25 Days of Christmas
in Cambodia
As you carried out your December with traditional festive activities, possibly enjoying The 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family, I lived out my days a little differently…. Bare with me as this blog is scattered and choppy with fun and excitement, stories, moments, highlights, keywords and short phrases of my Christmas month!
Enjoy!
Dec 1 – noodles for Breakfast, explored our village, 1st full day in Kampung Speu, Leanne had a crash landing, Zach wiped a tissue across his sweaty forehead-we all started laughing as little white bits were all stuck to his sweaty head, team time, Zach had dengue fever – the "bone breaking" disease
Dec 2 – Our fist Cambodian Church service, rode to and from church in a tuk tuk, Kaleena fell out of the ENO in our house and practically fell on Lele, 3 hour nap, killed one cockroach and drowned his cousin, Daya ate dinner with us – she loved having me feeding her as she sat on my lap, watched 'What About Bob' as a team
Dec 3 – Thankful team time, noodles, coffee, walked to the market with Lele, ate peppers, beans, meat, potatoes and carrots on rice as a team with little sidekick Daya, Lenne and I taught English to our class of approximately 15 kids ages 4-12, quiet time on our front "porch", we wrote our own Cambodian 12 Days of Christmas song, played cards with Zach, guitar lessons with Hannah, Dinner with Ra (our contact), Taught Bible study with Aubs- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, sang songs, Zach told us his testimony, bucket shower and bed…
Dec 4 – learned some basic Khmer phrases and words
acoon is thank you
chom reap sue a = hello
chom reap leah = bye (you put your hands together and bow towards the person as a sign of respect for hello and bye)
I journaled while Daya colored right next to me in the front yard, taught our English class the human body and greetings
Aubrey showed me pictures of her family before we went to 1 on 1's
We walked under the power lines with a group of kids- Sah being one of them held my hand 88% of the time!
fun team bonding time in the front yard, bought some coconut-coffee like snow-cone from a man on a motorbike, emailed mom and dad, took a quiz to learn the state capitals, hHannah hit her head on the "ceiling"
Dec 5 – Devotion/ God and I time, constipated, Leanne sniffed gasoline (in her defense we didn't know what it was at all), Zach got a hair cut for $1.00 USD, Poy(she's 4 and has the cutest sqinty smile!!!!) sat along side me in our front yard, Zach bought out Navi's corner store snacks, Leanne, Zach and myself all made a fort out of plastic chairs and a hot pink bug net in which we played Dutch Blitz before dinner while the sun set- laughs were laughed
Dec 6 – Yoga, devos, eggs & onions with a side of bread, walked to the market, Zach bought a face mask and made all the Cambodians smile and laugh as they saw him, purchased knock off Oreos and a baguette.
There sat 4 little girls in the market all staring at me giggling, when I glanced there way they would turn towards each other, I had this crazy instinct from The Lord just to buy a bag of suckers… so I did and gave them each two! With the remaining suckers I passed them out to kids on our 15 minute stroll home!
Coke-a-cola
Within one hour all this took place: Leanne and I munched on some crickets, sucked/ate sugar cane stalk, drank sugar cane tangerine juice, ate ice cream, ate homemade coconut ice cream from a different moped man – four people ate snacks and tried new things all for under $2! Great day! 😉
"I think I'll go eat some tree bark!" – Leanne LeBlanc
No power for the night = no fans = hot nights sleep
Star gazed as a team on a 6ft x 4ft mat in our front yard
Dec 7 – Jesus time as a team was lead by Aubs under the lean too a.k.a. the pavilion, bread bakery goodies for breakfast, harvested rice- carried bundles to the road, got bit up by the nasty Cambodian fire-breathing out to get you and cause you pain and misery for minutes, hours, days, and leave scars for months ANTS!
Zach ate a beetle that landed on a plate after dinner
He "cooked" it in his fork over a candle (power outage)
Lele gave him a twix candy bar for doing so!
Dec 8 – Our OFF day was spent in Phnom Penh (in this order) at: Dairy Queen, The Killing Fields, Daughters (a cafe and store that rescues women from prostitution), grocery store, Blue Pumpkin (a western restaurant), to end the day we finished up at Dairy Queen, but not just for ice cream! Brian and I purchased a tarantula, some cricket like bugs and a mystery bug that was at least three inches long with wings!!! We didn't indulge in those winged and legged delicacies but we can all saw we have eaten them! A peanut butter blizzard washed it down as we drove back home!
Dec 9 – Church, cleaned out my tent, laundry- which gets hung to dry on barbed wire, ENO time
Dec 10 – Morning yoga and abs with Aubrey, breakfast, ENO journal time, lunch, podcast called Honesty with God, Linda's 17th BIRTHDAY! We bought her a cake and sang to her! Went on a team run and got changed by a bull, had a dance party after Bible study and taught them the Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide, The Wobble, The YMCA and the Chicken Dance. Aubs shared her testimony and we watched 15 minutes of The Swiss Family Robinson
Dec 11 – Worship, coffee, harvested rice, bucket shower, taught English- greetings, weather and seasons, Zach drove Lele and I on Ra's motorbike down the dirt road to get rice wrapped bananas, bumpy, BUMPY, bumpy! On the way back Zach came to close to the thorn bushes on the side of the road and my legs were a magnet…
10pm- last trip to the squatty potty for the night and Aubs and I decided it would be fun to go peek in on the 3 sleeping pigs, when we shined our headlamps on them, they started to snort and squeal obnoxiously! We backed off and as we did so a woman came out to see what was going on and check on the pigs. Lesson of the Day = Pigs are the Cambodians home security system!
Dec 12 – Alone time all morning, journal, Bible, worship, lunch, taught class about the weather. I pegged Lele on the back of a child's bicycle with a flat tire and it didn't last 10 seconds and we fell off! Leanne and I rode on the back of the motorbike with Rotana to go to the market to purchase notebooks for our class so we could make them into workbooks! Got a flat tire on the way back so we stopped at a mechanic shop to get it fixed… 45 minutes later we were 'On the Road Again!' Bible study was on John 9
Dec 13 – Team devotions and worship
Aubs and Brian were under the weather
Lele and I made workbooks for our class
Alphabet, human body, shapes, days of the week and months
1 on 1's with Linda and Rotna
Washed laundry- suds 'n' scrubbing by hand – hang to dry on barbed wire
Ate sugar cane
Quiet time
Dec 14- Showered with a tarantula
Bible study about Christ's birth
Watched a Smokey Mountain Christmas DVD that Jen let us borrow
I made shadows of Peter Pan, a giant, a dancer, a frog and riding a bucking bronco on the walls
A bunch of men and women and kids of all ages were all surrounding a house on stilts across the street as some boys and girls were in muck, much like a giant grey, clay pond. Crawling and slipping under neath the house finding fish, crabs, snakes and frogs. Some children were naked and completely covered head to toe enjoying every minute… a day in the life of kids in Cambodia.
Dec 15 – At 7 am we left for Siem Reap, to visit Angkor Wat! One of the 7 Wonders of the World! Eight hours in a Mercedes white van (don't get to excited it is nothing like you think). Linda and Rotana, our driver and his friend and team Granola were all on there merry way! We made one pit stop at a market to purchase some snacks such as banana chips, beet and sweet potato chips, dates, pumelos and pineapples! Delicious! After arriving to Siem Reap, we found a cheap hotel (with wifi) and made our way downtown to enjoy a sushi dinner with Celeste's team. The sushi and soup making options were unlimited as food came around on a conveyer belt in front of me. One of my favorite meals so far! Before heading back to the hotel for a couple hours of sleep we walked around the night market where I may or may not have picked up some gifts and souvenirs.
I called home! Thank you Google!
Dec 16 – Getting two hours of sleep is not my cup of tea but it sufficed. Hannah sadly got food poisoning and wasn't able to join us on our adventurous Indiana Jones type of day at Angkor Wat. We walked up to the first big temple just in time to see the colors of the sun rising in the distance. It was a beautiful thing. Climbing to the corner of it we sat and watched the sunrise, sadly it was cloudy but it was still worth it and pretty!
The whole day was spent admiring and walking around all the many many temples that make up Angkor Wat. Sadly we didn't get to see each and every one for all of it combined it is the size of Manhattan! I bought a unique and small handmade coconut mouth musical instrument for $1.50 USD
Topped the day off with a pizza lunch and Swenson ice-cream(thinking of you G & G)!
Dec 17 – SLEEP IN MONDAY! Girl time, two plates of french fries at dinner, Leanne taught tone at Bible study, Hannah saved Aubrey and I from a wiggling giggling lizard and we had the best laughter filled team time ever!
Dec 18 – Inside out Tuesday
Noodles for breakfast
Taught the human body with lele
Sang hokie-pokie, head shoulders knees and toes, goin on a bear hunt, the watermelon song and jingle bells
Justin and Erin arrived
So I was laying in my ENO under a little shack lean too type thing just down the road from our house in Cambodia. Life was peaceful! I opened up my Bible to read Ecclesiastes when I SCREAMED AND JUMPED UP AND OUT OF MY ENO! A little lizard gecko fell from the beam above and landed on my leg! I could fell his little grippy feet and all his bumps! I was so SHOCKED! SCREAMING is all I could do! My Bible spewed everywhere notes and pictures flying through the air as I took off laughing, screaming and slightly scared! After collecting myself and my belongings I shook out my ENO got the little guy out and prepared to sit back in it when BAM! out of NO where he came back and started to crawl up my leg! Screaming again! My throat a little sore and scratchy now! So hilarious but golly… Why me?!? God has a sense of humor and likes to play pranks too!!:)
Ran under the power lines into the sunset- our running trail is like a motor cross roller coaster!
Spiritual check in
Dec 19 – Slept in my tent… Like all month but OUTSIDE! Dew on my sleeping bag but the heat of the day was already wafting around…
Coffee
Harvested rice
Talked with Zach Aubs and Brian about our home towns and what's so exciting to do there!
Ate a typical rice and veggie lunch
Lele lead our teaching session about plates forks knives and spoons
Wrote out postcards to family & friends (I hope to mail them soon!)
Ate a peanut butter and banana and crackers for a snack
Posted a blog
A big lizard ran into our home (this is a regular occurrence) with the exception that it scurried over Hannah's toes!
Bible study was my favorite tonight
We shared the story of Zacchaeus and taught them the song! We also played over the mountain (also known as never has I ever)! The kids really got into it and there was lots of squealing, laughing and giggling!
I introduced Rota and Linda to Eskimo kisses! The smile and joy that exudes from their faces is more than what I can put into words!
Rota is a beautiful 13 year old who I personally think goes a little overlooked as a middle child. Her and her family live in the house where we spend a lot of our time. Its like a family/community home where a brother and two sisters live with there families one family has five kids- Linda, Rota, Ray, Poy and an older sister whom I do not know. Rota's smile and sweet heart warms my soul! She is so kind and precious, my favorite thing is to say her name (a little on the loud side) and then wrap her in my arms for a big hug!
Dec 20 – Rice field and story game with Justin and Erin
The neighbor man cut down the large tree in his front yard
Stargazing worship on a cement slab down the two track from our house
Dec 21 – Quick trip to PP to drop off the squad leaders and grab some pizza and wifi
After Bible study and team time we ate leftover pizza after blowing and picking off the ants that had found it a satisfying treat
Dec 22-
"waterfall"
ENO
chillier there
mountains
Paddled away in a wooden skinny canoe like boat with Aubs, Le and Rotana down the river
banana deep fried ball
Dec 23 – Christmas church service
They passed out sandwiches and pop
Silent Sunday – no talking – with the exceptions of Cambodians
watched NCIS
Lele got electrocuted by our door 🙁
Dec 24 – CHRISTMAS EVE
Bathroom door fell on my face
I received a black eye
Christmas Eve pjs – one of a kind
Dec 25 –
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
No where near a white Christmas but I'll take it!
Living in northern Michigan for my whole life has been a blessing and a true gift! One thing I love about it is the fact that we have four seasons! My birthday is in the spring when all the plants and flowers all come alive! Summer is hot and sunny, boating on Glen Lake and swimming in Lake Michigan is how I love to spend my summer! Fall is cool and crisp, all the leaves change colors and fall off the trees! Winter is snowy! Sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing and snowboarding are all on the agenda!
Smile… That's all I can do, is smile. Today was a great day! A run down of the day goes as follows. Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm went off at 4:45 am! my team and I grabbed chairs and hot milo and walked five minutes down the street to the rice fields where we sat for two hours and watched the sunrise! It went from dark to colorful lights much quicker than expected! Though photos don't do it justice it was a beautiful sight were – memories were made!
Brian made us pancakes in a wok! Not any pancake… But cheap just add water and cook pancakes! We added Sprinkles to be a little more festive! Sharing this normal and common American breakfast food with Dian and Navie and their son Boy was our first meal of the day! Note: pancakes were not a hit
To help celebrate Jesus' birthday we exchanged Christmas gifts as a team! Rules regarding gift giving were given at the beginning of the month. We could only spend $1.00 USD on each person and we also drew names in which we stuffed that persons stocking (a.k.a. our personal ankle or smart wool sock:)). As a team we all sat in our cozy little home laughing, smiling, and unwrapping gifts, words of gratitude filled the room. The majority of gifts that were received was snacky food and sweet treats! Silly string, ring pops, handmade bandanas, mentos and Cambodian peanut brittle were some gifts I unwrapped on Christmas morning! Such a treat and blessing to be here bless one another on such a special day of the year.
Singing Christmas carols on an oxen cart ride is something I never would've thought of in my life… but we did it!
Our Christmas party with the children in the Kampong Speu village and our English classes went as followed:
Christmas story acted out by yours truely… Team Granola
We sang Christmas songs that we had been teaching our kids all month
We performed our 12 day of a Cambodian Christmas song
Christmas curry was the dinner they all devoured
Candy canes were a reward to all the participants of the scavenger hunt
A bon fire illuminated the "yard"
Dancing
Music
Games
Merry CHRISTmas to ALL and to ALL a good night!
Well not to quickly…
I purchased a phone card so I could call home and talk to my mom and dad, Kirby, Kyra and Kennedy! What a wonderful way to spend such a wonderful day!
Kirbs, Ky, and DD – I can't wait to jump on the trampoline in the barn with you when I come home!
Love, Rice and Hugs from the future,
Kaleena
