This time I’m being proactive and doing my day in the life whilein Cambodia instead of after (sorry Guatemala haha)
Every day is about the same here; it’s a slow and easygoing kind of culture. Getting into a routine keeps a sort of balance and steadiness to life.
6:15am good morning! Every other night I get to sleep on the roof in a hammock and always get great sleep and wake up happy there. The sunrises here are breathtaking!
6:30am breakfast made/bought by team Silverbacks or Abundance
7:15am Lexi, Abby, Kori and I leave for ministry
7:30 Lexi and Abby open up Ezra Library cafe for the day and begin their shift// Kori and I head upstairs to the library to call friends and family, do devotions or just hang out
9:30-11:30am Kori and I begin our shift at the cafe. We usually do some daily cleaning, I make some cookies to restock the jar, and we usually talk with Lexi and Abby until a customer comes in to serve.
***from 9-11am Melissa, Cami, Sophie, and Ella volunteer at a trauma hospital and get to hang out with the families of the patients, and make hand made cards to sell.
11:30am-1:30pm Cami and Melissa arrive and start their shift. At this time I usually go out to lunch with whoever is around.
Some of our favorite places to eat are:
•Noodle Man: he serves dumplings, soup, noodles, and fried rice all for less than $2!
•Eden Cafe: a YWAM run cafe that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and has a mix of western dishes and Asian dishes. It also doubles as a boutique with notebooks, bags, clothes, and jewelry!
•Flavors of India: a Nepalese and Indian restaurant with THE BEST garlic naan in town.
1:30-3:30pm our whole team has a break. On Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays we have team time during this block, but otherdays we head our separate ways until dinner.
2pmish We walk to our local supermarket and outdoor market to do some grocery shopping for the evening. Since we don’t go to the hospital in the morning, Lexi, Abby, Kori, and I cook dinner every night as a ministry to our squad.
4pmish We start cooking dinner. The meal isn’t officially until 6:30, but with one cutting board and a double burner gas stove, we have to start cooking early to get everything ready for 30 people.
6:30pm dinner time! We gather the troops downstairs to our long metal table surrounded by fans to keep us cool, then pray and feast.
Monday’s around 7:30 we’ll have worship together, but the rest of the week evening are free! I’ve really enjoyed going back into town in the evenings because it’s cooler, the town is always decorated with cute lights, and tons of people are in the local park by the river just hanging out and eating street food.
Saturday evenings and Sundays are our time off. We’ve enjoyed visiting churches around town as well as tourist sites like the Bat Caves and the Bamboo train. But many weekends you can find us soaking up the air conditioning and swilling down iced coffees in a local coffee shop- it’s a little luxury here.
As I said before, life is very routine here and there’s a lot more free time and freedom than in our previous countries. For me it’s been a hard but good transition into what life in the states will look like- it’s becoming more of my choice to pursue ministry instead of it being an obligation/job. I’ve learned that missions is not just a short time job, but a lifetime career.
Thanks for reading about my daily life in Cambodia! Since I’ve been cooking a lot here, my team has come up with some extra great meals and recipes. Keep and eye out for a future blog featuring Team Esther’s Cookbook!
Many blessings,
Gracie J
