Some nice lukewarm water, a black inner tube. the edge of a hidden lake. Across the water is Thailand, mountains covered in green, yet we are still swimming in Cambodia. What my mom calls pretty light, that five oclock shimmer, makes the sun bounce off the water.
She looks back at me and laughs. She knows I don’t want to follow her. This thirteen year old girl I met two minutes ago wants me to follow her through a swampy lilly pad pond to find lotus flowers. Uhhhhh. The water is gross. The amount of snakes and other things in there I just don’t wanna think about. I’m getting visions of some star wars trash compressor creature pulling this cute little girl down. I wait five seconds, sure of it. But she’s good, this kid is kicking her way through the sticks shouting at me. If she’s willing to swim through a swamp it cant be that bad!!
Bouquets of pink lotuses. Absolutely beautiful. We were successful in our search, even though I was slightly stressed the whole time. More younger Cambodian faces look up at me. My new friend and I gave all of our flowers to the local girls who came to the tree and swam with us. They were hesitant, confused about why I was even paying attention to them i guess. But man when they finally stopped trying too hand the flowers back to me- those giggles, and the shy Khmer thank yous. Even simply making these kiddos feel seen makes them smile.
“Akun cheron, akun akun.” Thank you, thank you very much.
“Okay okay guys who wants percussion?”
A dirty sidewalk. a busy riverside street. Dre drops her guitar case beside me. Yeah of course Ill do drums. The five of us sit in a shadyish spot, street vendors near us and people all running around doing their own thing. Her and Michelle, who’s got her uke, get a melody going and im banging away beside them. Everyone passing by looks a little perplexed about why a bunch of white people would be sitting by the road playing worship music for them but hey why not.
A father, two small children on either side of him. An older girl on his left and a younger boy on his right. The boy drags his father towards us, wobbling in my direction. He stops right in front of Dre and looks up at her with that wonder that little ones carry with them everywhere. His father bows to us, motioning for them to do the same. They clasp their hands in front of their faces shyly. I smile at the little boy and I see him smile back at me from behind his baby fingers. He takes a couple steps backwards. Dad brings them over to the bench next to us and we keep up the songs for our intrigued little audience.
“Cha cha cha hellooooooooooo hello teacher ! “
Paper hearts. small screaming children, in a circle around me. Messy glue, scraps of rainbow paper everywhere. Mar and I, making butterflies with the children who attend a school we paint murals at. These kids are all at the age where the two front teeth are gone, and are as cute as you could imagine. Also very loud, and every one of them needs help with something. We cut shapes for these kiddos as fast as we can.
He points to my cross necklace, looking interested, holding a lopsided blue butterfly in his free hand. “Cha are you a Christian?” yes i am! “Oh so you believe in God?” yes. “And you believe in Jesus?” Yes! “Oh.” Cambodia is a Buddhist country. Dewey international, this boy’s school, does not have a religion. He flaps his butterfly for me. Did you know Jesus loves you all very much ? He stands up, does a 360 so he can look at all the other people in the room. He looks bewildered and sits back down. “Cha I would like to meet Jesus!!!!” Me too kiddo, me too.
If you asked me last year where I would be this time Asia would have probably been my last answer. But here I am, trying to soak up every day best I can.
Moments like these, I wish I could bottle them up. Two weeks is all I have left here, just when it’s getting to feel like home. And yes i know the North Carolina leaves are probably a very pretty orange and yes I missed my sister’s first homecoming. But dangit today I got to wake up a roof to a sunrise that was particularly colorful and hang out with friends who have kinda become family. my heart right now is very much in Cambodia. So yeah, just wanted to share some of the last couple days with you guys !
