NAVIGATING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

Krista, Kristen and I arrived in Bangkok tonight (Saturday) and took a very speedy taxi to the beach town of Pattaya. Do you know anything about Pattaya? We got a crash lesson while waiting for someone to meet us in the mall at a coffee shop. Men. Mostly western (American and European) men. Often OLD men. Come to Pattaya to find "vacation girlfriends." (that is my phrase)... so... I lost count of the number of old, grey-haired, white men who passed by us with YOUNG thai girls on their arms. Just so I am clear: Men come to Pattaya for sex with young Thai women. So... what is one question you never have to ask an older, white man who is walking around alone in Pattaya? - Why are YOU in Pattaya? ... we tried... we asked this German guy why he was in Pattaya and he laughed... and said "for vacation" with kind of a wink in his eye... so... Am I losing my faith in the male species? A bit. Sorry men who read my blog. I realize if men come here for this that they have serious issues sometimes with sex but often with loneliness and relationships. There is a very high suicide rate here among western men. So... while I realize this is sad, I can't quite see them with grace, yet. I see them and get angry. So... This place is where women (and girls and boys) sell themselves to men for money... out in the open... for everyone to see... they flaunt it... and walk around proud. It just really makes me upset. We met the most WONDERFUL Christian women named Pet who works with these women... reaches out to them... rescues them and gives them hope. We met her through our friends Randy and Edie Nelson who have an amazing ministry to the Thai church out of Bangkok but come to Pattaya regularly to support the outreach minsitries here.

The silly good news? I finally got my Starbucks today! Yep. Grande iced mocha! I was so happy, I can't tell a lie.

The serious good news? We also got to attend the True Friend's Church that reaches out to this community of women... and meet some of them and hear their stories. I got to meet a male prostitute at CHURCH. Isn't that cool? He began working as a prostitute on the beaches when he was 12. Can you believe that? They are helping him find a different kind of work and loving him with the love of Jesus. Isn't that incredible? This church... reaching out to the unreachable... touching the untouchable... reminds me of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus asks us to pick up those who have been battered by life. Help them. Give them hope and a future. This church? It is doing the work of God? These women and men who lead this ministry? They are amazing. It gave me hope. God is here. Even in Pattaya... God is working MIRACLES. Praise Jesus!

Friday was our World Relief ESL Graduation ceremony. It was really sad. As we had the students fill out the "evaluations" on their last day of class (for some of the beginners that was a lesson in and of itself!) they all said they wanted ESL all year round. Hey. Maybe I am game for that :)

So it is now over. I really don't think two weeks is long enough, but it also felt like I lived a lifetime in those two weeks. I have seen and experienced so much. I have made some new friends. I have many places to stay if I ever find myself in Cambodia. Who knows? Maybe. I do know this is a GREAT program. The students really appreciated that we were there. Their progress was amazing. Many of them have families, work, volunteer with their churches/World Relief AND took either their lunch times or came in early morning to learn English. Such dedication. Such integrity. Such passion to learn. I now must process all of this...

On our last day we went to visit the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh (I can finally spell that without looking it up!)... A huge building full of skulls. Sad stories. Mass graves. Again, as it is rare, I was speechless. Truly.

I am really thankful that I get time to travel with friends (Krista & Kristen) in Thailand so we can have some time to debrief.

Q: What experiences did I have in Cambodia today?


Yes. The Spiritual mafia... as I have begun to call them, are the Buddist Monks in Cambodia. I don't mean to offen all buddists. It is just the monks here are really interesting. First, the prayers they recite are from rote memory in a language they don't understand at all... and so when they "pray" they don't really know what they are saying, which I find really funny. We were at a restaurant and we saw a monk come up and one of the employees come out with money. The store gives the monk money for a "blessing" that is said out loud but that neither understand. It smacked of a maffia-like kick-back money to keep the neighborhood safe. It just struck me that way when I saw it. Money in exchange for "protection" - sounds like a scene out of one of the Godfather movies.

Yes. Each day we drive through the red-light district of Kampong Cham to get to our teaching sight. We see the monks walking in their orange robes... and then see the painted women out on the porches of the houses waiting for men to come. It is the embrace of the flesh meeting the denial of the flesh... all on this road we take each day. The juxtaposition is startling.

Yes. Today I finally road on a moto. I white knuckled it the entire way and wore a smelly helmet. But I did it... and I am proud of myself, because it was the last fear I had to overcome here before I left. And a "Cambodian tatoo" is what westerners sometimes get when they are unfamiliar riding on motos. The exhaust pipe is on the right side and it gets HOT. If you dismount from the moto wrong you get a painful burn on your right calf. I successfully avoided this today. Bravo me!


Yes. I was laughed at all morning. Normally we stay on our staff sight. Today I went into the field with the World Relief Hope staff to see the work they do in remote, small villages. They play games with them and use puppets to teach them about avoiding mosquitos and how to avoid getting HIV. Today the skit was about mosquitos, but the whole village stared at me. Cambodians make fun of tourists but out in the villages it is different because many of these kids have never seen a blond haired, blue-eyed person before. I also have short hair, which women in Cambodia rarely sport as a style. I am also "big"- yep, I can admit it... I should lose a few (more than a few) pounds, but that is not all they were talking about. I am TALL in this country... so the kept saying ''ooh, she's big" (not in English but the guy who drove me out told me). So I really had to put on my thick skin this morning. They basically laughed at what I looked like and all of my mannerisms, too. But seeing the children was all worth it. I held a baby girl this morning. How do I know she was a girl? She had no diaper on. How do I know she had no diaper on? She was completely naked. I just prayed she wouldn't pee or worse all over me, but then again, it might have been worth it to make the kids laugh... as I am SURE they would have laughed at me. Seriously, though, these kids were really living in extreme poverty. I was really amazed to see their village. But the smiles... the HOPE staff brought such joy and laughter to their day! I was just the oddity... but the HOPE staff does the REAL work of helping these families. I was blown away by the work they do. No words. And that is rare for me, isn't it?

I have begun to be accustomed to this phrase the Cambodians use... or something similar. Today our early morning class (it begins at 6am!) discussed family words and shared their family trees. Of all the students in our room 3/4 of them had parents who were killed "in the time of Pol Pot"... mostly fathers... and for those who don't have parents killed... they will share a time of being "refugees at the Thailand border" ... and that was a startling realization for me. They all -our students and this country as a whole - share this gaping time during the seventies where people were WIPED out... mass murder... especially officials, police officers, doctors, teachers, anyone loyal to those opposed to the Khmer Rouge, at that time. I have read about it. But to hear their stories is quite different than reading about that time. It literally impacts all of them in very tangible ways. We in the United States of America talk about the tragic events of 9/11 in that way. This shared horrific experience... many of us watched it on TV... the images ingrained in our collective memories... but imagine... 9/11 lasting nearly 4 years... and all of us having relatives that died during that time or having been refugees to Mexico or Canada. Can you imagine? In Cambodia they don't have to imagine. It happened. And only now are a few of the perpetrators of what we now call "the killing fields" (mass graves all over Cambodia) are being brought to justice. Pol Pot died peacefully in his sleep. Pol Pot by the way is not his name. It is his nickname: "POLitical POTential"... this desire to wipe out the western ways and create a agrarian utopia. What happens when we as flawed humans try to create a perfect world on earth? People die. Casualties of idealism. Sacrifices to our egos. I feel for this country. It has been through so much. I hope you will join with me in praying for the future of the Cambodian people. I can see God is doing amazing work here through the faithful Cambodians who share the Good News and share their lives with their neighbors. I often ask myself when I read the passage where Jesus shares the greatest commandment: "Who is MY neighbor?"... and the answer today is: the Cambodian people that I live with, teach, work with and see on a daily basis. How will I love them today more than I love myself?


Spiderman, spiderman, does whatever a spider can...

My Cambodian lesson for the day: Mosquito nets are not just for keeping out mosquitos anymore!

Are spiders just bigger in Cambodia? Last night before going to bed Amber and I were confronted by a spider easily the size of a tarantula (different body, though) hanging out on our mosquito net over our bed. That thing was HUGE. It is without a doubt the biggest spider I have ever seen moving around in reailty... it spanned at least the width of my hand... I really thought it would turn and say "hi"to us... we screamed (of COURSE, wouldn't you?) and the Cambodian translator sleeping next door came out and ushered it out of our room... it sauntered actually... it seemed more "put out" by having something waved at it... it didn't travel fast... it kind of walked out slowly... as if to say "I'm not afraid of you"... needless to say... we tucked that mosquito net TIGHT around our bed last night... I guess it is good for keeping out more than mosquitos!

This past weekend was spent reunited with our entire team: Krista, Kristen, The Choi family, Steve, Amy & our honorary team member, Kate (she is our friend who is also the coordinator of all we do here for World Relief - we literally would not make it without her!) ... and Amber & I. It was nice to see "westerners" again which are in abundance in the very touristy town of Siem Reap... and it was nice to all be together again... have a weekend off... in air con rooms (yes, they abbreviate it here air conditioning = air con). We walked through 5 of the Temples of Angkor Wat. We took a boat ride through the area that is known for the floating village houses. We ate at GREAT restaurants (first time I felt full in a week)... and had COFFEE... like really, made with grounds coffee (we make instant each day at our sight... which is without a doubt - BETTER THAN NOTHING!). Michelle Choi and I decided we were twins separated at birth (and a few years!). We are so similar it is really funny! I so enjoy hanging out with the Choi family! We walked through the wat they filmed Tomb Raider in (must watch that movie again: Gerard Butler - oucha-ma-goucha he is cute!). And saw some of the amazing ruins... I kept thinking "I can't believe I am walking through Angkor Wat"- it really is the trip of a lifetime for me!

And for those who know my phobias: spiders, dirty feet and heights... I have conquered them ALL this weekend! I watched a few of our team mates eat deep-fried tarantulas (coming soon to youtube)! ISH! But I didn't vomit! (OK, but I did scream a little)... I hiked up these really narrow stairs on a five tier Wat (temple) without falling down or chickening out - think the stairs you see on one of the mayan ruins... steep and small... (AND I was really scared - REALLY - it was HIGH - and there is no "safety" bar or anything - this is not the US, people! - who will you sue here if you fall?). And my feet? They are a mess... all day... every day... DIRTY. And... its OK.

It felt weird, though, being in the lap of luxury. Spending money on food and shopping. Because wherever you are in this country you cannot escape the desperate poverty that the majority of the people in Cambodia live in. Our guide told us of how his family barely survived under the rule of Pol Pot. When he was 5 years old he was separated from his mother and put in a work camp. He remembers eating bugs and living, at times, in the jungle all alone. His story was really amazing... and it reminded me that how the Cambodians live is in stark contrast to the LUXURY hotels that surround Siem Reap now... You see there is a small percent of people who have power & money (and they are all pretty much corrupt) and they hold ALL the cards... and then there is under that: degrees of poverty. In the big cities a small middle-class is coming up... but it is still pretty slow economic growth here. Our "guide" for the day in Angkor Wat has what would be considered a "good" job... he got it because he can speak English (note: why teaching ESL is so invaluable for the volunteers and staff that we teach each day through World Relief)... and he makes $25 a day plus tip (yes, we tipped him well). Add that up. Could you live on that a week? Things are cheaper here, you say, true enough... but not THAT cheap. Imagine living on that salary and living WELL? You know how you do it? You own only a few pairs of clothes and one pair of shoes. You eat simply and with little fan fair most days... plus, as a guide you make deals with the restaurants you take your tours to (he gets free meals when he takes American tourists into a restaurant in Angkor Wat). You wheel and deal and make it through. But it is not an easy life, that is for sure!