Still the internet issue. I actually wrote this on the 24th.

So, as of writing this, I have no Internet access, which kind of sucks. Actually, I don’t even know if my last post made it online, so the two might be going up at the same time. Woot.

Packed day today. I hit a bit of low in terms of stability. While nothing compares to the complete and utter exhaustion of both my body and soul I experienced the day before, I felt more stressed out today than I had at any other point this trip. This mostly occurred during the afternoon concert planning, when everything very suddenly became urgent and frantic. It kind of came right out of left field, considering the past three days, everything was going smoothly with both planning and with my students, Tran and Smay. And yet, all of a sudden, we had a thousand and one thing we needed to do in a rapidly receding amount of time.

First of all. We realized we did not have all of the information we needed, and my Tran and Smay both needed to speak to more people. This barrier was compounded by the fact that at the last minute, we had decided to add a fourth set to the concert, bringing in an entirely new group to perform. On top of that, the content of the presentations the students had written needed a bunch of editing.

It was hectic, and particularly stressful because there was not much I personally could do. I delegated tasks to Smay and Tran, which was relatively redundant considering they usually knew what they needed to get done next even before I did, then just sort of sat there, twitching nervously. While I was fully confident in the capability of the two, I get antsy when I can’t get directly involved in accomplishing what needs to be done. So I stewed, a lot.

Luckily, the two did, in fact, know exactly what needed to get done, and were very good about it. While I contemplated the trails of ants crawling across the front porch, they got all of the information they needed, and rewrote all fifteen minutes of their presentations, including new content. While everything ended up being a bit tight, we even had time at the end to run through them and everything. I still don’t understand Khmer, but they looked spot on and Trent said they sounded good, so hey.

It astounds me anew every day how intelligent and generally awesome these kids are. We participated in a Cambodian dance class, this morning, and the students were all over us, helping us pitifully attempt to get the movements right. We failed miserably, but it was really wonderful.

I’m to the point with the group that I’ve started singing to myself, which, if you’re one of my fellow mentors and are curious, is a good thing.

I’m really starting to feel very powerfully about the work I’m doing here. Honestly, I always knew I’d have a good time and maybe accomplish something, but the resume-padding factor has been rather relevant. It’s less so now.

The concert is tomorrow. I’m strangely serene about the whole thing. While I wish that I was more involved in the technical aspects, such as stage managing, set and sound construction, etc, I’m really entirely confident that the whole thing will work out. Really the only factor I’m concerned about is attendance. I really have no way to anticipate how many people will come.

I know that there was something really important that I was going to write about, but I forgot what the hell it was. I’m getting too old.

Kevin and I decided that we’re going to go on a bike tour across Ireland at some point. I guess I’m going to have to improve my bike riding skills, cause I really suck.