Bangkok

I don't know how closely the situation in Bangkok has been watched in the US news, but being as how Thailand is one of our next door neighbors, we have heard quite a bit about it. I am no expert on the situation, but if you don't know much, here are a few basics: there has been a strong anti-government group in Thailand for some time. This group has staged many demonstrations and done things like surrounding the Thai Parliament building in late November so that the parliament could not longer continue their session. A week ago, the anti-government group filled the two Bangkok airports with protestors, effectively shutting down all airport operations. This had a fairly major effect--imagine if all air traffic in and out of Chicago was halted--planes in the air enroute to Chicago would have to be rerouted to land elsewhere (other cities or military airstrips),people in the airport would be stuck there or would have to find lodging in the area and alternate forms of transportation out of the city, no air freight or shipping could move along, and so on. All of this happened in Bangkok. And because Thailand as a country is wealthier and more developed that most other South East Asian countries, Bangkok served as a major hub for the entire region. So, in Cambodia, this meant that American expats trying to fly home for Thanksgiving often had their travel plans changed at the last minute or spent some extra time in Bangkok (although the Thai government, the Thai protestors, and the airlines themselves all did quite a lot in providing free lodging, food, water, blankets, and ticket changes to those affected). Cambodian mail and imports/exports ship through Bangkok, so these services have been on hold all week. As you can imagine all of this has a huge and immediate impact financially in many ways, and a future impact as well: what blow has this dealt to the Thai economy when the worldwide ecomony is already in recession? Will Thailand be judged too unstable for tourist flights and shipping to continue to be routed through Bangkok as a major hub, and will these operations shift to another country and another city? We shall see! Here's a news link that just came up on Yahoo--the anti-government protestors got their wish and the Thai government has been dissolved:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081202/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_political_unrest;_ylt=AvSSPWHgYYC2G99_cj93VCBvaA8F

What It's Like...

So, I am once again long overdue on getting something blogged on here. And my time before lunch is running short, but here's a few tidbits about what it's like to move to Cambodia. This will sum up my first two weeks here for your reading enjoyment! More pictures and info and hopefully a few video clips will be coming, hopefully before too long.

What it's like to move to Cambodia....

*You spend your first week living in a hotel while you look for places to live. American style quarters are available, but pricey and removed from the Cambodian people. A good option are pteah-la-vangs, combo apartment/townhomes. Or, you choose a third option--renting a room with a Cambodian family in a traditional wooden home. In my case, I have a room with one of the FH staff and her sister. Her brother's family and an Australian lady also live in separate residences on the same property. Picture:

*You start attending services at a Cambodian church on Sunday mornings and an international English-speaking church on Sunday afternoons.

*You realize the city of Phnom Penh has plenty of Asianized Western food available (pizza, bagels, burgers, ice cream, etc.) for prices that are cheap compared to the US but expensive for Cambodia. Cambodian food is much more affordable, and quite good--now you just need to figure out what exactly are the best ways to access this food...

*After three language tutoring sessions, you learn to recognize, pronounce, and write all 33 consonants and all but 7 of the 21 vowels. At least you learn all this in theory.

*You also in theory have learned how to drive a motorcycle. Now to get good at it and also learn how to drive it in some interesting traffic....

*You got to celebrate Thanksgiving with a full-blown traditional feast and some other Americans!

Watch Your Step

Landmines: yes, Cambodia has them. This is another topic I am often asked about. Cambodia actually has quite a few landmines, remnants of years of conflicts between several different factions. Buried in the ground, they were originally intended to kill or maim enemy soldiers or to explode advancing tanks and other heavy equipment. Unfortunately, even though the conflicts are over, the mines are still present and dangerous; they are set off by farmers, animals, or construction traffic. Cambodia today has some of the highest rates in the world for number of amputees (due to landmine injuries) and number of mines in the country. So--the general rule of thumb in rural Cambodia (and most of Cambodia is just that: rural) is to stay on the beaten path. While de-mining operations have been under way for awhile, they are a tedious process, and there is a lot of land that has yet to be made safe. Areas that are known to be heavily mined (particularly along national borders) are often marked, as in this picture.

If you are curious for more information about how the presence of mines impacts life in Cambodia, and how the de-mining process works, check out this recent episode of a show called In Harm's Way about dangerous occupations. It is informative, although I warn you that you'll be getting your info along with a hefty dose of melodrama and suspenseful music :) Here's this link if you want to watch all or part of it (on the right, click on the landmine episode to view it):

http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/in-harms-way

Alaska??

So I never imagined that my itinerary to SE Asia would include a journey via Alaskan Airlines....but such is reality! And having an itinerary means that the good news of course is this--my funding is all in, and I am headed to CAMBODIA! The time has actually come! It has been good to see God's provision throughout this process and now to see His timing as well.

Back to itineraries: I leave exactly four weeks from today, on November 17th (a Monday). I'll leave Denver at 8:00 am to fly to Seattle--this would be the Alaskan portion of the trip (too bad I can't take a side trip up through Anchorage or something :) ). From Seattle I head to Seoul, Korea, via Asiana Airlines, and from there directly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I land in Cambodia around 11:00 pm on Tuesday, the 18th. People always ask how long the trip actually takes, and I have never done the math, but I believe it's right around twenty-four hours of travel. The upside of long flights is that they still serve you food en route, and even for those of us who fly economy class, there are movie, game, tv, and music choices galore to keep us busy when we are not trying to snooze. Anyone who feels inspired can pray that I also get to sit in as many window seats as possible as I travel :)

So yes--the long awaited time is here. God is good. Thanks--many thanks--to all of you for all of your help and support and interest and prayers! Only another month until you get real live Cambodian updates!

It has arrived...

...fall, that is. I'm still wondering why spring and summer are no longer around. Spending the year in limbo, with no set schedule and each day looking very much like the ones before and after it, has left me with a floating sense of time. But, with fall just beginning, I am still hopeful that I'll be in Cambodia before it wraps up. On that topic, things continue to get closer. My one-time funds have been officially in for a couple of weeks now--good progress! And as the one-time funds continue to grow and overflow, they help build up my monthly funds as well, which are now at 90% of what I need. So close! Support raising is now a manner of trying to find just a few more committed people.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy some apple cider (we've even found an orchard where we can press our own!) and switch from mowing the lawn to raking up leaves. Maybe I'll even do something involving a pumpkin--the good old orange American kind, because once I'm in Asia the common pumpkins are smaller and a bluish-white color (although luckily still tasty :) ). The other highlight of fall in country Colorado is the opportunity to drive by local farms that cater to harvest-themed entertainement: corn mazes, pumpkin patches, tractor trains, and so on. One of these farms has the added excitement of a giant inflatable "creature"--reportedly, for those so inclined, you can walk through the creature from mouth to tail and even enjoy the gurgling sounds of digestion during that part of your journey. Any takers?

Grab the Popcorn

I've been in the mood lately to watch movies--which I suppose means I should go rent something. But--just in case you also wouldn't mind watching a movie or two, here's a few video clips from Cambodia :)

Here's a clip during a church service at the KFC Church in Anlong Veng. Anlong Veng, you may recall, is the town I'll be spending most of my time in in northern Cambodia. And while the church is called KFC--sorry, no fried chicken involved: KFC stands for Kampuchea For Christ (Kampuchea is the name of Cambodia in Khmer, the Cambodian language). I had the chance to attend this church service while I was in Anlong Veng in April for the staff training session. Currently, less than .5% of Cambodia's population is Christian, so churches are not highly common. However, I believe that there are several KFC churches throughout the country, one of which is the one that happens to be in Anlong Veng. The service was conducted in Khmer, including the songs. In the early 1900's, the Christian and Missionary Alliance had a missionary presence in Cambodia, and one of those missionaries used a number of traditional songs and tunes as the basis for a Cambodian hymn book. That hymn book is still in common use among the country's Christian gatherings.

FH's work in Cambodia is centered in Anlong Veng, which has a population of about 10,000 in a province that has numerous small villages. The villages surrounding Anlong Veng are where FH is involved in deveopment work. This clip shows some village homes on either side of a road, where I happen to be "filming" from the back of a moving motorcycle. You'll see the back of the driver of the moto, John Tuggy--country director for FHCambodia.

Update on the Latest

Sorry, no pictures this time, just a quick update on where things stand! As of this week, my support needs are down to about $400 a month and only $2000 in one time funds--great! Things continue to progress, which is good, and which is also an encouragement--although I am also sitting down today to make the official list of all the details I need to take care of before I actually head out: go to the dentist, get things squared away at my bank, buy a new suitcase, etc. etc. I am hoping to head out around the end of September or thereabouts. August has been the month of fundraisers--two picnic/donation events, one garage sale and one more this weekend, and a book sale organized at my home church. Those have all contributed to bringing my one-time needs almost to completion! And that's that--nothing else too exciting to report on!