Welcome to Cambodia! I have now been in the country for almost a week, and at my ministry site for 4 days. We started off in Phnom Penh for a few days were we had the opportunity to learn a little more about the country’s history, and see a few key places. On Sunday, we went to the jail where they held 14,000 prisoners during the Khemer Rouge and only seven survived. The jail used to be a school, and it looks much like the schools that dot the country side. As I walked through it, I felt sick thinking about what these people went through. Pictures lined the walls of the now museum of in prisoners; each one had a different story-I wonder what they were. Afterwards, we went to the killing fields. For me, this was easier to stomach. Perhaps it was the open space and not seeing the faces of the people. But, it was also the fact that there were a lot of trees, grass and life. It is a good reminder that even after horrific death there can/is so much life.
Cambodia is a beautiful, green country filled with rice patties, cows, ponies and people. Most of them do not know English so that has proven difficult for us. We are living in the upstairs of a house that looks more like a barn. There are squatty potties, showers and thin mattresses on the floor surrounded with a bug net to keep all the gnats and what not out. We have several residential pets here including Edgar the spider, Fred the bat (we have only heard him, not seen him) and Billy Raye the house gecko (considering his size, we are hoping that he ate Edgar). We only have electricity between 6pm-11pm because electricity is very expensive here. After that, we can run our fans off of car batteries (except for when they are getting recharged, like now, and then we just sweat a lot). I currently feel like I am in an oven.
