I realize this blog is way overdue, considering I’m writing about month 7 and it’s now the middle of month 9, but I didn’t want to skip anything. So here goes nothing.
Cambodia. How can I describe this country? It was only an 8 hour bus ride from Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. But I could not believe the difference 8 hours and a few hundred miles could make. They are neighboring countries, but the differences were evident.
Firstly, the people. The Vietnamese are ethnically mixed with the Chinese, so they are much whiter and thinner. Cambodians have darker skin with wider noses. Whether it was to do with their genetics or the increased amount of sugar in their diets, their waste lines were also a little larger. Not American standards by any means, but compared to the Vietnamese there was a noticeable increase.
The traffic. Vietnamese traffic, though seemingly chaotic as there are motorbikes zooming every which way, is actually quite fluid and organized. Cambodian traffic on the other hand is perhaps the biggest cluster “f” I have ever seen. (Forgive the implied language. No other words would suffice.) I was in a tuk tuk, or a carriage welded to the back of a motorbike, in the middle of an intersection during a giant jam because there are not many traffic lights. If people don’t feel like waiting, well, they don’t.
The diet. To this day Vietnamese food is still my favorite on the race. Cambodian food was delicious as well, but it was much heartier. It consists of a lot of meat and rice. They use a lot of citronella for flavor. I enjoy a nice lemony smack in the face, but some of my teammates struggled with it. We figured the scent inevitably seeping out of our pores would keep the numerous mosquitos away. Here’s to hoping. Cambodians also eat a lot more sugar than the Vietnamese. I had to lay off in the middle of the month to keep my own waistline from expanding.
One of the biggest struggles of the month occurred our second day in Phnom Penh. On Christmas morning one of my teammates told our team he was going home. He struggled with depression, and he didn’t feel like he was able to manage it well out on the field. It was one of those cliche moments, that isn’t cliche at all, where you realize you didn’t know what you had until it was gone. We left for our ministry later that day feeling sad and incomplete. But as you do on the world race, you bounce back and move on. You have no other choice. I still miss my brother to this day, but I’m glad he’s at home where he can receive the help and support he needs to get healthy again.
We drove out to Sovann Phoum village. It was everything and nothing of what I was expecting. We were only 40 minutes outside of Phnom Penh, a city of 1 million people, but the roads were all dirt. Along the sides of the street was standing water filled with trash. You had to watch where you step otherwise you might accidentally injure a neighborhood chicken. Cows mooing was a common occurrence. I witnessed stray dog fights more than once, and I had to double take when I witnessed gambling on cock fights in the middle of the street. There were Buddhist shrines outside nearly every door. We were definitely in poor Eastern Asia.
Our ministry for the month was working with a small, local church on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Our hosts were Pastor Sarat and his wife, Sinoun. They spoke little English, but their love breached all barriers. We slept in the loft of their church on sleeping pads with tents erected for mosquito protection. Most nights I slept with a sheet, but some of the time it was too hot even for that. We had one barrel of water each day for toilet flushing and bucket showers. It sounds like a hassle, but it really wasn’t. We fell into the groove within days.
Our days were spent doing house visits with the church members. We would share the bible and sing with them. They would tell us their woes, and we would pray. We saw God do some wonderful things through prayer. It was a blessing to be able to bring the Holy Spirit to a people who didn’t seem to understand the power of God.
Our afternoons were spent teaching English to some of the neighborhood kids. In Eastern Asia English speakers are a commodity, so learning English really gives these kids a leg up. Originally the pastor and his wife were teaching all the kids together, ages 5-15. But we ended up splitting them up in two groups of 10 and under and 10 and over. Kyle and I taught the older kids about direct object and indirect object pronouns as well as verb conjugations. They caught on quickly and we had a lot of fun with them.
Our last week was spent repainting the inside and outside of the church. They asked our team to paint murals, and since I’m the only artistic one, the task fell to me. It was fun and refreshing to exercise my artsy side and create something beautiful.
I grew quite close with Sinoun, my host, and I had the privilege of meeting her family twice. Our team got to visit her house for their end-of-harvest celebration. We drank coconuts from their tree, and my teammates ate the family dog they had just killed for the party. I, however, have morals and refused. I just won’t eat dogs or horses. I love them too much.
Saying goodbye to Pastor Sarat and his family was my hardest goodbye on the world race. I truly felt like we were a part of their family. But we had to get to Siem Reap to meet up with the rest of the Squad for debrief. Siem Reap is the home of Anchor Wat, a giant Hindu/Buddhist temple and one of the ancient wonders of the world. I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see it.
Overall, Cambodia was one of my favorite months of the race. I truly enjoyed our ministry and our hosts. It was a blessing to be a part of a small Christian community in the midst of all of the Buddhism.
On to the next month – Thailand! That blog is coming soon. Check out my Cambodia recap video to get a quick glimpse into my month!
