Smell the Trash

Today I ran around like my head was cut off, trying to figure out books. I think I finally have all the teacher editions that I need. Yeah!!! One small improvement that will make life easier. I also finished my lesson plans for the first week. :D Now I just have to get everything ready.

I have met a few of the students and I can already tell that I am going to love my students. Well, if there are all like the ones I have met, although the ones that I have met are the responsible ones that are hired in the summer to work at the school and at the mission. Oh well, they will be the ones to give me some sanity. There is one boy at the school, and forgive me I cannot remember his name (Sopin, something like that) but he is always running around and doing errands for everyone and is really respectful. I hear so many horror stories about the students. Apparently Cambodians are not like the studious asians that you think of that go to school in America. Many Khmer (Cambodian) students are lazy. I will just have to motivate them.

Faye needed to go to the airport to change some tickets she bought and so she brought us along to get Dairy Queen. Hahaha my family took me to Dairy Queen before I left, cause I needed to have Dairy Queen one last time before being away for a year, and here they have one. lol ;D

Faye then took BJ and I on her errands around town and we were able to go to a new market where a lot of material is sold and it is less of a touristy market. Since so few tourists go there, the vendors really don't know English, so its a little difficult trying to understand the prices they have. There number system is easy, but yet hard. I'll go through the numbers.
1: muy
2: pi
3: bay
4: bu-on
5: bprom
6: bprom muy
7: bprom pi
8: brpom bay
9: brpom bru-on
10: dop
11: dop muy
12: dop bay
...
19: dop brprom bu-on
...
1354: bpoa-un bay roy haa seup bu-on

so you can see when there are 4000 reil in a dollar, when they give prices it is difficult to figure out what they are saying. haha... i'm getting better though :D

Then for dinner we went to Mark and Ann's house. They are the president and vice president of ADRA-Cambodia, a big international development organization here. We ate a great meal of burritos and then had Durion for dessert with carrot cake. Now Durion is a interesting fruit. It is known instantly when someone has durion in their house. Imagine going to your trashing. Opening the lid, and taking a big whif of the smell. That is the smell of durion. It's hard to get the idea that one is suppose to eat it. lol. When I did eat it, it has the texture of custard and it is very mild tasting. Kinda like an avocado with a mild hint of banana. That makes no sense, but that's what it reminds me off.

Please continue praying for the work here. there is so much to be done and so little resources. There are many small churches around Phnom Penh and there are many churches throughout the country that need prayers. Many are falling apart due to lack of funds. The average tithe for a Cambodian church member is $6.00 per year. That is what the church is running on. Please pray that God's work can continue.

It may seem like the people have access to many things when I write, such as all the food, Internet, etc. but really it is only a very small percentage of people can afford it, and it is also because I am in the city. The government does not care about the people here and it is very corrupt. Bribes are the norm and a majority of the people grow up thinking cheating and bribing is okay because it is apart of their culture. One problem occurring right now is the government is selling many of the small lakes in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is already a city located in a poor spot because it is really low, so everything floods. The only reason the city was built up here, was because a lady by the name Penh found a Buddha stature on a hill (phnom) and so it was considered good luck to build here. Any ways, the government is selling these lakes and the private companies that are buying these lakes are forcing all the people living along them to move, displacing hundred of people to the country. Now that is a problem, because there are forcing city people to become country people and it is difficult for them to make a living when they are use to selling in the city. Another problem is that the private owners are filling up the lakes with sand. Therefore there will be less drainage during the rainy season, therefore more flooding. And the government does not care. The school is located near one of these lakes/ponds. They do not have to move, but it is likely that they will have flooding problems unless a miracle happens, so please pray for all the families being displaced, the school, and for the government, so that some one's heart will be softened for the people.


Oh, I just thought of something to tell you about Cambodia. The richer you are the bigger your SUV and it is black. SUV's are everywhere. It is a status symbol. The government people drive them and the rich people drive them. There there are these little motos on the streets. It looks really funny, but it describes the city. You got the rich, and you got the poor. There is not much between.