Update

Hello from Cambodia!
Sok sobay (“How are you?” In Khmer)! Can’t believe we’ve been here for almost two weeks, it seems like I’ve been here forever! I’m sorry I haven’t been able to write all of you a detailed email yet. Busy, busy, busy! I really love it here in Cambodia. One of my biggest worries for going on this trip was not being able to connect with the people here, especially with the language barrier. But the Lord worked it all out. Most everyone knows some English. Sellers at the market usually know how to say the price of something and how to make a bargain, and most know “hello” and “how are you?” One young lady that we’ve seen a few times sells water near the King’s Palace. She always asks us where we are from and we tell her we are from the US. She immediately follows with “OK, see you later alligator, in a while crocodile!” in her Asian accent. The people here are so kind! At first, they may look a little stern, but if you smile at them they almost always mirror back a great big smile. They also stare…….a lot. But I don’t blame them. Heidi and I stick out like cheetahs in a pack of zebras!

Heidi and I are doing quite a bit of teaching during the week. We normally start our day at about 7am. We have our first class at 8am-9:45am for teaching the church staff members. There are 6 total. Their names are Sath (pronounced “Sa”), Vichet, Chhay (like the drink-chai), Poly (pronounced like “holy”, but with a P at the beginning instead of an H), Sharain (pronounced “si-rine”), and Veesna. I teach Poly, Vichet, and Sharain. Heidi teaches Chhay and Sath. They are all English teachers here at the school and are pretty good. We’re helping them with their pronunciation, and how to place words in a sentence. In the Khmer language, they don’t have any “a” “the” “but”, etc. Just one of the many challenges these people have in learning our language. Listening to them talk in Khmer is a kick. It is full of Asian twangs and sounds VERY hard. Learning names is also hard. Not like in America where we have Dave’s, Susie’s, and Cindy’s. It helps so much when they spell it for us. One girl in my class was trying to tell me her name but I just couldn’t get it. So I had her write it down- “Navy” pronounced “Naw-V”. Made a huge difference!

After that at about 10:00am, Pastor Keat usually has something for us to do like teaching in the preschool classes. The kids are SO unbelievably cute! I’m in heaven! We help them go over their alphabet and English words. They don’t know much English, but will say to you, “Good morning teacher!” and give you a high five. The other day, I was standing outside watching all of the little kids go by. A little girl came right up to me, took my wrist, gave me a high-five, smiled, and then walked away. Ha! Listening them say their alphabet is funny too. I call it a southern twang. Like when they say “B”, they say “bey” then “say” (C) and “day” (D). If we aren’t teaching the kiddos in the morning, lately Keat has been having us go to the university, or high school to hand out flyers advertising the school. When they see us handing the flyers out, they think “Oh, they have foreign teachers at that school.” And come to sign up. Some came the same day we hand them out!
By now, it’s lunch time. We are served a very Asian meal that ALWAYS comes with rice. Saturday night we had “pancakes”. They have veggies, and tiny shrimp like things…..with eyes. It was good until I saw them. Ha ha. Haven’t had a tarantula yet, but I’m sure that day is coming. They have lots of fresh fruit here such as mangos (my personal favorite), dragon fruit, atis, jack fruit, bananas, papaya and longon (Robin’s favorite). The Kove’s took us out to dinner last night and we had a wonderful Asian soup. They just give you a little burner, veggies, meat and noodles to make your own soup. It was one of my favorite meals here!

After lunch, everyone in the school has a “siesta” from about 1-2pm. Some shops even close. It’s so hot that the people here want to regain their energy so that they don’t tire themselves out. Even the kids in the classes have a nap time. But don’t get me wrong, not everyone does this. The people I have met here are some of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. It’s just a part of the Asian culture. Very little play- if any, and lots of work. For example, the cooks here at the school prepare three meals a day, seven days a week. Every morning they go to the market right next to the school and buy vegetables and meat for the day, when it’s fresh (It stinks when you go past the meat covered with flies at about 2:00pm. Gross….). At lunch they serve about 80-100 people which includes the kids, the school teachers, workers and us. And there are only 2 cooks and about 2-3 helpers, mind you. Their kitchen is smaller than my room (for those of you who’ve seen it, for a kitchen, it’s tiny for serving 80-100 people). And the food is really good! What amazing ladies they are.
After 2:00pm we are at Keat’s disposal. Sometimes we’ll just walk to the nearby gas station and get a drink in the air conditioned store. It’s delightful to be in the wonderful COLD air, even if it is just for a little while. Other popular drinks here are sugar cane juice. It’s as fresh as you can get and tastes great! Today for the first time, we found a lady that sells flavored shaved ice drinks, another popular item.

By 4:00pm we have our first classes. My class has only about five people in it, if everyone shows up. It’s a level 4 class. Lately instead of teaching in that class I have been giving speaking tests at that time for all of the new students who have just signed up and want for me to give them a test to see what level they should be in. I ask different questions and see how they answer. The questions get harder and harder depending how far I can get with them. Anything from, “Hello, how are you?” to “What’s your favorite movie?” Heidi’s 4:00 class has about 20-25 people and is level 2. Then, in between classes the teachers normally invite any of the students to stay to have a short bible study. At 5:30pm, I have my larger class (level 5 but just turned level 6) of about 20-25 students. Heidi’s 5:30 class is also level 2 and has about 30 students.

When I say we teach the classes, it’s different for both of us. Since I teach in a higher class I can communicate with the students easier than Heidi is able (since they are still beginners) so she helps primarily with pronunciation and how to place words together. I also still have a teacher with me to explain some things in Khmer if the class doesn’t understand what I said in English, but I still teach most of the class. I teach on pronunciation, and explain a word if they don’t know what it means. We also have them read a lot of conversations to get used to talking in an English conversation. The school has a curriculum that is pretty easy to follow (except for the other day when I had to explain present participles. That blew their minds.). I love it! I could definitely see myself doing something like this someday. We’ll see what’s in God’s plan. Heidi’s take on teaching, “It’s a unique experience. I dreaded it at first, but now I like it!”

By the time 6:30 comes, it’s the end of our day. We say goodbye to our students and friends, then head up stairs to our floor to eat our dinner that’s waiting for us. We are staying on the third floor of the school, right under the church that takes up the fourth floor. We have a common area were we eat, and have a mini kitchen. After dinner we write emails, read our bibles, and get ready for the next day.

Whew!

I don’t know about you, but this has tired me out and this is just a general write-up! We’ve also been able to go to one of the staff’s houses for his birthday, to start having a good relationships with the other workers and teachers, tour Cambodia on the weekends and see the King’s Palace, ride an elephant (!), go across the river to a village and meet an amazing family (my favorite family that I’ve met), eat new things, get sick for 2 days with a fever and sinus problems (not fun but praise the Lord, I’m better!) ride a tuk tuk (taxi) and moto (the back of a motorcycle. That’s Phnom Penh main type of transportation. So fun!), and serving along with the teachers here. I thank the Lord for this wonderful opportunity. I can say that I’ve grown closer to Him in my time here in showing me to count my blessings and to really apply 1 Cor. 10:31 in my life.

Thank you for all of your many prayers and letters to me. I really appreciate them! Keep them coming and let us know what’s going on in your life. We pray for all of our friends and family every night. I will be sad for this trip to end, but will be glad to be reunited with my family again.
Anne

P.S. My dad is on his way!