More pictures (I'm so behind)

I will add descriptions later since I just wrote all the other one!

What I promised!!

AHHHH!! I'm so behind on my blogging and there is so much to tell. I will have to tell you in different posts because so much has happened over here and we have been so busy. So here is the crazy tree dancing story. We went to one of the host families engagement party. There son is marrying a wonderful girl. It was really interesting to see. They put all of this food out and had to put this red symbol on everything and had a ceremony that symbolized them giving away their daughter and accepting it. Kind of more like giving permission to allow their son to marry the other couples daughter. It was so much fun though. We had the ceremony and then we ate bascially all day. It was delicious food. My favorite was the fish they had. It was sooooo good and they cook their sea food way better then anyplace I have been to over in the US. They also had chicken feet and other parts of the chicken to eat, some type of salad thing with pork, vegetables, shrimp, and then they had some noodle beef dish as well.O man, I don't think I have eaten that much. Of course they all drank, and asked us many times if we wanted any and spencer politely told them we don't drink alcohol and they were all ok and fine with it. But, they were so nice and loved us being there. They showed us how to dance Cambodian style and we danced probably for 2 hours. Not straight, but going to sit and eat or drink more water or juice they gave us and then they asked us to dance some more. I loved going and seeing that experience, because Cambodian weddings are so expensive and very extravagant. They have to go and stay with the brides family, before the engagment for a period of time. Then they have to have the engagement ceremony, and it all depends on the situation, but it can take up to another year to get married. Those ceremonies, the marriage ones, last ALL DAY LONG. I mean from 7:00 am to 12 pm just partying and having fun.

I though this was really interesting as well. The men all sat outside and ate the food, while the women served them and took care of everything, while the men just drank and eat a lot. They said that since the men work all day and make the money to give to the women, its the women's job to take care of the home and cook the food. It was the men's turn to relax and just party, while the women did everything. I don't know how I feel about that, because it just seems like they women never get a chance to relax like that, but maybe they have a special women party. Spencer isn't sure, and neither and I.

We went to the national museum over here. They had beautiful statues, paintings, and different rock work that was dated back before the Angorian period. I am not sure wh en excatly that was but I know that it was pretty old. IT was fascinating to see the different avatars and vishnus they depicted. Everyone would of loved it if you were here, although it wasn't quite as gorgeous and awesome as the Metropolitan in New York, but still cool.

We then went to Wat Phnom which is an old buddist temple, they are reconstructing it, and we didn't see any buddhist there, but it was where Phnom Penh originally started. It was gorgeous there. I felt like I was in another place than the city with all the trees and flowers that surrounded the temple. There were even monkeys. They were so cute and they would come up right to you and take the food you gave them right out of your hand. We had this little guy come up to us and he took all of what Spencer had. It was like three full things of food that we were going to share together to give to other monkeys, but that little guy was a sneeke bugger and just took it all for himself. IT was soooooooo funny because one minute he was so cute and innocent and then next he just ripped it out of Spencer's hands. We laughed so hard and someone even got it on tape. We will get that later.Then we walked around and went to that museum as well and learned how Phnom Penh came about. I don't know if that was true but it was interesting. They had some village old lady see a huge tree in the river and made the villagers get it out. They then found a buddha and other four statues, can't remember what it was, in there and decided to take it up on a hill, which the hill got bigger and worshipped them and then they all evolved from there. So that was fun to see all that. They even had some small little people, barbie sized to show the different depictions and the time line of how things came about.

We then went to a TKO fight. I never thought I would ever go or see a boxing match in real life, but we went to one. IT was pretty brutal, but most of the time they were just hugging each other. Not much punching going on. It was fun, but I don't think I will ever go and see one again.

We went to a olympic stadium, they use it for soccer tournaments and for some other things I am not really sure of but there was this one Cambodian guy who squeezed through the gate just to get into the soccer game for free. It was crazy because I don't even know how he fit hes fat head through, but He was sure skinny enough to make it through. We were just walking by and saw him half way through already, and we just watched all amazed. In the end, we clapped for him and cheered. It was funny and I had no idea how he did it, but he made it through!

The Squatter

So today we went to a waterfall a little outside of Sihanoukeville. It was really fun although I got my swim trunks all dirty. I was scared at one point because we saw this Cambodian guy swimming around with goggles and and spear, trying to catch fish. The only time I have seen this before was on an episode of River Monsters, where a man in Thailand was fishing for a fish called the Snakefish, a type of fish that has been accused of killing humans. Anyway, hopefully that wasn’t the same kind of fish this guy was going for.

After swimming in the the waterfall for a little bit, we had some lunch, and as always happens after I eat, it was time to go to the bathroom. When I arrived at the outhouse, I opened the door and saw that the toilet was in the floor. I had never seen one like this before, but thought is was rather non-hygienic. But nature was calling so I decided that before proceeding I should wipe down the toilet seat with the toilet paper that I had brought in my backpack. (We bring it with us everywhere as most places don’t have any.) After wiping down the seat I sat down on the toilet with my legs in the shape of a “V”. I thought to myself, wow this position is not very conducive to the task at hand. I also wondered how people with butts smaller than mine, (basically all Cambodians) ever sit on these without falling in. Needless to say I did my business and got out of there.

It wasn’t till just a little bit ago, when I was complaining about how nasty the bathrooms were, that I learned that these were the infamous “squatters”. It all makes sense now. Of course I was the laughing stock of the group at the dinner table and the rest of the night, and probably for the foreseeable future- the man who sat on the squatter.

Crazy tree dancing, Wat Phnom, Museum and more!

Descriptions to come in the next few days!!

Church in Cambodia

We went to church and it was an awesome experience. Spencer actually knew a few of them from back in the states because one girl served her mission and was in the MTC with him and the other one married a white guy and helped him with the recording project he had to do with the MTC. There were tons of people there in sacrament, sure they were mostly 30 minutes late, but it was a huge branch. There was a whole family who got confirmed to and that was amazing to see. It is so incredible how on the other side of the world, the gospel is still so strong and true. I feel like more is happening in the gospel over here then in the US sometimes. Because of the strong spirit each member brings with them, you can get a sense of their faith and see for yourselves how so many miracles are happening all over the world.

Spencer had to whisper in my ear the whole time, but he told me the jest of what the guy/ girl was talking about and just told me which stories they were sharing or what scriptures. I then was like O Yeah ok! So, the members were all so nice to me and in Relief Society, some of them spoke English and then said what they said again in Khmer, but I was with a Sister Senior Missionary so they know to do that as well when she was there.

It is so funny to walk around the streets or to go places because most of the people come up to me first and start talking, or like in church one lady asked me where the sister missionary has been for the last few weeks, but I didn't understand that until another girl knew both English and Khmer interpreted for us. The lady just laughed and so did I. It is pretty funny to see the peoples reactions when I don't know Khmer, but Spencer starts speaking it to them.

I was thinking that I would start my internship yesterday, but when we met with one of the man directors, he said that they have been so busy, that he hasn't had enough time to talk with another guy, but that guy is out of town the whole week on training. So now I won't start until the first week of June because this week and next week they have Cambodian holidays so there isn't going to be any work. Then the week after that we were going to take the week off when Ralph, the director of the internship, comes into town and we are going to go to the killing fields and Angkor Wat. So, it all turned out for me to start in June and just work for them for 2 whole months instead. This is what the other 4 kids are going to be doing as well in their internships. Spencer is now worried and doesn't really know what we are going to do the rest of this week with them, because next week we are going to the beach!!! It's called Sihanoukville and we are going to leave next Wednesday and not come back until Saturday night. YAY!!! Since my mom is going to the beach this week, I get to go next week. It is a touristy spot and they even have a small cruise type deal you can do for only $50 bucks. That includes everything, all the fun things to do, to eat, and a place to sleep. That only lasts 2 days, so I am not quite sure what we are going to be doing at that time, so we shall see.

We are still alive and kicking and are having so much fun! IF you ever get a chance to do something like this, take it cause its definitely going to be totally worth it!

Tragedy of the commons

So in economics class you learn about a principle called 'tragedy of the commons'. This is a situation like a local pond with a bunch of fish, but everyone relies on it for sustenance. Without regulation, all of the local people have incentive to try to catch as many fish possible before their neighbors do, and pretty soon there are no more fish left. This is what we feel like in Phnom Penh. Everywhere we go, people are asking us for money. Now besides the fact that the program has given us a strict mandate to not give money to people on the streets, it would be impossible for us to do so anyway. We would be out of cash by the end of the first day if we gave money to every person that asked for it. Besides, it wouldn't really be helping them progress anyway; they will just be in the same situation again tomorrow. I know that some of those who ask for money need it more than others. Many of the children are forced by their parents to go out everyday and look for foreigners to ask for money. In these situations it has been easier to turn them down. However there have been a couple times when I have felt terrible. One lady came up to me yesterday with a tiny baby that had a deformed hand. Another time was a man with no leg, (probably blown off by a landmine.) At times like these I realize that what people really need to make them happy is not money or food, but the Gospel.

So there are always little kids coming up to you asking for money or trying to sell some flowers. The other day while we were riding a tuc tuc, there were two girls begging Spencer for money to eat and he wouldn't do it. He told them to go and ask all the other people who were waiting for the light as well, but they would only ask him. Finally one little girl swore at him and walked away, and the other one kept asking and hit him on the arm when we left. The little girl who swore at us, then yelled something else while we were leaving and gave us a pouty face. I had no idea what was going on and that the girl hit him, but I could tell the other girl was mad and swore at him.

Another story you will all appreciate is about shoes. Spencer came here with only one pair to walk around in, expecting to buy a pair of sandals and dress shoes over here for a cheap price. Over the past three days we have been walking around the different markets and malls they have and we have been asking all the vendors if they have any size 47 (in European measurements which is what they use) because Spencer has HUGE feet compared to the Cambodians. Needless to say nobody has any that will fit Spencer. They all just laugh at him and say no. The biggest shoe they usually carry is a tennis shoe, but we wanted sandals and nice church-like slip on shoes, because this is what they all wear over here. Of course on Friday we went to the mall and found one store that carried a size 47 shoe- Michael Jordans for $25! Although thats not what we were looking for, how do you turn down a price like that. (Sure you might say they are 'fake' because Nike wasn't selling them, but honestly whats the difference between a shoe made by a Vietnamese person in a Nike factory, and one made by a Cambodian at home?) In the end thought, we were still in need of sandals and dress shoes. We finally went to the Russian market and found some 'Birkenstocks' that are size 45. They fit okay although I could really get a size bigger, but I was happy to finally get some sandals to wear around instead of my big, clunky tennis shoes.

All that were left were a pair of dress shoes. The senior couples told us about a shop that has all these different types of shoes you and look at, and then pick one, they measure your foot on a piece of paper, and make that shoe for you in any color and fabric you want. They have many different styles and material you can pick out. The Snyders (a couple Spencer taught in the MTC) took us there yesterday so Spencer could get some shoes that actually fit him. It only cost $30!! I was thinking that it would cost way more, but it is so cheap to get things over here. I might go back and get some cute high heels for me to bring back with me. Mine would only cost $20 or even less. The funny thing is we have been walking around all these markets with so many shoes and purses and clothing for me to look at, but I haven't really seen anything interesting, well I haven't really been looking. Which is totally weird, but I figured that we have 3 more months and we aren't very good at bargaining so I want to get better at that and I don't want to spend all our money in the first few days that we are here.

Anyways, I finally got my sarong and it looks so awesome. Spencer told me all the Cambodians at the tailor shop were talking about how pretty I am and how good I look in the skirt. I haven't taken a picture yet of me in it, but it will be up on the next post!


We have been sick over here for the past few days, we think it is the ice, but not quite sure what it is. We have heard that you usually get sick the first week you come anyways, but I am feeling much better, its just Spencer who is still sick now. He needs to be more careful of what he eats, he has already eaten a duck egg, I mean they type that the duck is forming in the egg, but hasn't quite hatched yet. He said he could feel the feathers and it was crunchy with the bones and everything. I didn't get one because it was still our first full day in Cambodia and I am not ready for that sort of thing yet.

Something to remember if you ever go to a third world country is never drink something with ice in it, if you can ask for no ice, but if you are at a natives home, you don't want to offend them. Just drink small sips (just learned that tip from my daddy)!! Beware: if you do drink the ice, this will lead you to making many trips to the bathroom, trust me you don't want that.

The Start of our New Adventures in Cambodia

We have made is safely in Cambodia and we are staying in a wonderful apartment called Phnom Penh Villa. It is always staffed with security guards and has cameras all over the building (outside our apartment, just around the halls). I feel pretty safe here while we are in the apartment at night time, but it sure is crazy over here.

It all started out when we had to wake up at 4:30 am in Colorado to catch our flight to LA that took about 2 hours. We thought we had to go through customs there, but really we had to go through customs in LA, not Denver. So we were about 2 and a half hours early for our flight. I decided to take a nap on the ground, while Spencer played some 4 suit spider solitaire, which took him forever to win, probably almost half the time it took us to get to Cambodia. When we reached LA, we went through customs and got our tickets to Seoul, Korea and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It took a while and they decided to do a special check on my book bag, so it took extra long. We arrived and waited about 30 minutes and got on the biggest airplane I have ever been on, it was Korean Airlines. They took great care of us, but man do I wish I was in first class, because their chairs recline all the way down so you can sleep, ours only went down 2 inches. Anyways, after watching about 3 movies, sleeping a few hours here and there, and watching a few shows and 13 hours of just sitting, we made it to Seoul. There we had to skip everybody in line to go through customs again to make sure we made it to our next flight, and then speed-walked it to the gate, which left immediately. No time to go to the bathroom, no time to walk around some, just go and sit for 6 more hours. That was really hard on both of our knees. (Good thing we have an 8-hour layover in Korea on the way home).

We finally arrived in Cambodia, and even on that small airplane you could feel the humidity and once we stepped out of the plane it was way more humid then I thought. It was crazy, but I was doing fine, it was Spencer who was sweating like crazy. We couldn't believe how hot it was for 10:00 pm (about 90 degrees!) So then we had to get our visas, and go through some more screening and got our baggage, yes it got there and was waiting for us thank goodness. I was very scared it wasn't going to make it. Then we looked for Eng, he is the one who has been helping us find things and has been working for this internship that BYU has been running for years. He met with us and took us to our aparment right away so we could get some sleep. And yes we actually slept for about 6 hours, which was pretty good.

The next day Eng took us around Phnom Penh and showed us my NGO internship, and the other NGO that the other students will be working with. We met with each and they are all very excited to have us there. We then had lunch at a little place and it was soooooo good. We had some chaa menoah (steamed pork and pineapple) , some sac koo kruang (beef with veggies and fries), and some somlaw mjuu (soup type thing with veggies and meat with bones in it still) and baay (rice) of course to go on the bottom of it all. They love to use spoons and chopsticks, so its a great thing that I know how to use them, thanks to daddy and us going to House of Chan to eat alot. Anyways we then did lots more errands and went to the supermarket.


SO the other day I walked into our bedroom and saw a little bedroom buddy just standing there waiting for me to come back. It was a gecko, just waiting for me to come home and greet me. We slept with him on the ground somewhere one night, but the next night he was waiting for me again once we stepped into our room. We finally caught him in a cup and took him outside our room, but we will probably have a few more bedroom buddies, hopefully just geckos and nothing else.

So thats whats been going on over here, Eng left and went to the provinces, so Spencer and I are on our own from yesterday through the weekend. Good thing he knows Khmer. We rode our first tuc tuc yesterday and will probably ride lots more over the next three months. We hung out with Spencer's old companion Kim and we had lunch at his hotel he works at and dinner at his house. He is very funny and his wife is very nice. They just had a new baby name Tianna, like in Princess and the Frog movie because they love cartoons. She is gorgeous. We just hung around the central market all day and Spencer bought some new shorts and I bought my first sarong, its very pretty and I have to go and pick it up today, because they measured me and made it for me. I am very excited to where it to church and around town. Hopefully we don't sweat ourselves to death, because it is HOT and so Humid, but poor Spencer, he just wipes his face about every 30 seconds because he is drenching in sweat. Stay tuned in for more pictures and adventures.

Pretty much the craziest thing here is the traffic. Dad (Donn) would never make it over here. I don't know how they don't get into more crashes, but its just honking at everyone and getting so close to each other and traffic jams all the time. They don't really have any traffic rules. There are a few lights but they don't really obey them. Mostly, if you cross an intersection, you just honk to let people know your coming. There are no speed limits so the fastest drivers rule the road. But the fastest they go is probably 10 mph so that they can stop on a dime, which is extremely necessary I can't even count the number of times that people come within an inch of each other without crashing. You are supposed to drive on the right side of the road, but many times is is more convenient (though more dangerous) to drive on the left, so we often hold on for dear life as the driver goes against traffic. It is funny because honking in America is often thought of as "rude". But over here it is quite courteous. The worst time is definitely around 5:00 pm when everyone is getting off of work. Lots of honking and bumper to bumper traffic for an hour.

The people here are very nice, even though they don't understand me most of the time, but thankfully I have Spencer to my rescue and I will be working with a guy from Australia at my internship. I thought that I would be more culture shocked, which I probably will be once we go outside of the city, but it's not so bad here as I thought. It is quite busy and more up to date than we both thought. Its just packed with businesses everywhere all along the street, and yes it is still run down, but not too bad. You do see the beggars, and kids with no clothes on, which is devastating to see. Still, we love it here and are having a blast!!