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http://VrienDuineN.tripod.com Family and friends,
It's humbling on this week of American Thanksgiving for us to reflect and think of all the things that we can be thankful for...especially when the people around us seem to have so few of them.
With our healthy and strong legs, we pass disabled beggars - their amputated limbs results from land mine accidents that were no fault of theirs.
With our mouths full of food, we feel the tug of dirty street children who have hunger in their eyes.
With full assurance that we will always have a job and money to save, we walk to work, past the postcard vendors and motorbike taxi guys who annoyingly call out to us, but who, in fact, are just hoping that today will bring in a customer or two.
With ease, we read, write, and learn unaware of how important education is.
With confidence we look at the police officers and government officials we met, for unlike the people here, we don't fear authority figures or worry about having to bribe them.
With life experiences that don't know war personally, we visit museums and gravesites as observers.
With gratitude, we thank God for His goodness to us - even though we don't deserve it.
A fellow biker we met in Thailand said of Cambodia, "You don't go there to vacation or relax, you go there to learn." Indeed, beyond the fact that we are working during the week, being here has been incredibly eye-opening for us. Its status as the least developed country of our trip (we really see this in education, government, health) and its tragic history have "taught" us so many things, perhaps most of all, that as Westerners, we take so many things for granted.
But, we are doing well. Routine has been and continues to be exciting for us, a sure sign that we have been traveling for a long time. We high-fived each other the day the baguette lady handed us our regular order without us having to say anything. Greeting the motorbike taxi drivers by name and having one of them call Deb "Teacher" because she gives him daily informal English slang lessons are other rewards of being in a place for more than a few days. We've found our favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants and fruit shake stalls and can get around the city without using a map (especially handy last week during the national Water Festival - 3 days of boat races down the Mekong, attended by Phnom Penh's already overcrowded population and 1 million visitors).
Our English and computer classes are very enjoyable - Deb is still trying to adjust to the fact that her students actually listen to her, complete their homework assignments on time (and ask for extra work) and never want to leave when class is over. Jon is adjusting to the many demands of his "expertise": as the computer teacher, he is now responsible to help the office decide on which video projector and digital camera to buy and which programs to install and run on the computers (not bad for someone who just "learned" computers as a hobby!)
In two weeks (right before we leave Phnom Penh), we're looking forward to meeting up with our friend Nathania Leder - she's flying from the US to join us in our final trek up to Siam Rep (to see the famous Angor Wat) and then to Bangkok from which we will fly "home" on the 20th.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you - Americans, Canadians, and Europeans (because there's nothing wrong with being thankful twice in one year right?!) God is good.
Much love,
Deb and Jon
