glad tidings we bring

Ok, so I wrote this a few days ago and I am only posting it now. Please forgive me. We've been really busy here. I'll update more about my Christmas day tomorrow hopefully.

That's Kong and our sunset in the pictures

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I can barely believe that today is Christmas Eve. It’s been such a normal day, nothing special. I woke up late (ugh) taught my children, made a few phone calls to Canada, finished marking exams and filling out report cards, wrapped some pens with the other teachers, did some laundry.

Seriously, it’s Christmas today?

I can’t complain though. I’m happy. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and our big Christmas program. Rachha and I are the MC’s. He’s very nervous. I think it’s cute. I still have to write that “Christmas in Canada” speech. I better get on it.

I had the best weekend! God totally knew that I needed it, and I am so happy He gave it to me.

It kind of began on Thursday. I had to catch a bus to Phnom Penh at 8:15 am. It was a good time in the big city. I stayed with Rachel for the night. In the morning we caught the 7am bus for Sihanoukville. It was a nice relaxing afternoon. In the evening I had to give my final exam. It went well. Saturday morning we decorated the chapel for Christmas. In the afternoon Kong, Seyha and myself went for a walk up the mountain behind our home. It was not quite what I expected, and that’s ok with me! I was under the impression that there was a little road we would walk.

Not.

At certain points I was actually rock climbing, a first for me. No net, no support straps. Just me and nature.

We eventually made it to the top. It didn’t take that long. We took a short cut, that’s why I was walking through grass that was almost as tall as me. I prayed so hard that there would be no snakes or landmines.

Eek!

We hung out at the top of the mountain for about half and hour, maybe more, before we went back down. When we made it back to SLM Vothanak joined us in our adventures. They were far from over!!

We all went to the beach to watch the sunset. It was so much fun to just go and goof off with the boys. At one point we were throwing Vothanak’s sandals as Frisbee’s.

Hey, you work with what you’ve got…

It was too cloudy, so the sunset wasn’t as spectacular as it could have been, but it was still good.

From there we drove around for a long time. We went to a few different places at the port. Finally we returned around 8:30pm. In Cambodia, that’s pretty late.

Sunday was equally as good. Rachel, Tongpang and myself went out for breakfast at a very western type place. It was good. They had very good coffee.

We walked home and stopped at a music store. I bought a Christmas CD and a Khmer wedding music CD. All together it cost $2. I love Cambodia…

I corrected some exams and got ready for church. After church the staff of SLM were invited to a few different church Christmas programs. So we went to two different churches. After when we came home Vothanak let me drive his motto around the yard! Yesss, I have now officially driven a motto!

Sweet!!

And this week when we have some time off, he’s going to take me to some lesser travelled roads so I can really learn! I am very excited!!

Ok, I better go and finish wrapping Christmas presents and prepare that speech of mine!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM CAMBODIA EVERYONE!!!!

Christmas talk

I need your help. Rachha and myslef are hosting our Christmas program here at SLM on December 25th.

That's not what I need your help with...

I am giving a talk about Christmas in Canada. I am finding it very hard to say good things that are unique to Canada. As of right now all I can think of telling them is that North America is a selfish materialist place, we have long forgotten the true meaning of Christmas and it has become nothing but a comercialized holiday.

Now, I know that if I look deep down inside of me, that's not how I really feel. But I am having a hard time writing anything.

This is where you come in.

If you can think of anything special about Canadian (or North American) Christmas, could you please pass it on to me? I'd like to say something that might be interesting or inspiring to hear.

Som au-kun (thank you very much)

PS. I decorated the Christmas tree for SLM today. It's such a Charlie Brown tree, it's not even funny. It's small and fake. It took about 5-10 minutes for me to decorate. And I'm talking lights, tinsel,decorations, evertything!

Shoot, I could really go for the smell of a real Christmas tree right now...

I see Stars =)

The past two days have been crazy!!

On Monday morning Jonah called me out of my nursery class at around 10:30 and told me I had to go to Phnom Penh that afternoon and pick up my Visa. The bus would leave at noon.

“Okaaaayyy“. I thought.

So I got ready and was on the bus. It felt like no time before I was in the capitol city. The quickest 4 ½ hours of my life! Anyways, I got off the bus and some tuk tuk drivers and motto drivers haggled me to go with them for outrageous prices. Finally a motto driver said he would take me to the Long Beach Plaza Hotel for only $1.

I am getting much better at bartering. =)

The travel agency that had my Visa was in this hotel, and then after that I would go to Rachel’s for the night. As it turns out the travel agency was about a 5 minute walk from Rachel‘s house! It was great!

It was a great evening of fellowship, girl talk and just being able to be myself.

Now, I should mention that I had specific instructions from Jonah. If my Visa was good for at least 1 week or more, I was to come home the next day. But if I only had a few days I was going to get on a bus/taxi/van thinger and go to Ko Kong where I would travel to the Thai boarder. Jonah said he’d meet me in Ko Kong.

My Visa was only good until December 19th, and it was already the 17th.

Looked like I was going to Thailand.

I told Rachel and her house mates about my plans and they all strongly advised me not to do it. That Van thing wasn’t the safest (or most comfortable - think 25 people crammed into a regular sized van, People spilling out the windows and sitting on the roof for 5-6 hours) way of travel. Plus the boarder is sketchy. There’s a lot of drug and human trafficking going on there. They told me I should think about flying into Bangkok. It was safe and cheap. Turns out that a round trip was only $69. So I decided to do that. But unfortunately you can’t book flights online within 23 hours and 59 minutes of a flight (apparently). So I woke up at 5am and made my way to the airport (and more good bartering was done for the ride there!). There was a flight to Bangkok in less than 2 hours, and they had room!!

The kicker: it would cost me $79. One way.

Have I mentioned that it’s exam week and I was supposed to be at SLM doing a review with my students?

Well, in light of the situation I just took it. I had to be back in Sihanoukville as soon as possible.

I had a delicious sandwich for breakfast. And a latte.

God bless airports…

Before I knew it I was sitting alone on an airplane heading for Thailand.

Say what?!

Me. Little Brianna going to Thailand all alone, no agenda, no one to help me. Well, that’s a lie. God was there. Like, completely!! At every terminal and passport control counter and security search I went through I prayed for God’s blessing and favour on me wherever I went, and boy did He put His favour on me! It was great!

Anyways, back to Thailand…

They have STARBUCKS!!!!!!!!

God bless Thailand…

There was no eggnog , so I had a peppermint mocha instead. I don’t even like Starbucks mocha, but this was delicious!

Anyways, I hired a taxi to take me into the city. All he did was take me to the enormous mall. I bought all my Christmas presents there, so that was good. I made it back to the airport in time for my flight home (did I mention that once in Thailand I bought a ticket home? For too much money again, ugh.) and even had time to eat Burger King before flying out!!!

I’ve never enjoyed Burger King so much…

I was in Thailand for about a total of 5 hours. I met an Australian guy named Michal at my gate. He was 24 and really nice. We ended up sitting together on the flight home (rush seating). Once in the city my problems/adventure was not over….

The guy wouldn’t give me a 1 year multiple entry Visa on the spot. I have to go back tomorrow and get it at 3pm.

Ugh.

BUT!!! My sweet bartering skills were put to the test even more once out of the airport!! I needed to either hire a taxi to drive me home, or I could crash at Rachel’s again. If it wasn’t exam week, I would have crashed, but I can’t do that to my students. I love them too much. Normally you can hire a taxi to take you to Sihanoukville for $30. But gas has gone up so they were asking $80! I said “NO WAY!” I told them that just because I am white that does not mean I have lots of money. That was just too much. So then I had all these men surrounding me trying to get me to go with them in their tuk tuk, motto or taxi to the city center. One guy spoke really good English and we were chatting up a storm. He wanted me to pay $7 for his taxi, and from there he was going to take me to his brother, who was driving a taxi to Sihanoukville that night. I had to clarify with him a few times, but it was a lot of fun talking to him. He was a funny guy, and I’m a funny girl. We had all those men around us cracking up with laughter! I think they were impressed with the little white girl that was so firm.

=)

Anyways, I went with this guy and his brother took me home to Sihanoukville for $25. There were others in the taxi, but I was more than ok with that. I was soooo exhausted!! I just wanted to go home.

And home I went!!!

But now I’ve been stupid busy all day and I still have to teach for a few hours tonight. Then first thing in the morning I’ll be on a bus again heading back to Phnom Penh. I’m probably going to stay with Rachel Thursday night, and then she’s coming back with me to Sihanoukville on Friday morning.

Alright, here we go!!

7 more days...

I did not go to Thailand this weekend. I will be going either early this week with Jonah, or on Friday with the Secretary of State. This poses a problem. It's exam week. I am supposed to be going over a review with my students to prepare them for the exam on Friday. Friday. How can I go to Ko Kong when I am supposed to be conducting an exam? Jonah said he'd cover it for me. But I adore my students. I want to be there for them!



This is frustrating...



I preached another sermon today. I talked about how God uses regular ordinary people to do great things. I used Mary as my example and talked a lot about her. I also threw Noah in there for good measure. I talked about obedience and how these people had a choice to let God use them. God doesn't promise that life will be easy when you obey Him, but he will be with you through it all, and He will bless you because of it.



Kong is home!!!



He went away to Phnom Penh for the past 4 days and I missed him greatly! It was funny, he said after the first day he wasn't happy and he wanted to go home. Now, I should tell you that Jonah and Tongpang were also in Phnom Penh, but none of these people traveled together. Kong did however get together with them at one point, and after that he told me all he could think about was how his sister was at home alone (which I wasn't really, Rachha and Vothanak were home as well). He said he wanted to go home immediately. Everything in the world would be perfect once him and his sister were back together.



I feel so loved. =)



Tonight I finally got behind the stove and cooked a meal for my boys! It was OK. It was harder to cook here for several reasons. One being that I didn't have the same utensils, or the same ingredients (I threw in a bunch of things that I didn't know what they were) and I didn't have my spices!! When I cook at home, I use like a dozen different spices! But!! There was garlic. I used a little too much I think...



Does an entire bulb sound like too much...?

The highlight of my weekend was talking to Nick for hours on msn!! I love that boy! (not romantically, of course..*ahem*coughcough*pulls collar to side*uhhhhh*)

=D

fact

I found an article through my student Nin. It's from The Cambodia Daily. I can't seem to find it online so I'll give you the gist of what it talked about....

The title was "Phnom Penh Listed Among Least Livable Cities".

A study was done on the living conditions of 132 cities around the world, and Phnom Penh (the capitol of Cambodia) was listed in the top 10.

We rank #8. Out of 132 cities we came in 125th.

We are right below Bogota, Clolombia (123) and Tehran, Iran (124) and above Dakar, Senegal (126). Algiers, Algeria was listed as the least livable city.

We are below Iran. Oh my....

The study is based upon standard of living, traffic, crime, poverty, cleanliness, etc...

There was also an article that said Phnom Penh was getting a KFC. This will be the first major fast-food chain to enter the Cambodian market.

I'm not excited about that...

Much has happened since my last entry. I don’t even know where to begin. Umm, I guess I’ll begin with my sickness.

I was sick.

I came down with a nasty flu last week. It came upon me Thursday evening right after I went to Kong’s fathers 7th day party. I came back to the school to teach my classes, and half way through the 6:30 class, I felt very hot and weak. Then I became very disoriented and confused. I had a high fever. I had a headache. My body screamed at me in pain. My skin was very sensitive and sore, while my muscles and joints felt like an extreme case of arthritis. My head felt like a balloon and I had trouble speaking to anyone. Tongpang covered my last class for me and I went to bed feeling terrible. I awoke in the morning feeling a bit better, but not well enough to teach class. I spent the day in bed drifting in and out of sleep. I felt pretty ok, fever was down, I had a little bit of strength. That was until around the exact same time Friday evening. It hit me again but this time it was even worse. My body was so extremely hot, it hurt to touch the skin on my stomach or back it was so hot, my face was on fire but I was shivering, I was under blankets in this plus 30 degree weather. I also had the pleasure of almost no sleep because I was hit with some bad diarrhea . I was up running to the bathroom every15-30 minutes from 1:30am until about 7-8am. It was terrible. I was also sweating excessively. I had all the symptoms of malaria. I was scared. Very scared. Jonah told me that I had to go to the hospital that night if I wasn’t feeling much better. One of my biggest fears is getting seriously sick in Cambodia. The hospitals here are terrible. People in Canada should never complain about our health care system. I cried Friday night when I was trying to go to sleep, and I called out to God for some serious healing here if it was indeed malaria. Kong also told me about someone in his school who had some type of fever with all the same symptoms I had, and he died. I was beyond scared.

After a few days I felt better and I didn’t go to the hospital (praise God!!). Now a few more days later and I’m coming down with a cold. I can’t believe how sick I get here. It’s ridiculous!!! I am never this sick! Ugh.

Now, fast forward a couple days and I received the most amazing blessing!! I received TWO packages from home on the same day!! One from my mom, and the other from Nick (and many other friends). I am terribly home sick right now, getting the packages was such a joy! There was a card in Nick’s package from people from my church and a bunch of small notes.

I cried like a child. It was beautiful.

As I was opening the packages Jonah came into the room to tell me something. He told me he just got off the phone with the Secretary of State and he had some good news and some bad news.

I knew what it was before he even said it.

It turns out he couldn’t get me the one year visa. Instead, he is travelling to Ko Kong this weekend and I am to travel with him. It’s a 4 ½ hour boat ride from Sihanoukville, and once I get there I have to go a little farther on land to the Thai boarder.

Yep. I’m going to Thailand.

Here’s the kicker: I’m only going for a few minutes!!

I’m just supposed to get the stamps saying I left the country and come back in to get my business one year Visa.

Boo.

I do however, have the option of staying in Thailand for a few nights alone. I’m brave, but I’m not sure if I’m that brave (or stupid) to do that. I will however see if I can stay in Thailand for a few hours, maybe even spend the night. I don’t want to make that journey in one day. Who knows, the boats might not even run that late in the day for me to get home. Plus, if I stay for a few nights it will cost me at least $100. Probably more knowing me.

Please pray, this is all very nerve racking. I’m still weak from my flu, I am supposed to preach on Sunday, and need to write my sermon still, and I have to create the final exam for my English students this week. I am supposed to go to Crocodile Hole Village for some ceremony stuff, and Phi Run specifically asked me out for Saturday evening. We have not spent any time together in a several weeks. I was really looking forward to going out with him. He always takes me to the best hidden little places in Kompot Som (Which is the Khmer name for Sihanoukville). Oh, and I think Alila is coming to SLM this weekend to stay for about a month, and she’s staying in my room. I still have to clean out half of the wardrobe and dresser and get everything ready.

It’s already Wednesday.

BAHHH!!!

It’s ok though. I’ve been incredibly bored and restless lately, so now I have non-stop excitement, right? This is good, right?

Eek…

WoOOow!!

Today I accidentally taught my nursery kids the word, "wow".

It's so funny, they lift their work in the air and yell WOW to get my attention. I always say things to them when they show me their pictures. Like, "very nice"good job"that's great!"beautiful"lovely"wonderful" And I'll throw in the few words I know in Khmer, like "sa-aat" which means beautiful, or "la-or", or"som la-or" which means good or very good. It even stands for nice.

Today Darith was drawing a picture of something (I'm really not sure what it was..) and I said "Wow! Thats's great!" He he mimicked me. Well, it wasn't long before the whole class had caught on to the wow craze! It's great! I love it!

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Tonight I saw Kong. It was really good. I was finally able to give him a great big hug! In Khmer culture it's very taboo for a girl and boy to show affection to each other in public. Even if you're married. But Kong is a Christian, and alot of Khmer culture comes from the buhddist monks around. So Kong likes to hug. Which is great because I do not get enough hugs around this place. At his home and the funeral I wasn't able to give him a consoling hug. It was almost too much for me. Seeing him cry, and being all alone, and I had to keep my mitts off. I broke the rules a bit though. I rubbed his arms and linked arms with him briefly.

It was very scandelous...

He's doing good. We were able to talk about some things this evening. I am invited to the seventh day party that will finally end the mourning period. If you're rich, this party business could last up to a year, with having a party every month or so (I think..). This will be the end for the Lee family.

Kong told me that he was going to come over to my home Saturday morning and ask me to come with him to the hospital to pray for his father and to help him share the Gospel with him. His family had been keeping the seriousness of his illness from Kong. They told him Friday night how serious it was. But he was too late. His father passed on around 4am on Saturday. He never got the chance to go and say goodbye. Friday night the entire family went to the hospital to see him and take care of him, but someone had to stay at home to take care of things, so Kong stayed. He was the only one who didn't get to see his father. =(

He has a positive attitude about this. So that's really good. We even laughed and joked tonight. I'll never forget the words he said to me at the funeral on Monday. I couldn't believe how grown up he was. I am so proud of him. He is being a great example to his family.

I really love this boy. I wish I could take him home and keep him.

I guess 5 years is too close to adopt him, huh?

A very merry not-unbirthday to me!!

This past weekend was interesting. It was my birthday on December 2nd. Now, if you know me at all you know how much I love my birthday. This is the first time I’ve ever been away from my family at birthday time. This is also the first time I’ve ever had no snow. It’s hot and sunny out. How can it possibly be my birthday?? Alas, the calendar says it’s true. My birthday has come and gone. The big 2-1. How did I spend my weekend you ask? Well, I’m glad you asked…
Saturday I was supposed to go with Kong for a walk up the mountain behind my home.

Unfortunately on Friday evening he told me that he had to cancel because he had to take his father to the hospital the next morning. His dad has been sick for many years now. They are a very poor family and don’t have much money to pay for doctor bills.

So I ended up spending the better part of the day alone in my bedroom, with the exception of the hour and a ½ I went to watch my boys play football (soccer). We tied, 3-3.

On Friday my evening students told me to be ready for a birthday party at 5:30 on Saturday.

So, 5:30 rolled around and I went down stairs only to find out that I had to wait in my bedroom for another 40 minutes.

So I danced alone in my bedroom. =)

Finally someone came to get me. I went down stairs and there were most of my students with a cake and fruit and presents!! They sang happy birthday to me and gave me some presents. They also silly stringed me after I blew out the candles. We spent the next couple hours eating cake, throwing cake at each other, taking pictures and just hanging out. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoy my students.

When the party was finished Rachha pulled me aside to explain why Kong didn’t show up to the party.

His father had died earlier that morning.

My heart stopped. I held back tears.

My poor Kong and his family! My heart was broken for them. I love Kong so much! He is a very special young boy. I have met his father, along with most of his brothers and sisters. There are 8 of them in total.

Sunday morning I woke up and didn’t even realize it was my birthday until after I had showered. That has never happened to me before. I was preaching that morning at another church. It went over really well. The translating went smoothly. Then we had a medical clinic.

After church Jonah, Tongpang, Rachha, Vothanak and myself went over to Kong’s home to pay our respects.

At 3 we had church at SLM. During the service Jonah had three announcements to make. The last one being that it was my birthday, and he then continued to produce a cake for everyone there to eat! At 5:30 we headed over to Pun Leu’s birthday party. It was nice. There was good food, good people, and Karaoke! I did not sing. Surprise, surprise…

Monday morning we went to the funeral. I never thought I’d be able to say that I know what burnt flesh smells like. Basically we all drove slowly down the street following the coffin. We went to the Pagoda where Mr. Lee was cremated. It was a sad sight to see his Kong’s mother and little brother’s and sisters crying their eyes out.

That was my birthday weekend. It was the strangest birthday I’ve ever had.

Plus, I was homesick. =(

ahh?

I just buried my puppy.

One of our dogs died tonight. Vothanak, Rachha and I went out into the back yard with a shovel and a flash light and made a big hole. It's now filled. It's also right outside my bedroom.

Ick.

We don't think Sheba will make it through the night either. It's so sad. The dog that died tonight left behind a brother. He's healthy and running around. But we might be short two dogs by morning. I have no idea why they died. They were sick this morning, and by tonight one was dead.

=(

On a happier note - my birthday is almost upon us!!

=)

I expect all of you at home to get together this weekend and celebrate my birthday together.

I'm not kidding.

For me, I am actually going to a 5 year olds birthday party on Sunday. We have the same birthday. It's our principal's son's birthday, who is also one of my students. His name is Pun Lou. And Vothanak is Pun Lou's uncle. We're all tightly knit here at SLM. So I'll be celebrating my birthday on Saturday. I plan on going for a walk with Kong up the mountain behind our house, then maybe a little swim in the ocean. In the evening my students are planning something for me. All I know is that I need to be home around 6-6:30pm.

I'm pumped!

little girl big city

I just had a great weekend!

It was a big holiday in Cambodia and I went to Phnom Penh to visit my friend Rachel. I was also going to see my good friends Alila and Akum. It was the Water Festival. It's one of Cambodia's biggest holiday's.

Friday morning Tongpang, myself, and 3 other Naga's caught the bus headed to capitol city. There was a lot of confusion when we arrived, but it all got sorted out. I went directly to a home where I ate the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner! Oh goodness you have no idea how wonderful it was! They even had cranberry sauce - not that I eat cranberry sauce, but they still had it! It was a really good afternoon! We played apples to apples!! I love that game!! I always play it at Andrew's house. I thought of him and his mom all afternoon while we played. There was also a two week old Cambodian baby there! He was such a little peanut!! The family that hosted the dinner is a foster family. This little guy was looking for a home. Let me tell you, if I had a husband, we'd be parents!

From that home we went to another turkey dinner. This one was a little extra speacial - the turkey's were sent in from America! No Cambodian turky for us! All in all it was a great evening spent with white people. Very refreshing!

Saturday morning Rachel and I met Alila and Akum for breakfast. It was so great seeing them! They are from Nagaland which is in India. It's found in Northeast India, and I have many friends from there. Akum and Alila live in a different part of Cambodia, so I don't see them very much. This was a great treat! I attached a picture of Rachel, Alila and myself.

Later in the afternoon Rachel and a few of her teammates and I went down to the river side to watch the boat races. I have to admitt, it was mildly boreing. I have also attached a picture from the festival.

Saturday evening Rachel and I went to a birthday party, only it was more like a Cambodian wedding reception. Huge party! Lot's of food, lot's of dancing! We spent the night at her Khmer teachers home. Her name is Nida. She's really fantastic! I spent the night in a little mud/stick hut. It actually wasn't bad. I had a good solid nights sleep.

In the morning Rachel took me to her church. It's just a small little house church. My friend Tida translated for me. Oh!! Tida!! Let me tell you about him! He lived in Winnipeg for a year about two years ago!! He was there for school. It was an exchange program. I can't even begin to tell you how good it was to be able to talk about my home town with a Cambodian who actually understood!! Anyways, after church Tida and Rachel dropped me off at the home Tongpang was staying at for the weekend. He was there for a Christan Naga Fellowship Weekend. That's why I was able to see Alila and Akum. I also was able to see my friend Molo. I'm going to go up to Siem Reap for a few days at Christmas time to see them. I am very excited!

The ride home was unepectedly pleasent. I sat with Aduoo (one of the Naga's I don't know very well) and we ended up talking for almost 5 hours straight! It was great! I learnt so much about Nagaland.

I just feel so rejuvenated and peaceful after this weekend. It was really great. Just great...

*sigh*

I have so much to share, I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with my trip to Phnom Penh last week to see the Secretary of State, Siphan Phay.

Tongpang and I caught the 7:10am bus, planning on returning the same evening. It was an uneventful ride. When we arrived in the capitol city I called Siphan Phay and asked if he had time to see me today. He said yes, but not until 4 o’clock. We were hoping to be on our way by then. But ok, we’ll wait. So we went to a mall, which is really a glorified market. BUT! I did get to eat a hamburger, and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. Or at least it did to me at the time. I bought a bunch of DVD’s because they were so cheap. Either $1 or $2. And a watch. At around 3:30 (when he asked me to call him back) I called Siphan Phay to arrange a meeting place. He told me that the immigration office was now closed for the day. I would have to stay the night and see him first thing tomorrow morning.

Not impressed.

I don’t much care for Phnom Penh. It’s too big and busy and dirty and scary. But none-the-less Tongpang and I set out to find a cheap guesthouse. We succeeded. $5 for the night, and we got what we paid for. It was a bucket shower, no toilet seat, burn holes in the curtains and bed/blanket. We spent most of the evening watching TV in Tongpang’s room. I called it a night early, and set off for my own delightful room…

I can’t remember a more sleepless night except for when I’ve been sick. And sick is something that I thought I would get if I stayed any longer than I did. All night long I heard men’s voices out side, doors being knocked on, whispering, high heels clicking down the hallway. And I mean all night. It was going on at every hour and I could barely get any sleep.

I called first thing in the morning and Siphan Phay picked us up at 8:30. We went to his office only to have him say that I needed a letter from my employer. I didn’t have one and Jonah was not at SLM. He was in Koh Kong province. He made a few phone calls and it was arranged that I would meet with the immigrations officer at 2 that afternoon.

We had time to kill.

Tongpang has a friend in Phnom Penh so we called her up and spent the day with her. Her name is Rachel and she’s from America!! This girl is really, really awesome!! She’s 24 and from Buffalo, NY. She is very much a combination of Sharon and myself. It makes me miss Sharon SOOO much, but at the same time I feel like I’m getting my Sharebear fix!! =)

She took us to a coffee shop that screamed Asian Starbucks!! No kidding. I loved it. Iced vanilla latte, coming up!!

Eventually Tongpang and I made our way back to the offices, and we were told that we would have to wait another day.

My heart stopped. My eyes welled up. I wasn’t going to cry. I wasn’t going to cry. I don’t want to stay here one more minute!!

But then this beautiful, beautiful man told me he’d take care of things and have my Visa delivered to me in Sihanoukville when it arrived. Plus, he’d taken care of it so that I didn’t have to pay my late fines.

I cried.

I thanked him again and again, with the occasional tear slipping out. I was going home!! THANK GOD!!!

We took a taxi home, it cost $30. In Winnipeg, $30 for a taxi won’t get you across the city, let alone 3 hours through the country side .

Unfortunately, I still have not received my Visa, but I was never told how long it would take, and it’s only been a week. I’ll call him this weekend when I’m in Phnom Penh and see if maybe I can pick it up.

The next day Rachel was coming to Sihanoukville with her team for the weekend! Yay! I spent Friday evening and Saturday with her. It was such a blessing! We are so alike, it’s a little freaky at times. We went for lunch at Holy Cow, one of my favourite restaurants!!

Saturday night I went to a Khmer wedding! It was so much fun!! I danced like a Khmer girl, and ate the Khmer food. It’s very interesting. They have many of the same traditions as North America, but yet have so many of their own. The bride wore like 6 different ball gowns throughout the day! The day begins with people carrying fruit trays to the brides house. Then sometime in the morning they have the actual ceremony. They are married by monks. Lunch is served. Then there is activities and games and hanging out for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening you show up for dinner. The bride and groom greet you at the entrance to the most brightly decorated tent you’ve ever seen. It’s hilarious! They also present you with a gift. You go sit down and only once your table is full will they begin serving you your first course. There were many. Many fish and rice and peanuts, duck, noodles, soup, you name it! After we’ve all eaten, the bride and groom walk in. As they enter we all throw confetti and ribbons and what appears to be fake snow (?) from a can at them. Then they cut the cake, drink Champaign, serve the parents and grandparents do a kissing thing (not like making out) and then they have their first dance as husband and wife. They also make a short speech to thank everyone for coming and inviting all to come and dance. And dance we did!

I also went to another wedding on Monday in Kompot province. Vothanak’s brother was getting married. This one was a bit different. The one on Saturday was a city wedding. A bit more glamorous. This was a country wedding. It was kind of tucked away in a village sort of setting. But there was still the bright tent and all the food! I spent part of my afternoon sitting in a mud and stick house. It was neat. I could see the people sitting in hammocks through the floor boards. There were some mighty big cracks in the floor.

This wedding was a bit more on a smaller scale, the family was poorer. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for the dancing and cake cutting and all that jazz because we had to drive two hours home and Jonah wanted to be home by 8. I was surprised when Vothanak told me he wanted me to stay and dance with him. That I should just spend the night. I almost did, but decided against it. Vothanak is pretty quiet and doesn’t often express major emotions. I didn’t even think he would dance!! He’s not the type. I was very honoured that he wanted to dance with me. I told him we’d dance at another wedding someday. Maybe at his or mine!!

Friday I am heading to Phnom Penh again. I will be spending the weekend with Rachel.

Tongpang is going for a Naga Christian Fellowship weekend. All the Naga’s from India that are in Cambodia will be gathering for a get together. I’m tagging alone because I A) want to get out of the house. B) Go see Rachel. C) Visit my Naga friends that I don’t see much of because they live a 9 hour drive away. And D) it’s the Water Festival this weekend. This is one of the biggest holidays in Cambodia. There will be an extra 2-3 million people in the city. I’ve never been around so many people. Although I need to be very careful and watchful of myself and belongings. I don’t want anything bad to happen!

OH!! And the absolute best part of the whole weekend is that Rachel and her team are celebrating American Thanksgiving!!! I’m eating turkey this weekend!! I was told that they’ve imported American turkey’s and everything!

My mouth is watering already… Mmmm, turkey….

Remember how I said I can get into trouble sometimes?

I’m in big trouble.

I forgot to renew my Visa. I am illegal. It was up as of Sunday and I didn’t even realize it.

Tomorrow I am going to Phnom Penh to meet the Secretary of State, Siphan Phay. Jonah pulled some strings for me and he will pull some weight around there to reduce my fine and make sure
I get a 1 year working Visa.
Shoot. I feel terrible. I can’t believe I forgot. I never forget! I never write things down because I almost never forget. But I suppose I’m also usually in my element. My own playing field. I’m totally unprepared here. Tongpang is going to escort me. I’m sure he doesn’t want to go. We both have to miss morning school. Probably evening classes too.

Ugh.

Please pray for me.

..............................................................................................................................

Ok, so it's much later in the day now. Almost midnight actually. First thing tomorrow morning Tongpang and I are heading out to Phnom Penh. Our bus leaves at 7:10am. I think it's about a 4 hour drive. Jonah has arranged it so that when I get there I will be meeting the Secretary of State. He's going to either come with me or write me a letter to make sure I get the right Visa and hopefully reduce my fine.

I'm kind of scared. I shouldn't be. But I am.

What was it that I preached about two days ago...?

holy adventure batman!!

Yesterday I went to a village. It was the adventure of a life time! The day began with Rachha asking me to join him, his father and his little brother for breakfast. We just went to a little place right beside SLM. Rice, BBQ pork, and soup. Breakfast, huh? It was good though. We all left around 8am. There were six of us total in the taxi car. That’s what Rachha’s father does for a living. It’s a very nice car. I got to sit in the front seat because I was the only girl. There was Rachha, his father (Mr. Nget), his little brother Thea (pronounced tear) who is 5, Jonah, myself and an American named Dan. Dan is a retired man who is living out the rest of his days in Cambodia. He is originally from Oregan.

We set off and drove for a while, maybe 1 hour, and then stopped in a small town, which is basically one big market. Phil (my leader from back in May), this is his favourite place in all of Cambodia. He loves the little town. After the town we drove for about another ½ hour before we met up with the pastor from the village. He was going to guide us the rest of the way. We drove up and down and around in the mountains for another ½ hour. Then we turned off the main road to a dirt/sand road that didn’t look too traveled on. The car barely made it about 8 - 9 km before it couldn’t go on. The road was terrible! While we were driving we had to stop at least 10 times ( I was counting) and get out of the car so that it wouldn’t bottom out on the road.

Finally we stopped at someone’s home and ate our lunch. They were very nice people. A young couple with two little boys. While we were eating a parrot came by. It was a pretty green. I took pictures.

Jonah and Rachha kept going with the guy on his motto. Shortly after we left Dan and I decided to walk on foot. The man said it was only another 3 km from here. We could walk that no problem. It was beautiful! I felt like I was walking through the plains of Africa. Only it was the plains of Asia! There were many mountains in the distance. As we walked we realized that the car would never had made it. It was a good idea that it just stop and stay where it was.

We walked about 3 -4 km before the man returned to pick us up on the motto. Then we drove another 10 km to get to the village. I’m told Cambodians have no sense of distance. Apparently so. 3 km turned out to be closer to 15 km. Event the motto had troubles in some areas. But it sure was a beautiful ride. I had mountains on one side of me and plains on the other. After a few km the plains disappeared into a huge rolling ocean of blue. Here I was on the back of a motto on my way to a tiny remote village in Asia with mountains on one side, and the Indian Ocean on the other.

Huh…

We pulled up into the village and every one stared at us. As I approached Jonah and Rachha all the men and women of the village pushed their way through the crowd to come and bow to us. It was surreal. I bowed to all these people in return, feeling like I was in a movie. They were smiling like I’d just brought the cure for the common cold or something. They were overjoyed to see me. Dan and I walked around the village for a bit. I took some video footage and pictures. After the medical clinic we had church. I was the key speaker. I cut it very short because we had to get going soon. It took much longer than we expected to get there. The sun was beginning to go down and it looked like it was going to rain. We still had to go all the way back through all we came through with the car. I didn’t want to do that in the rain. I don’t think we would have made it otherwise.

I spoke some words of encouragement for them. I took everyday normal negative thoughts people have and rebuked them with scripture. We say things like it’s impossible, but Luke 18:27 says that all things are possible. I had 10 points but only did 5. I used thoughts such as:

It’s impossible - Luke 18:27
I am tired - Matthew 11:28
Nobody seems to love anyone - John 3:16
I can’t do it - Phil 4:13
I am alone - Heb 13:5
I am afraid - 2Tim 1:17
I am sad - John 16:20
I have no home - John 14:2
I am no good - John 1:12
I doubt. Where are you God? - Matthew 28:20

It seemed to go over well. Rachha was a fantastic translator.

After church we went outside to scout out an area to put a well. We also brought about 100 baggets with us to give out to the people. Thanks to many people at home who contributed money, this village will have another well. It doesn’t have enough fresh clean water to sustain itself. It’s going to be right in the center of the village. I played with the children for a little bit. Took pictures of the people. Then we had to get going. The sun was going down and fast. I said my goodbyes and was on my way. Part of me was sad and part of me was happy to be leaving. I’m sure you can understand why I was sad, but I was happy to be out of their constant gaze. The people were gawking at me!! I’ve never been stared at like that. I didn’t like it. I had hundreds of eyes on me at almost all times. They weren’t judgmental stares, just studying me. Jonah told me later that I was the first woman to ever publicly address that village. He thinks I might have even been the first white woman to ever enter that village too. Wow. That’s huge. That would explain why they were staring at me. They’d never seen anyone like me before. I’m still a little bit in awe of the whole experience.

I took many pictures and videos on the way home. We made it out safe and sound, but as soon as we were on the main road again it began to pour.

All in all it was a really great day. I hope Jonah takes me with him every time he goes to a village.

key to my heart

It’s 7:30 Monday morning, I’m up and dressed, makeup on, hair done. As I was brushing my teeth I realized I couldn’t hear the kids laughing and screaming outside my window. I usually wake up to that. I looked out my window.

No children.

“Hmm. Weird.” I thought.

I continued to get ready and was running a little bit behind (I slept in for the first time since I arrived). I still couldn’t hear any children. They should have been in chapel by now.

I text Tongpang to ask if there was school today. The reply, “No class”.

I was sooooo tired!!! I can’t believe I didn’t sleep in!! Baahhh!! Oh well. Maybe I’ll go back to bed. Probably not, but maybe.

Saturday afternoon I went to watch my boys play football (soccer) and they really sucked. I think the score was 5 - 1. After football Phi Run (pronounced Perron) wanted to go to the beach for a quick swim. I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity! So we took off on his motto to Independence Beach. He knows everyone in this town! It’s crazy! He takes me to all these new interesting places, and we either end up not paying for anything or we get it for cheap cheap (my WEFC friends will understand why I said cheap twice. =) ). The only thing about all of this is that the sun begins to set in the afternoon and is down by 6. When I was in the ocean it was dark. Me. I went swimming in the dark. And not just any swimming, swimming in the ocean where there are many scary things!! If you know me, you might know that I am terrified of swimming in the dark. I don’t like the unknown of the dark water. If I have problems with swimming in lakes, or even pools for that matter in the dark, this was a huge step for me!! I was very excited.

We had dinner on the beach. French fries, fried rice and egg. It was good. There was vegetables and BBQ beef mixed in with the rice. Everything was going great until I realized that my room key wasn’t in my pocket anymore. Shoot!! Where did it go?

I looked in the sand, in the dark, for about 15 - 20 minutes. I checked every where!! I couldn’t find it. I was horribly sad because it was Saturday night and we wouldn’t be able to call a locksmith until the next day, or maybe even Monday. All I had on was my wet salty bathing suit, jean skirt and tank top. Did I really have to sleep in all of this? Where was I going to shower? What would I dry off with? I can’t sleep out in the living room with all the rats and mice. Rachha and Vothanak don’t have a spare bed in their room. Tongpang does but I’m not sleeping with him alone in his room. I know he wouldn’t be ok with that, and I wouldn’t be either. I’d be terrified to sleep in the spare room alone. I’d never fall asleep in there. What was I going to do?!!?!

Phi Run kept making fun of me looking in the sand. He said I looked pitiful and I was embarrassing him. I told him I didn’t care, I needed to find my key!! He helped me look for couple minutes, but told me it was no use and that we should just get going. Reluctantly I left. I prayed so hard that God would work a miracle here. Maybe I didn’t even take it! Maybe my bedroom is unlocked right now and the key is sitting on my desk. Yeah, maybe. ..

Not. I knew that was impossible. I never leave my room unlocked, and I remember putting my key in my pocket and then checking it again when we arrived at the beach.

I as we drove home he kept asking me if I was still thinking about the key. I told him yes, of course I still was. I always try to cause as little trouble as I possibly can (I can get into lots of trouble at times) and here I just caused big trouble. I told him I was very upset with myself. A little sad too. He said he was going to take the long way home. I said fine. I told him I was texting Tongpang about it. I was asking him to break into my room for me. Phi Run laughed. He told me he wished my key had jumped into his pocket so he could make me happy. He said he was sorry for me. I said I wished that as well. Then I straight out asked him if he did have my key and was just playing a joke on me. He became defensive and said he didn’t have my key.

When I arrived home Tongpang and Kong had just about broken the lock to get into my room. As I approached them telling them they were wonderful brothers, Phi Run laughed and put my key in my hand.

I was filled with several emotions. Joy. Happiness. Annoyed. Angry. Upset with Phi Run. Tongpang said a very nasty word to him, and I told Phi Run that that wasn’t funny. He took the joke too far. Never do that again. That wasn’t cool. He didn’t know I was that upset about loosing my key and still thought it was a funny joke. He apologized. But for the first time I was upset with him and he could tell. He didn’t like it.

I don’t think Phi Run will pull that with me again.

Going to the country

I just arrived home from a walk with my little brother Kong. He really knows where to take a girl!! I can't believe how BEAUTIFUL Cambodia is!! We walked for about two hours. We started out walking through town and then down to a rich part of the city. Then we walked by the ocean, where I was able to take my sandles off and walk in the water. Once away from the beach we past probably hundreds of coconut trees that lined the street. The street over from it was covered with mango trees. There was a tree that had the most beautiful flowers on it, so Kong picked me a boquet of them! From there we walked through the mountains/country side to get to his home. He has 7 brothers and sisters, and they live a in a very tiny home where they have a shop out front. I was very honoured that he took me. I've told him many times before I would like to meet his family and see his home, but I think he is embarrassed of it. I've spoken to a few other Cambodian's and they have told me about their struggles of being embarrassed of their homes and taking foreigners to see it, but now they are proud. These people are now in their mid 20s. Kong is only 16. We literally stayed maybe 2 minutes, but it was great. I asked him if it would be ok if I came back with my camera and took pictures of his home and family. He seemed genuinely pleased about it. Kong is a Christian, and so is one of his brothers. But the rest of the family isn't. He confided some family problems to me during our walk. I love this boy very much. He has stolen my heart. I see so much potential in him!! I want so badly for him to succeed in life and to be happy. I need to remember that God wants that for him more than me. I need to be praying for him and his family. One of his little brothers, Kadol, is one of my grade 1 students. He is too cute. I am so blessed to be surrounded by these people. Kong told me he is going to buy me pizza for my birthday because he wants me to be happy and not want to go home. I told him I miss the people at home, but I want to be in Cambodia. I'm not going home anytime soon. He asks me many other questions about different things I like. I think he has some other things up his sleeve. He mentioned something about a friut salad. Mmmmmm....

While we were walking I asked him many questions. Mainly about the land and homes we were seeing. I was literally walking with my mouth open at times I was in awe of the beauty around me. And the prices of a home. There were homes that in Canada would easily cost at least $250 thousand. Kong says that they are around 15 - 20 thousand here. I am very seriously considering - God willing - that I want to buy a home out here. Not right now. But maybe within the next 10 years. I wouldn't live out here all the time. Maybe 4 - 6 months of the year. But this is a BIG dream. I have no idea if I will be married with children or what I'll be doing for a living. This may not be possible. But. There's always retirement! Think about it. I could retire in Canada and live moderatly, or I can retire in this paradise where I would live like a queen and I can help the people at the same time. Cambodia will always be in my heart. It will always be apart of my life.

I feel as though I have alot to be thinking and praying on.

Phi Run just came banging on my door, I have to go to their football game now (soccer). Every Saturday the boys here at SLM and a bunch of others play football. They aren't very good, but they just play for fun. I like cheering them on.

Tomorrow I head to a village to hold a medical clinic and I am also preaching the sermon!! Eeek! Here we go!!

Today I walked to Independance beach. Today is Cambodian Independance Day. It's a good walk. About 5 - 6 kms - one way. I wasn't planning on going that far, or even to the beach, but that's where the walk took us. I went with Tongpang. Can I just say I love the ocean?

21 days until my Birthday!!! That means only 43 until Christmas!!

oh dear...

I just found out that this Sunday I am going to a small village to conduct a medical clinic. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, I am also preaching the sermon! Gah!!! What am I going to say to these villagers? I don't want to preach! Idon't feel it's my calling!! But maybe God says otherwise....

*sigh* This is going to be quite the weekend...

learning to count all over again

Yesterday I ate peanut butter and jelly for breakfast. I’m not kidding you when I say that my mouth was literally watering as I was spreading. I long for North American food. It’s really not that bad, I’m just having problems with the rice and I’m not sure why. I can only eat a small portion before I start gaging. Yep, I gag. One night Jonah told me I had to eat everything on my plate. I tried really hard, but on one of the bites I gaged so severly that I actually vomited in my mouth a little. I swallowed it and made myself finish the bite in my mouth. That is a typical dinner for me. Ugh. We eat at weird hours too. Breakfast is during “recess” at 9:10. Then lunch is anywhere between 1-3. We eat dinner when I finish teaching at 8:30. Some evenings we don’t get to dinner until 9:30 - 10:00. I eat a lot of bananas and crackers and usually skip lunch so I don’t have to eat any rice. If you’re reading this, please, go to your fridge and have a big glass of cold milk, and something delicious to eat. That is what my body has been craving lately. That and coffee…..

I finally have internet in my bedroom. The catch, we only have access to the internet between 6pm and 6am. I teach from 6:30 - 8:30 and then I am usually having dinner and praying with the other residents of the house until 10. Last night was closer to 11. I think I might begin to lose sleep.

I`m Having trouble believing that it`s November already. My birthday is on December 2, and it`s coming up in like three weeks!! I can`t even comprehend that right now. It`s hot and sunny. That does not equal my birthday. But!! It does however, mean that I can for the first time in my life have, not only a swimming party, but swimming in the ocean. The Indian ocean at that. It really is the warmest ocean. Some days the water is like a lukewarm bath. It`s only mildly refreshing. When you`re sweating and hot already, you want cold or at least cool water, not bath tub water. But hey, I shouldn`t complain - what`s the temperature in Winnipeg right now?

I was invited to a wedding! It’s on November 17th. I can’t wait to see what a Khmer wedding looks like.

There are many holidays here in Cambodia. Today is Thursday November 8th, and once again there is no school tomorrow. Last week there was no morning school on Monday and Wednesday. The week before my birthday is the Water Festival. I believe we get three days off. Yay for Cambodian holidays!!

I would really love to hear from you!! If you ever want to send me mail that would be wonderful!! My address is:

Samaritan Love Mission
c/o Brianna Siis
POST BOX 9401
CT Road, Sangkat 3, Mondol 2, Khan Mittapheap
Sihanoukville, Cambodia

If you have any Christmas pictures/cards of you and yours, I would be ecstatic to receive them here and show them off!

yikes!

Ok, so I haven't posted anything in quite some time. SORRY!! I have been pretty busy lately. Jonah arrived home from Inida yesterday, so hopefully we'll have internet at SLM before the week is out. Then I can write in here much more often!

I'll update before the week is out!!

Week one...

It's raining. But somehow it's still sunny and hot. And I mean raining. Like, a down pour. It's going to be a fun walk back to my home!

I made it to Cambodia! Not only to Camboida but to my home at Samaritan Love Mission in Sihanoukville!

It has been nothing but craziness since I arrived! There was a big convention at SLM my first day here, the next day was spent in the sky blue waters of the Indian ocean. Sunday I taught sunday school and spent some more time in the ocean. Monday I went to the hospital to hand out food, water and to pray with the patients. Then I began teacing in my evening classes. Tuesday was my first normal day, teaching in the morning and evening. I get my afternoons off to myself. =)

The morning school is made up of underprivilaged children from a group home and a village. I think some are just locals around the city. I teach nursery and grade one. I teach art and english. It is very hard to be left alone in a room with 23 or so nursery students who don't speak a word of english. They are learning their ABC's. Afernoons I usually read alot, maybe take a nap, a walk, prepare for my lessons. Very relaxing things. This week only, I am covering for an english teacher from 5:30-6:30. Then I teach my own classes from 6:30-8:30. I teach advanced english. It is so much fun!! You have no idea how delightful my students are.

I am really enjoying myself here. I'm not saying it's easy. Far from it. But God is good and He is providing for me. The people I live with couldn't be better. I live with two Cambodians and two Indians. Along with learning about Cambodian culture, I am learning alot about India as well. Tongpong, Raja and Watanak are becoming like brothers to me. Our director and Pastor, Jonah, is home in India for 3-4 weeks right now.

I would like to tell you story's and jokes and everything that has been happening, but I have been sitting in this internet cafe for about two hours now. In about a month I will have internet at SLM, so I will write many more things then. Until then, I will only have short snipits for you.

I miss many of you very much already.

Hey, it stopped raining. =)

on the road

Ok, so I've left Canada!! Woot!! I'm in Korea right now for a lay over. It kind of reminds me of the Hong Kong airport.

So far things have been uneventful. I know, boring blog right? I promise it will get better once I make it to my final destination!!

I cried all the way to Vancouver where my good friend Chantalle came to see me! It was great!! And before going to the airport a bunch of us went for breakfast. It was really good except that I was so nervous and anxious that I couldn't eat a thing! I swear I was close to throwing up at just the smell of everyone else's food.. ick...

Not too much to say for now. A cute security officer here in Korea searched my bag looking for pattery (batteries!) and found my tampons. He had no idea what they were, after I had to explain he still didn't understand so he asked the other security officres there!! Oh my word, I was more than I little bit red in th face... Ugh..

Well, I'm off to my gate now! I have 2 minutes left on the net.. better get going!!

Thank you all for all your support!! It has not gone unnoticed!

almost there...

Well, here it is. Here is my first post in what I am hoping to be a very eventful blog!

Where do I even begin?

I am leaving in 20 days for Cambodia! I am very excited! Nervous, but good nervous. October 10th is the big day! I think my flight is at 0810. I'll be flying to Vancouver, then over to Korea! It's a shorter flight than my last one to Hong Kong. Vancouver to Hong Kong was 13 hours. This one is only 10 1/2. From there it's straight into Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which is a 5 1/2 hour flight. Waiting for me there will be Pholly and Mr. Nara to drive me to Sihanoukville, a 5-6 hour drive away. By the time I get to my home it will have been roughly two straight days of travelling alone! Yikes!

I guess I should explain the purpose of this visit.

I went to Cambodia this past May on a missions trip and fell completely in love with the country and it's people. I was there for about two and a half weeks. This time around I'll be there for 9 months. During my 266 days there I will be teaching alot. I will be teaching advanced english in the evenings, and teaching something in the morning. I'm not sure what yet.

Wait. I'm getting ahead of myself...

I am going to be living and working at a place called Samaritan Love Mission (SLM). It's a small school for underprivillaged children. They hold a Christian school in the mornings for poor children, and in the evenings they teach english in all levels to all age groups. They are also linked to two villages. Buffalo Village and Crocodile Hole. They have gone into these places and started up schools, putting in wells and preaching the gospel. They hold medical clinics and feed the people. I'm excited to be apart of this! Along with all this I will be helping to lead and organize teams that come to SLM, and possibly running a youth group on the weekends. I hope I don't get too over whelmed!

Right now I'm just trying get things under way, have everything in place before I go. Apart of that is trying to raise enough money to support myself out there! This is not a paid position. I am volunteering this year of my life. It's kind of nerve racking to think that I'm not going to be recieving any paycheques for a while. That being said...

This Saturday, September 22nd at Academy Bar & Eatery I am hosting a coffeehouse night! It's only $2 at the door and I have a few good friends playing for us!

Kalandra Perron
Kaley Northcott
Andrew Hedlin

Show begins at 2130

Because I'm only allowed to charge $2 at the door, I'm hoping that people will want to empty out their spare change in a jar! And if someone really wanted to give more, they could make a cheque out to The Lighthouse Church and they'd get a tax deductible receipt.

I'm just saying..

Anyways, I need to be off now. I'm sure I'll have much more to say soon enough!! Hey, it's my blog right?

Here's a picture of my home in Cambodia!