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!