I can hardly believe that we are 2 weeks away from leaving Cambodia. Morgan and I have been talking a lot lately about how, at the time of our departure from the U.S. back in September, the idea of being gone for 6 months seemed like a really long time. But with our departure date being exactly 2 weeks from today, we've realized what a short amount of time 6 months really is.
One of my good friends, Jaime Butler, sent me an email about a week ago, and she asked me this question: "How would you sum up your time there so far?" In thinking about a worthy enough response to such a loaded question, this is the best summary I can come up: life-changing. But here's the thing... when I say "life-changing", I don't mean it in this really generic way of saying that because of this trip I am not the same person I was when we got here, etc. I cannot necessarily pinpoint these huge areas of my life that are different now on February 27, 2011, than they were on September 22, 2010 (except that now I actually like rice).
In all seriousness though, I don't think it's that simple. Morgan and I have said several times how we're probably really not going to realize how much we've changed until we go back home. Even then, I think time will only tell how this experience in Cambodia will alter the rest of our lives from this point on.
All I really know for certain is that the relationships that Morgan and I have formed with the people over here will cause us to never be the same. But isn't that how life is wherever we are? We meet people, we form relationships with them, and because of those relationships, our lives are changed, for the better or, in some cases, for the worse.
Wherever we find ourselves in life, let us never forget the power that our day-to-day interactions with people have.
