Today is the start of our last week teaching here in Kampong Speu! Wow, did the month go by fast. We’ve been teaching English each day, leading worship twice a week, and doing a Bible study with a woman down the street. We sweep duck poop out of the classroom every morning and play with the kids who are running around the house each morning.
Teaching has not been the easiest – some of the students don’t even know their ABC’s, so we are really helping kids memorize and translate English words. The older the students, the more they just laugh at us. One example: we learned that the word “awesome” means “out of gas” in Khmer. The students laugh throughout the class, and only now and then do we figure out that they are laughing because each time we use certain words they find it funny because it means something altogether different in Khmer. My favorite class is basically a speech therapy class. Last week I was teaching kids how to pronounce their “R”’s which I thought was pretty funny seeing as how I couldn’t do that when I was their age… I’m not sure that my teaching was all that effective seeing as how they still call me “Skyla!”
It’s crazy that we leave for Thailand this Friday…! After less than a month in Kampong Speu, it’s going to be really hard to leave. We’ve formed friendships with the teachers and students, as well as the four little boys that live with our host family. We head to Bangkok on Friday for a Squad Debrief (with all 51 girls!) and then we will head to Selaphume, Thailand to work in a Leper Colony! WOW! It’s happening so fast!
I’ve been reading through Genesis lately and it’s been cool to see all the ways that Jesus is present and alluded to even at the beginning of the Bible. I realized that I while I know most of the stories I have never really read the whole book for myself. It’s been interesting to read through it and discover new questions and answers to things I have known as familiar all of my life. I finished 1 Peter a while ago but haven’t been able to get out of it this month! There is so much to learn and understand and pray about in that book and I have gone back to it for a second read-through.
The other day we took all our friends and our host family out to the city center to go rollerblading! None of them had ever been before, and thankfully, my fourth grade instincts (the last time I rollerbladed!) kicked in and I was able to stay up and skate around without any trouble. Soon I was also able to help teach a few of our new friends and thankfully no one was injured! We had so much fun skating nervously, falling over and laughing all through the night! It was special to be able to treat everyone to a night of fun and to delight in these special friendships.
Last night there was a HUGE storm with hurricane-like winds. We sleep in our tents up on the second floor of the house in a loft-like area with lots of openings in the walls and a doorframe with no door. The wind was so strong that it was blowing up our tents! We had to climb into the tents just to keep them on the ground! We were a little afraid that the walls of our loft (thin wooden planks and metal bars) would cave in but they didn’t! Wahoo! When we woke up in the morning and walked downstairs, we discovered a cow… INSIDE! It was surprising but at the same time, we’ve seen ducks, chickens, rats, and mice inside the house as well. And the dogs sleep on the table at night…. (We don’t eat on that one but I’m not convinced the one we eat on is much cleaner…)
So yep! Life is rich, fun and hard and crazy! I miss taking normal showers and drinking tap water, but I have traded those conveniences for crazy tuk-tuk rides, bean popsicles, and sweet, rich and exciting discoveries of God’s world! I’m also discovering in a new way just how deeply God loves people; including me. So far, I’m grateful that I get to experience my part of that trade. 😉
I miss you all, and am so grateful for your support, prayers, and notes of encouragement.
Skylar
