The biggest recent change is that I am now living with two Khmer (Cambodian) housemates! They are a sweet newlywed couple and related to our team leader, Vandenn. It's a lengthy story of how it all came about. The short of it is, we were repeatedly being targeted by night prowlers (since we are three foreign females) and Jennifer understandably decided to move to another safer location (where she is very happy). Olivia and I decided to stay after some prayer and discussion because we felt called to stay in this particular neighborhood. We had the idea to ask Ravy and Lakaena to move in where Jennifer was living (in the downstairs portion) and they were very eager to!
The day before they moved in they invited us three girls to Lakaena's parents house in the province (i.e. the countryside). It was our first time outside of Phnom Penh since we got here (besides the team retreat we took to the beach in September). Lakaena's family is extremely sweet and it was such a refreshing and enjoyable time spending the day getting to know this gentle family. Lakaena's older brother shared an interesting fact with us about his parents. They were married during the Khmer Rouge when the soldiers had the men and women stand in lines and then pointed one by one, ordering "couples" to get married. Despite the difficult circumstances, they seem to be a couple that fits very well together.One of the best things abo
ut our trip that day was that our dear "Boo" agreed to be our driver. We call him "Boo" because that is what you call older men in Cambodia (it means "uncle"). He is a tuk-tuk driver (the vehicle we are riding in pictured above) and lives in our neighborhood. He has been transporting us through crazy adventures ever since we first got here. He is a very kind (and shy) man who loves his family and we were so happy that he we got to spend the day with him!That day we also learned that we would be getting two more unexpected housemates. Lakaena's younger sister, Sreylin is taking university classes during the week and was needing a place to stay in the city. Lakaena was able to offer her sister a place to stay with them, which made her parents feel much more at ease! Sreylin also had a 2-week old puppy deli
vered to her that day and asked us if we would want to take care of it. When we saw him we both said, um..yes please!! We named him Java and since we brought him home, the kids in our neighborhood visit us at least once a day to play with him. We are so thankful that the Lord blessed our decision to stay in this house. The whole day in the province really felt like Father was confirming our decision and blessing us with new relationships to pour into.Here are more photos from our trip that day...
"same same, but different"
Our "chariot" (tuk-tuk)
Lakaena's father is the Principal at this elementary school
rice fields...according to my students, you can't live without rice!
Lakaena's brother feeding the fish at their family farm
Boo joining us for lunch
P.S. Since Ravy and Lakaena moved in, we haven't had any attempted break ins, praise the Lord. Ravy is better than having a guard. He is always on the alert like an overprotective older brother (in a good way). The other day he even showed up at our door with a meat cleaver in his hand because he misunderstood a text I had sent them while they were sleeping! I promised to be more careful with my text messages in the future.
