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
April 9, 2008
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....
April 1, 2008
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.
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.
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