If You Srey So...

Although it's always difficult to learn 20 new names in just a few days (especially for me), it's even harder to learn so many names in a language you don't speak! The kids are so smart and they learned all our names in no time, albeit with alternate pronunciations (Santel, Dawid, etc.). We have done well to learn their names as well, and I can only imagine how our pronunciation sounds to them! A lot of the girls' names start with "srey", which is Khmer for "girl." I'm not sure why this is, but we have Srey Chen, Srey Vin, Srey Kouch and Srey Roth. Several of the boys' names begin with "So," but I don't know what that means. So we have Socheat, Sophol, and Sokhom. The cool thing is that as we spend more and more time with them, we almost forget that the name is foreign - the names become a part of who they are to us, and they are simply Si Long, Savoeun, Dané, etc.

We also found out that there are quite a few sibling pairs at the orphanage, but not necessarily the ones we expected! I was glad to hear that the kids do have their siblings with them. Of course, as amazing as these kids are, they all love each other so much like brothers and sisters should that it's impossible to notice any difference in treatment.

And in case we haven't emphasized how special these kids are, this should give you an idea: David, the only parent on our trip, asked our interpreter, "Do the kids get into much trouble?" Phillip, the interpreter, gave him a funny look and said, "Trouble? No, no trouble." I may only be speaking for myself, but if only our parents, bosses, teachers, etc. could say the same with such conviction!

-Mark