Catch up Time ...

I’ve been awful about posting, and I’m sorry. This whole thing has been a whirlwind, and luckily, I don’t have much time to sit around and feel lonely. I’ll try to separate posts so there aren’t any that are too long.

I arrived in Poipet on January 21, about eight weeks ago. Unbelievable – it has absolutely flown by! Matt and Nori Turinski, Tear Australia staff working at CHO for the past year, were kind enough to let me live with them in their house on the outskirts of the business district of Poipet, in a development named Borey San Ho (“House San Ho” – San Ho is the former mayor of Poipet and owner of the development). We have a nice little apartment with an open lounge room and kitchen downstairs, two rooms on the second floor (mine and Emily’s rooms), and 3 bedrooms upstairs with a little balcony. All of our neighbors are Cambodian, so I’m happy that we’re not hiding away somewhere. It’s much nicer than I was expecting – they rented it because it was so much cheaper than renting a tiny apartment right in town. Seems like a good deal to me! Still, it’s pretty basic. None of our toilets flush, so we have buckets in every bathroom that we fill with water to flush. (I do miss flush toilets sometimes, though CHO was kind enough to install a few at the office (so many foreigners!) so us “barangs” wouldn’t have to navigate the squat toilet for staff.) There is no hot water, so all of our showers are cold. Truthfully, it’s so hot that it doesn’t matter. I hate cold showers with a passion, or I thought I did, but I don’t mind it at all – what a pleasant surprise! There is also no air conditioning, and it’s at least 85-90 F most of the time. Basically, if you’re not in the line of a fan, you are sweating! I’ve gotten used to it, though sometimes in the office it seems unbearable when I’m trying to get work done or there are 60 of us in the conference room sweating together. Our house also has a little half-size oven, a bitty stove (or “hob,” as they apparently say in the UK!), and a 4-foot fridge. It’s perfect!

Getting around has been fairly easy. Emily has a motorbike that we use to get around town, and if she’s not available, I can flag down a moto driver to take me around. We have a bike I can use as well, but I haven’t been brave enough to face the crazy driving as a slow bike rider. I’m sure I will soon, but it hasn’t come to that yet!

Emily and I are pretty much inseparable, since we share an office, a house, and everything else. She has been such an amazing blessing and has become a good friend. She first came to Cambodia about a year ago through TearFund UK on a 6-month trip with three other girls and has since returned for several months to work on CHO’s School on a Mat program, funded by Hope for the Nations, an organization based in Canada. She’s lots of fun, adventurous, spontaneous, hilarious, a little crazy, selfless, humble, and very caring. Who couldn’t ask for a better person to spend 4 months with? We’ve already planned out several weekend and holiday trips, the last of which will hopefully be right before I leave – a trip to Thailand’s southern islands. (I can’t wait !!! Except that I can – I’m dreading leaving here. I want to go home and “grow up” and be near Chris and my family, but I really like it here….)

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll write more in a few days! Sorry again!