A Changing of the Seasons...

Though the blog title might hint at a philosophical rant, the topic of this post is much more literal than abstract. I have finished my first season, coaching the LIS middle school basketball team to a 10 - 3 season record. Though we did not win the city tournament, we had a very successful season and the boys improved immensely each game.

Some of my favorite parts of the season:

1) Many of the players wear glasses, so even at the most intense times during of a game, if a kid's glasses were knocked off both teams would stop abruptly, pick them off of the ground and restart the game like nothing happened.

2) There is a distinct lack of a competitive edge here which is rather refreshing. Many times I had players unaware of the final score and other times I had players ask to go to the bathroom or to get some food when they were on the court playing.

3) Trying to mute my competitive side was extremely difficult. There were times when I wanted to run out on the court after a big shot or yell at the referee for making his 100th terrible call of the game. However, I had to realize that I coached middle school basketball and I should just be happy when all of my players collectively know if they are on offense or defense.

4) I love to coach. I get nervous before games and I love the feeling of winning, even in a non-competitive atmosphere. I learned countless lessons while playing sports and I know that many of these kids learned a lot throughout the season.

Here is the picture from our last day of practice.

As of yesterday I started high school soccer for both the boys and the girls. It will be a challenge coaching both teams at the same time but I love the game and look forward to seeing the kids become better players.

MST Project, a Busy Weekend and a rash...

On Friday night, Leanne and I had the opportunity to volunteer with the MST Project (Men and the Sex Trade). The project's goals are to collect information and data on western men who are soliciting prostitutes, and engage in a dialogue with them on their perception of prostitution in Phnom Penh, and why it is that western men enter into such relationships. The program ultimately wants to educate men on the realities of the sex trade in Cambodia, the high HIV rates as well as to explain to them that the girls in Phnom Penh are forced into prostitution regardless of their situation.

The whole evening was challenging for me to say the least. I was uncomfortable approaching men who may or may have not been in the area to purchase prostitutes. I was uncomfortable with seeing in real-time, some of the social ills that I have only read about. Prostitution, beggars asking for money and food and teenage boys stumbling through the streets with glue in bags that they were using to achieve a cheap high. It was eye-opening, heart-breaking and fascinating at the same time. I learned a lot through simple observation as well as incredible conversations with two men.

Throughout the week, I have been reading one chapter by A.W. Tozer repeatedly. It discusses the idea of rest and meekness. He explains that "A meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion... but he has stopped being fooled about himself.... In himself, a meek man is nothing, in God everything." Tozer then explains that "Jesus says,'Come unto me, and I will give you rest.' The rest that he offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend."

As I debriefed the experience on Friday with Leanne, I could not help but think about the need for people to become completely meek. Not an afflicted human mouse who is constantly walked over by society, like Tozer explains. But rather an individual who does not see their value in the need for drugs, liquor, a woman or man's company or any number of temporary pleasures. The Lord offers rest in meekness, knowing that apart from him, we are rarely fulfilled.

A little heavy but these are the experiences we hoped to have in Cambodia and an indication of what we are learning out here besides just the culture and the city.

We spent the rest of the weekend in bed, as Leanne has some sort of rash, either heat rash or some other reaction. We ran a 5K race on Saturday morning and both felt about as terrible as possible following the run. We think it is just dehydration and heat rash and are hoping it is not a sign of a different illness.

Lastly, I woke up this morning to see that CU had given up 35 points in the 4th quarter of their game against Kansas to lose 52-45. I think I felt worse about that than I did after running a 5k on three hours of sleep. We hope your weekend was great!

In the Cambodian News... hilarious!

If there is one thing that I love here in Cambodia, it is noting the differences between how this nation operates compared to the United States. I have become much better at using the word "different" rather than "worse," because the latter implies that my culture and country do some things better than others.

These two news stories appeared in successive Cambodia Daily newspapers. They are hilarious in their own way and can definitely be describes as "different!"

Headline: One Officials Embarrassment Becomes Internet Sensation

If any of you are YouTube fanatics, you might have seen this clip. In just a few days, it has accumulated nearly 40,000 views in a nation where internet access is limited. If you have not seen the clip, it can be seen using the following link: Phnom Penh Roadrage .

In brief, a government official was arrested for running over a military official's moto while a police officer just watches the whole debacle. This is probably the most that all three branches of the government have worked together in recent years. However, as the official drives off, he takes the moto with him, a shot is fired by the military official and the police officer simply walks away. Knowing the streets, the driver continued for 1-2 miles before being stopped by police. Here are some quotes from the article. :

• "The driver of the car, Mr. Than has retained his position as the deputy director general of the department of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection."

Essentially what this quote means is that Mr. Than gets paid a lot to do very little and people in the government are not concerned about his day-to-day routine.

• "In the beginning of the investigation, we (the police) had thought about sending him to the court but we found out that he is mentally ill so we will not... the court would look as silly as him."

I appreciate the officials honesty as well as his respect for the court system. Instead of taking this guy to court and seeing some justice, the Cambodian officials decided to just let him go and allow this man to jump back into his car. Sounds good.

• "Mr. Than has worked for the government for 20 years, but his former staff pities him because he used to be a good man but has become like this... It has also been noted that Mr. Than no longer performs official duties but still recieves a government salary."

I have come to the conclusion that the smart one is Mr. Than. Pose with a mental illness and you can get away with driving over an officers moto, you have no expectations at work and you still get a check. Sounds like Mr. Than has an awesome pension plan!

We loved this article, the clip and the people who commented. That one for sure gives you an indication of life in Phnom Penh as well as the way issues are sometimes handled in the city.

Headline: Breaking out the Hoodies: Cool Weather May Last Until January

This article appeared two days ago. We have had INCREDIBLE weather in Cambodia starting last Friday. It was as if someone flipped the hot and rain switches off. It is cool and breezy and the weather really does make this place feel totally different.

However, it seems to be too cold for many Cambodians and here are some comments to support that feeling.

• "Mountainous areas will be most affected, with temperatures hovering between 13 and 15 degrees celsius (roughly 58 - 60 degrees farenheit)... while lowland areas will hover between 16-18 degrees (about 60-65 degrees farenheit."

This is not cold, it is called awesome and I will take it any day over the 85-95 with monumental humidity.

• "The temperatures could be around 14 degrees at night but it will not affect the soldiers in the mountainous areas... if the temperature gets below 10 degree (50 degrees farenheit) we will declare an emergency... soldiers have already been given heavy winter coats and improvements are being made to their camps."

50 degrees? An emergency? 50 degrees should be cause for celebration and jubilee. I have some jackets that to soldiers can wear, I will not need them as I will be outside enjoying the nice weather!

Great stuff from the Cambodia Daily. In all honesty, there are articles published everyday that highlight the often too present violence seen in this country and it has been nice to read the paper and enjoy a few laughs. Bundle up and enjoy the video clip!

An Untold Story

The other night Chris and I were talking about moving out here, and the amount of work it took to just get us here. That lead our conversation into how much we love living here. We talk almost everyday about how much we like living cross-culturally and getting to know the Khmer people in our day to day. But back to the first part of the stress and work it took us to get on the plane and move to Asia. The months before departure where full of preparation tasks and thoughts of "what will our life look like." The days before departure were full of emotional swings of "I just can't wait to go" and many tear-filled byes to our loving family and friends. I think back to the day we left and saying bye to our parents at the airport and how surreal that day was, and how hard that was on my emotions.

So now for the untold story...I threw up on the flight over here! Not once, but twice. When we got our first (of many) airline meal, I thought "you know what I am going to have a celebratory glass of wine for the excitement of moving to Phnom Penh." I don't know if it was the wine at 20,000 feet, the emotions I was going through that morning, or the anxiety of what was ahead, but the combo of the three made for an interesting flight. Just for future reference, I would not recommend to anyone who is moving to Asia to have a glass of wine on the plane, it obviously did not turn out well. I tell this story because as we talk about our life here, we talk about it in ways that are full of joy and peace in knowing that God is using us here, and still has big things in store for us over the next 20 months. I tell it because all that anxiety and stress is now gone, and we feel very confident in where God has us. So I guess this would be the more appropriate time to have the celebratory glass of wine...

There is a student back in Boulder, CO that I have come to know pretty well over the past 4-5 years since I met her when she was a freshman. She always asks me if I have gotten sick out here, and I always respond with, "Not yet." So, yes Melissa I have thrown up, two times, and it was on day one!

Some of our thoughts

Life is moving on as usual here, so we don't have a lot of stories to write about, or haven't had many new experiences over the past few days. But here is short list of the things we both talk about:

1.) We still feel like it is June because the "summer" weather has not changed. Without having a fall (the weather, food, football, pumpkin patches, etc.) or a change of seasons it seems hard for us to believe that there is only two more months left in 2010. The ability to process time is just more difficult.

2.) We read a lot. Classic novels, books on Cambodia and the genocide, new novels, and books that challenge our faith. The books we were supposed to read in HS and college and never did. I guess that is what happens when you don't have a TV anymore (who would of thought).

3.) Our life is pretty simple here. Before we moved our plate was full with each of us working full-time at our jobs, Chris finishing his Masters program in under 2 years, and Leanne doing the fundraising to get us here. Our days were full of errands, papers, phone calls, and trips trying to spend as much time as possible with family and friends. So here in Phnom Penh we have the ability to rest and relax over the weekends, something we have not had in years.

4.) No one in Cambodia can seem to give you a confirmation or a guarantee. Aircons that are supposed to be installed on Thursday might be finished by Saturday (only if you make several phone calls that the job has to be done because Monday is too late). Or a travel agent who tells you she will book you a flight for $50 until the 20th, and then on the 19th you call to only find out that she just no longer will acknowledge the previous deal. A driver who gives you a receipt for the services he will provide, but then calls the day of and cancels just because he can't anymore. A deal here just isn't the same as a deal back home.

5.) We love sugared crackers as a snack. And eat Ranch that we brought from the US almost everyday.

6.) The rains are ending and the weather is actually very pleasant (well to us at least).

7.) Entertainment takes on new forms. Below are some pictures of us at an amusement park (if you can call it that) on Diamond Island where you can ride the Ferris Wheel and play dart games. However, the prizes at Diamond Island are rice cookers, serving trays, knives, or flip flops. They also have a wedding photo walk, that we took the liberty to use and thought the red heart photo stop was the best for a bride and groom.

Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, emails, skpye dates, and packages that so many of you have sent us that make us feel so supported!

Poipet, Cambodia

I (Leanne) just returned last Friday from a short trip to the city of Poipet. This city sits on the northern border of Thailand, and also is known for its prevalent poverty. These two factors combined allow for the Khmer children in Poipet to be highly vulnerable for child trafficking. I went there to see what some other organizations are doing to protect children from being trafficked into cities like Bangkok, Chang Mai, and other large Thai cities. It was a trip full of learning experiences, and new sites. Though we are not looking into setting up a border protection program, we can still learn from the things this organization does like non-formal education (school on a mat), Kids Clubs, vocational training, and anti-trafficking curriculum. All in all, it was a successful trip.

The only difficulty we faced was the mass flooding that is hitting not only Phnom Penh but also this region. It is heartbreaking to see these people's homes, businesses, and school be washed away in the days of unending rain. Though we like the coolness of the rain, I think we will be happy to see it go come November.

Proof

Chris has an amazing ability to capture photos of the people and places we see while traveling. However, here is the proof that we actually did go to Vietnam and that the photos we already posted are his and not stolen from National Geographic. This is our moto ride to Can Tho, breakfast at the floating market, and our speed boat back to Phnom Penh.