Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas on the Mekong River









For the HOPE school staff party, we rented a boat cruise. Don't let the word "cruise" fool you. It's a wooden boat with three folded tables placed in the middle. But it was a fun time. The Mekong is disgusting brown river that stretches forever and ever across several countries. The Cambodian staff wanted to go swimming! Luckily we ran out of time; so they couldn't!
We, the expat staff, brought food and drinks for the party. It was cute. There were probably 75 people on the boat. Food was a bit short because the staff brought their families. Those kids sure can put down some food! Something I ate really didn't like my stomach, but hey, I've survived several spells of food poisoning already. It won't kill me this time.
This party was also a chance to say goodbye to the staff that won't be returning. There are 5 staff members going home this semester. It was a sad thing to sit around and say goodbye. It's way too sappy for me. We prayed for them and gave everyone a chance to say something. If I had my way, I'd slap them on the back and say "good luck!" I hate emotional goodbyes. But I guess some people need to have that closure.
At the end of the party we exchanged gifts. We had Secret Santa presents to give. I had a cute Cambodian cleaner from school, and she had me too. She gave me a cute pink shirt, which I wore the next day to show her that I liked it! It was really fun! Scott, my American friend, got the best present of all!!!!!! a figurine of 2 girls swinging! :)

Around Town






Pictures from around Phnom Penh!
It's such a crazy place here. Sometimes I feel like I'm in another dimension because no one from home understands how crazy it is here! And this is the city! The largest city in the country! lol.
It's just so different.

Peter the Puppy: in loving memory



Peter has died. It was a very sad day when we discovered that Peter the puppy died. He was the cutest little darling. The cause of his death was abuse by an overzealous child. The youngest Cambodian boy of our household thought it was humorous to torture little Peter by throwing him or swinging him by his legs. But poor little Peter was simply too small for this treatment. Last week he started coughing up blood. Later on, he died. Poor Peter.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

professional photo!

Old Truth, New Discovery

This week I've been thinking about something. It may seem like common sense or an old wives tale, but it's so true.
DON'T DATE A GUY THAT NEEDS SOMETHING FROM YOU
yeah, I know... duh!
but seriously, I've been thinking about it.
Don't date a guy that needs a green card from you
Don't date a guy that needs a shoulder to cry on all the time
Don't date a guy that needs a cookies from you because he's in prison and the food there sucks.
Don't date a guy that needs a couch to crash on from you.
Don't date a guy that needs an income from you
Can I say again...
Don't date a guy that needs a green card and you're his meal ticket!!!!!

And to the confused male out in the big world let me say:
Don't try to date me for a GREEN CARD!
I'm not your international meal ticket!


Last week my friends and I went to get Khmer beauty pictures taken. We were told these “Glamour Shots” of Cambodia were hilarious to do with friends. That turned out to be very true. Bonnie, Corey, Kate and I went to a random photo studio and asked them to take our pictures. They start with an intense make over, which made us look like drag-queens! The make-up was insane! Next, they take your hair to an extreme level to match the crazy make-up. The puff up the back and insert hair extensions. The major problem with the hair extensions is that they were designed for Asians. So they are black. Kate was the only one with dark hair, but even her hair is only brown. They also put shiny things and flowers in our new hair too. Next came the dress. The top of the dress is a tiny piece of fabric, pinned together because we are much larger than their average client. The bottom of the dress is a large piece of fabric that we are rapped in tightly. Lastly lost of gross, gaudy, gold jewelry is draped on our necks, arms and legs. After we left, they superimposed a cool background and touched up our photos. With Photoshop, they made us skinny and white! Lol.
These pictures are normally used by Cambodian girls to find a husband. One girl asked up “Who do you need to show your true beauty?” True beauty?? Ha. It’s faker than the Coach bags for $10 at the market! But that’s how they get husbands! Lol.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008



What am I doing in Cambodia?
I wish I could say that I have some amazing job that sounds heroic: like “I counsel girls who are rescued from sexually abusive situations” or “I am teaching Cambodian nationals how to be a Biblical pastor by working in Cambodian Bible college” or “I am part of a team that runs raids that saves children from prostitution and sexual exploitation” or “I work with an unreached people group on the boarder of Cambodia and Vietnam” or “I work in an orphanage with starving babies” or “I work to bring begging kids off the streets and teach them to make crafts to sell”.
These aren’t my job, but they are my ministry.
See, when a missionary comes to a third-world country to do God’s amazing work, they don’t come alone. Most missionaries come with children. And many third-world countries don’t have adequate education for those children. If this is the case, than those missionaries have to go home or stop working to home-school.
The parents of my students are able to do these amazing things because I’m here taking care of their children. Because I prepare their student for college and life, these amazing ministries can continue being run by heroic people. The jobs that I mentioned above, are done by parents of my students. And those parents have told me several times, that if it weren’t for my job at HOPE, they would have to stop their heroic work and stay home to home-school their child.
My job is teaching, but my ministry is to keep Cambodian missionaries working in heroic works of God.


This is a picture of child with blonde in her hair. Now, the Cambodians like fair skin and light hair. So when I first saw a Cambodian baby with blonde streaks in its hair, I was alarmed. Would they really highlight their kids hair so young? No…
The hair is lighter because the child was malnourished in the womb.
A large percentage of the children here have blonde streaks in their hair because even pregnant women can’t afford any food except for plain rice.

Today I was talking with some of the teachers at lunch about what we’ve seen on motos. Moto’s are generally known as mopeds in the US. These motos come with an extended seat though. So these are some things we’ve seen ON A MOTO

A cow… yes, a whole, live cow was behind the driver

A family of 6 people… who needs a mini-van

A large pane of glass.

A metal pole at least 10 feet long…. I mean why couldn’t you hold it and drive?

A mattress, a QUEEN size mattress…. The driver just sat on top of it.

20 giant trash bags bursting full of limes

A moto (on the original moto)

Three large pigs… we’re talking big swine

Huge boxes with a woman riding on top

And lastly …

30 live chickens hanging from their feet.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Palace of Thailand
note: you must cover your calf muscles and your shoulders.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Dogs…. Dogs in Cambodia are pests: the national annoyance and virus carriers. These dogs are so disgusting! They are loosing their hair. Their ribs stick out from starvation. They’re owners starve them so that they are mean and because they don’t have enough money to feed the dogs. So the dogs eat the trash that litters the streets. Last week Kate saw our puppy eating a poop-filled diaper. Sick! We try not to pet him now. The dogs are used as security. They keep the dog inside the gate, so they know if someone tries to break in. Poor dogs, they are the mangiest is creatures on earth. And I’m a dog lover.
Ants….
I have never cared so little about ants before. Who cares that they are eating the crumbs off the counter? Who cares that there are 2 million of them in a line in the bathroom? Who cares that they mysteriously are on my laptop when I open it up? Who cares? At least they are not the giant cockroaches! Ugh!





Cambodians business dealings are nothing like Western business practices. The idea of quickly resolving a problem never entered their mind. It could take weeks to get a problem fixed. And returning a broken product… ha! Dream on! Nothing works longer than a week. It would be foolishness to hope for better. In fact, when I was talking to the Internet company about how we wanted a refund for a faulty product, she told us that we had already paid. The idea is that once they have your money, too bad! They’re keeping it!
Cambodia is so different than I expected. I was expecting a world similar to Japan. Or maybe even a mix of Japan’s Asian aspect and Romania’s third-world aspect. What I got was a surprise. A big surprise. This country is so poor and dirty. There are starving children on street corners. There is trash in the street. There are mean, dirty dogs waiting to attack your ankles. There are insane numbers of moto bikes. These crazy motocycle type things. They zip around you at insane speeds of 20 mph! lol. It does seem very scary at the moment!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

New Life Fellowship is the church where Kate and I have been going for the last few weeks. God is doing a phenomenal work among these people. The worship is really great too. Here's a snippet of what it's like.

Friday, September 5, 2008

We were sitting in a coffee shop inside the mall, when I decided to embarrass my friends by videoing them. Unfortunately, this video is pretty embarrassing to me too! lol.

Rainy Night

One night Kate and I stupidly tried to go out to eat during a rain storm! Wow. When it rains, it pours.

Monday, July 21, 2008

I took these photos from the internet, and I made into a slideshow. This took me at least 4 hours. So tell me that it's amazing! :)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Moving


Today I started reading about the first Southern Baptist Missionary to live in Cambodia. The struggles and the hardships that he and his family faced scare me. Strangely, it scares me more to see people's pictures of their Cambodian friends. What if the people don't like me? What happens when I'm lonely and want to come home? Reading the book about the missionaries, actually calmed my fears of being lonely. People have done this before me, and God sustained them. I will be fine. Not to say that I won't be lonely, but I will survive the loneliness. When I understand that fact, I am finally able to be excited again. I'm going to serve God in Cambodia. That's exciting!