Road Trip

I'm going to back track from my last blog about Angkor Wat and tell you a little about the actual trip that got us there. It was a long drive. A really long drive. We took a taxi, which actually just means that I got to spend 5 hours in the middle of the backseat of a Cambodian guy's old Toyota Camry.  Sitting between 2 carseats in that little car for a long time is always an adventure. Especially with the honking he does the whole way.  Seriously, not more than a minute or two goes by without honking, and the kids sometimes go through phases of the trip when they mimic the horn so they start yelling "beeep, honk, uuunnnkkk" every time it blares.  That's really fun.  I love it.  

The bathroom break was awesome, too.  Below you'll see where we got to stop to let our youngest pee.  He could have gone in front of the car, but he wanted to pee by the water buffalo instead.  So his dear Dad obliged.  I protested but as usual, I'm pretty sure I'm invisible and no one heard anything I said.  You can see him below in the bottom left.  And our dear buffalo friend on the right.  If you look really close you'll see the teeny rope that is keeping him tied up.  And if you don't see it, well, that just shows you why I wasn't confident in it's ability to keep this wild animal away from my child.  

But he survived.  And that's good because it's not like we could do anything medically out in the middle of Cambodia so far from both the major cities - the one we left and the one we were going to. I guess men don't think about that because after he was so fortunate to survive the potty break they then decide to PET the wild animal!!!!  Oh. My. Gosh.  I was freaking out in the car.  Seriously. Just get me over the next 10,546 potholes so we can be at our hotel already and use a real toilet!  I can definitely hold it until then.  And since we are hitting these potholes at this speed I literally will HOLD IT.

And, as always, we eventually made it.  Great hotel!  They let us sit at a little welcome table while they checked us in and took the bags to the room.  Service is always exceptional in Cambodia!  Not sure what this welcome drink was but it tasted like pure sugar. Of course the kids loved it.

And, this is misleading because it was the next night, but hey, gotta put it in somewhere...  We climbed up a mountain to see the sunset.  It was a nice paved trail that wasn't too steep but our little Hulk man was starting to get sick to Stephen carried him the whole way and might not claim the path was so easy.  Our 5 year old did it himself, though.  I was proud.  Look at this view of Angkor Wat from the top!

And on the top we found this temple.  And the line you had to wait in to get to climb it to see the sunset.  Oops!  We didn't know there'd be a line!  I was worried, since I worry about everything, that we wouldn't make it to the top by sunset.  The signs said it closed at 5:30 and one thing about being this close to the equator is that when the sun starts setting it finishes fast.  It goes down so quickly! 

But we made it to the top and saw beautiful views like this...

And the kids were happy to just climb and play on what looked like the top of the world to them!

The water is the Tonle Sap lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.  I'll tell you more about it later, and I also wrote about it here.

So the sun was setting to our west and we looked to the east and were happy to see a full moon as well!  What a great night!

And since it was only like 6pm when it was all finished, we headed to Swensen's after for a treat!  Yep, they have Swensen's in Cambodia.  That and KFC (which some Cambodians think means Kampuchea Fried Chicken) are the only American fast food chains that have made it here as far as we can tell.  Swensen's only has ice cream, no food, but it's pretty yummy!  The kids had fun with the fondue dish we ordered to share. 

What a day that was!  A sunset over a view like that always puts everything back into perspective for me.

 He's got the whole world in His hands.

Angkor Wat

Since Angkor Wat is really the name that tourists use to refer to the whole temple complex around Siem Reap, it makes the most sense to start with photos from there.  It was also our first temple to visit.

Angkor Wat itself has become a national symbol of Cambodia.  It appears on its national flag and draws far more visitors – both national and international - than any other place in the country.  It is a source of great national pride and has helped the nation to have better relations (and funding) from other nations as they help to restore and maintain the temple.

 Here is a little tiny bit of history I learned on our tour.  You can do an internet search to find out a lot more.  It was built in the 12^th century by a King whose name I have trouble pronouncing or spelling (or honestly, remembering). It was originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to 3 of their gods, mainly to Vishnu and took 37 years to build.  During the rainy season, they floated the giant stones from the mountain some 60-80 km away by bamboo rafts and during the dry season they drilled holes in them like this (below) and tied them to elephants to carry in.

About 100 years after it was finished, the religion of the region changed to Buddhism and the temple became a Buddhist Wat which it is still used actively as today.  During the 20^th century a lot of restoration was done and the vines and moss that had overtaken the walls was scrubbed off.  The acid used damaged many of the bas relief style carvings but many more are still clearly visible and beautiful.  Some tell the story of two kings who struggled for power.  Others tell other stories the guide told me but I can’t remember.  Oops.  Pretty pictures of the carvings though, right? 

The entryway is was once “protected” by a stone Naga – or seven headed cobra – that they believe was a deity in snake form that served to protect the temple. That's the railing you see below... the body of the snake.  Interesting.  Sure.

Here is the head, restored:

Hope I don’t come across a real seven headed cobra.  Or any cobra.  Ever.

And that’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about Angkor Wat.  Come visit us and we will definitely take you to see it!  Here are more photos:

To be honest... this was my least favorite one to photograph, though I loved it very much!  I can’t wait to show you more!

One of those days...

Ever had one of those days you wish you could do over?

We made it home from vacation.

But on the way our little one got a bad rash to go with that fever and cried like the last hour of the trip. You know how that goes. And since it's not our car and we aren't driving, there wasn't much we could do. Frustrating.

Not as frustrating as realizing that my wallet is no longer in my purse and was likely stolen, possibly (and quite probably) by our taxi driver. Not a lot of money inside, but cancelling the credit and debit card is a pain when we know they can't mail us a new one from the US. Oh, and when Stephen made a collect call to talk to them from his cell, it used all his minutes on his phone. A collect call. Annoying.

And then we ordered dinner to be delivered by a moto because we had no food in the house, and when it came, the hot dog we got the kids was actually hot wings (which were yummy for the grown ups) so they had nothing to eat. More frustration.

And then the whole apartment smelled when we came in because clothes had gotten left in the washer for days and a rotten potato had melted all over the counter. That one's just gross.

I'm glad that day is over.
At least I haven't gotten sick.

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.



UPDATE:  I wrote the above on Tuesday and it didn't get published for some reason until today (Wednesday) but then today we went to the kid's club where we made lava lamps (thank you Pinterest!) and the kids there now officially think I'm one of the coolest people in Cambodia.  I don't care so much about being cool, but it brightened my day significantly when one asked me to say scientist over and over again in English then said "I be scientist like you." All of them now love science!  So yep, my "tomorrow" was significantly better.  Isn't it great how the little tiny things like that can make the big things seem so silly?

The Tonle Sap and Water Festival

We are on vacation right now.  I’m sitting in a hotel room with 2 kids and a husband who are all sick and I’m nervously wondering when I’ll get the ugly virus!  We go home tomorrow, so I’m anxious to make it home before it hits at least!

I wanted to share a little about this holiday before I fill up pages and pages of my next few posts with photos of truly some of the most amazing and beautiful places I’ve ever visited (when the kids were feeling ok, of course)!

November 9-11 this year in Cambodia is when the annual Water Festival Holiday fell.  It’s usually late October to early November and that date has something to do with the full moon at this time of the Buddhist Calendar.  Cambodians call it Bon Om Touk, though there are like 4 different ways to spell that so I don't know which is right.  What it is called isn’t the cool part – what it celebrates is!

Get ready because this is one of those fun facts you should memorize in case you ever find yourself on some reality game show or just in a really good game of Trivial Pursuit.  You might get this question:  Where is the one river in the whole world that changes direction of its flow every single year?   Yep, you guessed it, in the Kingdom of Cambodia!  Here’s why, and I think it’s fabulously interesting:

Check out this map:

See the giant lake?  That’s the Tonle Sap Lake, and it’s the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.  And that river running down south to Phnom Penh from it is the Tonle Sap River.  Also note the other river, the Mekong, that meets the Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh.  These are the important geographic points of the phenomenon.

Cambodia has two seasons:  wet and dry.  For most of the year the Tonle Sap travels down from the lake and flows into the Mekong and then onward south.  But, when the wet season arrives, the Mekong rises and pushes the water back up the Tonle Sap into the lake. During this time the lake grows to 10 times its normal size.  Then, when the rainy season ends and the Mekong drops again, the water of the Tonle Sap switches direction again.  That’s what happens now, in November. 

This is cause for great celebration and religious significance as well and the population of Phnom Penh grows to almost 3 times its normal size over the 3-5 day holiday.  Those who can’t find a hotel or friend to stay with just camp out on the streets of the city.  (That’s why we left town!)  The Tonle Sap is a great source of life for many Cambodians because they make their living by fishing or farming, and this expansion and contraction of the size of the lake works to fertilize the fields around the water and keep the fish in the water breeding.  Many fish from the mighty Mekong swim upstream to breed during this change in flow.

During the festival there are usually huge boat races, fireworks, parades, and celebrations, but this rainy season of 2011 has been especially bad so the races were cancelled.  Maybe not as many people stayed to see the other events as well, but we won’t know because we came to Siem Reap instead.  You’ll see it just north of the lake on the map. 

And oh, boy, do I have photos and stories coming about Siem Reap!  It’s amazing here!  The kids weren’t at 100% because they were a little sick, but we did about half a day each day and it was worth it.  Then Stephen got sick and well, I can’t push any of them anymore.  So I’m sitting in the hotel room looking through my 500+ photos for the best ones to show to you!  We head back home tomorrow.

Home.  

Hard to believe I’m calling Phnom Penh “home” so easily these days!

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!

It’s my baby’s 3^rd birthday.  I love this kid.  

He’s my second born but my first big challenge in a lot of ways.  It all started the day he was born.  He was never really a teeny tiny little baby - check out that scale!  He started out bigger than most and in so many ways is still “bigger” than others his age.

Before other kids his same age could talk he was rattling off superhero names and secret identities.  That was the beginning of a love of a world I only thought I had learned much about since meeting my husband.  With two more little boys in the house, it’s all we ever talk about.  And oh, his face when he learns about a new superhero or villain is just priceless.  He absorbs every ounce of information he hears about the character and commits it to his memory forever to be recited again at any random moment.

I love this superhero.

Except when it gets him into trouble.  Like a couple weeks ago, I stepped away from the gas stove for like three hundredths of a second and I heard him say to his brother “If you touch that fire you will turn into Human Torch.” I’m sure you can guess how I reacted. Just another day in our house of little boys who’d try anything that might turn them into a superhero.  Well, try it on their brother, anyway.

He makes me laugh all the time.  He makes me laugh with the looks he can give.  And so often he gets his way because one of these looks shows me that it isn’t worth the fight.

He’s got his father’s litigator genes, too.  About 15 minutes ago I caught him eating Halloween candy, which he can’t do without permission.  His response:  “Mommy, I was just checking to see if it still tasted good because I had it for a lot of days now.  So I’m never gonna get in trouble for just checking things, right?”  Or when I tell him not to do something because he could fall (and I do this so many times a day) he responds “Well, I just did it and I didn’t fall then so you are wrong.”  Great. 

He doesn’t like to say he’s sorry.  My family says he gets that from me.  I’ll never apologize for that.  If I really am sorry, I say it.  So does he.  I love that about him, though I do force an “I’m sorry” out of him when he hurts someone or says something ugly.  I just know it’s probably not sincere.

He’s incredibly handsome.  And he’d be naked all the time if I’d let him.  We usually settle for half-dressed if we can, meaning either a shirt or pants.

And he likes choices.  In fact, if he didn’t finally decide that he wanted ice cream bad enough one night to use the potty, he’d still be in diapers.  I tried for months to potty train him but it was never a success until he made that choice himself.  And good news is he hasn’t gone back since! 

So, yes, there are challenges about this cutie pie.  Of course we don’t let him get away with all these things without consequences!  Sometimes we do have to close the door and laugh about him when he’s not looking though.  It's always been that way. 

He’s also one of the snuggliest kids I’ve ever known.  He loves hugs and gives great kisses!  He still likes to sit in my lap and randomly will just reach up and play with my hair and tell me I look beautiful.  One time I got all dressed up to go out and he said I looked like Sully from Monsters, Inc., but apparently that was a compliment, too.  He is very sweet and I've always loved his cudddles! 

 He can build things with play-doh I’d never think to try and while his brother can follow directions with Legos and make incredible toys, he prefers to just piece them together into his own designs and comes up with impressive cars, planes, and even whole cities.  His mind is quite creative!

He loves to “read” his books and has a huge imagination, though he has zero interest in what a letter is or what sound it makes.  He likes to draw pictures but sometimes changes his mind about what it is when he explains it from one person to the next.  He has very recently brought an imaginary friend into our lives who apparently looks just like him but has a mustache and is named Joshua.  We are all anxiously wondering what that will turn into. 

He’s truly brought a bright light to Cambodia.  The people here, adults and children alike, adore him.  They pinch his cheeks, grab him for a hug, and giggle when he folds his hands to bow in respect when he greets them with “Jiam Reap Souh.” He is truly a gift from God and we knew our family was blessed by him but are so thankful this little guy could bless so many others as well.  He’s turning 3 today.  Imagine all the people whose lives may be better because of this child in the coming years!  I pray it is so.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Angels

Our God is so big.  His Spirit is immeasurably vast and crosses all boundaries.  That is why I could feel His presence all around me back in my church in North Carolina the same way I feel His presence consuming me here in Cambodia.  Because He is here.  And He is there.  And His Spirit exists everywhere in this world He created.

Knowing that, I have to admit that there are days that I think it would be nice – really nice - for His angels to just descend from Heaven and lift up my family and carry us away from the sadness and darkness of this unknown place back to the place we still call “home.”

Like today.  Days like today when little things happen like losing my cell phone off a tuk tuk, surely to never be seen again.  Or other little things like my internet not working when I’m trying to talk to a good friend.  Or way bigger things like having to take my child to the doctor to figure out if this fever he’s been fighting for 5 days might be Dengue Fever or Typhoid or worse. 

And then I remember that going “home” would be too easy.  And for too many people, the home they love looks something like this.  

And yet they love it because they know nothing else.  They are happy.  And that makes me smile and want to be happy like them.  

And it makes me remember that God has been here infinitely longer than me. 

No need for angels to carry me anywhere. 

They carried me right here for a reason.

And I am grateful.

Zoo, Part Two

(part 1 is here)

Well, as promised, here are some photos of the people I saw at the zoo.  Most of these photos are from our first visit, since the second visit found the zoo mostly empty.  Here are some random snapshots throughout the zoo. 

No, the people weren’t in cages!!  Here they are watching two bears that are about to get in a fight.  I was just around the other corner.

This boy is trying to throw food over a cage to some deer but not strong enough to do it so he’s laughing in embarrassment.  I thought it was kind of cute. 

And here are some more:

The photos are fun and bring me joy of this place I love.

On the road that leads out of (and into) the zoo, however, it’s a different view.

 These photos just break my heart into a million pieces.  This dirt road is filled with beggars just standing there asking for money as the cars go by.  The first time we went the road had people literally every 10-20 meters or less.  And this road is 6 kilometers long.  That’s a lot of people who are poor and homeless and asking for more money than I could physically give out! I mean, I physically did not possess enough bills for the number of people present that day. How do you decide who to give to and who to pass by?  Most of them are old and disabled in some way.  Some are children or entire families and it’s just heart breaking to see them sitting out in the middle of this quiet road so far from the bustling city of Phnom Penh.  There they are, just standing and asking for money.  They  fill the holes in the road with dirt so cars will appreciate their work and pay them.   Some are blind and just stand in front of the cars so they have to drive around them to get down the road.  I saw one with no legs just sitting by the road.  They all looked so sad.  And so old!  It’s very unusual to see so many old people in Cambodia.  I just want to hug them all.

I want to give all the money I have to them and take off my clothes and give them something to wear, even if that means the Chaco sandals I got for my birthday last year or the Gucci knock off sunglasses I bought at the beach for $10.  I don't care.  They have nothing.  I have so much.

 I don’t know why God gave me the heart He did and the love for these people that He did without giving me millions of dollars and thousands of people to come with me so I could help these people and change the world.  I guess because it makes me ask Him that question every single day.  And every single day, He answers my question by saying that it is enough.  What seems like so little to me is so much to them.

Just smiling at a young girl as I pass her in the market might be enough to keep her from making a choice to feel worthless enough to jump on a pimp’s moto one night.

Asking my tuk tuk driver how he is doing today instead of just shouting out a destination might be enough to make him notice something different and encourage him to stay and come inside on Sunday when he brings us to church.

Tipping my server at a place where tipping isn’t customary (just a little so not to insult them) might be just what they need for a child at home that day.

Who knows what invisible needs are present around me every day.

If it were easy, 

I wouldn’t need God.  

And neither would they. 

These people break my heart.  

And God puts it back together when I fall to my knees before Him.

And then I wake up another day so we can do it all over again.