Another Day in Cambodia

The 25th

Cristen is at Angkor Wat today - I am sure having loads of fun. If you get a chance, look it up on the internet.  www.angkorwat.org  There are several sites of ancient stone buildings. Angkor Wat is to Cambodia what the Pyramids are to Egypt. Incredibly impressive.  

Some of you may not know that I (Jen) am planning on coming back to Asia for a year. This is my 3rd trip here...my first coming in 2005. I knew that very first time that I was going to come back here long term. So, after 12 years of teaching, I resigned my job and am moving here in September. This short trip has been a blessing to be able to get questions answered and take care of some issues. This morning, that meant buying a phone. What an experience over here! Pheakdey, a Cambodian who works for Asia's Hope, brought me to the phone shop on the back of her moto...which is a glorified moped. I told here that I would mention she is a good driver! She did all the negotiating, and I was glad for it. Pretty much, people here expect you to bargain over the prices. But when you realize that it is 4000 Cambodian Riel to 1 American dollar, you realize that you are not spending that much!

Then, those of us who did not go to Angkor Wat went to one of the orphanages to spend time with the kids. I wish I had the right words to adequately describe what that is like. (Might I suggest coming to see for yourself:) Any time the children at any of the orphanages see our cars, they rush out to greet us...smiling and waving and crowding around to hug as many of us as they can. Here, they will shout out "Hello, Mommy!"and "Hello, Daddy!"to each of us. That is quite touching coming from a young child who has no parents. As many as can will crowd around one person to get a hug. Today, I had three kids sitting on my lap, one leaning in on each side, and one hanging on my neck from behind. They don't care that there are others, they just want that connection.

The children love to sing and dance - and they aren't afraid to sing as loudly as they can! Today, they did one song after another. I wish you could be here to listen to them sing praise songs in Khmer. They sing with all their heart. At one point, I recognized the song and realized a few minutes later that they were actually singing in English:)

These kids are also grateful for every little thing that you give them. Today, we gave them each one piece of candy...and they are absolutely happy with it. Even when they see you giving something to others, they typically do not crowd around you asking for it. They wait patiently to receive from you. I am continually struck with how well behaved, thankful, and patient these kids are. It really does cause us to think about our own hearts and how selfish we can be sometimes when we see children who literally have everything that they own in one laundry basket (not even full) be so happy. They arrive at these orphanages with nothing. And are so content with what they are given.

The 26th

I wasn't able to post yesterday, so I decided to add on. I will let Cristen tell you about the trip to Angkor Wat. I hear they had a good time.

Yesterday, we ended up having some interesting challenges. At one point, we found ourselves stuck in mud on the wrong road on the way to the orphanages. (Some very kind Cambodians came along and helped us get the truck out:) Four of us hopped a moto to the Russian Market...a place to buy lots of Cambodian goods. We thought the driver knew where he was going, but we actually ended up at the wrong place. Remember that new phone I got? It came in quite handy when I called our friend Pheakdey to give the Tuk Tuk driver the directions in Khmer back to the guest house. We arrived safe and sound - but I never did get shopping done. Oh well, I know I will be back:)

Tonight, we are going to see the orphanages one last time. Then we will be having dinner at the guest house with the university students. It will be time to pack after that as we all leave tomorrow - some of us back to the US (Cristen) and some of us back to Thailand (Jen).

We have internet at the guest house in Thailand, so one of the first things I will do is upload a bunch of photos. I want you to be able to see these children!!