On Karaoke (twice!), and Christmas in Cambodia

Dear friends and family,

It has been three weeks since I have had the time to sit down and write a new blog post, and what an eventful three weeks it has been! I have been traveling into town a lot for various reasons and am really enjoying this weekend at home in Mesang to relax. Mid-December there was the annual MCC planning staff meeting, which was actually not as bad as it sounds. It lasted for 2 days, but in the afternoons we did fun activities together. The first day we went bowling in a nearly deserted mall. It was a rather strange place, but we had tons of fun. The second day we rented a karaoke room and went out for pizza as a goodbye party for a couple that are returning to the States after 3 years in Cambodia. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling that well, so didn’t really enjoy either the karaoke or the pizza, though I am not so sure how much I would have enjoyed the Karaoke even on a good day. After 4 months of living in Cambodia illness free, I managed to catch a cold. For three days I had a fever, headache, sore throat, and generally felt terrible; and then it went away. I know that apparently we are in the cool season now, and therefore everyone is catching colds. I somehow thought I was immune to the cold going around because it just seemed impossible to me to catch a cold when it is still 30 degrees out. But it is possible! I am glad I was feeling better by Sunday because I took the most crowded bus back to Prey Veng with a couple of other MCCers. The 14 passenger van had at least 25 people; and all their stuff. We, being foreigners, were given the front row of seats behind the driver, closest to the “ac” and music video player (If the AC was working, I certainly couldn’t tell). However, in between this row of seats and the driver’s seat was a bench. We were told this bench was for 3 kids. We said that was OK. Turns out what they meant was 4 kids, their mother, and the wife of the driver (who is not a small woman)! We literally could not move at all the whole trip.

The following week I went into the city again for MCC’s Christmas party. A lot of Cambodian staff came and brought their families along. It was a lot of fun- but very different than at home. It somehow lacked the feeling of excitement and anticipation that you feel at a Christmas party at home. Maybe it was the hot weather, the non-Christmasy (albeit delicious) food, or that there were so many people there not used to celebrating Christmas the way we do at home. Nevertheless, I am glad I went. I helped with games, and I think my bowling with elephant apples game was a hit (After eating a couple and giving some away, I wasn’t really sure what else to do with the giant bag of elephant apples my host mother sent along with me!) I think the best part of my weekend was spending the day on Saturday with Galuh (another one-year volunteer like myself) from Indonesia. We went shopping together, ate at an Indonesian restaurant, went to the market, ate ice cream, and in the evening watched a couple movies and ate all of the snacks we had bought earlier that day (seaweed, chocolate covered wafers, a giant candy cane,  mangoes, and oranges. Yum!)

The day after I got back to Mesang was Christmas Eve. I spent the day with ODOV staff on an exposure visit to a nearby province. I got a call at 6:30 AM saying that we were supposed to leave at 6 and they were waiting for me. I am certain no one told me when we were leaving. When I got to the office at 6:45, there were several people still not there. Apparently they were under the impression that we weren’t leaving until 7! We traveled for 2 ½ hours by bus (I swear they chose the worst roads possible) and ended up in a town a stone’s throw away from the border of Vietnam. I’m not really sure what we learned about in the morning because I couldn’t understand it, but in the afternoon we visited a pig raising farm, and learned all about pig raising. This I was able to understand thanks to the visuals and some helpful translation! I even felt a bit useful since I was the only one who remembered to bring a camera, and was therefore responsible for documenting the trip. Since it was near dark by the time our tour was done, we decided to stay in town a bit longer. Lucky me got to experience karaoke in Cambodia for a second time in one month! This time I (sadly) didn’t know any of the songs as they were all in Khmer, but had a fabulous time watching everyone else. The guys were all the first ones up to start dancing along to the music and really got into it. I even got dragged up to dance for one song, despite my insistence that I didn’t know how to dance Cambodian style. It was an interesting and fun day, and I am so glad that I was able to join the trip.

Though I had a fun day, the long ride home that evening in the dark was lonely. I closed my eyes and pictured snow gently falling; my family walking back up the driveway to my grandparent’s house after going to the Christmas Eve service at church; lights on the trees shining through the darkness; hot chocolate and Christmas cookies waiting in the cosy indoors. And then I opened my eyes, remembered it was 30 degrees, absolutely dark on the road other than our headlights, that I was on the other side of the world from my family, and that I was the only person in the van who knew or cared that it was Christmas Eve. But when I woke up the next morning, I picked up my Bible from where I had left off in the book of Isaiah, and was immediately filled with a sense of joy and peace. I was nearly at the end of Isaiah, having started to read it a while before. What a great book to read around Christmas time, for it is a book of promise. How perfect on Christmas morning to read the words of Isaiah 53- the words of promise that Jesus fulfilled when he came to earth.

Christmas morning I was able to skype home and talk with my family on their Christmas eve. I then went to a Christmas celebration in Prey Veng town at the home of some MCCers. Present were some of their visiting friends and family, Peace Corps volunteers, and Cambodian friends who know or work with MCCers. We ate delicious food; there was fresh homemade bread, butter, cheesy potatoes, salad, delicious chicken, and a Cambodian pumpkin custard dessert. I lead some of the visitors on a trip to Monkey Island, where the monkeys were exceptionally active! I enjoyed lots of great conversation with some great new people. And in the evening I got to talk to more friends and family on skype. All in all it was a wonderful day! I even got to open a little present that was sitting under the little tree for me. Christmas in Cambodia was not the same as at home, but it was still Christmas- still a time of joy, of peace, of getting together and enjoying one-another’s company.

And now I am back in Mesang. I was busy planting carrots and radishes and garlic in the garden, and helping out with a grant proposal this week. With nothing to do all weekend, I am ready to relax, enjoy the cool breeze, sleep in the hammock, and maybe finish a book or two. I hope you all had a joyous Christmas and I wish you all a very happy new year!

Blessings,

Rebecca

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted and to announce that the captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.” Isaiah 61:1-2.

As requested by someone very special- monkeys on monkey island in Prey Veng. I love going there to watch them run around! Thankfully this one was sitting still enough for a photo!

Fascinated by something in her hand!

Since I knew I could not find Christmas lights in Mesang, and it was the first advent, I decided to make my own "lights". When the morning sun is shining through, they almost seem to glow!