Life in Siem Reap

Mark and I have moved to Siem Reap! The tourist capital of Cambodia. 2 million visitors come here every year to see Angkor Wat.

The town is actually really small when you look at how many people live here: about 20,000. And the city is booming with great restaurants and hotels... but little else. It is still one of the poorest provinces in the country. The expat community here is very different than in Phnom Penh! Our school (for missionary kids) has 43 students, but the Phnom Penh school (for missionary kids as well) has over 300 students. There is one church: just ONE international church... so no denominations at all. There are rarely people around who live here, instead of tourist! It's a strange adjustment. We've been busy though! We moved up 6 weeks ago and already we're very involved in church. I've joined the worship band, and Mark joined the sound crew. We've both started up a youth group, of which we are the leaders. So far we have 10 teenagers meeting on Tuesday nights! Mark is working full time as principal and middle school teacher. I am working part time as middle school teacher. I teach our class (grades 5-7) 60% of their lessons, while Mark does his Principal work. Meanwhile I'm working on my Master's of Ed. and studying Khmer with a Cambodian teacher. Overall we are jammed packed with activities. Between the youth, school, and church we have too many responsibilities. But I still feel a whole.... I miss my friends in Phnom Penh. I wish I could run over to Rachel's house for tea. Or meet Danielle for coffee somewhere. Or dress up and go out with Alyson! I miss my friends. My new friends are great... it's just different.

Here's the link to our school: http://www.hopeschool-cambodia.org/siemreap/srcampusoverview.html