Hello Kid's Creek!
Very soon I will be traveling to Cambodia to work at an orphanage called The Good Shepherd. Traveling to all these countries has been very interesting. I have been on a train for 19 hours and then again for 16 hours. It was so full that people stood in the aisles the entire time. I have driven in a bus for 10 hours and then again for 4 hours and then another for 4 hours. My team drove in the bed of a truck up the mountains for 3 hours in the sun and then 3 hours in the rain. I was in dozens of songthaews (pronounced song tow) around Thailand which are like taxis for multiple people and the other day I rode in my first tuk-tuk, which is a motorcycle turned into a car. I even rode on an elephant through the jungle!
But soon I will be on my 15 hour bus ride to Cambodia!
We celebrate Thanksgiving in November in the United States, but in November they celebrate the Water Festival. On November 16, they will begin the celebrations of the end of the rainy season in Cambodia and it also marks the reversal flow of water on the Tonle Sap River. They celebrate by launching boat races on the river, but it is my hope that the water festival is celebrated like this:
I have heard that it just might be!
There is another celebration that will take place on November 16. Millions will flock to the capital to honor the birth of a very special person!
ME!
I normally try to hide my birthday, but I'm not this time since I'm not at home and there is a holiday on my birthday. That's never happened to me. So in honor of the festivities, I purchased a sprinkler for the children at the orphanage. I hear they would love one. I also hear that it's HOT there.
So while I'm hoping to be drenched with water on my birthday and the water festival, here are some ideas for you while you are having your own water festival this coming winter!
1. Capture snowflakes on black paper or glass. Stick the paper or glass in the freezer first.
2. Blow soap bubbles outside when it’s cold enough to shatter them.
3. Make ice ornaments and then hang them on your trees in your yard when it's freezing outside.
4. Have an ice cube scavenger hunt. Using food coloring, freeze ice cubes of one color or of several different colors. Hide cubes in the snow in a designated area and let the children try to find them. It will be like an Easter egg hunt!
5. Play footprint tag. Play tag, stepping only in others’ footprints.
6. Light a fire in the snow. Using dry firewood and perhaps some barbeque starter, start a fire in an open area. If done in deep snow, children will be fascinated to see how the fire gradually sinks deeper and deeper.
7. Pray for the children at The Good Shepherd!
