For Michael

This post is dedicated to my Boyfriend Michael.

Both because i made a potato tower (which is something you would do) and because I know he misses my attention.

I love you my awesome husband. And thanks for blessing this trip (and working while i play)

Spoiled Saturday

Today was a Spoil Andrea day. Really nice.

We went to the gym in the morning and then on the way back, dropped by the market to get fruit and coconut waffles. The girls made me a delicious brunch.

Then in the afternoon/evening they took me to the spa and i got a one hour massage and one hour pedicure! As if that wasn't enough, we went out for a wonderful dinner at a mediteranian restaurant with a roof top terrace.

So lovely. Feels a little strange to have the missionaries spoil you...

Happy Khmer New Year!

Technically it starts on monday. All the shops close down and most everyone goes to their hometown or to the beach or Siem Reip. And that is why we will leave at 4 am tomorrow otherwise the half an hour exit from the city will take 2 hours.

They start to celebrate early with parties and taking it easy. On Friday we went to a New year's party at Asian Outreach. Complete with duck duck goose-like games, karaoke and barbeque!

To the Market with Chantha

Today i had the pleasure of meeting Chantha. She is the lovely house-keeper of Erycha and Maria's flat. I got to go to the market with her to buy lunch ingredients and then she gave me a cooking lesson and khmer lesson in one! We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot. She loves her job so much and was thrilled to include me this morning.
In telling her that I love her country, she asked me if I had been to Tuol Sleng (see previous blog) and then told me that her father's picture is there. Wow. And her mother disappeared as well during this time. I'm at a loss for words.

Tuol Sleng

yesterday Erycha took me to Tuol Sleng, an old highschool that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison and torture chamber in 1975. That's the first part that's hard to believe - 1975. There are rooms full of these pictures - the Khmer Rouge documented all the people they killed. There were so many photos. They have left the school much how it was, with rooms used for torture, cells, gallows - such a horrible thing. In some way it felt like a sacred place. These people, individuals, need to be mourned, respected.
One thing I wondered was - Where was God while all this was going on? I could feel Him there as I walked around but to imagine all those rooms filled with pain, hatred, agony.
I think he was still there, with them. Hurting, crying and in pain along with them.
David talks a lot about God's presence in the midst of evil and injustice, the psalms are filled with it. "I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy."
And i thought of the verse, "The whole earth is full of his Glory"
And furthermore, I read today in Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis that another way to translate that verse is "the whole earth is full of his weight and significance" Weight and significance. Not always pleasant but the assurance that there is meaning and hope and that nothing is unnoticed.
And I'll end the musings with a bit more from Rob - "It isn't just those beautiful moments in the midst of the everyday and mundane; it is also in the tragic adn the gut-wrenching moments when we cannot escape the simple fact that there is way more going on around us than we realize."

that's just weird

Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yay for Erycha!

I've been so proud of my good friend Erycha. It has been such an honour to see her world and what she has been up to, how much people love her and how she loves people.

Three cheers for Erycha!!!

PS michael, I figured out the image size thing! (and I love you sooo much)

Andrea in Asia!

On Monday I went to an orphanage with Maria called "Happy tree Children's Home... Man, those trees were happy! It was located on a hospital compound and had 90 kids, all of which are HIV positive. They all had to line up for lunch and I tried to sneak in.. Quite hard to do.


Today (tuesday) Erycha took me to the some villages about an hour from Phnom Penh and we were able to go with the Asian Outreach Village Field staff on home visits. Erycha took a lot of great pictures and I watched her take them... she did give me permission to post them, however.
It has been such a pleasure to be here - with Erycha and Maria, seeing what they do and getting to see Cambodia from such an inside perspective. It is such a beautiful country - hot, busy, lots of motos, and such warm people.

Michael, can you let me know how to post pictures like you do...?
I'll try to keep ya'll posted!
Andrea