A Thanksgiving in Cambodia

As I’m typing, it is just pouring outside. It is the end of the rainy season, but yet the rain still continues, which is fine because it has been so hot lately. Maggie and I had our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night, which was awesome! Who knew you could get such a good burger in Cambodia? Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Cambodia, but it doesn’t mean Maggie and I can’t celebrate, our Thanksgiving will just look a little different. Instead of turkey and dressing, we had liver and rice and some really yummy rice pudding thing for desser! Not exactly the same, but still pretty yummy. I’ve been thinking a lot of all the things I’m thankful for, and have even made it part of my girls’ monthly exam: Tell me what you are thankful for. The word thankful did take a couple of rounds of explaining, but we got it. I think. I’ll find out this weekend when I’m grading papers.

Our Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner. Mike's Burger House did not disappoint!

Our actual dinner on Thanksgiving! That peanut thing in the middle was pretty awesome!

The rice pudding with black eyed peas dessert thing was also really good!

To be honest though, the last few weeks have been a little stressful. While I’m very excited that we’ve gained 30 new students, it’s been a little difficult adding people in the middle of the semester. Students have gone from my English class to Maggie’s class and from Maggie’s to mine and I have an all new Speech class. I’m trying to figure out how much English these girls already know, as well as their names. I’m still trying to figure out what Maggie’s class has or hasn’t covered compared to my class. This whole process has made lesson planning a little difficult. As much as I love my girls, things have gotten really hectic in a very short amount of time. We’ve been working on a dance for the Christmas Bazaar that isn’t completely finished, and today we started talking about what we’re going to sell.  Even other things that have nothing to do with teaching are starting to work my nerves. The other day I left my clothes to dry and went to get them in the morning, only to find that they were still wet. The post office box wouldn’t open. I scraped my foot on the foot of a chair the other day. Maggie got sick and had to go to the doctor. It’s still hot. 

Planning what to sell for the Christmas Bazaar

It would be easy to whine about what is or isn’t going my way, but that’s not the point. I’m not here to make Cambodia adjust to me, I’m having to adjust to Cambodia. Sometimes what I think is logical or makes sense, doesn’t make sense to others, and I have to stop and reword or rewrite what I’m trying to say. This can get frustrating because we come from a very now culture. I need something now, I want things to work now. For example, when Maggie was at the doctor, I took her class and they watched Finding Nemo, but 20 minutes of class was taken up by running up and down flights of stairs frantically trying to find a laptop, trying to connect the projector to said laptop, and trying to find decent speakers. In America, I could have that done in probably under a minute, but this is not the case in Cambodia. I have to have patient. I have to realize that I’m not in control of everything, and I have to be okay with that. These are just little reminders, and I’m honestly thankful for them. They keep me grounded. Sometimes I just have to remind myself to breathe through my nose and when things get tough you’ve got to “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming! What do we do? We swim, swim.” Did I just put a finding Nemo quote in my blog? Yes, yes I did. On that note, can I change the title of my blog from Feet on Earth, Heart in Heaven to Calm Down and Learn to be Patient, Love Cambodia? 

But now let me list some people/ things I’ve been super thankful for lately:

My parents, for being the best, most amazing parents anyone could ask for. They are the most beautiful example of love I know. They are supportive of everything I do, from moving to Austin for school, to moving to Cambodia for a year to teach, they’ve never told me no, you can’t.They have always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you for being my parents. I love you so very much.

My brother, sister-in-law, and handsome faced nephew. I miss you. Christopher, thank you for all that you’re doing. I miss being around you. Come home quickly and safely please! Chelsey, thank you for sending me random texts to make me feel better, and for keeping me updated on Liam and all the cool things he’s learning to do. I love y'all! 

My friends for always being there. From sending me to Cambodia with cards to read every month that I’m gone or to simply FaceTiming me when you get the chance, I love you all. I miss you dearly. Thank you for being there. Thank you for being my friends.

To my professors and all the teachers in my life. This is by far not as easy as it looks. Thank you for being good teachers. Thank you for caring.

To Maggie, who puts up with me on the daily. Although, the more we’re around each other, the more we learn how alike we are, so in that case, thank you Adam for sending me to Cambodia with myself. Really though, thank you for processing as much as I do, for laughing with me, and for sharing this experience with me. 

Finally, I’m thankful to God for this beautiful experience. Even when I don’t understand it. Even when I cry. Even when I get frustrated, thank you for letting me get frustrated.Thank you for being ever present and giving me some kind of reassurance by the end of the day, even if it’s just a moment of silence. Thank you for letting me be a small part in these girls’ lives. I love them so much. I’m so proud of them already.

My dance group. I haven't figured out yet how to get them to this end pose, but I'm working on it!

So that’s been my Thanksgiving in Cambodia! Hope you’ve had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Eat some leftovers for me!

Being Present/ A Sunburn in November

Have I mentioned that Cambodia has a holiday all the time? Maggie and I have been here since October and we haven’t technically worked a full week yet. This week was the Water Festival, which is a three day long event that marks the end of the rainy season and the reversal of the Tonle Sap River.  The whole thing is a really huge celebration along the river and people from all over Cambodia come to the capitol to compete in boat races. There is also special food served, called ungbok, which is made of bananas and coarse rice, and is only available during the Water Festival. The girls had school Monday and Tuesday and were off from Wednesday to the following Monday( Nov. 5-10). Every afternoon, the Cambodian flag is taken down the pole as the girls say the pledge to Cambodia. After this, they clean their assigned area of the school and head home. As the girls headed home for their week long vacation, I realized how much I was going to miss them. They all hugged me bye, and I told them to have a wonderful time, but I realized that July is going to be really hard when we say our goodbyes.

Water Festival officially started on Wednesday, but instead, Maggie, Kimmy, Sarah and I attended a Salesian spirituality day. It was wonderful to meet Salesians from other provinces in Cambodia. Some travelled 6 hours to get to Phnom Penh to catch up with everyone. We got to meet the other volunteers at the other Salesian schools that are not with the SLM program. They come from Australia and Germany and seem to love their work, just as much as we do! We all got together and did  ice breakers which included the Cha Cha Slide and the Australian classic “Peel the Banana.” The day started with a prayer to Don Bosoco to help guide us and a blessing dance from some small angels! It was adorable!  It was wonderful to hang out with our Salesian family in Cambodia. One of the key themes for our spirituality day is that God will provide. We had a visiting Salesian priest from the Philippines, who took the time to tell us his story, on how he became a priest, and his beautiful story of starting a school in the Philippines with a little help from the community and the grace of God.

Salesian Spirituality Day!

While we had a lot of fun with out Salesian family, Maggie, Kimmy, Sarah and I were excited to experience the Water Festival.  We went with some of the girls who stayed at the school during the holiday, so it was nice to experience the Water Festival with locals. People come from all over the country to do these awesome boat races. I loved the matching uniforms each team had; some even had sparkles and glitter, which made me smile. There were so many people and so many colors and these long rowing boats that made Maggie and I question how they got to the city all in one piece. It was an awesome sight! There was a light show at the end of the evening and fireworks at night. The whole night was gorgeous and we had such a great time being with everyone 

All the colors and sequins! It was awesome!

The crowds get pretty packed for the Water Festival! 

Fireworks to end our Water Festival adventure!

So while the Water Festival is a three day long event, it’s the same thing every day: Boat races, street food, fireworks. Now, I love all of those things, (minus street food, I haven’t tried it, but I just feel like that would be a poor life choice for me) but I don’t really care for large crowds. Maggie, Kimmy, Sarah and I decided it would be a nice weekend to go to the beach in Sihanoukville, which is only a few hours away. The sisters also agreed and made plans to go as a mini vacation of their own! We left on Friday and the sisters left on Saturday, and we decided it would be easiest to drive back to Phnom Penh together on Sunday. I booked hotels for the weekend and we were set! Now the beaches in Cambodia are pretty much the prettiest things I’ve ever seen, and as you can imagine, hotels by the beach can be pretty expensive, but Maggie and I found two great rooms that were only $15 a person. It wasn’t air conditioned, but is anything in Cambodia? Not really. 

Sunsets on the beach in Sihanoukville!

Our bus left at 10 am and the entire drive took about 4 and a half hours, which wasn’t too bad, considering the holiday traffic. When we arrived, it was pouring rain, and I was a little nervous that we’d booked during a poor weekend, but sure enough the rain stopped shortly after. We got to our hotel with no trouble, only to discover it was a minute walk from the beach. Restaurants line the sidewalk, then sand, then surf, so you can enjoy the beach view from your restaurant. The first night we walked around a bit, had dinner, and took a few pictures. We were getting a feel for what was going on at the beach and had our eyes set on something fun to do for Saturday. Sure enough, we found this really cool snorkeling package. The trip offered a boat ride to 3 of the islands just off the coast in the Gulf of Thailand, snorkeling, and lunch for a grand total of $15. It was practically a steal, so the girls and I jumped at the chance for it! It wasn’t until Saturday morning that we found out that Kimmy gets a little seasick. We were frantically looking for dramamine, but couldn’t find any and went on the boat just hoping for the best. I am happy  to say that Kimmy managed just fine without any dramamine! I am so proud of her for being such a trooper! We stopped at the first island and were free to swim and check out the coral reef. We started talking with a lot of cool people, like this couple from London who told us how much they loved Cambodia and tried to come here as often as they could. Snorkeling was amazing! Looking at the coral and watching all the little fish was the coolest thing! Jumping off the boat was fun, and  we loved watching this group of French travelers do dives. On our way to our second island, I looked at the amazing set of people in front of me. Families, friends, lovers, missionaries; people coming together to admire the natural beauty of Cambodia. It made me happy. Our second island had beach volleyball and this was our stop for lunch. Everyone got to relax and lay out on the beach- this may or may not have been where I got sunburned, but oh well! The girls and I took lots of pictures and drew in the sand and we all just had a nice time. We also talked to this guy and his friend who were in the military, but coming back to Cambodia for the first time. They were both born in Cambodia, but grew up in the States post Khmer Rouge. One had come back to Cambodia before, but this was the first time coming back for the other and he couldn't believe how much it had changed. It was interesting to meet them and hear about their experience coming to a place that had once been their home.

The girls and I in the gulf! 

On our final island, I will admit that I was getting really tired. We’d spent all day in the sun and I was totally burned, but once I was in the water, I realized how special this experience was. I typically hate being outside, but I was surrounded by such beauty that I felt at peace, which is a rarity. I'd distanced myself a bit from the boat and was floating by myself in the water just thinking about where I was. I’m floating in the Gulf of Thailand right now. Floating there, I decided to thank God for this moment, but also for bringing me to Cambodia in the first place. To teach the girls that I have come to love so quickly, to introducing me to all the wonderful people here, to giving me this opportunity in the first place. I took a while to just float and thank God for everything, it was the least I could do. I felt very present, and I love those moments.

Then I got stung my a jellyfish. 

Well it wasn’t really a jellyfish. It was a school of little stinger things that I spent the next hour picking out of my clothes. I’m still not sure what it was, but they kinda hurt and they irritated me. I know that. 

By this point I was completed burned on my back, the girls and I were wiped out, and I wanted a shower. As we sailed back to shore, Sarah asked us, after knowing the girls for a month now, what was something we hoped they’d learned from us. Maggie and I had similar answers; how much we care about them, how we want them to know they are capable of anything, and that they know their self worth. Oh, and of course I want them to learn English. We made it back to the hotel and found “Tex-Mex” food up the road, which Kimmy had never had, so we had to go. I had salsa for the first time in a month and a half, which wasn’t too bad. Kimmy experienced tacos for the first time and even though I told her to just eat them with her hands, she continued to use a fork and knife, which was adorable. Even though it wasn’t actual Tex-Mex, it was better than I thought it would be. We walked along the beach again and found a place that served ice cream, so we sat and talked and watched people light lanterns and fireworks into the sky.

While it pained me to watch Kimmy eat her tacos with a fork and knife, I still let her do it cause I love her or something. 

We had mass at St. Michael’s, one of the two surviving Catholic churches in Cambodia. I will definitely talk about it later in another post, but it was beautiful. Very quaint and hidden, it’s actually a gem. We had breakfast, walked on the beach one last time, and met with the sisters to head back home. What had been a 4 and a half our drive for us was cut by an hour for our driver, making it a little hard to sleep, but we arrived in Phnom Penh before we knew it. It felt nice to be home, but then I remembered I had grading to do. I still do. That’s kind of my life right now, grading, but it’s totally worth it. The girls who board here came back Monday night and greeted me with an attack of hugs. The attack of hugs makes grading every paper worth it. 

From Texas to Cambodia! 

Home is?

Can you believe I’ve been in Cambodia for a whole month? I can’t! The time has flown by pretty quickly! The girls are hard at work at their studies, I’m constantly grading papers, and everything is moving along. The girls have opened up to us so much more, telling us about their goals for the future. Every now and then the girls get frustrated and ask me why English is so hard. I then I have to reassure them that English is the hardest language to learn and I’m proud of them for trying so hard. English, is by no means, easy. Teaching, is by no means easy. Conclusion? Teaching English is not easy, but Maggie and I are managing to do this together, and I think the girls are learning, which is what’s most important. However, can I just shoutout to all my teachers/ professors: If I ever gave you a hard time, I’m so sorry. This is a public apology if I was ever a pain in the butt. 

Now while I absolutely love Cambodia, but I will admit that I did have a bout of being homesick a few weeks ago. I started really missing my family and friends, especially my handsome nephew! I got a bit of a stomach bug and was getting frustrated with what I could eat and started to miss what had previously been my life essentials: breakfast tacos and sweet tea. It got to a point where I teared up a little because I missed Native Texan Salsa. I mean, I wasn’t a totally wreck, but the realization that I wouldn’t be home for a year finally sunk in, and it hurt a little. 

I know I used this picture already, but I don't care! I love it!

Around this time, Maggie and I joined Sr. Leeza on her first home visit of the year. Sr. Leeza, the school principle, believes that it is important to set a relationship with the families; the families should know the school staff and vice versa. Seven girls opened their homes and introduced us to their families. The home visits showed me a lot of things. For one, it introduced us to parts of the city we hadn’t seen. From back alleys in the city to countrysides, we found out that our girls come from all over Phnom Penh. Two of my students live in the countryside and have to take a ferry to and from school everyday, leaving an hour early to make it in time. Some of the girls go through great lengths to get to school everyday. I realized I shouldn’t  have whined so much about my 10 minute commute from Pleasant Valley to St. Ed’s as much as I did. From their grandparents and siblings, to aunts and uncles, each family seemed thrilled to meet us. There was, of course, a huge language barrier, however the girls tried their best to translate. Most of the comments included something about their parents being proud that their daughters were going to school to learn English from Americans and how proud they were of their daughters. It was wonderful to put a face with the names of the parents and siblings of our students. Everyone was so gracious to us, and we really enjoyed the whole experience.

So if you know me, you know that the tiny house movement (Google tiny house movement!) is one of my latest obsessions. I love the idea of living in a smaller space. I am one person, and I don’t need a massive house to make me happy. It would make me get rid of the things I don’t need, and would be perfect for me if I lived by myself. Now, homes in Cambodia really seem to range from super fancy to barely a roof over your head. Across from the school is this house that might be bigger than the White House, which we jokingly call the Vatican and behind the school is this blue shack surrounded by nice homes. The structure and architecture is beautiful, but I almost feel guilty for admiring it.There’s almost no middle ground in the city; houses are either really big (even by American standards) or depressingly small. The home visits showed me where our girls come from. Some live in actual buildings, but most were small structures hardly bigger than shacks that were housing more than 5 people. Most didn’t have running water or toilet systems. I’ve always known that I grown up comfortably, and this was my reminder. In some ways it made me feel guilty because I would gladly choose to live in a tiny house, but my girls didn’t make that choice. Things that I take for granted, like the luxury of my own room, is something some of my girls don’t even know. As much as I would love to live in my tiny house, it doesn’t actually do anything to help the girls here. It doesn’t do anything to help the people who are already living in a tiny house, the ones that are a little more than shacks. Now I’m not saying I’ve given up on my tiny house obsession, but it has made me more self aware. Living in a city where the disparity is so drastic from street corner to street corner has made me aware of the types of shelter people have to utilize the best they can to work for themselves and for their families. Most importantly, the home visits and walking around the city has reminded me to be humble.

The super gorgeous, but not so humble, Vatican house.

Now, as I’d mentioned before, I was struggling with missing my own home, but seeing the girls with their families made me so happy. I think it even helped me get past my homesickness. I realized that it wasn’t even the places or things that I really missed, even if I did cry over salsa that one time. I started to think about all the areas I’ve ever considered home. At first, I thought my idea of home was a mix of structures and people. My senior year, I remember wondering who was living in my room from freshman year, and I hoped that they would have as great of a time in T-House as I did. I passed by my apartment a few days before leaving for Cambodia and wondered if the new tenants decorated as well as the girls and I had, if they’d make their apartment as homey as ours was. I began to notice that it was less of the structure and more of the people that make a home. My family sends me happy texts and updates about Liam all the time, which never fail at making me smile. My friends from Austin text me as if I were just down the road, and it makes me happy. When Maggie and I leave the school, we are always welcomed back by some of the girls who always want to know what we’ve been up to, even if it’s only our Sunday trip to St. Joseph’s for English mass. I’m starting to feel more comfortable here in Cambodia now that we have more of a routine and I’m getting to know the girls more. They’ve become more open with me, and some have even gotten a little sassy with me, which I greatly enjoy. When Maggie and I go out into the city, sometimes we see people we know, and we’ve realized we’ve hit a new point in our mission: we’re starting to become more familiar to people. Sometimes when I look at the girls during assemblies, I realize how much I just adore them. They make my heart happy and I’m realizing now that I’m feeling more at home.

Our post blessing of the school picture. Here are all the girls, teachers and nuns, and even Father! 

I started reading Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler, a Catholic convert from Austin. I’m not quite finished, but it’s been great so far, you should totally check our her awesome blog! Anyways, her book tells about her conversion story which all takes place in Austin, so you can imagine all the feelings I felt as I read her descriptions of home. She even went as far as to describe the tilapia from Central Market- the North Lamar store, but whatever. I totally reminisced about Central Market and my little family there and how they’re my home too. However, as I’ve been reading, I noticed that while I do get semi-emotional about her descriptions, I’m okay. Of course, I do miss home, but I get happy thinking about all my fun memories from there. I’ve also start to think of the memories Maggie and I have begun to make for ourselves here in Cambodia (“Why not?” “Because not.”) and how when I look at my girls, there is no place I’d rather be than with them! I’ve concluded that home is not a physical location, but a spiritual and emotional one. It’s where you find happiness. It’s where you find love. It’s where you see God in the people you’re with.

I love these wonderful ladies! Sorry my finger was in the way, oops!