One week and one day

I have officially been here for more than a week now, and have been meaning to sit down and write a post. The issue is that each time I put it off, there is more and more to write and I figure it will be like that for awhile since EVERYTHING is new and it seems like practically each moment of life here is interesting in one way or another.

Let me start off by saying, it has been a wonderful week. As you probably know by now, moving to Cambodia has been a dream for me for awhile, and it still hasn't fully set in that this is my new home. The other day, Karen and Anna (2 of my 3 roomies, my third roomie arrives this week) and I went to tour the Royal Palace where the King of Cambodia lives (although we couldn't actually go as far as where he lives for obvious reasons) and we met a Canadian and Australian who are both doing some travelling around this part of the world. The Australian looked shocked when he asked us how long we are here and we said, "We actually live here" so we specified that we are here for 2 years and his shock didn't wear off... "Two years.. wow, that's a big commitment", he said. It's funny how in some moments, 2 years does feel like it's going to be a long time, but in other moments, I feel like it's going to fly by.

The Royal Palace

Thanks for all your prayers, especially when it came to flying over here. I spent a night in Hong Kong because of a delayed flight but that actually turned out to be such a neat experience so everything worked out! My luggage also arrived untampered and on time.

We finally got wireless internet installed in our house on Friday, so it is nice not to have to walk to a cafe whenever we want to be connected to the outside world. On a positive note, there are many cafes around our area of town and most of them have free wifi. Internet plans on phones are also super cheap - $5 a month for 3.5 GB of data! A million times cheaper than Canada.

This week, my roomies and I have been exploring the city and getting our bearings. We have eaten some delicious Khmer (pronounced Kuh-Mye) food, visited the Phnom Penh riverside, visited the Royal Palace, had dinner and coffee dates with new friends, toured both campuses of our school (Asian Hope International School) as well as Logos (another school run by the Asian Hope organization), had many tuktuk rides around the city, went to two different churches (today and last Sunday), navigated our way through the amazing and chaotic Russian Market, learned a little Khmer (including numbers up to about 30), and explored the new AEON mall (just opened a few weeks ago). Let me just say, that mall is CRAZY. I never expected anything like that would be in Cambodia. The mall has lots of designer stores with clothes too expensive for me to afford, and it feels like another world compared to the run down houses and little markets right across the street. I guess as in most developing countries, the contrast between the rich and poor here is quite drastic, and that discrepancy is quite unsettling to see. Last night, as we were riding on a tuktuk going back home at dusk, Phnom Penh nightlife was starting to come out. Seeing so many girls/young women wearing so little clothing and standing at the doors of "Karaoke Bars" and "Massage Parlours" (often brothels in 'disguise') left the three of us with a heavy feeling in the pit of our stomachs. Although it has been fun to explore this beautiful city, we cannot ignore the brokenness that is here or pretend that life is wonderful for all who live here. The desperation is real. So for those of you who pray, please do keep praying for this beautiful nation... that they would find freedom from the bondage that is here and that we would have opportunities to build relationships with these beautiful people and share from our hearts about the hope and peace that we have found in Jesus. I am completely and totally aware that their backgrounds and beliefs are different, and do not in any way want to push or preach, but a large population of the people in this country have never even heard anything about Jesus... so how could I not share about the difference He has made in my life?  Isn't the freedom to choose really only freedom if you know about the options?

New teacher orientation starts tomorrow and then all-teacher orientation starts the week after. Our classes officially start August 5th. Although I know it will be overwhelming at times, I am really looking forward to a full 2 weeks of training and prepping for the school year, and then getting to meet my students on August 5th :)  

Thanks for reading, friends!