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!!

Christmas is almost here!

Finals are almost over and Christmas is next SATURDAY!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH! I have not even gone shopping yet for people. I need to get on the ball, but I have been super busy with everything. I love Muppet Christmas Carol and I def need to watch it this Christmas. Especially school! Only one more semester and I will be a college grad. That's so weird and crazy to think about.

School wise- Projects have been the curse of me because my one project in Bus M 488 was the worst day ever. SO I was in charge of editing and putting the whole 36 PAGES together and got it by 5 that afternoon. I had to turn it in that night. So it took me and Spencer, cause he is the best husband ever, til about 11 that night to do it all. Then we realized we had no paper to print it out and decided to just do it at Kinko's. Little did we know it was going to be $20 bucks just to print it off, and we had to pay to use the computer to print it off and then we had to bind it with a cover to come to a total of about $25. Before we left my house, I emailed it to everyone in my group and a girl texted me after I turned it into the kinkos people to bind it that the project was all wrong and missed up. We got it and left and I just started crying! I could not stop it was the worst thing ever and I don't know why. So, Spencer told me he would fix it. We got home and thought we fixed it, but then realized in the car on the way back to kinko's that it was still missing some stuff, turned around and he fixed it again at our apartment. Then it was good, went to kinkos and fixed the 4 pages that were wrong, went to Tanner to turn it in. By this time it was 1:30 and it was locked. OF COURSE! SO I started crying some more. Then went home and Spencer was so sweet to me and took care of me. Went to bed. Woke up at 6:30 to go to school by 7 and turn it in before the teacher got there. I made it, but it was all a nightmare. Just glad it's over!

I don't know why people stress about finals. It's really the last 2 weeks of school before thats bad for me. Everything is due at that time and you still have last minute exams.

I'm just glad that Christmas is next week and I am almost done with school and all my bad fiascoes.

I am getting more excited about Cambodia, and I think I have an internship lined up and will be working in the rice fields to help improve it and other things like that.

Spencer is almost done with his admissions to the law schools and is just waiting on his recommendation to be turned in. Then we will wait and see! AHHHH... I hope we will go somewhere really good and a place he wants to be (Michiagan or Duke- holding onto Duke because it's much much warmer and closer to my house).

Chao for now!

We are officially going to Cambodia!

Since Spencer has gotten the job of the Cambodia facilitator, We both are bascially accepted to go to Cambodia from May 10- Aug 10 next summer!! I am excited most of the time, but sometimes I am really nervous about living in a third world country that is still developing. The only problem now is how are we going to get the money to go? Spencer can get his half scholarship, we both might be able to get Pell Grants and I might even be able to get a little bit of money from MSS if I petition it and if they have money to give. If anyone has any ideas besides taking out a loan, please tell us so we can have this paid for. I know its going to be hard since Spencer will be going to law school in the fall (we dont know where yet, just got his score back and still in process of applying). We won't be working to earn money and for that reason is why I am still hesitant about working, but I fell it is right for us to go since everything has just fallen into place for us to go.

We will be living with host families, and both of us will have different internship jobs. Spencer will be most likely to get one with microfinance, and I want to find one with something to do with landscaping, whither its horticulture or agriculture, but I would have to work out of Phnom Penh to go. THey really don't want people to do that and I would be away from Spencer. The other one I am really interested in doing is volunteering at the orphanages. This one will be awesome and great deal of service that I could do, so we will see what happens.

Spencer and I are doing great. This is our last year at BYU and we are praying that he will get into a good law school. He got his score last night and feels really good about it. 165!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now he just needs to apply to the 7 or 8 schools he will apply to. Michigan is the one he really wants to get into so if everyone could pray for us that would be awesome!

I am going to try to be better about writing again. Especially since we are going to Cambodia!!!

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to MEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Description to come!!

Where is our Spring Break??

BYU needs to adopt a spring break. Starting NOW!!! I mean every person I talk to wouldn't mind if we stayed an extra week of school. I am sure missing my beach in Panama City, FL every spring break during high school. I know everyone else is missing whatever they did during that time as well!! Am I Right or What!! I need to tan and play in the waves (even though I am scared). I still need a break from school to. I don't know why they don't let us have one. It's a dumb thing not to incorporate. Maybe someday soon like tomorrow they will announce it!! That would be sweet because I totally had a dream that they did last night and I was going to go to the beach.