Everything you ever wanted to know about my life.
My Current State…
I just sat down to my oatmeal and strawberry jam with some Cory Asbury worship. I have the morning off from teaching and figure it’s high time to give the people an update. I am currently observing as two petite, brown, bare-chested men build a house about 50 meters away. I haven’t even been sitting here for even ten minutes and they have already raised two adjacent wall frames out of their large sticks. Between us is a marshy little swimming hole. All of the mangy stray dogs from the area regularly pass through to cool off. A few minutes ago, the “Titanic cart” came wheeling by. It’s a food cart pulled by a motorcycle that plays the Titanic theme song. Every time it passes, it makes me want to do my ballet routine from 1998. There is a monkey a “few blocks down.” It is chained up and sits on a little slab of pavement. It’s sort of sad, yet seemingly hysterical.
Credit: Katie Bury
Credit: Katie Bury
The Routine…
I am staying in the Saang province about one hour (by tuk tuk) outside of Phnom Penh. My team and I live on the second floor of a community center called the “House of Love.” We have pitched our tents in hopes of insect and critter prevention with about a 45% success rate. This month, our main luxury is space. It’s the most space I could ever dream of and it’s wonderful! We use a squatty potty in an outhouse yet again. Water is drawn from a trough-like holding place that smells like sewage. I will disclose that I too air that disgusting aroma. The Sunsilk shampoo and the beetle-infested water are in a daily battle. However, there is an endless supply of water, so I can take as many nauseating bucket showers as I like! This is seriously another luxury.
The food isn’t bad at all. Rice, of course! We are always given the most peculiar fruits, but I haven’t tried one that I don’t like. It sure is going to be an adjustment to go back to “normal” food. I think I forget what mini-wheats and baked potatoes taste like.
During the weekdays, we teach English at two different Christian schools. I have finished my duties in the mornings, and now only teach in the afternoons. Teaching…that’s an entirely new topic. I would not say it’s my favorite, but I do enjoy it. I think I would be a little more fond of this month’s ministry if I knew the Khmer language or had ESL experience. It is definitely a struggle, but the students are adorable and make it all worthwhile. Tune into my next blog for more about this. In the evenings, we hang out with kids downstairs in the community center. These kids come twice each day for meals. Sometimes we teach them insane songs like the Macarenaand we’ll occasionally get a soccer game going. Last night, we prayed for them one by one. It seemed like quite a feat, but turned out to be a blessing. They were in awe that we would take the time to do this.
Since I’ve now had a good amount of downtime in the mornings, I’ve been reading and writing quite a bit. I’ve journaled more this month than any other. When I go into Phnom Penh on weekends, I save about 50 articles to my computer for fear of boredom. It’s been interesting to read slightly dated editorials on gay marriage and Hollande’s victory in France. A few nights ago, my entire team crowded under a draped mosquito net to watch Hook on a laptop.
“To live will be an awfully big adventure….”
Credit: Katie Bury
The Beauty…
Cambodia is remarkable. Unique, rickety homes on stilts amongst dense, jungle greenery flooded with exceptionally high palm trees.
Just like Thailand, it’s a refreshing safe haven. As a whole, the Cambodian men don’t throw out derogatory words at my team like in many of the other countries. Walking up and down these dirt roads, driving back and forth down the main street, I’ve taken note of something that has blown my mind. The men here seem to truly adore their children. I can’t count how many men (mostly young) I’ve seen holding their babies. When thinking back on the previous eight countries, it is shocking to watch.
Credit: Stephanie May
I mustadd that Cambodians are truly some of the most gorgeous people I’ve seen. I’ve made this emphatically clear to everyone that I’ve talked to back home within these past few weeks. Picture my face…”they’re just beautiful!” Years down the road if I think about adopting kids, this place will almost certainly be first on my list.
Credit: Katie Bury
The little woman who cooks for us is a gem. She doesn’t speak a lick of English, but she brings our rice, vegetables, and fish with the widest smile I’ve ever seen. Her scattered gold teeth make it even more endearing.
The Struggle…
Minimally speaking, this month has been a fight. More than anything, we’ve been battling the elements. The heat is without a doubt the most unbearable I’ve ever experienced. I knew it would be bad, but only experience gives way to the reality. Upon landing, the field temperature was 114 degrees. Of course, humidity only adds to the situation. At night, I lay in my tent, dripping in sweat…praying to fall asleep.
Credit: Stephanie May
I can’t decide if the ants or mosquitoes are my next largest quandary. I guess I’ll go with the ants! They constantly find their way into my zipped tent. This morning, I woke to about 75 little guys in a cluster to the left of me. They’re in my pack, they get into the sealed jelly. A few days ago, I opened up my computer and there were masses scurrying in and out of my keys. That was horrifying. Mosquitoes are self-explanatory. I live next to a marsh and am out of deet, which is a minor problem. I may look like I have the chicken pox , but am thankful for my mom’s last minute purchase before my launch…the StingEze stick. I rub it on my bites like I apply Burt’s Bees in the wintertime.
The lizards don’t bother me too much, for they only give me a fright when I enter the squatty at night. All the bats in the ceiling are a bit eerie, but I figure the more, the better. God bless the bats. This place takes summer camp to a whole new level…
The Team…
Meet 7th Heaven. These last three months have brought a few shifts in my team. The new group consists of most of the members of my prior team with a few new additions. I greatly admire these girls and am honored that God chose me to be a part of this posse. Let’s do this!
Credit: Katie Bury
L-R
Shayna Isaacs, Emily Pluciennik, Stephanie May, Natalie Sexton, Jenna Malinen, Moi, et Katie Bury
