A week to go

I spent the last week at the Kiva headquarters in San Francisco for my Kiva Fellows training. The days were long, the training intense and I was delighted to see the inner workings of an organization that I've long supported.

Meeting the other Kiva Fellows in the KF12 class was great. We're a diverse group of people--lawyers, Peace Corps volunteers, investment bankers, new grads, future NGO workers and yours truly. And next week we are scattering around the globe to work with Kiva's partners in more than 20 countries.

And despite the weather (today was 100 degrees with 100% humidity), I'm more excited than ever to be heading to Phnom Penh. I have a better sense of what I will be doing and why I am doing it. I've gotten a three types of bug repellent, after-bite cream and a bag full of silica gel packets for my camera bag. I'm trying to put together a business casual wardrobe that will hold up in the humidity and learn a few words in Khmer before I leave. (You can learn some Khmer yourself here, if you're interested.)

I'm leaving for Cambodia in 7 days. So far, close to 50 people have already helped sponsor my fellowship. I'm 82% to my fundraising goal. Thank you so much to everyone that has made donations, let me sleep on their couches, contributed anti-malarial drugs or helped make this process easier for me!

Mucho thanks to Eric Brandt for the photo.