This little girl, Sophie, had been hanging out in the sewing room with her aunt and playing with me everyday during my breaks until I invited her to join my class. She is really bright and doesn't let any of the older kids tell her what to do.

So serious!

Meet the new Bob (right). I can't remember if he himself picked his name or if I saw him and assigned it to him. Probably the latter. He is just as small, cute, and clever as the original Bob. Today, he came up to me in the middle of class and told me he was sick. I could tell he wasn't feeling well and he had red circle scars on his skin. Cambodians rub a coin on to the skin in circles all over the body to release bad toxins. I almost cried when I realized how badly he was feeling and still came to class!

Joe! Joe is 16 years old and when I split the children into a morning and afternoon class he asked if he could still come to both because he really wants to learn English. Sooo sweeet.

Robert <3.>

This little boy, sitting in his brothers lap, isn't in my class but sits in the doorway and watches his brother. He's terrified of me and when I tried to take this photo his brother had to hold him down so he wouldn't run away from me.

I really appreciate how Cambodians are so comfortable with touching and embracing each other. It is common to see men with their arms around each other and for women to walk holding hands.

For the first few days of class in Battambang, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to love my new students as much as my ones from Phnom Penh. Wrong. These kids are amazing. They are even less fortunate than the children in Phnom Penh and for most of them the past couple of weeks have been their very first English lessons.