Moving Days and Hot Dog Parties

We are officially moved in to our new house, as of yesterday at about 1pm. We had some GREAT friends who came to help us, but unfortunately, we picked the hottest day to move :o( Don't get me wrong, every day here is hot....but yesterday was HOT. Our school was gracious enough to loan us one of their vans, so, 3 trips later...we were finished. Besides the heat and profuse sweat dripping from all areas, the move was one of the quicker and smoother ones I've ever done! Here are some pictures from our move:



Here's Brian hanging out the side of the van, holding onto our possessions!



Packed out: Jill (in between boxes) and Brian hanging on! Moving-Cambodian style!



How many people does it take to move a mattress? (A lot...it's heavy and awkward..one of those memory foam types)

::Hot Dogs::

Our good friends the Weiss Family invited a bunch of people over to their house for Hot Dogs. WOW!! We haven't seen a "normal looking" hot dog since we've been here, but the ones they cooked were fabulous! It was a perfect way to end a busy day, and we really enjoyed our time there with the 9+ kids running around, and all of the good company with our adult friends. We ate, laughed, played new games, enjoyed an incredible full rainbow from their rooftop, and were blessed by the generosity of the Weiss's. Again, because the camera is always with us...here are some pictures from the night.







An awesome full rainbow that literally stretched across the sky of Phnom Penh!!



The sunset from the Weiss Rooftop. Incredible.


Overall it was a successful, tiring, sweaty day. We are glad to be able to share our experiences here with you back at home, or wherever you might be reading from!

New-ness

We have begun a tradition on the weekends to venture out around town and try a new restaurant. We have gathered quite the following, and each Saturday we have a group of at least 9 of our closest friends from school. We always have a blast. Being "foreigners" here, of course the local people always want to tell us where the best places are to go. They usually recommend places with "Western Food" or modern conveniences....but we will go just about anywhere that the group agrees on. Here are some pics of things we've found as we have been out:



A HUGE bag of Starbucks beans- priced $25.00




A gorgeous view (looking out through the back of a Tuk-Tuk) of Independence Monument with the sun setting.



People LOVE to stare- Brian's remedy: As soon as they begin staring, get out your camera to capture the moment!


:: NEW HOUSE ::

As we posted a few days ago, we were really asking for prayer for our housing situation. Well, God provided in a MAJOR way. Within 24 hours of posting an ad (there is a web-based email group of foreigners in Phnom Penh) we had multiple responses of houses available in the area. We were actually able to go look at a place that next day, and we LOVE it. Through multiple ways and monetary blessings, God has provided for us to move into that new house. It is 100% better than our current home, and we know it will provide us with a safe and clean living environment. We are actually moving this Saturday, in 5 days, so keep us in prayer that the move goes swiftly and safely. We will post pics of the new house as soon as we can. THANK YOU for joining us in prayer for this matter, as Karie was NOT happy (or sleeping well) in their current house.

Urgent Prayer Request

There is a missionary family who had their children enrolled in our school last year. They recently moved out to one of Cambodia's provinces to continue their work, and their oldest son Andrew fell sick. He has since been in a coma, which they found out is related to diabetes (that no one knew he had). He has spent over 1 month in this coma, and their family was all flown to Bangkok to be with him. The sad news is that Andrew died last night.

Please pray for the Prak family, as they are dealing with the loss of their son. In many ways, they had no chance to say goodbye to him, as he has been unconscious for weeks now. This news has devastated our school community, as well as the missionary community in Cambodia. If there is anything you would like to do to help, please let us know. Thank you for your prayers during this tough time.

Roof Rats and Rice Runs

Hola from the blogging world!! Life here in Cambodia continues to be humorous and unpredictable. Here are a few stories from our past week here:

The power frequently goes out in Cambodia, as well as in our neighborhood. This past week it's been horrible. We have been without power at least 4 hours each day, and in the heat of the afternoon when one would REALLY like to be running their fans...
We have a precious House Helper (which everyone foreign has here, because it is SO hard to cook, shop, and clean here). She can't be more than 18 years old, and she speaks minimal English. She cooks our dinner each night, but because the power is often out at around 5pm, she is sometimes unable to turn the rice cooker on. The other day I witnessed a hilarious incident. It was a Monday evening, and Brian was playing basketball at the school. The power was out, and it was SO hot in the house that I decided to take my book and a chair out onto the porch. Our dinner was hot and ready on the table, but the rice had to wait to be cooked until the power came back on.
Being that I was outside, I was unaware of when the power came back on...but apparently, it did. All of a sudden, our Helper (Srey-Mom is her name) came RUNNING over to our house. This was odd, because she had already left for the day. She ran past me without a word, and all I could think was that something was terribly wrong with the dinner she made, or....? I walked in the house to find her at the rice cooker, and she innocently said, "I HAVE to cook rice!" Precious. Even funnier that she thought I would not be able to figure it out on my own....


On a more negative note, I was awoken the other night by a noise that makes me sick- large creatures running around the roof tops above us. It was 3:40 am, and all I could figure is that we have rats. No big deal, right? They stay on the roof, we stay in the house, all is well. Not so much. Our ceiling is made up of cheap, warped, already broken/falling apart panels. The rats are running on top of those panels, NOT the roof. I sat in bed thinking the worst: the panels would be falling on us any second, rats, poops and all!! The rats sound BIG, and we have seen many by day here in Cambodia. Someone said they are the squirrels of Cambodia, which I kind of believe to be true. The rats don't let themselves be seen as much as squirrels back home, but there are definitely more rats here compared to squirrels at home.
Unfortunately, with the new development in our home, and the fact that no one will really see rats as a "problem" here....we are praying about finding somewhere else to live. Please pray with us, that God would provide us with a new (clean, pest free) home, or that He would take all the critters out so we can sleep peacefully.

Broken Blogger

It feels like it's been awhile since I (K) blogged last. I have been swamped with teaching, grading papers, and surviving day to day. I am please to announce, however, that with each passing day....Phnom Penh is starting to feel more like "home" (at least for the next 2 years). I miss my true home dearly, but I am more satisfied here as we continue to learn how to "do life" in this land. We have officially completed our first 3 weeks of school, and besides adjusting to that, we have begun a few new traditions! We have also ventured out a bit more, tried new things and places, and gotten more comfortable with those around us. Being STARED at is now fairly normal, although still very annoying. Here are some new things we've done these past few weeks:

-Street Hockey and Bubble Tea Thursdays: A bunch of the foreign men around our vast city have teamed up to rent a Tennis Court each Thursday night. They have the gear, the space, and now the team! This past Thursday they got back together after a summer break, and Brian was invited to play. Jo and I (a friend from work) decided to go along as spectators; we also enjoyed the cool Bubble Tea restaurant we found around the corner. We sat, watched the men, drank blended tea, and got bitten by mosquitoes. Definitely a "must do" each Thursday. Here's a pic of B's outlandish Goalie outfit; although it took over 20 minutes to put on, and although it smelled indescribable...he did a great job as goalie for his team!!



-Taking long walks around our neighborhood (K): I enjoy taking walks in the evening once the sun has gone down. There's about 45 minutes of dusk, just before dark, that is the most pleasant time to be outside. Our neighborhood is full of people, animals, flowers, wealthy and poor homes, and new sights. Here are some pictures taken of around where we live:



A large around the corner: I LOVE their fence.



Gorgeous sky.



The long, paved road behind out house: GREAT for walking!!


Going to local markets (which can be yucky): We have, as of this last weekend, finally ventured through one of the local markets. This is NOT for the faint of stomach. Picture this scene: a crowded street, people walking along with motos (Japanese motorcycles) driving through the market, and sellers sitting on the ground with interesting displays. This particular market we visited was outside of the Russian Market. We saw everything from fruits, to vegetables, to live frogs with their skin ripped off. Live fish, shells with animals inside, and recently killed chickens are also at this market. I saved you the non-gross pics, enjoy!



She's got legs!







No wonder why they stare: Brian's a GIANT!!


Needless to say, the more we explore and feel comfortable...the more at home we feel! We hope you enjoy the new pics, and we will be better next time at putting them up sooner! There are SO many experiences to share with you and so little time to document it all. Thanks for being patient with us!