"Communion"

Although you are all just starting your Sunday we have already ended ours.  We started our Sunday by walking to the "church" on the next street over in our complex.  It does not look like I will have any luck finding a Catholic church nearby so I was just happy to be able to go to church and give thanks.  This means no Communion for me but I experience quite a different one.  It may not have been the Holy Eucharist Communion that I am used to but it was a communion of people that I will never forget.  Cambodians, Americans, Australians, Brits and I am sure a few other nationalities gathered today to sing and rejoice in such a beautiful way.  The sermon and words to the songs bounced back and forth between English and Khmer so everyone could participate.  Hands were flung in the air in absolute praise and voices sang out to the heavens for sure.  The Cambodians were stripped of all religious leaders and followers by the Khmer Rouge in the 70s by mass murder.  They are still trying to grow and heal but it will be a slow process to say the least.  Of all of the many people in this city, we were told that there were only about 1000 worshiping that day in different locations.  That number seems so terribly low to me but it is heart warming to see so many wonderful missionaries giving their time and lives to helping make that number grow here. Communion to me now has a beautiful second definition, one that puts people from all different cultures together in one room and makes them one.  Complete joy about blew the ceiling off of that little room they called a church...I am thankful to have been a part of that and share it with my awesome team of teachers!

After 2 trips to the airport to get 2 departing teachers off (1 successfully and 1 not so successfully, she is still here. I spent over 3 hours with her in the airport arguing with them to no avail...we will try again tomorrow night but at 11:30pm since that is the only flight she could get!) were were at least able to fit some tourist fun in.  We headed to Old Market for some shopping and then took our chances on some local street cart food for dinner (it has been over 5 hours since I ate it so I think we are good!!).  Tuk tuk rides are a blast but they are even better at night.  I will try to post a video I took and hope it works on this (arch, just tried and it didn't work, I will put it on my FB page).  I also got a great tour from our beloved Mao/personal tuk tuk driver off the beaten path.  It was on one of the trips home from the airport.  He took roads that only Cambodians use and we went into the real neighborhoods.  I have only seen things like this on TV and in books and it was so amazing to witness it all in person.  I now truly understand what "Third World Country" means.  Hut-type structures, naked children, cows roaming EVERYWHERE, people wading in dirty flood waters in hopes to catch frogs to eat, but yet I noticed a calm or peace in them all.  They seems happy and content, it is all they know I guess and they do not face some of the troubles we impose on ourselves with always trying to do better and get better.  Don't get me wrong, I would not wish this type of living on anyone but I am at peace in seeing them survive it the best way they can until we can help them (even if it is just one by one)!  I am falling in love with the Cambodians, their faces, their smiles, their fun and carefree hearts.  They are a broken people and there is so much healing needed but they plug along and make the most of it with as much joy as they can muster!  Lesson learned today...many of them.

Typical house in the real neighborhoods.  Shack/hut sitting in flood waters.

Cows everywhere you look

There are usually at least 3 people on every scooter.  Saw a family
5 on one today but couldn't get the camera out fast enough.

Think they are knock offs?

YUMMY street food tonight.

Chowing down and waiting to see if I get sick!  ;)

Angkor Wat

Some photos just don't need much explanation.  Made it to Angkor Wat today and I am still trying to get my head wrapped around how incredible it was.  Some of you know the story but these temples were my sign I was supposed to go on this trip.  I feel like I completed what God had laid out for me in my path about 5 years ago.  It was all in preparation to make sure I said yes.

The Electric Slide!

Today the girls had to say their goodbyes to Maria and Jasmine, they will be leaving this Sunday so this was their last day to teach.  They made a special lunch for us, we are served lunch with the girls every day and I am told it can be quite questionable.  Yesterday's included a soup that, after a quick inspection, proved to have chicken body parts that I chose not to eat so I just ate the broth and veggies out of it.  One of those body parts were the claws! You know how you don't want to look at an accident when you drive past but for some reason you can't help but look?  Well, I could not take my eyes off of one of the students while she picked it up and started sucking on the claw...I guess you kind of have your own built in toothpick that way!

After class we were invited to a party at the new house AIM is using.  The house we are teaching in currently serves as housing for rescued girls, the outreach program and classes. That way they can use the current one as only housing and the new one will be the outreach center as well as a salon!  They are putting in a salon for the girls being trained by The Trade to work in.  This new location should work well for the outreach program since it is right in the middle of the red light district.  It was an open house party and it was heartwarming to see the girls from that area show up to check it out.  They all seemed so young and innocent.  It is so hard to think about what their world holds for them every night.  I am hoping that  they will be open to making a change through the AIM organization!

So why is this post titled The Electric Slide you ask?  Well...Kati and I taught the girls the Electric Slide at the party!  They LOVED it and we were all laughing so hard.  Of course this was in the hottest most humid weather I have ever been in but it took the uncomfortableness right out of it to be sharing this with these girls.

The evening concluded with us experiencing a neighborhood black out (it must have been Kati's and my rendition of the electric slide that blew out the generators)!  We sat for about an hour or so in complete darkness...except that I brought my handy dandy (and slightly nerdy) head lamp along!  It pays to have been a Girl Scout!  We are off to the airport at 10 tonight to pick up our other 2 team members.  We call ourselves Team Gen for "generation" since the 4 of us represent 4 decades...and YES I am the oldest!!

Our yummy lunch!

The new AIM house

These stalls may look like they are for live stock
but they are used for men to meet and choose the girls
they are hiring for the night. Sickening!

Always Be Prepared

Meeting the Students

So the walk to school this morning was a wet one.  There is no choice other than to wade through the muddy water to get there, so up go the pants or long skirt and splish-splash time!  It was incredible to finally meet our students today.  They are full of youth and child-like behavior that needs to be channeled, this will be a challenge but one we are up for.  I actually starting teaching a little today to give Maria and Jasmine a little break.  I demonstrated a men's hair cut and had them get their hands into it and give it a try.  We went over clipper details and the basics of men's cutting.  They were very well behaved for me...guess I learned something from watching Miss Sczempka teach her 3rd graders. :) 

One of more day of school and then we get to hit Ankor Wat with Maria and Jasmine before they head out Sunday. :(                                                                                   

Hello and greetings from Siem Reap, Cambodia!

Well after over 24 hours of travel (stops in Tokyo,  Singapore, and Vietnam) we finally came in at 6:00pm and were greeted by two smiling, wonderful faces.  Thank you Maria and Jasmine for brining us our "fleet" of tuk-tuks to get us and our luggage to our new home for 3 weeks.

It was interesting coming in after it was dark, it made it hard to get a real feel of our surroundings but was also possibly better that way! :)  This morning should be enlightening to say the least.  The girls have their own personal tuk-tuk driver named Mao that they call and he arrives a few short minutes later to drive them wherever they want to go.  After throwing our suitcases in our place off we went for a little excursion around "town" and finally landed at a restaurant Jasmine wanted to go to called "The Blue Pumpkin."  She wanted to go there so she could get a hamburger!!  She has been here a month and leaves this Saturday.

Today we are off to school to meet our students and see how things run there.  We will be observing Maria teaching to figure out our own strategy.  Then we will have a business meeting since AIM has plans to open a beauty salon for the girls to work in.  We will discuss business ideas and make plans on how this can run smoothly.  I am honored that they waited for me to get here for this since I am a salon owner and felt I could be of help. Got to go get ready for our first day but I cannot go without first wishing my sweet Kendall a Happy Birthday!  I am so sad that I cannot be there to help you celebrate but I send my heart to you and hope your day is as special as you are!

Also sending my love and prayers to the Bedison family as they say goodbye to their beloved mother/grandmother, sorry to not be there to help you do that.  I will post again tonight after I get a feel for this place after some light has been shed (so to speak!).

I got this beautiful card from some very special people in my life.  It was a great reminder for me as I prepare for this journey.  No questions in my heart or head...I know I am supposed to do this and look forward to it with the anticipation of a child awaiting Christmas!  

Now if I can just get everything done that I need to before leaving! :)

Leaving in 1 Week!

I can hardly believe the time is almost here, it seemed like it would never come.  I have been reminded that I do not like waiting for things.  My mother always told me that "patience is a virtue" and I obviously need to work on that one!  :)

Kati and I will be leaving Monday, Sept. 23.  We fly out of LAX and land 19 hours later in Singapore.  We are then treated to a 12 hour layover in the middle of the night. We plan to stay in one of the hotels within the airport as to not pass through customs yet.  Then we are up and off for another 4 hour flight and land in Siem Reap at 5:40pm on Wednesday, Sept. 25 (Kendall's birthday!).  Tuesday happened somewhere in there but I am not sure where it went!?!?

I will be sharing photos, experiences and thoughts on this blog with you and hope that you enjoy them.  You will notice a lack of photos of our students, we are not allowed to take photos of them to avoid exploitation.  They have had enough of this in their lives already.  I will have to place my memories of them deep within my heart for safe keeping, I like that!  I apologize now for my writing skills (or lack there of) and will do my best to "bring you there" with me in my words and pictures. Thank you for following my blog and for sharing this journey with me!
~Beth ;o)