was only the second case in Cambodia and first in Siem Reap. On March 6th, 44 people were held in Siem Reap’s Referral Hospital to be quarantined. Not that I got into full panic mode, but I did start to worry because this is the hospital right in front of Pub Street, a place where my friends and I constantly meet for Taco Tuesdays, fried ice cream or just a night out.

Have I been in contact with any of these people? Na, that could not be me, I’ve been cautious! Will this make Union take us out earlier?! Na, we’ll just be asked to be more careful.

After having an amazing day of renting E Bikes and being in full adventure mode, Dalila and I decided to go for some sorbet before going back home to call it a night. As we enjoy our delicious sorbet, Dalila’s face goes blank as she reads a Skype message from our Boss, Dara- “Siem Reap Town schools are ordered closed”. Excuse me?! Schools, ordered closed?! This night, Saturday, March 7th at 10pm was when I realized that my life was going to change very, very quickly. And I was right. Seconds after getting home, Tyler called and the first thing he said was “Hey.. so, we’re pulling you out ASAP”. How sweet of him to want to rip the bandage off as quick as possible but, although I knew that this was what he was calling to say, I was no where near ready to hear that! I, of course teared when I heard him say that, then went into full anger mode and lastly into disbelief.

By 12:30am, Dalila and I were on the phone with Tyler again, buying our plane tickets to return to the US.

My biggest concern was my students. I have grown to love each and everyone of them in individual ways. I have watched them grow into incredible people and they have taught me so much about myself in such short time. How could I leave without saying goodbye? Without giving them an explanation? Luckily, TGC had announced that there was going to be one last meeting before the school was officially closed. I was mentally preparing myself all night to walk into the school and see none of my students (since the Prime Minister ordered schools closed immediately) or to only see half of them. I tried to write letters, make a video and even practiced a quick little speech that I wanted to give them but, nothing worked. I felt numb and could not process what was actually going on.

The next day, I walked into school and noticed that there were less than half of my students there and cried as soon as one of my K8 girls approached me, tearing and repeating “why?”. I wish I had more time with all of my students and more time to explore Cambodia as a whole. I was sort’ve finding myself as weird as that sounds. I had just become 100% comfortable living there and had started to make intensely, loving and crazy relationships with people. How could I leave it all behind just like that?

Wednesday morning, March 11th– I thoroughly thought about my time in Cambodia as I reached the airport in my tuk tuk, sipping on the last bit of Khmer coffee I’ll have in a very long time.

As I write this while being self-quarantined, I cannot help but think about all of the positive things I’ve earned through this journey. I am so lucky to have lived and experienced this Fellowship. Although I am sad to be back in the US, I don’t think I’d change a thing about this journey.

I have not fully wrapped my head around being back especially since I have not gone outside since arriving from the airport. That being said, stay tuned for Part II of this post because I have A LOT more to say about this topic.

Stay safe everyone!

*I felt like a Youtuber writing that*

Per usual, its been a while since my last post. But, here we are. So, since I received so many questions on my last post, specifically about the last photo I posted (New Year’s Eve & curls), I guess it is only right that my next post be about that.

Right before Graduation, during our last meeting with Michelle (Dean Osborn), she randomly got very serious and then said something along the lines of Khmer culture potentially having some racial/colorism discrimination because of its surroundings and traditional values. Now, I do not remember if I said this, if Dalila did or if I just thought it. But, we were two women of color at a predominately white institution.. I knew that whatever challenges I would face here because of my skin color, would not be something I had not experienced at Union or in my previous school.

Being the first black students to accept The Global Child Minerva Fellowship felt great! I was a little bit nervous because I was unsure of how the students would react to us but, I knew that none of that would deter me from trying to have the best experience out here. I was and am very happy to be one of the first black students to volunteer at TGC because it will pave the way for other black students and show other students of color that this is a safe place! Learning that Dalila and I were going to be the first black students to volunteer here was a little bit heartbreaking but not surprising. I believe that Union has to do better in reaching out to the students of color so that more of us are applying for opportunities like this. I hope that after this generation of Minerva Fellows (Gen 12), there are more students of color that feel comfortable applying for the fellowship because this is a once in a lifetime experience that everyone can benefit from!

My experience here has not been anything like I expected it to be after that conversation with Michelle. Yes, people would stare at us for long periods of time and question things like our hair and clothes choices but I have never felt unsafe because of the color of my skin. Cambodia’s ideal beauty beliefs do exclude darkness and non-straight hair. I remember our first time entering TGC and noticing the kids laughing nervously while staring and introducing themselves to us. Two seconds later, all of the girls rushed towards Dalila and I to touch our hair. At the time, I wore my hair in box braids (protective style) while Dalila wore hers completely natural. Usually, I would not allow random people to touch my hair but the students were so fascinated because they had never seen anyone wear their hair like that before! Our girls are constantly complaining about their own hair because they try to maintain it as straight as possible! During breaks you will even catch them washing their hair either because it is too hot or because their hair got a little frizzy. I believe that what they consider beautiful has changed a little bit because of the exposure that Dalila and I have given them.

Although they always laugh when seeing something new, I swear NO ONE hypes me up and gives me as many compliments as they do!

I remember the first time noticing how important it was for these kids to stay away from the sun. We were at our mentoring program and it was at least 100 degrees that day. The sun was beaming and everyone was drenched in sweat (I say everyone very lightly because for some reason my students can be extremely hot yet, not have a drop of sweat unless they’re actually running around). I remember looking over and seeing most of the students wearing long sleeve shirts and I swear I was having mini heat strokes anytime I looked over at them.

“I don’t want to be black Cha”

They say that every time I would tell them to take off their sweaters/long sleeves whenever they complain about the heat. At first it was very heart breaking to hear because a lot of people here are not light skinned and neither am I! I constantly think about the fact that they might not like the way they look because of their skin color and it does upset me. I have tried to speak to them about accepting themselves and others as being beautiful but I cannot completely change their views in the short amount of time that I am here. I hope that my constant conversations with them about beauty and acceptance does stick with them OR that they at least continue to listen to Brown Skin Girl by Beyonce since I made them listen to & analyze it so many times.

So, long story short, some khmer beliefs do discriminate against darker skinned and non-straight haired people. This stems from the light skin privilege that has developed over time whereas darker skin is connected to poorness, ugliness and inferiority. Through my short research and exposure here, I do believe that things are changing!

I do not change my hairstyle very frequently but when I do, I get the same exact reaction as when I first arrived. Here are a few photos of the different hairstyles!

If you have any more questions about this specifically please feel free to contact me because I will not be writing about this again!

I swore I would upload another post before 2020 but here we are.

First off, Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone’s end of 2019 was filled with family members, friends and a whole lot of laughter!

Quick re-cap of the end of 2019:

I finally visited Angkor Wat! It only took me five months to get there. So far, this has been one of my favorite experiences. For those who do not know, Angkor Wat is the largest temple complex in the world! It was specifically all Hindu temples which was later transformed into Buddhist temples. The sight was magnificent and although we were there for HOURS, we only had the chance to visit three different temples because they are all so huge! I am planning on visiting again in February and hopefully, I can get through another three or four.

For a few years, I have been trying to use my traveling for a spiritual/religious journey and none of what I have tried has worked! For whatever reason, being here has helped me understand that I do not necessarily need to figure that out yet and that it will come to me (if it ever does) whenever I am officially ready. Just because everyone around me has this figured out, does not mean that I have to or that it is even for me!

Here is a flood of my favorite pictures from this day!

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CHRISTMAS came early at TGC!

There are very few christians at TGC, therefore, Christmas is celebrated for commercial reasons and some fun for the kids. We celebrated Christmas the Saturday before so that we did not take time off of the students’ actual school day. For this Christmas celebration, Dalila and I hosted a marshmallow family competition where the students were separated into groups and had to make small families out of marshmallows and other supplies. The most creative family won!

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The rest of the day was dedicated to other games including Christmas Bingo, food races and a lot of Karaoke and dancing! It was all fun and games until it got serious after a few students poured decorating sugar ALL over me… That was when the serious competition started 🙂

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As your typical Latinx woman, I celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with Latinos Bar & Restaurant! Tata cooked an amazing feast and I was so happy to be with people I have gotten comfortable with during a time where I wish I could teleport to be with family. New Year’s Eve was also celebrated there before heading to Pub Street for some fun. I thought Water Festival was crowded back in early November but… I have never ever seen so much traffic in my life. It took us 1 hour to get somewhere that would usually take 10-15 minutes. I was over it.

Overall, my Holiday season was spent well! I wish we had a couple of days off to give me some time to process my feelings and all that was going on.

Nonetheless, here is me being ready for what 2020 has to offer:

I genuinely feel like it has been forever since I last posted here!

A LOT has happened since then!

I sort of started working at a fighting club (Angkor Warriors) as a dancer! I say sort of because it really did not last very long. The hours were fine but choreographing, teaching and cleaning the dance pieces were hell because my partner and I had completely different schedules which meant we were practicing at 1am everyday. Although I was super tired everyday, I loved it because I had not danced like that in SO LONG! Just with dancing for two weeks, my body felt amazing. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up working out but I guess that is for the best!

For the past few weeks, TGC has participated in a few events hosted by the Women’s Resource Center. These specific events have been geared towards raising awareness of violence against women and girls in Cambodia. If you know me, you know that this is something that is very important to me aside from it being my organization’s philanthropy. I was so happy to be part of these events and to have my students learn more about violence against women through different platforms. I love the fact that my students are now getting more comfortable to speak about things such as violence and toxic relationships because these are things that some of them have to witness on a pretty regular basis. I am hoping to continue raising awareness of violence against women and girls throughout my time here. Stay tuned for a future project that I have planned to help our girls!

December started off very busy but still great! I unfortunately had a few set backs last week that threw me off my game for a little bit. Guess who got into an accident?! Yes, you guessed it! ME.

After I bragged about being this star bicycle rider, I got hit by a car while on my way to buy some Christmas supplies. At first, I was so upset with the man for hitting me that I didn’t feel anything else but anger. I think Cambodia was trying to remind me that although I’ve been here for 5 months, I’m not actually a pro in this traffic! After the day passed, everything hurt! My mother & Tyler convinced me to go get checked out and thankfully nothing is broken! I received some pain killers for the soreness but other than that, we are good! I really thought that that was going to be it for my bad luck. Little did I know that the next day was going to be worse! Some events happened that Monday which I won’t write about but just KNOW that I can’t catch a break with my bad luck. Everything is handled and I’ve gotten passed it so everything is back to normal programing!

Dalila and I keep having trouble with our bikes. I thought Luna (my bike) was loyal but I guess not! We are continuously at different shops trying to get them fixed which the people do fix them but by the time we are on our way home, they start acting up again. Maybe it’s time for new bikes?

I’ll end this here. Catch my next post very soon!

Months before I arrived in Siem Reap, I was already excited to experience the Water Festival in Siem Reap. I was told that this Holiday and then Khmer New Year would be experiences that I would literally never forget.

Bom Om Touk- the Water Festival in Cambodia occurs once a year on the 12th day of the Khmer Lunar calendar (in November). The reason for this celebration is to acknowledge huge natural occurrences. In this case, the natural occurrence is the reverse fo the river flow between Mekong River and Tonle Sap. This three day festival is filled with boat races, fireworks, concerts, parades, games and A LOT of food!

I am not really aware of what my expectations were but, I think the festival exceeded it. There were tons of people EVERYWHERE! I have never seen that many people in Siem Reap throughout my time here. Although I was so exhausted from walking around, I loved every bit of it!

Because of my conversations with different students before this festival, I was really hoping to be able to attend festivities in one of their villages for one of the days. Unfortunately I was not able to because of lack of planning and my horrible navigation skills. I was very happy when we returned to school because of all of the different stories that my students had to offer about their experiences.

Bom Om Touk was truly an amazing time!

I really thought my visa problems were going to end after my last post. But, I guess we are just getting some of Luke’s (fellow from last year) bad luck residue. Before arriving to Siem Reap, we were told that there is a new law in place where we could only fly in and out of the country if we were trying to renew our visas. So, of course, that is what we did the first few times. Like I mentioned before, my pockets are crying and I cannot continue to pay for flights and visas so Dalila and I decided to go by land even though we were advised not to.

Getting to Poipet was so much easier than we expected. I anticipated that the trip there was going to be a mess because we booked a bus ticket for $11. But, this bus company surprised me! The bus was huge with comfortable reclining seats AND they supplied us with snacks and water. What more could we ask for?! The ride was super smooth which kept me in a positive mood once we arrived at the boarder. I remember telling Dalila that we got this, no need to worry!

I SPOKE TOO SOON.

Long story short, the officer at the boarder came up with a large amount of excuses to not let us into Thailand. First, we needed an itinerary of what we were doing, then he wanted us to book a room. He then wanted us to print the booking (we were in a completely different province with zero wifi) or go to the airport and try to leave through there (there was no airport near us). Lastly, he threatened to not let us into Thailand ever and hours later when he finally decided to be nice, threatened us one more time.

Even though we had all that trouble to get into Thailand, our short trip was nice! It might be one of my favorite trips there so far.

Lets hope this is the last time I have to go to Thailand for visas!

Last Tuesday was King’s Coronation Day. Instead of having the day off, we had a biking trip! We biked for approximately 45 minutes to our destination. I’m not going to lie, the thought of this trip was a bit scary because they made it seem like it was going to be a much longer ride. It was honestly such a great experience! The view while biking was amazing!! I want to ride around there again whenever I have the time. Once we arrived, the students went into their own worlds. They had an amazing time jumping off trees and swinging by a rope into the river! Tola (K8 student) literally only came out of the river to eat and when it was time to go! Although I did not get in the water, I had an amazing time taking in the nature and laughing with the students. The mums really out did themselves with lunch! We had a variety of fried beef, fried fish, fried shrimp, fried mushrooms & rice. We were all blessed and excited to eat!

Here are some pictures of our trip!

Water Festival is an upcoming event that I have been so excited to experience! Stay tuned for my next post to hear all about it.

I’ve surprisingly been asked by several people if I regret making the decision to be where I am today. Every time I get this question, I get confused because HOW could I possibly regret this amazing experience?! Yes, there has been some difficult moments (visa issues, adjusting to the time difference, making friends, getting sick alllllll the time) but literally none of that compares to the great times, relationships and the experiences I am having.

Every October 6th is Opening Day for The Global Child. Opening Day is a day for students to showcase the work they have done throughout the school year and welcome in the new academic year. Families and important academic officials are invited from all over Siem Reap to see the accomplishments of our students. This has been one of my favorite days at TGC for sure! Students at TGC are awarded for being in the Top 5 of their classes and one student from the school is awarded with a bicycle for their outstanding work throughout the school year!

Our students performed different traditional dances in traditional Khmer attire, played instruments, sang songs and my Hip Hop/Step club students performed for the first time! I am extremely proud of them because although they were shy, they did an amazing job! This is the first time that many of the people who attend Opening Day saw a Hip Hop routine and it seemed like they all enjoyed it!

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Another reason why Opening Day has been one of my favorite days here is because Dalila & I hosted the first ever TGC OLYMPICS! Students from all classes were split up into four different groups. They came up with a team name, team chant and team banner days before the olympics took place. We had the Mobile Legion Green Warriors, the Red Ant Dragons, the Blue Sky, and the Yellow Sunflowers! (We all know what my favorite flower is so, we know who I was rooting for). There was a lot of build up for the day to finally arrive and I must say, most teams kicked butt! Sadly, there could only be one winner & that was…

Throughout the transition from Opening Day activities and TGC Olympics, the students had an incredible time and I had an even better time watching them having so much fun. We played insanely loud music, found out that many students have great singing voices through Karaoke and we laughed A LOT! This was the first time that we all- staff, teachers and students completely let our guard down and had fun with the students in a non-classroom environment. I loved this because I learned so much more about my students and was able to spend a lot of time with students that are not in any of my classes/dance club!

I took this day to reflect on my three months here and even though I manage to get sick with either a fever or a stomach bug at least once a month, everything is worth it! I recently found out how much of a baby I am because the new academic year means that some students would be switched around depending on the results of their exams. I mainly work with section B of all grades (the students that have a harder time with English and need a slower pace) and I have become so close with them all. Of course, the anticipation of finding out which students were going to be moved was killing me! I wanted all of my students to be moved to section A because that meant that their English skills would’ve improved a substantial amount. Little did I know that I was going to be so hurt when I actually found out that my students were being moved. For very selfish reasons, I cried about 3 times when I found out that I was no longer going to be teaching the students that I have strong relationships with.

Here we are, a few weeks in and I could not be happier about the class changes. I am so proud of those who were switched to section A because they really do deserve it and I am so happy to have the new students in my class because this gives me the opportunity to build strong relationships with everyone!

Catch Up w/ Yesenia Outside of Work

My life here mainly consists of school & my students but I have managed to start doing other things during the little free time that I have. As I mentioned in my last post, I had been asked to speak for Sugar Talks (intended to be like Ted Talks but smaller). Although I was very interested in doing this, I was very hesitant and nervous because I felt like I had so much to talk about yet, so little at the same time. I managed to switch my topic about 8000 times and finally came to a decision the day of. I spoke about doing things differently and moving away from traditional values that no longer are with our current time and generation. I referred a lot to my Latinx/Dominican culture and gave examples of ways that I have strayed away from some of the traditional thinking while also speaking about the amazing things that our culture has to offer. I emphasized the importance of learning to live life without permission because if I had lived my life based on the permission and acceptance of others, I would not be where I am or who I am today.

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I am continuing to spend a lot of time at Latinos Restaurant & Bar because they have become my favorite people to hang out with. Eating and hanging out there gives me a little glimpse of home that I cannot let go of! I will also start teaching private Hip Hop lessons at Latinos very soon so I am extremely excited for that! Surprisingly, I have been able to maintain my pescatarian diet but I am not sure how much longer this will last especially when the Holidays come around. But, I will keep you all posted on that.

I am loving the experiences and opportunities that Cambodia continues to give me & I am loving the parts of me that are evolving because of it!

Stay tuned for my next post!

PEACE

If you know me, you wouldn’t say that I am a lucky person. I wouldn’t say it either because theres always something unusual or inconvenient happening.

Even though Michelle (Dean Osborn) warned us at least 5,000 times about checking and re-checking our visas… I still have managed to have Visa issues THREE different times!

The first time I had a Visa problem was two days before starting my journey in Cambodia. Right as I was getting ready to print the Visa I realized that my middle name was spelled incorrectly. I was thankfully able to get in touch with customer service and they sent me a new Visa the same day of my flight! So, it all worked out.

Dalila and I had bought flights to Vietnam for the start of September because we needed to renew our Visas. We had paid for our hostel and made plans with the Union students and faculty that are currently on a term abroad in Vietnam. We were extremely excited to go but, guess what happened to us once we arrived at the airport.. WE NEEDED ARRIVAL LETTERS to get on the plane! Through previous research we read that Visas could be applied and paid for in the Vietnam airport but what we did not know was that we still needed an arrival letter before getting to Vietnam. We tried and tried to finesse getting our money back or our flight changed but it was not allowed. This means that we lost those flights without getting reimbursed. Because we needed to leave the country to renew our Visas, we decided to buy a flight to Bangkok which was a wonderful stay but LORDDDDDDDDDDDD, my pockets are crying right now!

Coming back from Bangkok, Thailand was great. Chanthou had managed to help us out and get us a three month Visa which was later going to be extended for another three months. In August, Dalila and I learned that we were going to have a break in the end of September. Since it is our only break we decided that we wanted to go travel and bought tickets to Bangkok. So here we are, getting ready for our next travel adventure and once we get to Thailand, guess what happens… It turns out that Dalila and I were not supposed to leave the country because our three month Visa was only acceptable for ONE entry…

We tried not to panic and again applied for another Tourist Visa. This allows us in the country (Cambodia) for another month but I believe that we have to travel outside of the country again and pay for another extended Visa. Let me tell you how I am NOT READY that.

Enjoy these pictures from our last trip to Thailand!

Lets hope there aren’t anymore Visa issues!

August 15th marked the completion of the first month of my journey in Siem Reap. To be honest, I had been feeling pretty low-spirited before this date. Making friends in Siem Reap has been DIFFICULT. Everyone I meet is here on vacation and really want to take advantage of the infamous Pub Street. Because I have to be up early for work, I am only in Pub Street for dinner and sweets but make my way home as everyone is getting ready to start partying.

Pub Street

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SUGAR

August 15th was not only the one month anniversary of my journey but, it also was a full moon. Dalila and I decided to attend a Full Moon workshop at Sugar (a Spa/Yoga lounge). This was one of our greatest ideas yet! This workshop was focused on empowering ourselves as women and as individuals. I met some amazing women who shared their beautiful life stories and advice. Although I am not someone who is very into astrology, I learned a lot and it has now peaked my interest! We did some rituals to embrace the full moon such as burning things we would like to leave in the past and writing things down that we wish for ourselves.

As usual, Dalila and I were the youngest amongst this group of women. We enjoyed ourselves so much during the workshop that we decided to take it elsewhere afterwards! We learned more about each person’s background, shared more personal stories and then Paula pulled out the Tarot Cards. As she blessed us with incense, I became extremely stiff. I somehow knew that whatever card I picked up, was going to send goosebumps through my body… I was right. These older women we were interacting with had such an intense energy that as they said every word of encouragement while looking directly into my eyes, I wanted to cry. This was EXACTLY what I needed to lift my spirits and remind me that, I got this!

This event pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and find people who are staying in Siem Reap for longer than two weeks. Magically, I found a Latinx restaurant owned by a Colombian family that hosts Bachata and Salsa socials. Me, being the Dominican that I am, made my way over there as soon as I heard of it! Tata- the owner of Latinos Bar and Restaurant is one of the nicest people I have met here! She quickly introduced me to other people who spend a lot of their time in the restaurant and we all became friends very quickly. Although they are much older than me, I am so happy to be building these relationships with them because being near them, makes me feel at home. I am so excited to continue meeting new people to share this experience with!