Cambodia!

Wow! Talk about going to a different country. Nothing (not even Bruce's description of the country) could fully prepare me for all that I experienced there. Even though Thailand is a developing world country, it is still one of the richest SE Asian countries and has many of the same freedoms that I enjoy as an American.

When we landed in Phenom Penh the first thing I literally said looking out he window was "where the heck are we?" There weren't any buildings I saw over 8-10 stories high, compared with our skyscrapers that go on for what seems like ever.

I just gave Sarah a knowing look and was like, "well all right, adventure here we come." And an adventure this trip was. The key goal was to get a new visa which took two days, Friday and Monday. All the time in between was just one thing after another.


Instead of giving you a day by day journal, I'll just point out the places, history and people that were significant. We were given instructions by our volunteer coordinator to find a tuk-tuk driver by the name of Sophat aka "Camel" and he would take us wherever we needed to go. He was incredibly nice and super awesome. He literally did take us everywhere. After we finished at the Thai Embassy Camel took us to a Cambodia arts and handicrafts store called Tabitha House where we could buy silks and souvenirs made by land-mine victims and needy women and mothers.

Then we also got our first dose of recent Cambodian history specifically relating to the Khmer Rouge. We visited the S.21 prison as well as the Killing Fields. Gruesome and sobering, but it was extremely interesting and educational. Even though I saw everything there, I realized that I will never fully comprehend what it's like for them to live and grow up there.

The other people we visited there were Jeanette and Naomi who are doing mission work there with their husbands. It was great to tour around, go to markets and get to know them better, and I am pretty positive that wherever Jeanette goes in Cambodia, she's known by everyone.


When we left there, I felt like I had learned a lot, and happy to be exposed to another culture and mission field. Here's our pictures from the trip.