Siem Reap Adventure

The trip to Siem Reap was short, leaving Phnom Penh by bus at 1:00 pm on Tuesday and arriving back at 6:40 pm on Wednesday (also by bus). The first bus ride was about 5.5 hours, the second was longer due to a flat tire, though we did get on another bus after waiting an hour.

The time in Siem Reap was truly God ordained. I spent time with friends I had made 3 years ago, encouraging them and learning about what God was doing in their lives. I also learned about what God is doing in the churches in Siem Reap and around Cambodia and how field workers are partnering with churches to help them in multiplying and planting more churches.  The field worker I was able to spend time with shared how he and the church leaders get together and evaluate church plants that are thriving and those that have not been successful to determine what things are working. He is also involved in discipleship and leader development.  It is exciting to see how some of the students from English camp in 2007 are now involved in leadership positions in the church as well as planting churches in provinces around Siem Reap.

One of the friends I spent time with has a job driving a moto and is a leader in his church.  He enjoys studying the scripture and learning what he can to be a better leader.  Another friend also has a job but travels many times during the month to church plants in different provinces many hours away.  It challenged me to see the sacrifice these men make and how they are being used by God.  They have jobs and family just like I do and want to see their country come to know Christ. That encourages me to think about how much I want to see my neighbors come to know Christ.

The three short-termers that had participated in the English camp in Phnom Penh volunteered to attempt leading an English camp in Siem Reap along with three Cambodians who speak English well. So part of my time in Siem Reap was helping them brainstorm how they would pull this off. Though I left before it started, the first evening of English camp went extremely well with students playing volleyball during registration followed by worship and playing games.  I am confident that God will do good things during this English camp as he did in Phnom Penh.  Please pray for the three short-termers, they are tired and susceptible to illness. Pray for strength, health and the energy necessary to engage the students in English camp.  It takes a lot of energy and there are only three foreigners.  Pray that God would encourage them and sustain them!

End of One Adventure, Beginning of Another

It seems like a month since I wrote last.  A lot has happened in the space of a few days.  Some teams have left the country while others have simply changed focus while staying in Cambodia. Daybreak leaves tomorrow so we are hanging out at the EZecom where we are updating our blogs.  Though my family leaves tomorrow along with the Daybreak team, I will be heading up to Siem Reap to visit friends from 2007.  I am excited and exhausted at the same time. I'm only staying in Siem Reap until Wednesday when I catch a bus by myself back to Phnom Penh.

My good friend Phearum from Siem Reap has taken time out of his schedule to take a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (6 hours).  He had a couple things to do at the mission office, but has come to help us (Catie, Andrew, Matthew and myself) get to Siem Reap.  After Dave and I take the team to the airport, we'll do some errands around town and then head to the bus station for the beginning of a new adventure.  I am excited to re-establish friendships that I have made 3 years ago and to figure out a way to keep up to date with them. I'll take pictures and post some of them here.

Pray for safety and health.  Also pray for the time of re-establishing friendships.  I'm not there long, so pray that God would make the time good for all!

End of English Camp Tomorrow

Kim gets chased by one of the orphans

I can't believe the end of English camp is tomorrow. The week has flown by! Yesterday we went to an orphanage where the short-termers and Khmer students played with the orphans.  We taught them the song "At a Time Like This" - a song that we have sung every time Daybreak has been to Cambodia.  The last time we sang the song in 2007 was at the top of Ankor Wat.

The orphans were so cute.  Orphans in Cambodia may not actually be orphans.  Sometimes the families cannot feed their own children so they take them to an orphanage to be taken care of. The teachers and students from English camp played Duck, Duck, Goose (which in Cambodia is Duck, Duck, Chicken), Hokey Pokey, Simon Says, Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes, and others.  The children had so much fun.  Apparently English camp visited them last year and they enjoyed the teachers and students then as well.

Mel REALLY enjoyed the bumper cars!

Last night we had the treat of riding bumper cars - yes, bumper cars in Cambodia. Some of us got out our aggressions, but all of us had a lot of fun!

Today's field trip was to the zoo which was a little over an hour outside of town.  The zoo property was quite large and took us a couple hours just to walk through it.  It did not feel like a zoo we would find in North America since the animals were simply held in pens made of chain-link fence.  At the beginning of the zoo were a bunch of monkeys that bugged us as we ate lunch.  In fact, a monkey tore the bottom of a bag I was carrying with my lunch and took off with some chicken.  I chased the monkey up a tree.  Luckily the chicken, being held in a smaller bag, fell out of the bag the monkey had stolen because he was holding it by the bottom.  So my lunch continued without another hitch.

John is behind the tiger

The best part of the zoo was simply hanging out with the students!  Many of the students have never been to the zoo, some only once.  They really enjoyed walking around talking with each other and seeing the animals which included many types of deer, wild pigs, monkeys, snakes, elephants, tigers, and others.

English camp has been going very well.  The short-termers are really loving the Cambodian students and enjoy spending time with them.  My daughters spend so much time with them that I hardly get to see them during the day.  I am so proud of them.  They have also been eating at every meal - luckily there is rice which both girls like.

Water Park

Yesterday's field trip was to the water park outside of town.  Dave, Pati and I had taken a trip to it last week to make sure we knew where it was.  We got lost.  When we found it and were leaving, we took note of the Tiger Bakery which was the land mark at the point we are to turn.  So that is what I was looking for when we headed out of town.  When I saw it in the distance, I got up and headed for the front of the bus to help the bus driver know where to turn. At that point one of the Cambodian students got up and headed for the front.  She stood by the driver looking out the window as if she were going to tell him where to turn.  Tiger Bakery came and went but I doubted myself since this Cambodian seemed like she knew what she was doing.  She didn't and our bus driver didn't either.  We drove about 5 miles down the road before they stopped to asked directions, at which time I felt like hitting myself for not speaking up sooner.  So I told the bus driver where to go.  After a phone call with Dave he parked his truck right at the turn off, so that is what I was looking for. When we got to the water park, the girl that was to give directions was crying because she felt like she had failed. Many of the teachers tried to reassure her that it was fine, we were here and would have fun.

Leanne catches air on the water park slide

We did have fun.  I walked around making sure things were going well, being the conservative, responsible adult.  I gave that up shortly and decided to go on the slides. I was told I had a lot of air and scared many of the short-termers watching because they thought I would fly off the slide.  That never happened.  Once again, some of you may want to pray a little bit more. :) I caught Leanne with a little air. :)

First Day of Camp

Kim and John getting water from our many water jugs

English camp started today with a million things going wrong. Due to mis-communication we had no guitar with which to lead worship. During the singing of one of the songs in the English camp book, we noticed that instead of turning the page for the rest of the words, you needed to turn two pages. We had two microphones, but one of them was not working.  We had a couple people willing to help lead worship, but they weren't confident enough to be the only one on the microphone, which left me leading worship. So I was holding the microphone and holding up the book, pointing to the pages to help the students see where to go to see the rest of the song. To top it all off we ran out of drinking water which is vital during such hot days.

Despite all of that today was a success! I must give credit to all of the short-termers who have come from the United States and Canada because they jumped right in and make camp work even with all the problems!  During the main time together, every short-termer was engaged with their students and enthusiastic when it came to the competition.  The testimonies were terrific and the devotional on Moses was right on. God made everything work out for good!  Then during the break out teaching times, each teaching team did something different, but all engaged the students in learning English!  I was talking with one of our field workers who told me that one of the students was telling her that this camp was great and it is just the first day.

So what did the first day of English camp look like? Well, at 7:30 all the short-termers and some of those working here had breakfast together.  Today we had something like pancit (for my Filipino friends), a noodle dish with meat and some veggies. Then at 8:30 camp started with our main time together.  After the breakfast tables were put away, chairs were set up for students to sit in.  All of this is being done in what looks like a one car driveway.  In this driveway we fit 6 plastic chairs in each row with an aisle in the middle with close to 100 students. We sang some songs, had a bread eating competition, which the yellow team lost. That reminds me, we had the students divided into five teams, red, blue, green, yellow, and chocolate. Pam and my daugher, Leanne were the first to share their testimonies.  Both did a terrific job! At the end of our main time together, Caitlin gave a devotional on Moses that was concrete, focusing on trusting God.  She did a great job bringing it to the level of the Cambodian students, including comparing the red sea to the Mekong river.  Then we separated into teaching team for team teaching.  Each team has 6-7 short-term teachers and 21-29 Cambodian students. The teams engage the students in learning English in a variety of fun ways. Then lunch.

Each day during English camp we have a teaching time like I explained above followed by a field trip in the afternoon. Today's field trip was touring the King's palace. The field trips give the teachers and students the opportunity to continue developing relationships while engaging in real-life English conversations. The students get to practice carring on conversations with English speakers as they tour or do whatever the field trip has in store.

Reconnoitering

Reconnoitering is an interesting word. It means to examine or survey (a region, area, etc.) for engineering, geological, or other purposes.  I'm using it under the "other purposes" clause.  David Ens is becoming a good friend and has been a valuable resource! Yesterday we surveyed the area around Sary Thom, the guest house we will be staying at.  We looked for possible breakfast locations that could be walked to, Internet access places, food joints, etc.

Dave grew up in Cambodia and speaks Khmer fluently.  It is fun to watch the reaction on shop keepers faces when they ask if we in broken English if we want to come in or if we need something and Dave replies with flawless Khmer ... what ever he says. :)  As we were scouting out the field trip locations he would do that with the people on the street as well.  Quite comical!  

One such instance we were at the Kings palace checking out the prices and of course, Dave is asking in Khmer.  He struck up a conversation with one of the attendants and asked him about a banana tree whose bananas will grow to the ground (see the picture).  At times I wonder if Khmer is Dave's first language.  He doesn't seem to break his train of thought when he's speaking Khmer as much as he does when he is speaking to me in English.


We are all set for English camp!  Attitudes and behaviors of the teams are all in God's control.  I've done what I can as He has led, now I have to trust Him for the stuff I can't control. :)

Ignorant Good Intentions

There are times when we in the "West" hear about some plight somewhere and jump in with good intentions.  However, many times we jump in to solve a problem without truly understanding the problem or the solutions currently being employed.  Many times we believe throwing money at the problem will solve it and many of those times it makes the problem worse.

Here is one small example of what I'm calling "Ignorant Good Intentions".  In the village I visited a couple days ago the biggest problem is access to water.  The Garden of Joy had a well dug and installed a solar-powered pump to pump water into a storage unit for the orphanage.  The long term plan is to build a very large water storage unit for the entire village with the necessary infrastructure which would allow each home to have running water.  To collect enough money to build the storage unit and the necessary infrastructure, the Garden of Joy allows villagers to purchase water from them. They in turn are saving the money to be used on the long-term project.

A church heard of the problem of the lack of water and decided they would solve the problem.  So they collected money to dig wells.  They dug a couple wells and installed hand pumps so that the villagers could get water.  Now the village has three wells, two of them require manual pumping and the third is the one at the Garden of Joy (which costs money to get water from).

So here is the problem.  Now villagers can go pump their own water and not pay the Garden of Joy for their water.  A good thing, right? No. Because now, it is harder to collect money for the large storage unit and infrastructure.  If the church had talked with the local people about the problem and tried to understand it better, they would have given money for the large water storage unit and infrastructure instead of the wells.  If they had done that, all the villagers would now have running water in their homes instead of having to walk to either pay for water or pump it on their own.

It is always better to check with the people involved before jumping in to solve the problem.  Finding the right people to talk with is also a problem.  I can imagine that the church had talked with someone who would rather pump water for free then used that information on which to based their decision. Unfortunately many times we think we know best and attempt to solve problems without all the information. 

The people managing the Garden of Joy had a conversation with the church that dug the wells trying to help them understand the long term plan and not the immediate fix.  The church is sorry they built the wells, but what's done is done.

Place of Peace and Garden of Joy

The couple whose home I have invaded have helped start a small business called Jumpah which does wood working crafts.  Today I was treated to seeing their operation about 25 miles outside the city of Phnom Penh.  They do amazing things with tools like the belt sander in the picture.  They create jewelry boxes and ornaments that will be sold to NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) mainly right before Christmas.

But the real joy was visiting Place of Peace which is a community for HIV people that are basically homeless, and Garden of Joy which is an orphanage.  Place of Peace has four buildings that are made up of 2 large rooms with a cooking place between.  Two families will live in one of these buildings.  Someone in the family will be HIV positive.  They have classes for all sorts of things such as sewing, guitar playing, and crafts.

The orphanage, also known as the Garden of Joy, has helpers, but the family I met who live there are three daughters that are wonderful people.  The mother asked me about my family.  I told her I have three children but one of them, Daniel, died when he was three years old.  At that point she told me she also had a son who had died.  The amazing thing is that now she has something like 18 children. :)

I was also shown where they keep pigs.  They breed and raise pigs to sell.  They are very resourceful.  The pig manure they collect in bladder-like containers underground then use the methane that produces to cook, light lamps and even run small motors.  They also have solar power which helps run the sewing machines.  Really quite a green village. :)

It is amazing what the love of God shown through people can accomplish!  One of the ladies I met who is HIV positive was as thin as a stick when they accepted her into the village.  Now she looks very healthy and happy.  God is doing some amazing things here in Cambodia!

Almost missed church

Ken, who I've mentioned in another post, and I have had great conversations about a variety of topics.  On Sunday we planned to go the International Christian Fellowship church located close to Tuol Sleng, the Genocide museum here in Phnom Penh.  After getting ready, we flagged down a tuk tuk and negotiated a price to Tuol Sleng.  During the trip Ken and I were so engrossed in our conversation that we weren't paying attention to where we were going.  The tuk tuk driver stopped and told us we were there. Ken looked around and didn't recognize anything, but the driver pointed down the road as if Tuol Sleng were just a short walk down the road.  So Ken and I got out of the tuk tuk and paid the driver, which was a mistake.  We were actually four blocks from the museum.  By the time we arrived at the church, the pastor was wrapping up his sermon - oops.

We had a good time during their fellowship time on the roof of the building.  Being on the roof is really neat because you can catch the breeze to cool off and can watch the storms coming in.  We got to know some of the people from the church who then invited us to eat with them at a place called The Boddhi Tree.  I never would have found the place since a huge bougainvillea hung over the gate and restaurant sign.  We actually ate underneath it.  I had Chicken with ginger and rice not knowing that most of the dish was ginger.  It seemed like a whole ginger root was shredded and cooked with a little bit of chicken.  It was almost overpowering but I actually enjoyed it. 

We had a great time talking with folks from New Zealand, England and a couple from the states.  I must admit I was jealous when most of them were able to order in Khmer.  Whenever I'm in another culture, I wish I could speak their language.  I keep praying that God would give me the gift of tongues, expecting a super natural ability to understand and speak the language without any work (A great gift for being on the Amazing Race).  Course, that is a completely selfish request - at least for my motives (someday I'd like to be on the Amazing Race).  On a serious note, I do think that if I were to live in another culture, I would be able to pick up the langauge quickly.  That's only conjecture since I've never actually done it.

Something everyone who visit another culture must be ready for is patience in waiting.  In the States we are an impatient people.  When at a restaurant we expect service - which really means give me what I want, when I want it, and do it with a smile. At the Boddhi Tree we ordered and must have waited an hour before our meals arrived - and then they arrived at different times.  Even those who ordered salads got them after a 45 minute wait.  The wait was tolerable because of the people and conversation.  When Ken and I finally left the restaurant it was close to 3 hours later.

Today and the rest of this week I prepare for English Camp.  That means I must visit the field trip locations, eat at restaurants that the short-termers will eat at and basically make sure everything is ready.  It's a struggle, but someone has to do it. :)

Adventure to Sovanah mall

When I arrived at The House, I met Ada, the house helper for the Missionaries whose home this is.  She showed me around the house and helped me get a little more adjusted.  I asked her for a map of Phnom Penh and she brought out the yellow pages. We looked for the house on the small maps and found it. As an after thought she gave me her card and wrote her phone number on it in case I needed any help.  Little did I know how important that card would be later on.

Later as I was Facebooking I got a note Kim who works in northern Cambodia. She gave me her phone number and asked me to call her.  I know Kim and Ralph from our Faith Academy days many moons ago, so it was great to talk with her.  She told me her and her daughter will be in Phnom Penh (PP) toward the end of English camp.  Kim had thought they would be leaving in August, so wouldn't be in PP when we were here. However, they could only get tickets leaving July 27 (which is when Lorelei and the team leave) so Lorelei will be able to see her before they both head back to the States, which is exciting. 

Kim informed me of another family in PP who are sending their daughter to Messiah in the fall and was wondering if I would be willing to talk with them. I looked at my completely packed schedule (which in reality is completely blank) and decided to squeeze in a meeting with Rob.  I talked with Rob on the phone and we decided to have coffee or ice cream at the Sovanah mall not "far" way and he told me he'd pick me up.  He called me back a little while later (once he found my address), told me it was quite a distance on the other side of the city from where he was and asked if I could meet him there.  Sure, no problem.

Ken is staying here as well while he makes contacts for when he and his wife will come to work here later in the year.  I asked him the best way to get to the Sovanah mall.  He asked me if I had a helmet (one item that every short-term missionary should pack - I'm sure Deb would have) for riding with a motorcycle driver.  Here in Cambodia public transportation of an individual nature comes in the form of taxi cabs, tuk tuks (which are like peticabs for my Filipino friends) and motorcycle drivers.  I told Ken I didn't have a helmet, so he suggested I take a tuk tuk (which you will find out I completely ignored).  He then lent me a map he had been using so that I might be able to get around.

I showered and packed some stuff in a small back pack (one that I had bough for Marisa or Leanne to use) and, deciding to take Ada's card and the map Ken had given me, I set out.  I decided to walk to a major road where I might be able to find a tuk tuk.  While walking, a motorcycle driver pulled up and asked me if I needed a ride.  I told him I was going to the Sovanah mall and, like any good asian, he told me, "OK."  So we haggled over a price, which is fun to do when I speak no Khmer and he spoke very little English, but we settled on a price and off we went.  I was surprised when we actually arrived at the mall 20 minutes later. :) I found Rob and we had ice cream and a good time together.  Great way to spend an evening!  Then it was time to return.

Rob, who speaks Khmer quite well, got another motorcycle driver for me and, after showing him Ada's card with the address on it and haggling on the price, off I went.  Well, this time the motorcycle driver didn't know where the destination was.  He knew the general neighborhood, Toul Koak, and was able to get us close.  He had to ask directions several times, each time showing them Ada's card.  I knew we were close because we passed a hospital that Bill and Ilana had mentioned and a market that was shown on a small map on the back of Ada's card. I kept consulting the map Ken had given me until I believed I knew where I was.  At that point, I began giving my driver directions.  While asking directions yet another time, I tried to confirm where I thought I was (once again communicating in different languages with God providing understanding).  Once we got to a corner of a street I thought the house was on I told my driver to stop.  He didn't have change, so I went looking for change at a convenience store.  I paid the driver and off he went.  I then asked the owner of the store if he knew where the address was, showing him Ada's card.  After trying to figure out where it was, he confirmed my guess of the corner I was on. I began walking down the street praying that I would recognize the house.  About a hundred feet away, their young daughter called after me and came up and told me to be careful.  "This street is..." and she hesitated as she tried to figure out the appropriate English.  So I filled in, "with bad people?"  Yes.  That helped calm my nerves as I prayed harder to find the house.  I found it as the landlord who lives next door was returning home.  So I had company while I fumbled for the keys to unlock the gate.  I had made it. Or more accurately, God had brought me home safe and sound.

As I look back there were too many coincidences for this to be anything other than God orchestrated.  Ada giving me her card as an after thought, Ken loaning me his map and all the in-between occurances.  God had set up something for me to do that evening AND had provided transportation and safely!  Another grand adventure.

Phnom Penh Arrival

I am now at the house I will be staying at for a week until English camp begins.  I'm staying on the fourth floor, and had to haul my suit cases up all those stairs.  I thank God that I am not so far out of shape that I collapsed, thought I felt like it by the time I reached my bedroom.  There is a wonderful roof-top terrace with chairs to sit out on.  Very nice on this 32 degrees C which is 89 F.  Not bad if it weren't for the humidity.  But it is good to sweat, and I don't have to exercise a bit. :)

God has been very good.  I sailed through immigration and customs with out any problems.  For those of you who will be doing this next week, this is what I did.  After disembarking you will walk a ways and descend some steps.  At the bottom of the steps across the room is a counter where I took my passport and visa application (the one with the picture).  I handed that to them and walked to the end of the counter.  There, after they process your visa application, they will be looking for you based on your passport picture.  If they don't match you to your picture, they will hold up the passport.  After that, I walked up to immigration where they looked at my passport and visa, stamped some things and let me continue on.  I picked up my luggage (which I was a little worried about - but I have everything) and proceeded to customs.  The officer took my customs form and told me to continue.  Very easy!

When I got outside I started looking for Phearum who was looking for me. :)  What an experience.  Trying to match up with someone you have never met and who has never met you.  I didn't see anyone that may have been looking for me except a lady looking for someone from California.  I tried Ilana's phone but called the wrong Phearum (I think it was the Phearum I know in Siem Reap - didn't know that until after I hung up).  Anyway we met up.  Phearum thought my family was coming with me today so was looking for a family.   He dropped me off and headed to the field conference, so I'll meet up with him again on Monday.

You can be praying for me.  I will be here all weekend without any contact.  Should be an adventure!  I asked Ada, the house help here, if she could go to the market for me and get some fruit and vegetables.  I am really looking forward to the fruit and veggies!

Lots of stuff I need to do.  I think the first thing will be to find a map somewhere and try to figure out where I am.  Good practice for when the Amazing Race calls on me to be a contestant. :)

Well, I'll write more later.  Leave a comment if you read this so that I know friends are keeping up with my adventures.

Flight to Phnom Penh

I am currently sitting in the JFK airport in New York.  I don't really like traveling alone, so I decided to purchase a traveling companion.  I haven't named it yet, but as you can tell from the picture, it is a small elephant.  Maybe you can help me name it (not sure if it is male or female yet...).  Any suggestions?

The reality of being in charge of English camp is sinking in.  As I look over the schedule and begin picturing what the days might look like, I get both excited and a little apprehensive.  I wonder what God was thinking when he chose me to fill Bill's shoes.  Doesn't he know I'm not a good administrator?  Doesn't he know I'm not a great speaker (teaching is different).  But then I hear Him gently laugh as He says, "That is exactly what Moses did when I called him.  But during the journey, we became great friends."

More than anything else during this trip, I want that to happen to me.  To become God's great friend. Not great in the sense that I have anything to give, but great in that He wants to be with me (which I already know He does) and I want to be with Him and the two of us can face any problem or joy knowing we are together.

I am now sitting at the gate in Taipei waiting to board the next leg of my journey.  I got some sleep on the plane.  My theory to combat jet-lag is to stay up until it's time to go to bed based on the time zone I am traveling to.  Unfortunately there was little in the way of distractions on this flight.  I'm flying by myself, so talking with a friend didn't happen.  I did meet a guy that works in a hospital in Philadelphia and lives in Lancaster.  He is Vietnamese and is traveling back to Vietnam for his sister and brother's weddings (two weddings taking place).  It was nice chatting with him.

I was also counting on being able to watch movies...well, no personalized TVs.  So that didn't happen.  But I read half way through the Shack and got rest where I could.  I should be good to go. :)

English Camp, Phnom Penh

A missionary named Bill who teaches English in Phnom Penh decided to create an outreach to Cambodian students, teaching them English and bringing English speaking short-termers to do it. So he developed English camp. The main point of English camp is to provide an opportunity for Cambodian students who follow Jesus Christ to develop relationships with other students who have not yet decided to follow Jesus. Teaching them English provides an opportunity for them to better themselves. If students can speak English, they can get jobs in hotels and other tourist-based businesses.

In the summer of 2005 I had my first experience with English camp in Phnom Penh. Then in 2007 I lead a short-term team to Siem Reap where English camp had expanded to. Both trips were wonderful. I love the country and the people. A year ago I found out that Bill was looking for someone to lead English camp while he was home in Canada on home assignment. I began looking into the possibility. To make a long story short, I will be traveling to Phnom Penh on July 7th and stay there leading English camp and returning home on July 30th. I am so excited because this year, my whole family will join me. They will be leaving for Phnom Penh on July 14th and return July 28th. This is their first time to Cambodia, so I am looking forward to seeing Cambodia through their eyes.

Marisa, 15 years old, took her first trip outside the United States to Peru in January. She did exceptionally well with a new culture. She was in an international soccer tournament with a mostly Peruvian team. She enjoyed getting to know the other Peruvian girls and worked at communicating with them in Spanish even though she has taken French in school.

Leanne, 12 years old, has never been outside the United States except for Canada. She is an adventurous young lady, so shouldn't have any problems.

My wife, Lorelei, grew up in the Philippines as I did but has not been back to South East Asia for quite some time. I'm sure she will enjoy being back "home".

This blog will chronicle my adventures and observations as I leave a week earlier than my family. Another blog, http://daybreakcambodia.blogspot.com/, will chronicle the Daybreak team's journey. It would be quite interesting to read both, seeing the adventure from different angles.