Life in Cambodia

 Life as We Know It

Well, we made it.  On July 20th, we arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Almost eight weeks later, I finally have time and energy to write a post.

The day after we arrived, we moved into our P'tay l'vang, which is a tall skinny row house.  We live on the first and second floors and four other teachers live on the third, fourth and fifth floors.  Our home is slightly quirky, but overall it fits us well.  We are still adjusting to living with bars on every window, "fabulous"gold flowery drapes complete with sparkly tassels (which might not last too much longer), and having to open 4 padlocks every time we enter our house.  Someday, I will actually take pictures to post, but in the meantime here is a view of our home from the gate.  We live on the first two floors, so the part of the house you can see actually see above the gate in the picture is the section where the other teachers dwell.



After arriving we were quickly thrown into the hustle and bustle of training and preparing for a busy school year.  I am teaching 4 history classes, 8th grade Medieval World History, 9th grade Renaissance through the French Revolution, 10th grade Modern World History, and a Modern Asian Studies class for a combo of 11th and 12th graders.  Overall, I am enjoying my classes and the students are amazing.  The course outlines and topics cover much more Asian and Cambodian history than I am used to, so I am having to brush up on my history as I prep lessons.  Needless to say, with 100 students, I keep busy prepping and grading.  I have to admit that I love it more than I thought I would. I am also a sponsor for the 11th graders, so I have already been thrown into fund-raising and planning for the Jr./Sr. banquet/prom.

Last weekend, Abigail turned 6.  In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that I was holding her for the first time, and in other ways, I really don't remember my life before she was with me.  She is a little go-getter and social butterfly, but she is a little bit more emotional than normal as she adjusts to our new life in a new country.  She quickly made a couple of friends and has even done a few sleepovers already.  In fact, she had three little friends over  for a sleepover to celebrate her birthday.

When we first arrived, we got around via tuk tuk.  Traffic here is crazy and sidewalks are for parking cars or motos, so it is difficult to walk anywhere.

However, after a few weeks, my independent streak came out.  I really wanted to be able to explore more of the city and get to and from school on my own time schedule.  I am not quite ready to purchase a car and drive through the crazy traffic, so I opted for a cheaper and more convenient form of transportation.  We got a moto, and for the most part, we love it (except for the occasional drenching in the sporadic daily rainstorms).

You can pray for our safety as we travel busy and sometimes flooded roads with unfamiliar traffic patterns and wandering dogs, cow, and chickens.

About a week after we arrived, Cambodia held its 5 year election for seats in the National Assembly and Prime Minister.  The current Prime Minister has been Prime Minster for 27 years and plans to continue for at least 10 more years.  However, the election was closer than anyone believed possible, and the opposition party claims they actually won the election, but due to election fraud and corrupt government control, they were denied the win.  The opposition party has been calling for an international investigation into the election results, but the ruling party has claimed the that election results are accurate and refused to consider international investigation.  To show their displeasure, the opposition party hosted several peaceful protests and has requested the King intervene.  Anyway to make a long story short, tension has been high, but thankfully violence has been low and people are praying for peace in the nation.  Please join us in prayer for the peace of Cambodia, especially as the new session of government is slated to begin next week.

Random Thoughts

•  I have come to appreciate the wonder of a well-placed fan.  In the past, I rarely used fans, but now I feel lost without one. 
• Those of you that know me well will laugh when I tell you that I wear a skirt at least 4 days a week and actually prefer wearing skirts to pants or shorts.
• When I lived in Colorado, I had one key on my key ring, my car key.  I didn't even have a key to my house of office.  I currently have 11 keys on my key ring that I use almost every day.
• I think I have consumed more rice in my two months here than I have in the entire rest of my life combined.
• It is a little bit ironic that for the past 11 years in the States I have not had cable or satellite TV in my home. In Cambodia, I now have cable TV that comes with my house.  (Although, I personally have not watched an entire show in the two months I have been here.  Abigail likes the cartoon network though.)

Prayer Requests

• As previously mentioned, pray for the peace of Cambodia
• Pray for us as we continue to adjust to life in a foreign country
• I have been specifically praying for two of my students who have shared some of their difficulties at home with me.  Please help me pray for them.
• The grocery store is about 1/4 mile straight up my street.  Along the way, we pass at least 10 brothels with incredibly young ladies sitting out front waiting for clientele, and it breaks my heart.  Please join me in prayer for the souls of these young ladies and their clients as well as an ending to the horrors of sex trafficking.   
• Pray that I will begin to rely more heavily on God's power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit rather than on my own strength and plans.