Sabbath

Happy Sabbath!

Today was my first Sabbath here in Cambodia and is was jam pack full of things to do. I'll walk you through it.

Woke up at 6 and got ready in my "pent house" It is an apartment above the church that looks out at the city. It is nice. I have a balcony and everything. I want to get plants and have a little garden... but that is in the future. I have a bathroom, of course, but it is very interesting. It has a toilet, sink and a shower all in the room. but not a shower stall. :D There is just a drain in the ground. It takes talent to aim the shower so not everything gets wet. I also have a little friend who lives in the bathroom. A geiko named Gieko. Yes... I know... it's lame but I had to.

8:30 I had English sabbath school with students and younger teachers from CAS (Cambodia Adventist School, where I'm working)

Right after that at 9:30 we had Khmer Church with is spoken in Khmer with English translation. That is the big church service where everyone come.

Then right after that at 11:30 we had English Sabbath school, which is where all the mission and ADRA workers come for sabbath school

Then right after that we had pot luck with lots of good food. The fruit is amazing!!! I will never be able to eat a banana at home again! When they are fresh they do not taste like any banana I have ever had before. Also the watermelon is bright red. not pink. They have mangostein, ramadon, hairy fruit (don't remember the real name, but is bright pink with pink and limegreen hairs coming off it) Those are the fruits I have tried so far.

Then before potluck ended I was invited to go to a home church in town that is a starter church. So Whitaker and I went along to see how it is. That church is how I image mission work. Here at the mission office and the students I have met so far are well off, since they are able to pay for school. I was starting to feel spoiled with all the luxury and it did not seem like Phnom Penh was a city with a lot of poverty and then when we went to the little church I was have to meet the "poor". If you have seen pictures of India when I went there, it looked a lot like that. Tin houses, children with dirty cloths, no shoes... like you see on TV. I'm excited to get involved with that. The people that we went to are the head and assistant head of ADRA Cambodia. ADRA is a big organization that helps with international development, and I always thought it would be nice to work with or for them, so it good experience to see what ADRA does.

Right after that came back for English church, and then went over to Tim and Faye's house (I don't know their official title, but I think he is the head of the missions office here in Cambodia) We ate popcorn and played some settlement game, which I failed at miserably.

Well... This is just a summery.

I'm doing great. I love the people and have made tons of friends! There are people form everywhere here. My neighbors below me are from Pakistan and the two little kids call me Baji Amy which means sister Amy in Pakistani (or abul i think is the name of the language... something like that) They already won my hear. I also have Korean neighbors my age, Hannah and Grace. Hannah was so excited to hear I was coming because I was a 20 something girl who was not married. They work for ADRA Korea. All they other volunteers are married. Alot of them are from Australia.

Well, I hope this gives you a little taste of what has happened so far. Tomorrow I am off the the market!