Here
we are in the beginning of November already! We have both been very busy and
happy at it. Being retired and working at whatever comes our way is fun.
Volunteer work in a place where our social income covers all we need is a great
way to ease into old age. I am starting to see GrandMa's skin, wrinkles and
flab on my not-so-young-anymore body. I am regretfully happy not to have to
work so very hard as I did even a few years ago! The continued heat makes
exercise almost impossible although this being rainy season makes getting
outside more inviting. ... except for the mosquitoes! John has been out walking on a regular basis and in my eyes moves much better because of the exercise. The last few months I
have been feeling a lot better. The thyroid hormone pill, to replace what my
thyroid is not producing, is working to clear up my brain. I still get varying
degrees of hot flashes but they are becoming the norm and only wake me long
enough to turn on the fan then turn it off again or to cause an increase in
sweat during waking hours. Like Diane used to do, I walk around at home in very
loose flowing tent dresses! Going out is trickier as in Khmer culture people do
not show "skin". I basically wear cotton and put up with the excess
moisture and higher temperatures! I try not to complain! People are getting
used to me pulling out my fan for 10 minutes every hour or two! J
We
have done a fair bit of traveling these last few months: In August, we went to
Battambang for a staff conference. We met with some very interesting and
amazing people and found out a whole bunch about what people are doing in the
name of Jesus in this country. It was a special "YWAM family" time
for us.
Soon
after Battambang, we went to a village about a 3 hour drive (2 taxi rides and
$40 later!) into the country. We have a very special young lady friend there, named
Yireh, who is the same age as Laura. She has been in that small village for about
5 months teaching English and living as a Christ follower amongst these people.
I have made 2 collages of photos from that trip so you'll see some of what we
saw and did. Yireh did almost all the translating for both John and I; I sure
had plenty of opportunity to practice my meager Khmer! One of the most
interesting things for me was watching the people prepare for the huge meal we
all ate together the day John spoke to about 25 guests. It was like watching a
camp cook out but with completely different food and everybody helped in some
way. Even me! See if you can find me in there! (Middle-right photo) Can you see the kitten napping on the hearth? (Bottom-left photo) Get out the magnifying glass!
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| Preparing a meal for 30 people - this is how Khmer people cook - rain or shine - every day! |
September 9 - 12, we flew over to Bangkok, Thailand. We needed to do some medical
tests. John had his hearing checked; as expected, he has hearing lose at higher levels and should be wearing aids but they are not in our budget! I had a colonoscopy and related tests
done. The doctors still have no idea why that tumor marker seems to be rising
but we'll keep an eye on it. All was clear! I am not in the least worried. Que
sera sera and I am entirely in God's capable hands! While there, we did some
shopping; I even spent 2 hours at IKEA! J
A
week later we spent three days on a trip to Phnom Phen. Our business at the
American Embassy lasted about 20 minutes. We are starting not to enjoy
that 8 hour each way bus ride on roads that would make the trip up to
Senneterre/Val d'Or (40 years ago) look like a piece of cake! The highlights were a lovely, lively dinner
visit with some good friends and some time just to ourselves with no schedule
to follow.
Our daily happenings never
follow any specific routine but each week has its scheduled appointments.
Mondays are for YWAM meetings (at least 2; with people time in between).
Tuesdays and Thursdays I have language lessons in the afternoons. Those
mornings are filled with housekeeping, gardening and cooking. We seem to have
no problem with finding "projects" to fill up Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays; re-wiring, plumbing, gardening or just visiting with people who need
to talk. Sundays we try to sleep in and spend time on the Internet before going to church from 4 to 6 and
going out with friends in the evening for a meal.
My
hair keeps getting shorter! I am too cheap to pay $25 US for a proper hair cut
so I go to various Khmer hair dressers and walk away with some pretty awful
cuts. Then, within a few weeks, I get the scissors out and "fix" it
all by myself. J
Most Khmer women wear their hair long. Thus the hair dressers don't know how to
cut short hair! The barbers do a better job on short hair but most won't work
on a woman!
A month or so ago a young man serving on our staff decided that the main residence/
home base needed a paint job. It really did! I've been trying to figure out how
to do it since we arrived but it was too big of a job for me! Anyways, he
bought the paint and started in ... He had lots of help from 8-10 young people
who are part of a "World Race" team who came to stay for a few weeks.
They managed to paint just about everything and it looks so much better. I was very impressed with this young man's project management skills! He and his team could not figure out how to do the very high part over the stair-well. Me describing how to build the scaffolding only produced blank, questioning looks
... Once I had the scaffolding in place none of them was willing to get up
there! So ...
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| I have actually done some sanding + painting while here in Cambodia! |
A
few weeks ago I started on a big project. The YWAMSiemReap.org web site is old
and wanders off on rabbit trails. It needs redoing. Several people have tried
but all are too busy. I volunteered! With the help of iTeamDesign company who
are in charge of the template and a young lady who knows web design from the
States, who was here for a week or so, I have begun my journey into
re-designing our web site. It is wonderfully fascinating and relatively easy
but very, very time consuming. I have about 40 hours in so far and am still
learning the basics. Tomorrow I will go to the iTeam office for another
tutorial! Getting other people to update their parts seems to be my main
difficulty. Everyone is so very busy! Good thing I am volunteer at this and we
are in Cambodia where nothing has to run on-time nor to a deadline! I just want
to get it done asap so that I can get back out to my garden! J
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| John thinks that soon I will be translating for him ... I'd rather be up on the rafters teaching someone how to wire a fan! :-) |
