Sunday, November 26, 2006

Siem Reap and the rest of my Cambodia trip

[I know the previous post was probably more than any of you were interested in reading, but believe it or not, it actually only covered the first day and a half of my weekend trip to Cambodia! So I wanted to finish sharing about my adventures, even if only for the sake of my family and my own journaling...]

I loved Cambodia. The people, the land, the culture. All were so simple, the people so gracious and kind and serving. As I wrote before, there was such an absence of materialism and commercialism there. And it was (comparatively) unaffected by Western culture (which, to me, was both a pleasant break and a great challenge!). Imagine that - a country largely devoid of Western marketing strategies and the corresponding feelings of "need" for more. I can't say I really enjoyed their "marketing" strategies a whole lot, though: "Madam, you want a coke? One dollar!" "Book! You buy book - only 3 dollars!" (Yes, they use US currency there. I know, bizarre.) "Lady, where you going? You need tuk-tuk? I take you!" "Madam, I take you on tuk-tuk! I show you hotel!" "Lady, what you need? I give you ride on tuk-tuk!" If you can imagine getting out of a bus and suddenly being surrounded by about 15-20 male tuk-tuk drivers all shouting the same things at you at the same time, holding up their signs, trying to talk you into letting them take you around the city, you'd begin to get idea of what being in Cambodia as a foreigner is like. They followed us as we walked down the streets, then lingered outside as we went into stores (in attempt to get away!) the whole time asking the same questions over and over and trying to get us to say something so that they could start a conversation. Melinda and I decided that the best response was complete silence and no eye contact while being surrounded with sympathetic Cambodian women. I got so irritated with them all that even if I had needed a ride, I would not have accepted it from one of these drivers but would have tried to find someone who was not in my face about selling their product.

So this was the state we were in for our first half hour or so after arriving in Siem Reap. Melinda and I sat around a bit, hanging out by the women at the coke stand with tuk-tuk drivers offering their services every few seconds while Maria made several phone calls trying to find out where our Christian travel agent/guide was and if he was indeed going to pick us up. He did, just a little late. But when he appeared, he was like a knight in shining armor for us in the midst of the chaos and pressure. "Same" (his nickname) was so gracious and kind and obviously honest that I could tell right away that he was a believer. He had a taxi hired for us for the day which the four of us climbed into and soon were swept away from all memories of maddening drivers. Same could speak English very well and we could tell right away that he was an excellent travel agent because he knew just what questions to ask about our visit and just what places to recommend (which he did in a very humble and gracious manner). And with every place he suggested, he told us how much it would typically cost through his travel agency (or for a regular tourist) but then told us how much we would need to pay. He got us a hotel room, sight-seeing tickets, dinner, and more for almost 1/2 the price they would have been, making no profit for himself. We kept asking how and why he would do this for us. His reason: "You are Christian, I am Christian. We are same, same." The Lord again blessed us - more than we could have asked or imagined. Same planned out our entire day of sight-seeing at Anchor Wat and made us dinner reservations at a lovely Cambodian buffet restaurant where we could see traditional Cambodian dancers, then took us out to a market afterwards and made sure we were set for the next day.

Because he had work to do at his job, Same could not stay with us the entire day, but he met up with us before dinner and ended up being able to join us for the meal. Earlier on in the day, Melinda had asked him how and when he became a Christian and while we ate, he shared with us pieces of his testimony. Then he ended up opening up to us and sharing how since he moved to Siem Reap a year or so ago, he had not been able to get Sundays off of work and thus had not been really involved in a church much. He has only been a believer a little over a year, I think, and was now feeling very alone in his walk and very far from God. He asked us what he should do and listened as we shared different things from the Bible that had helped us. By the end of dinner, he seemed so encouraged (as were we!) and told us how God had worked out so many things during that day so that he could get away from work and actually spend time with us. He really felt that God had sent us to him to help him draw closer to God again. The whole thing was very amazing. We all parted ways filled with great joy!

Friday night I began to feel very icky and Saturday morning woke up nauseous. And what a day to feel nauseous! Saturday we were to make our way back to Phnom Penh - this time traveling by boat! This boat ride on the river was actually the thing I was looking forward to the most about our whole trip to Cambodia. Sadly, I ended up not being able to enjoy it at all. I threw up in the hotel room before we left, then again after we got to the boat dock (after having ridden in a crowded pick-up truck with exhaust coming through the windows along bumpy roads for a 1/2 hour), then threw up a third time in the boat. The smell of gasoline in the motor-boat made me feel worse, as did trying to look out the windows at the passing shoreline. So I curled up on the seats on the bottom deck of the boat, plugged up my nose and tried to sleep through the entire 6-hour ride. So much for seeing the beautiful river and aquatic life! When we arrived in Phnom Penh, it was more harassment from tuk-tuk drivers (which is doubly annoying when you feel like throwing up), more waiting on our wonderful, already hired tuk-tuk driver, then confusion in communicating with him which delayed our return back to dorm at least an hour. Almost 3 hours later, we were finally back at the girls' dorm where I could lay down on a bed and really rest. Melinda and Maria were wonderful to me and even though I ruined our sight-seeing plans for the remainder of the day, they faithfully took care of me - getting me water and crackers and coke, reading to me as I fell asleep, checking up on me every few minutes. They were amazing.

Also amazing was the Cambodian girls' response. Saturday night was their regularly scheduled English class. Since we were there and knew English very well : ), we had decided to help in any way we could. When class time came, I did not feel up to going and teaching, but Melinda and Maria did and were able to serve them in that way. Turns out the curriculum they were using taught English through Bible stories and the lesson they were on was about Jesus healing Peter's mother-in-law. As she explained the vocab., Melinda shared how she had a sick friend upstairs. Later one of the Cambodian girls asked if they could come up and pray for me! Three of them came up to our room and we sat down and all prayed together, "Thai-style" (which I'm now guessing is also "Cambodian-style"): all praying out loud at the same time. It was so cool to hear 3 languages at once being offered up in prayer to the Father! We prayed for them as well, after hearing a bit about their needs. I was so touched by their love and faith and concern for me! Also amazing was the fact that one of the girls who came up to pray was Muslim. She did not pray, but sat and listened and gave me many kind smiles.

So in the amazingly good and even in the (physically) miserable, God's hand was obviously on our trip and blessed us at each turn. He encouraged me, taught me, opened my eyes, gave me rest and refreshment and many good gifts along the way. He is so good!

Please, please continue to pray for my health though! (Can you tell I'm getting desperate?) I seem to be in a pattern of 2 weeks well/1 week sick this fall - except this past week it heightened to 3 days sick, 2 days well, then 2 days (so far) sick again. I still do not feel completely well and don't really feel up to eating much. And this all before 3 very stressful weeks of last-minute Christmas concert preparations!! Regardless of how I feel tomorrow, though, I have to go to work (my string classes need as much rehearsal time as they can get at this point!). Please pray that God will heal me and keep me well until at least January!!

3 Comments:

At 12:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

praying for your health, sweet friend! What an amazing journey and experience in Cambodia... the pictures of the two little kids and the prison are breaking my heart. Love, Elizabeth

 
At 4:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've got to aggree the pic of the 2 kids makes me want ot cry.

Oh...poor baby! I hope you get better fast! I will deffentally be praying for you!

Reading you blog everyday reminds me everyday how GREAT, HOLY, and MIGHTY the Lord really is. You are living walking proof of Romans 8:28.

I've got to go! I hope you feel better!
I love ya,
~Rachel~

 
At 5:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Catherine!
Great reading about your adventures. Dina and I are fine, I am continuing on the cello (Suzuki book 5 now...not easy!) I put in for retirement from Riddle in 2 years. God bless and keep up those wonderful posts! YOU ARE TRULY AMAZING! The sTudio at El Nido misses you. I miss playing cello duets with you and teaching you
about airplanes.

 

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