10thousandgirl welcomes a new blogger – Melissa Rodgers – blogging her perspectives from her current home in a small village in Cambodia!

There are millions of reasons why we make connections with others; just as there are millions of types of connections to make. There are friends that touch your heart. There are colleagues that inspire your mind. There are lovers that ignite your soul (… and those that are plain old steamy, but worth the fun). There are mothers and fathers that hold your hand and catch you when you fall. There are brothers and sisters that torment and tease, but always have your back. There are tiny connections with strangers that change your day for the better; the barista who always gives you a cheeky smile with your coffee, the neighbour who smiles distractedly at you each morning as they walk by.

I have been living in a small village in Cambodia for 6 months now. There are about 10 other expats in town, which means the potential for relationships is limited; at least, that’s what I thought when I moved here. Living in this town has taught me a lot about the small connections that can be built between strangers from different cultures. It’s these connections that can change your day for the better by slightly adjusting your soul.

Every morning I say hello and poke my tongue out at my landlords’ 2 year old daughter. In turn, she wrinkles her nose up at me and says hello. Despite the language barrier, my landlords still make me feel welcome. About once a fortnight they bring me a bunch of bananas. The first time this happened I did not stop smiling all evening. It was such a small gesture, but when you’re living in the middle of nowhere without family or friends, a little thing like that reminds you that people do care.

I spend my Saturday mornings buying fresh produce from the local market. I speak only enough Khmer to be able to ask how much things cost; that’s about it. Now that I’ve become a ‘regular’ at the markets, many of the old women at the stalls talk to me. I can honestly say that I have no idea what they are saying, and I’m sure they don’t know what I’m saying either. They chat among themselves, including me in the conversation; all the while we’re all smiling like fools at each other.

Each afternoon as I leave my office, there are a few kids playing out on my street. Sometimes they are playing volleyball, other times they just seem to be playing in the dirt. Every day, without fail, they will greet me with shouts of “hello”. Some afternoons I will attempt to play volleyball with them – it doesn’t matter how uncoordinated I am, they let me join in just like I’m one of them.

Yes, I miss my best friends from home. I miss the man who knew me so well after a few weeks of friendship to make me a perfectly personalised mix CD. I miss the girlfriend who sent me a bottle of wine and chocolate, no note, and I knew instantly who had sent it. We may not talk every day, but our friendship is about quality, not quantity. It’s because of all the unexpected, but enriching, connections that I’ve made over here that I can cope with living remotely, away my closest friends.

All of these unexpected connections, across language barriers, will be poignant memories someday. These are the connections that shape moments of your life. They are moments I will reminisce over when I’m sitting on a veranda drinking wine at 80 years old. It doesn’t take identical view points, similar tastes in music, or even the same language to make a connection. All it takes is the willingness to open the windows of possibility and welcome people into your life; allowing strangers to become friends. In the end, we’re all people – we all dream, hope, despair, laugh, cry, love and pine.

Photo Credit

Melissa Rodgers believes that in life there are those that drift and those that go their own way. She is a friend, daughter, sister, emergency contact, colleague, training buddy, and white woman on a green bicycle. She shares her stories at http://mel-dolphinsdarwinandotheradventures.blogspot.com/