no big deal

Janessa is gone.













She is home in Canada.















I am here in Cambodia.















I will join her soon enough.















I'm heading home in officially less then 2 months. That seems so crazy. How can time go by so quickly??















For those of you who want to know how my last month was I will encourage you to read Janessa's blog. I've said it before but she's better at writing than me and waaaaay funnier.















http://www.leaningintosky.blogspot.com/















There is so much going on right now and although I am happy. Really I am, where it really counts, I sometimes find it hard to show it. Like right now I can tell my post is already depressing, and I really don't want it to.















So here goes with some more positive - maybe even funny - updates...















Kong's nephew has peed on me 3 times now! It seems strange but out here if you can't afford to send your children to school, you probably can't afford diapers. So most baby's don't. Today was #3.















Normally this wouldn't excite me too much for obvious reasons, but I have been told that the baby only pees on those he loves.





























Now, to really get the picture here, this is the baby that used to take one look at me and scream his face off. I am very strange looking to him. My eyes might be the scariest thing about me. That and my white skin. He had never seen anyone like that before me. I think he thought I was a monster.















One day when I was over at the Lee's home I was playing with Dol and the girls tickling them. He was sitting next to me, trying to get away, and he stopped to see I wasn't attcking his aunts and uncle, but that they enjoyed it and seemed to like me. That same day he let me hold him for the first time with out crying, and I even got a few smiles out of him. Now this baby visibly lights up with pleasure and freaks out if I don't hold him.















It makes my heart melt, more than just a little...















For the past 2 months I have been whizzing around Sihanoukville on a motto. It was kind of scary at first because the traffic here is insane compared to home, but I'm an old pro now! On any given day you can catch me cruzin' the coast, driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of traffic, merging through intersections that have no street lights or stop signs and I have only been in ONE accident!!















Oh yeah...















Mom, dad, I had a little accident....















It wasnsn't my fault though. Allow me to explain..















Janessa and I had just had breakfast with Rachha and Vothanak at my favourite little noodle place and were on our way home. We were approaching an intersection and a motto pulled out infront of me. Normally no big deal. It's all about merging folks. But we both turned the corner and he wanted to turn around just as we had. He was starting to pull out to go (keep in mind this is all happening in the middle of the street, I wasn't on the shoulder or anything) and then stopped suddenly. I had just begun to accelorate after turning but we were all a little too close and I slammed on the break but the motto skid and turned and amazingly enough I somehow managed to bail off my falling motto (which was still going forward, mind you). We never actually hit the guy. And once he saw that his motto was unscathed he just took off.















Now here's the good part.















As you probably know about me, I like to laugh. And I like to laugh loud. Not a good thing in this culture. But when I bailed from the motto and I realized I was ok and everything was fine, I burst out laughing like there was no tomorrow!! So imagine this if you will:















Two young white girls at an intersection get into a bit of an accident. The driver goes flying off the motto while the passanger who is being respectful of the culture is sitting side saddle like a lady does, goes flying backwards, feet right over the head and lands on her back rolling around with her legs in the air!!















(I'm killing myself just writing this!!)















Then, and I'm sure this is a first in the history of Cambodia, these two silly girls stand (and lay) there laughing very loudy and don't stop. Shortly after 2 young Khmer boys drive up, talk to the young girls and the girls just hop on the back of their mottos, no questions asked, and drive away with them. (Rachha and Vothanak)



We had a nice crowd gathered to boot!















Oh Janessa, how I miss thee!!

a much needed update!

Hey all!!

I apologize for not posting for a while, it's been pretty busy lately.

Janessa is finally here!!! YAY!!! We are having so much fun together!! She is completely undoing all my Cambodian training, and I'm becoming a North American girl again. I don't know if this is good or bad yet...

Anyways, she will probably post more regularly than me because she's good at that kind of stuff and I am not...

Her blog is www.leaningintosky.blogspot.com

A few tidbits for you:

I am driving like a pro with some only minor bumps along the way....

Staying with Lily was a dream! SHE HAS HOT WATER!! I think it was my second time having a hot shower in the past almost 8 months.

I come home in about 2 and a half months - whoa....

Janessa and I are working at an orphanage for the next week and a bit and it's lovely!! I love those kids!!

We are planning on going to Vietnam!! Let's hope we can actually do it!!

Janessa brought me maple fudge from the forks, sooooo good!

I have pink eye. =(

I had Laryngitis during Khmer New Year. I don't remember if I posted that or not...


That about does it for now.

Until next time (which hopefully won't be too far away)!

I've never had so many mens hands on one part of my body before..

My head.

It's Khmer New Year!! And I have to say it has been one of the MOST fun times!! Khmer New Year is unlike anything I've ever seen or even dreamed of. Traditionally, water was used for washing your Buddhist statue at home. Then you washed yourself as well. Now it is one great big water fight all over the country!! Seriously. It's unbelievable. It's like someone sent a memo out that nobody missed. Everywhere you go you people are lined up on the streets with water and baby powder. It doesn't really matter who you are. You're going to get soaked if you leave your house during the holiday.

On Monday my boys took me out to help me experience my first Khmer New Year. Myself, Kong, Tongpang, Seyha, Seyha's friend (I don't know his name) and Kong's older brother Riti went out on 3 motto's and hit the town!

But first we made possibly close to 100 water "balloons". They were really just small plastic bags filled with water. Everywhere we went there were people stopping us in the middle of the road to either drench us in water or powder us. Usually both. Sometimes there were like 5 or 6 pairs of hands on my face/head at one time. I've never swallowed so much baby powder!! Ugh. But it was well worth it!

It was such an incredible thing to see every one getting along so well. There was this strange unity among the Cambodians. It didn't matter who you were, what you looked like, you were going to get bags of water thrown at you or stopped on the street so people could shout "Happy New Year!" and cover you with baby powder. Honestly, it was very beautiful.

One of my favourite moments was going to the pagoda! Oh man!! It was like party central!! Think of a movie where there's a wild party happening at a University. That's what it felt like at the Pagoda. There were SO MANY young people and EVERYONE was covered with powder and absolutely dripping with water. It was the most fun place to be I guess. But what gets me is that the Pagoda is supposed to be sacred ground. It's the monks home. That's where these people go to worship. Didn't they feel as though they were some how defiling this sacred place?

Hmmm...

Anyways, that was Monday. Such a fantastic day!

Tuesday I woke up and I was feeling pretty lousy to be honest. My throat was very sore and my body was strangely achy. As the day wore on I began to notice I had a head ache. I decided to stay at home and let the boys have some fun on their own this time (the water fights last for at least 3 days!) and I became very ill during the afternoon. I thought maybe it was from being wet and driving around all day on the back of a motto. Well, I slept terribly and in the morning I decided to see a doctor. My tonsils were so swollen and sore I was terrified that they needed to come out. Now, going to the doctor isn't a big deal, right? But if you're Brianna Siis and in a third world country, yeah, it is a big deal. I have not gone to a doctor once since I arrived. And let me tell you, I've been pretty darn sick.

Anyways, long story short, I have laryngitis. =(

I'm on meds for the next week. I am pretty bummed out because I was supposed to go with Kong and his family to the waterfalls on Thursday but now everyone is cancelling because I'm sick.

The doctor gave me something for the pain and fever. I'm surprised at how much pain I'm in! Like, it's even hard to breath at times. Not so much now that I have the medicine, but boy-oh-boy was I miserable before...

OH!! Tonight Kong signed up for a Facebook account!! So if you're a Facebooker and you feel like you know Kong already because I talk about him so much, go and be his friend!! It would make him very happy! Just let him know you're a friend of mine. Look for Kong Lee.

18 days =D

man it's getting hot..

April is the hottest month in Cambodia. The sun is brighter and stronger. I am horribly sunburned right now. And, my skin hurts. =(

This week we had a lady come and stay with us here at SLM for two nights. Her name is Lily and she is from India. She has her PhD and is working in Phnom Penh for two years on contract. She is one of the most delightful people I have met on this journey so far!! I love her!! She's funny, adventurous, extremely intelligent, gentle, kind, loving, sweet - man, I just loved her! I took her around for the past two days (hence the burn) and we had great fun together!! She says she lives in a great big apartment in Phnom Penh and insists that I stay with her whenever I am in the city. She is also going home to India for 1 month in June and said she's going to bring me back a gift!!

=)

Guess what all??! Brianna Siis has rented a motto for the next 6 weeks!

Yessss!!!

It's blue and made in China. I think it's called Smart-1. I'm not sure what year it is...

Anyways, I'm pumped! I've been out practising (part II why I have the burn) and I'm getting better!! It's still very scary driving in this traffic...

Today I looked through dress magazines and was measured for a dress!! I'm actually having two made for me! One will be a more traditional looking party dress, and the other will just be a fun dress to wear. But it will have a Cambodian feel to it I think..

Khmer New Year is almost upon us! Therefore, the students aren't showing up for classes now. But hey - I'm not complaining!

As I type, I can hear mice running around behind me in Jonah's office. It's getting late at night and I'm the only one still awake. Kind of makes me feel a wee bit frightened...

Oh! Yesterday, a package arrived in the mail for Tongpang, and it was from him mother. She gave me a traditional shawl! It's great!! Too hot to wear in Cambodia, but I'll try and give it some good use once I'm back in Canada!!

Umm, I'm not too sure what else to say right now. I'm pretty tired and I think I need to go to bed..

J-lady is 25 days away....

shoot the moon, eh?

So, you know how sometimes you get very busy and certain things get pushed to the back of your plate?

Sorry...

There are many exciting things happening!! Khmer New Year is coming up!! Actually, I have to admit, I'm getting less excited as the time gets closer. Rachha, Seyha and Vothanak are going away for the time, so it's going to be very lonely around here. Kong will be here, but he's trying to spend more time at home, and to be honest, it's just more fun when we're all together in a group. I will enjoy the time off from teaching. Morning classes will stop for 2 weeks, and evening class will stop for only 3 days. At first I was planning on going to Vietnam with a few friends, but those plans fell through. Then we were going to go to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, but that's not happening either. So I decided (I didn't end up buying a motto) that I'm going to rent a motto for Khmer New Year! The only thing is that Sihanoukville will be very busy and crowded so the driving will be more dangerous than usual.

Today I walked to Sokah Beach and back. It's about a 45-50 minute walk. Normally nothing difficult, but the temperature is rising here. We're getting into the hottest month. I am sunburned and for some reason my leg really started to hurt on the way home. Now I've got a limp. =( The walk was very difficult, yet much easier than usual today. Difficult because it's so blinking hot out! Easier because I decided to wear shoes today! I haven't worn a pair of shoes in a few months. Just my flip flops. =) Except now I have blisters all over my feet!! What the heck??! I'm going to have to retrain my feet for normal shoes when I go home - which, by the way, is in less than 4 months.

Oh boy...

I just finished reading a book recommended to me by Nick Mullin. "Red Letters: a faith that bleeds" by Tom Davis. Oh. my. word. SO GOOD! Nick said it was life changing, and I agree. For anyone who calls them self a Christan, you need to read this book! It is so challenging. I'm not even going to go into too much details, but it's full of information about world poverty, and the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Seriously, go right now and buy this book!

Last week Gil left for America. Who is Gil you might ask? Well, good question...

Gil sponsors the school we run out in Buffalo Village. He's from Wisconsin and he's come to Cambodia for 3-4 months every year for the past 8 years (I think). He's a super good guy, I really enjoyed having him around. It was nice to have another white person around the school most days. Anyways, he's gone home to America now. We had a goodbye party for him at one of my favourite beaches, Treasure Island. It's the most fantastically beautiful beach! I'll tell you all a secret... I hope to someday have a wedding ceremony on that beach. Shhhh....

=)

Easter was good. SLM hosted a big music concert/celebration. I think the night went over really well. I taught some of my grade one students the song "We Wanna See Jesus Lifted High". They did a fantastic job! If you have Facebook, I uploaded a video from my camera of them on there..

GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?! My delightful friend Janessa from Winnipeg is coming to Sihanoukville for 3 weeks!!! She will arrive in 33 days!!! She's going to be volunteering around here in Sihanoukville for 2 weeks, and then her and I will travel around Cambodia for 1 week. I am beyond pumped!!! The motto I'm renting for Khmer New Year, I'm going to keep until Janessa and I go traveling. So I'll hopefully have a motto for about 4-5 weeks! =D

I wear a uniform now. Yep. Me. A long black skirt, and short sleeved sky blue blouse. I don't have any pictures of me yet, but I'll put one up when I do. It's pretty funny to see me in it!

Hmm, there's so much that has happened in the past months. I don't even know what to say. I've been learning so much lately. God has seen me through so much! My heart has been totally and completely destroyed in this country, and He's slowly putting it back together in such a way that it's looking more like His. My prayer lately has been that what matters to God, what's close to His heart would be what is on my heart. I want to care for the things that God cares about. I want to love what He loves. Hate what He hates. Being here in this country is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. The scary thing is that I know it's only the beginning. God's rebuilding my heart and mind so that I can handle what's to come in the future. Right now, as I am, I'm not strong enough to handle what's to come. I have to experience more, learn more, LIVE more!! Only then, by the grace of God, I will be able to face my future head on. I have to admit, there's a VERY good chance that I will live here permanently in the future. I'm hoping maybe around the age of 30 to move here. I'm not sure what the future looks like, but I know it looks promising. There is so much that God can do with me. I just have to let Him. I need to be obedient. When He tells me to do something, I just need to do it!

Ok, rant over.

I'll try and post more regularly on here again.

announcement

Ok, two things:

1) I actually was driving a motto today!! Not around the yard or for 5 minutes on a quiet road, but I drove for a few hours today! Kong borrowed his brothers old beater of a motto and I began on a quieter road. I basically drove up and down the coast and sometimes I was even driving on the beach! At one point we ran out of gas and had to walk a little to get more, but it made the whole experience ever better for me!!

2) I finally changed my flights. I will officially be in Winnipeg again July 31st, 2008 at 7:08 pm.

I am happy and sad all at the same time. As of today, I have 175 days until I leave....

it is time

Ok, quick recap of the past month:

Christmas was great!

New Years was even better!! =D

On December 31st, we (the staff and friends of SLM) went to some water falls and spent the afternoon playing and fellowshipping. It was beyond beautiful!

The same day, Brianna was greatly blessed by God: I met monks and even had my picture taken with them!!

December 1st 2008, myself and a few of the guys went to see some monkey’s. We bought bananas and fed the monkey’s.

Many trips to the ocean. Either for swimming, for hanging out/playing or just to watch the sunset. My favourite are when we go to the beach at sunset to swim and we end up going to hang out or just drive around afterwards. =)

I DROVE A MOTTO!! Yeah! Not just around the yard, but Seyha let me drive his motto on the road. I stayed in fairly low traffic areas, but it was still great!

I went fishing!

We had a team from America this past month. The main reason why I was so busy and had little contact with anyone for so long. We went to many villages and did alot of medical work. The American's were fun, they were white, and they gave me coffee!!!

New classes, new and old students. My class is big, almost 40 kids (evening class). My kids this year a more unruly than last year so I’m a much tougher teacher. I never thought I could be mean in the classroom, but apparently I can…

I am now in charge of Sunday School, but I think/hope/pray that will change soon. It’s not an overly good thing that I’m in charge.

I’m making some female friends!! It’s wonderful! But their all bent on finding me a Cambodian husband, eek!

I have been taking guitar lessons for a few weeks now. My fingers are delightfully callused up and I’m learning quickly!

Just after Christmas I began going to Phally’s cousins home to learn Khmer. I teach her English in return. Her name is Lyhouy and she’s 20 years old. Believe it or not I’m actually learning! I can speak a little Khmer! I know the basics, I can introduce my self and talk about me. I know many random words and animals, I can count. It gets me by. When I try and use my Khmer with motto drivers and at the market they love me and discount the prices! =D

Tomorrow I am going to Phnom Penh to see Dean and Samantha Stamler!!! Canadian’s!! I am so excited!! I’ve also invited my friend Tida to come along with us. He is the Cambodian who lived in Winnipeg for a year. I rarely see him, but I sure like talking with him!

As it happens, I found out that Kong is actually turning 20 this year. People in Cambodia don’t find birthday’s to be special occasions. Some people celebrate, but many don’t. I know many Cambodian’s that aren’t sure which day or even year they were born. Their mothers don’t remember! They pick random days (or years) and say that's their birthday. So Kong has 3 different birth certificates. But the one recorded in his family tree and that’s in the official Cambodian census says he was born in 1988. Who knew?

Anyways, that’s all I have to say for now. This upcoming week is the Chinese New Year. So most schools have the entire week off. We, however, only get Wednesday-Friday off. And Rachha and Vothanak are going to a different province for most of the week. On Thursday I am going with my friend Cham Reuon on his fathers boat and a bunch of us are going to some islands! We’ll go fishing, swimming and just have lots of fun! Yay!

=D

good morning 2008!

Hello all!!

I am sorry I haven't updated yet! I have been very busy this past week.

All I can give you right now is a glimpse of how my New Years was spent! It was beyond awesome!

Waterfalls, Monks and Monkey's!!