Cambodia: Day 4
Start at the beginning.First Poop in Cambodia
We went to Soekna's church. While we were teaching Sunday school, I had to take a dump. All they had were squat toilets but they didn't have any water. The pumped some water from the well into a bucket for me. After I did my business, I tried pouring water in to the squat toilet, but my poo got stuck in the hole. Soekna came over and poured the whole bucket in to flush it.We Worship the Same God
We joined Soekna's church for service. It was nice how they got everyone involved. They had the kids go up and sing and recite memory verses. They also had other people recite memory verses as well. They had communion with bread and purple drink. It was nice experiencing their service.Aloe, Our Savior
We went back to the Light for Living before lunch. Our backs felt like they were on fire. We had unsuccessfully looked for aloe vera to soothe the pain. We did manage to get some moisturizer with vitamin E in it, but alas, no aloe vera. Luckily, the school had aloe plants. We jacked a leef and cut it open and started rubbing its blood on our backs. It was soothing at first, but then it started to sting. And dang, was it stinky.Bug Noodle Soup
For lunch, we went to the beef noodle soup place again. It was nice because the weather was cooler from the rain. The soup wasn't as good this time because I found bugs in the soup. I also got a lot of beef liver instead of chunks of beef.
As we were eating, we started teaching them about "pwn" and how to use it. It's funny, because they don't really understand the word. Like, how it can be used for both good and bad.
While we were just chillin' after lunch, I looked across the street and saw what looked like a fried banana shop. We ran over there and were lucky to get a fresh batch. The fried bananas were so good, but so greesy.This is Shaved Ice?
Then we hit up some shaved ice. Todd had been raving about the place but it really wasn't anything to cry home about. It was less shaved ice and more like red bean drink with condensed milk.No Pretty Girl
We went back to the temple to study with Mr. Sok. We got the chance to see his crib and learn some more Khmer. After not too long, my brain was fried from too much Khmer. I learned a lot of random useless vocabulary like: nose, ear, earlobe, and such.Patrick's House
We hit up Patrick's house and proceeded to teach the locals how to use "pwn". It was larious trying to explain to them what it meant and how to use it. They kept asking how it could be a word because it doesn't have any vowels. I think, as long as we keep using it, it will change Cambodia.
Although I had met Ringsay earlier, I didn't really get a chance to talk to him. I found out that he's going to school for Computer Science too and he was also the champion Khmer dancer of Kampong Chnang. We kept trying to get him to dance for us, but he was really shy. Eventually I was able to make a deal with him. He would dance his traditional Khmer dance for me next week, if I would dance for him. I figure, that's a fair trade.
I also got a chance to chat with Barbara, Patrick's wife. We talked a bit about international news, such as the foiled terrorist plot to bomb 10 flights, Israel and Lebanon, and the typhoon that hit China. She also shared about how she and Patrick got started working in Cambodia.
Originally, they had planned to go to Beirut back in their 20s, but as they were training, they were kept from going. This stalled their desires for full-time missions. Eventually, Patrick felt called again. At first, Barbara didn't feel the calling, but once she visited, she was hooked.
It's interesting to see the path that God had set them on to bring them to full-time missions. I think about my own path and how many misfires I've had in the last week. Things that I thought were part of the plan or part of the path end up fizzling out. I'm afraid that I've just been spinning my wheels for the last year and didn't really get anywhere.
But I trust that God has the plan set and when the time is right, things will fall in place. I know now that not everything will fit perfectly. But things don't have to in order for God to show his glory.Purliwi
We stopped by the market and picked up some fruit. We got this purple fruit that is like a cross between a kiwi, chinese pear, and a watermelon. Since we don't know the real name of the fruit, we decided to call it purliwi because it is kind of like a purple kiwi.
We also got some dragon eyes which were really juicy and sweet.
Tomorrow begins my first full week.
posted by w3y at
8/13/2006 11:35:00 PM
