Back to our Roots

We have officially been home 5 weeks now, and I think it is safe to say we are fully settled in: no more waking up at 3am and wanting to fall asleep at 4pm, no more jumpiness at birds (which move strangely like the rats we had in Cambodia), and no more suitcases full of things to unpack. We are overjoyed to be home, although we both have been truly missing Cambodia this past week. We have had a lot of neat experiences since we've been home: we have been on a short road trip to Yosemite and Fresno over 4th of July weekend, we have seen many friends and family we missed over the past year, we have taken nighttime summer bike rides, tried new recipes, gardened and played with dirt and plants, and we have delighted in the simplicities of life here in Los Gatos. I (Karie) am in my 4th week of summer school, and cooking with 80 kids each day has been a real blast! Brian is in his third week of school, and has his nose deep in the books each night. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to at home, as well as our new favorite summer recipe: Raspberry Lemon Iced Tea. Enjoy!

Oh gardening, how I missed thee!

The joys of picnics in the park and self timers.

Brian with the big rocks in Yosemite.

Yosemite Valley and my Mom

Leaving Yosemite National Park-the view from Glacier Point.

Hiking the Vernal Falls trail: we saw 2 rattlesnakes, a centipede, deer, and coyotes!

:: Raspberry Lemon Iced Tea ::

6 raspberry flavored tea bags
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup of sugar
8 cups of water

1.) Look out your window to see if you have a lemon tree, like this one! If so, pick 2-3 lemons off and juice them. If not, go buy lemons at the store.




2.) Boil 8 cups of water. Turn off the heat, put the tea bags in, and let steep for 1 hour.



3.) After it has sat, put the tea into your desired container (pitcher, etc.). Stir in the sugar until dissolved.

4.) Stir in the lemon juice. Allow to cool completely in the fridge until you serve it. Add a fresh slice of lemon to each glass of tea poured. Enjoy!

: : Home : :

Well yet again we have failed to update our blog in a timely manner. We appreciate your forgiveness :o) The last few weeks in Cambodia were hectic: boxing things up, cleaning all the nooks and crannies, finishing up school, doing report cards, packing and re-packing suitcases, spending time with good friends, closing bank accounts, making the "last trips" to local markets, etc. We finished well, although it was hard to close out one stage of life while anticipating the next one. It was my prayer to keep my "head in the game" until the end, not neglecting any part of Cambodia or our life there. We both were anxious to leave and travel to Japan, then home....however, we thoroughly enjoyed our last days where God had us.

Once we left Cambodia, we boarded a short flight to Bangkok. We met up with friends there, and had dinner in the city. We were taken back to the airport where we spent a sleep-less night, then boarded a plane to Japan at 6:50am the next morning. After an easy 6 hour flight, we landed in a place surrounded with more green then we'd seen all year. Japan was amazing!!! We re-enjoyed simple pleasures: walking on sidewalks with flat paths, smelling the ocean air, being COLD, wearing jeans and sweatshirts, eating street food that we didn't need to be concerned about, and public transportation. We stayed in Tokyo 1 night and walked around that part of the city. Next, we stayed 3,000 feet up in a mountain town called Hakone for 2 nights, and fell in love with the peacefulness and the scenery there. We spent our last night in a hotel near the airport, and enjoyed sleeping in and having a hot shower. All of our tuk-tuk, train, car, airplane, shuttle, and bus transportation had gone very smoothly up to this point.

When we boarded the flight in Tokyo, we were excited. See, we were flying on stand-by passes and were unsure if we would get on the flight in the first place. This was our LAST leg of a packed 4 days of traveling, and once this leg ended, we would finally be HOME. We were so lucky to get to sit in Business Class (1 step down from First) and we were enjoying the leg room and menu choices for the 9 hour flight. After sitting in the plane for 30 minutes past our scheduled departure, an announcement came over the loud speaker: "We are having some maintenance issues that will soon be resolved, we should be leaving shortly." We didn't care- we were in nice seats and were ready to try and sleep for the flight. Two hours went by, and the flight crew began pulling first class passengers off the plane; we knew something was wrong. All passengers with connecting flights began to be rerouted on to other flights, and we still sat. We were told by one of the flight attendants that we needed to stay seated even though the entire 747 plane would be asked to get off. We had no clue what was happening! Passengers were leaving, and as it turns out, the captain allowed all stand-by and employee passengers to stay on the flight. The problem? Five out of fourteen toilets were broken. They were going to just take the plane back to SF without anyone on it, but the captain knew the trouble it would cause the stand-bys. We were beyond blessed and extremely thankful that he was gracious enough to allow us to stay. Finally, after a total of 4 hours waiting on the plane in Tokyo, we successfully pulled out and took off for San Francisco. On a 747 plane that was originally 80% full, it was just us, an entire flight crew, and 20 passengers. We were so privileged to be given the seats on the plane and the chance to get home....especially after a long year of being gone.

We arrived 4 hours late into SF on June 4th...our 4 year anniversary! We are so glad to be home. We have enjoyed a great weekend full of family and friends, excellent healthy food, walks to town, having "Christmas" as we find the things we left behind for a year, and figuring out what our new life here will look like. Brian has started putting his name out there to do computer work, and I am pursuing a teaching job for the fall. We will continue to update this blog, but with a new flare: life back in California! We thoroughly appreciate your prayers, thoughts, comments, encouragements, and friendships. We would love to get together with you, so please don't hesitate to call or email us!

Life

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

This sums up our journey here. We wish that we could have taken both paths, but God has sent us down the one less traveled by, and that HAS made all the difference.

Long Weeks and Coffee

We have this week off of work. We are finding it an interesting phenomenon. We have not had time off of work for a long time. I am not sure what to do with myself. We have a lot to do I suppose, getting ready for leaving, and packing up classrooms and whatnot. We have been sitting at the local coffee shop a lot lately, doing just random things. Trying not to work to hard. I have been actually pro actively trying to not do any work. I have my grades done, and I do not have a classroom to pack up. I was going to upload a random video on here, but it actually turn out to be quite large; something like 100MB. Normally that would be fine, but here that would take me like 2 days to upload or something. It's not that cool of a video for me to spend two days trying to upload it. If you are really interested send me an email and I will send it to you in a couple weeks, when we are back to fast internet.

The countdown is almost over - we leave Cambodia for good in about 18 days. We are heading out to an orphanage tomorrow, just to hang out with some of the kids and whatnot. We are sitting at this coffee shop where we literally have like 3 people who work here standing right by us, kind of annoying. I think they think that it would be rude if they did not stand right next to us - just in case we need something. Whats funny about that is the fact that when I go to Fry's I just like to wander the aisles, by myself...no people following me around. And on top of that when I do decide that I want to get something, or I need some help, I unable to find anyone! I much prefer being left alone, then pestered.

Nothing really profound to say, we are just working hard and trying to get things all in order for out long journey back home.

Your homework: Listen to Caedmon's Calls' album called Overdressed. It's unbelievable.

My Daily Muse

Well, my promise to write more frequently has been forgotten, and here I am updating our blog almost 1 month after the last post. It makes me sick, but we have literally been too busy to even think about blogging. Here are some highlights of our last 3 weeks: Karie turned 28, and had 4 full days of birthday celebrations; we have encountered more rainy afternoon storms, some bringing rain as deep as our mid-calf; we have officially changed our countdown to days rather than weeks (which we are currently at 22 days); Brian has become more and more sick of being here, and has resulted in wanting to go out every night with friends to get his mind off the fact that YES, we are STILL here; we have subliminally changed our diet to try to get rid of all Asian food, and supplement it with as much "western food" that we can find (sandwiches, egg breakfasts, chips, etc.); we have begun cleaning, organizing, selling, and getting rid of things at school and at home; we have begun packing; we are experiencing many favorites in this city, and realizing they will be the last time we do them; we are spending as much time with our friends here as possible; and last but not least, we are continuously thinking and praying about our return home. WE ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU ALL.

Here in Cambodia, as you can imagine, life has become very normal. After all, we've been here almost a year now. Things that you might think are surprising and silly might still affect us that way, but we have learned to ignore them and move on. These things still capture Karie's eye, and she loves to try to catch these things on camera. She has begun going all over the city video taping all sorts of things. Below are some images that we enjoy on a continual basis, but that still amuse our hearts and eyes. We hope you enjoy these things, our daily musings here in Cambodia.

Monks are a colorful part of the scenery around here; always dressed in orange, and usually are spotted asking for offerings or praying a blessing over people.

No explanation really needed here: just a part of daily life. This does NOT factor in the high humidity factor, however.

Horribly translated and ridiculously hilarious signs add brightness to daily life. This is posted in a new frozen yogurt shop, large and bold and on the wall. My fav is #6. CLASSIC.

Yep, we ARE still alive!

Sorry, but it has been over 2 weeks since I have updated this blog. We have been SO busy it has not even crossed my mind. Well, I lie- it has crossed my mind...however, we were in quite a slump where there were no new stories or pictures to write about. Now, prepare yourselves. I have a ton to say!! Here is what we have been up to these past weeks in words; below are the pictures to prove it!

• Easter Musical here at school, with kids working hard to memorize lines, learn dances, etc.
  
• Karie got very sick, and missed 3 days of school; nothing conclusive, but seemed like a bacterial digestive system infection. The day she got better, she got a sinus infection. Was out for a solid week. Miserable.
  
• Went up to Siem Reap (home of the ancient Angkor Wat temples). LOVED it up there; we didn't even feel like we were in Cambodia. The small, quiet town is totally geared towards tourists. Things we saw that are not in our city: trash cans, a lovely river with a green grassy walkway, green TREES, friendly Cambodian people, clean streets. Totally opposite Phnom Penh.
  
• rainy season and hot season seem to be co-existing here: the heat turns up during the day, and CRAZY storms blow in at around 3pm in the afternoons. It doesn't cool it down however, just adds to the moisture in the air. Black clouds, wind, and flooding are common occurrences here again.
  

So happy to be off the bus! Do you see why Brian has a smerky smile? Haha..

Beautiful river walk area: Siem Reap

Getting ready for the most FUN we've had in awhile...

....sunset ATV ride through the rice paddies and villages!

The beauty of an impending storm.

Angkor Wat: built in the first century!

Fun climbing on ancient ruins! Ta Prom Temple.

Where they filmed Tomb Raider: Ta Prom Temple.

Sweet babes: Siem Reap

Our crazy storm yesterday! It was this flooded after only 1 1/2 hours of downpour.

In other news, we have less then 6 weeks before we begin our trek HOME. We are thrilled beyond belief to have made it through the adventure that is Cambodia, but in the same sense, sad to leave this adventurous life behind. One day soon, I will be walking around the beautiful neighborhoods of Los Gatos with my Mom...totally satisfied with where I am...but near the front of my mind will be the times we had here in this country. I am so thankful for these times, both hard and good. The kids I have in my class are beyond description, and I will miss each of them dearly. They have shown me what it means to be true learners. Some are learning all the school subjects in their third language. They are only between 9-12 years old. I love these kids.

In the upcoming weeks, we will be doing some of the following: packing up things, getting rid of anything we can, taking "last trips" to some of our favorite restaurants, pools, and markets in the city, celebrating Karie's 28th (ugh.....SO OLD) birthday, and finalizing our trip plans for our 4 days top over in Japan. We should be home around June 4-6th. Here are some ways we could really use your prayers:

• For our last weeks with our students: that we would continually show who Christ is to them, and how much He cares for them.
• For us to stay healthy, with all that we have to do.
• For Karie's job search: her ideal job would be teaching in a public school.
  
• For Brian's final details of getting registered for school, starting in the summer.
• That we would not rush these last weeks, no matter how excited we are to get home; that we would take each moment and treasure it.
  

Thanks for reading, and look for more updates to come! May God continue to bless you all!

The Terrace Cafe, a rainstorm, and the Good Samaritan

Oh yes, this is the Terrace Cafe. See why we like it so much? In the center of their sign is a traditional Apsara dancer...the most common dance in Cambodia.

Last night for B and I was truly delightful. We escaped to our favorite coffee shop in town (actually in our neighborhood), and we brought some school work and an iPod. You must understand that this cafe has been decorated with the highest effort to cater to its customers; there are plush seats inside, 2 very powerful wall air-conditioners, fruit out on display, colorful laminated menus, incredible freshly ground coffee, and about 15 people working at the same time....all there to serve your needs. Believe me when I say this place is not Cambodia. The owner went to Thailand to train in making exquisite coffee, bought a very expensive machine there, and hired someone incredible to decorate both the inside and outside of this place. This is not Cambodia.

Anyway, as B and I sat in the Terrace Cafe, we enjoyed good music, great drinks, and most of all....a powerful rainstorm that crept up on this country. We are in the middle of hot season, and with hot season, it is not rainy season. We have had rains quite a few times this week, and it has been the absolute most refreshing thing I have experienced in awhile. The rain washes all the dust and pollution out of the air and cools everything down. As we sat, the raindrops pelted the roof of the coffee shop with great strength. I walked outside to enjoy it firsthand. It was raining so hard that on the street, with each landing drop, a large bubble formed where the drop hit. It was incredible. I couldn't help but get nostalgic as I nestled down in my chair inside, and feelings of being at home, cozy, in front of a fireplace filled my mind. My entire body was in a complete joyous state as, for a few minutes, I pictured myself at home...all cozy.

I got up numerous times during the storm to head outside and enjoy its beauty. On one occasion, I looked to my right and saw a sight that wrenched me to my core. It was a sight I will not soon forget: two little girls and their father, wearing rags, and huddled under the awning of the business next door. They were clearly homeless, poor, and in need. I smiled at them, hoping what little I could give might show God's love in some way. They did not smile back. My heart began to break in many fragmented pieces. I started to think of my own father, and how he did all he could to provide for my sister and I when we were little girls. I began to melt inside, thinking that this father was doing all he could to provide for his little girls....which turned out to be an awning to get out of a storm. They do not have a house to go to when the rains stop; they do not have warm blankets to dry them off.

This week in the ladies Bible study I attend, we are looking at the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is found in Luke 10:25-37. The study hit me hard this week, as we are surrounded daily by prostitutes, beggars, those who have lost limbs because of land mines, and poor street children. How can I be a better neighbor to them? Why aren't people in their own country reaching out to be better neighbors to them? Why is there such a numerous amount of this country's population living in utter poverty?

"....which one of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." -Luke 10: 36-37

The verses we had studied just this week, the people in the story....they were now standing face to face with me, dripping wet. As I had thoughts of coziness and sheer joy inside the coffee shop, they had thoughts of food, a dry place, and sheer fear outside the coffee shop.

Go and do likewise....

I had to do something, but what? How could I show God's love to this family who surely spoke no English? They must be hungry, I deduced, so I went inside to order them some food. The wait for the food seemed like an eternity, as my whole body quivered with the reality of the family standing outside. As the food came, I rushed outside to hand it to them. They placed their hands together, in the traditional Asian greeting, and thanked me with the only way they knew how. I prayed that they might someday know Christ's love, and that He might show Himself to them through that hot meal and dry ground.

I was so thankful to God for rocking my world last night. I was probably the most comfortable I had ever been here, and God did not allow that to last for long. I am grateful for that family, and so glad to be able to be a small light in their very dark world. Through my night last night, I would like to encourage you to read the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). "Go and do likewise" this week, and then leave me a comment as to how you were a true neighbor to someone in your world. Reaching out to others causes God to smile big, and it makes your own heart soften in a major way. Have fun this week as you look for ways to be a neighbor!