Different, Exciting, Mundane

I have come to the conclusion that no matter which continent I live in, work is still work. As a teacher, I still have to plan lessons that will not bore my students to death, I still have spend Saturday afternoon grading papers and I still have to read the AP textbook so I can convince my students that I have some idea of what I am talking about in class.

As exciting and different as things may be here in Phnom Penh, we almost look more forward to the mundane. Coffee in the morning, delivery pizza on Fridays and playing games with friends on the weekends help us feel like we are really home. I was talking to a friend of mine here about what it will take for us to really feel like Cambodia is home. We concluded that we may never feel that way, nor shall we strive to ever make Cambodia more comfortable than the U.S.

No matter how long Leanne and I live in Cambodia, I will still have pasty white skin and be a foot taller than the average Cambodian. It is because of this reality, that Leanne and I have been pushing for the implimentation of things in our life that are comfortable and normal to us. Working for the past two weeks has given us a normal schedule, and that makes the chaotic nature of the city seem more managable and somewhat ordinary.

This week I started coaching the middle school basketball team. I run that team like Gene Hackman in Hoosiers. No Kobe-like fade-away jump shots. We focus on defense and practice 10 bank shots like it is our job. Imagine me running the 3-man-weave with 15 middle school aged Cambodians with an average height of 5 feet. Amazing.

Leanne has began to network for her trafficking ministry. She is working hard to get Asian Hope incorporated in an organization here called Chab Dai, which unites all of the organizations working in trafficking and helps them move in one uniform direction. She has meetings set up with some of the largest organizations in Cambodia like World Vision and World Relief in hopes that those organizations can help her create a foundation for her ministry and the start of an Asian Hope women's ministry.

Life is really great. We are healthy, happy and learning a lot about Cambodia, ourselves and what the Lord has in store for us here. We often miss Colorado and think a lot about the people we love at home. We love and miss you all!

These pictures are of the Phnom Penh night market and a scavenger hunt I did with some of my students this week in class.