The Dog Choir

Every evening Katy and I hear the neighborhood dogs all barking at the same time.  I have no idea why they all choose to bark at the same time every evening. The choir usually "sings” for about 30 seconds.  I pretend that I'm directing the choir with my fingers waving in the air. The choir seems to like “singing” while we Skype, so people on the other end get to enjoy the “music” too.

Enjoy this YouTube video that I created:

On a side note there are several chickens in our neighborhood,  so it’s common to hear roosters crowing in the morning too.

--Alan

Streets of Cambodia

So what does transportation and traffic look like in Cambodia?

Well for starters, people drive on the right side of the road just like in America.  Most cars that end up in Cambodia are cars that have been deemed totaled by insurance companies from all over the world.  So some cars have steering wheels on the left side of the car, while other cars have steering wheels on the right side of the car.  It’s strange to look at an oncoming vehicle when the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. It looks like no one is driving.

Motos, motos, and more motos… Motos are the most popular form of transportation in Cambodia.  The roads are covered with motos all going different directions.  It’s not unusual to see motos driving on the wrong side of the road. I have seen as many as 6 people riding on one moto, and I believe the record is 7 people.  Motos are a way of life here in Cambodia and are used to haul all kinds of things.   Just a few things that I have seen motos carry are: pigs (full grown pigs that are probably headed to the slaughter house), chickens (over a hundred chickens strung up by their feet and attached to the handlebars and luggage rack, and big sheets of glass (held by the passenger).

Some motos have been modified to pull a carriage for people to ride in. They are called tuk-tuks and are seen all over Phnom Penh operating like taxis.

Bicycles are another major mode of transportation here in Cambodia.   Most bikes are old women’s bikes with a basket hanging on the handlebars.

There are also trucks, buses, vans, ox carts, and on occasion even an elephant walking the streets of the city.

Believe it or not, traffic flows like a river here; no one really stops unless at a traffic light...well most people stop. There is mainly one rule to remember:  the biggest vehicle has the right of way.  For the most part people yield to the biggest vehicle, but at the same time everyone just goes at once.  When I first started to drive I would wait at intersections for a break in traffic… I could wait for several minutes before going.  I have since learned I just have to nudge my way into the intersection.  They sure didn’t teach me that in Drivers Education class.

Christmas in Cambodia

I wasn’t sure what to expect of Christmas this year. Since Cambodia is almost completely Buddhist, I thought I may not see any signs of it at all. However, Cambodians love to celebrate, so they’ve added Christmas to their list of 42 holidays. There are decorations on most store fronts as well as around some of the monuments. We have been told that most Cambodians think of Christmas as a western New Year’s celebration (not to worry, they celebrate New Year’s on January 1st, Chinese New Year in February, and Khmer New Year in April). If gifts are exchanged at Christmas, it is only between boyfriends and girlfriends and sometimes husbands and wives. We’ve had to keep reminding ourselves it’s Christmastime since it’s consistently in the 80’s or higher each day, so we've been listening to Christmas music. Some of our favorite Christmas tunes this year are I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas and Baby, It’s Hot Outside.

We recently read the following in our daily devotional, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Nicholas of Myra (Fourth Century)
The original “Old Saint Nick” who inspired the tradition of Santa Claus, Nicholas was a bishop of Myra in fourth-century Turkey. Little is known about his life except that he entrusted himself to Jesus at an early age and, when his parents died, gave all of their possessions to the poor. While serving as bishop, Nicholas learned of three girls who were going to be sold into slavery by their father. Moved to use the church’s wealth to ransom the lives of these little ones, he tossed three bags of gold through the family’s window. We recall this ancient Christmas gift, even as we remember that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year in the global sex trade today.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth,

Katy

Eating in Cambodia

Since moving to Cambodia we have eaten a lot of good Khmer food. We have gotten used to eating rice on a daily basis, and we’ve noticed that we pile on a little more each day. Khmer food usually is good and simple. Each meal typically is a huge scoop of rice, a smaller scoop of vegetables, and a little meat. However, there are also some creepy things that we have tried as well. One day in our Khmer class, our teacher brought us crickets. I thought the cricket tasted kind of like chips, not too bad…except that one of the legs got caught in my throat for about half an hour! 

We also worked ourselves up to trying “baby duck eggs,” which are fertilized duck eggs.The first time I saw one of these, I thought I was opening a hardboiled egg, but what I found as I peeled back the shell was a hardboiled egg with a little baby duck staring back at me from inside.  I did not eat it the first time I saw it because I was filled with guilt and compassion for the little bird who was looking up at me.  However, a few weeks later, we went to the night market, and they had deep-fried baby duck eggs, so we tried them.  Neither one of us was able to eat the head! 

 Finally, we have also tried fried tarantulas.  I was hoping there would be some kind of breading but there wasn’t—just fried tarantula.  If I had to eat one of these 3 items again, it would probably be the cricket, but reality tells me that at some point I’ll probably eat all of these items again.  They all tasted okay, but each one made me feel a little creepy!

-Katy

The unwelcomed visitor

Today we had an unwelcomed visitor in our apartment. I was sitting in a chair reading when I noticed something stretched out on the floor. I looked at it a few times and then I realized that is was a snake. Katy was in the next room and I didn’t want her to see it because I knew she would be scared, so I grabbed a shoe to try to smash it before Katy realized what I was doing.  Killing it with my shoe didn’t work so well, and Katy heard me and left the apartment.  As all this was going on, our language helper showed up for our lesson, and she is also terrified of snakes. Our language helper found a wooden club and handed it to me. With the club I was able to defeat our unwelcomed visitor. This is the first time we have seen a snake in Cambodia besides the huge ones at the zoo. Hopefully this is the first and the last time we’ll have an unwelcomed visitor.  What can I say, it’s always an adventure every day here in Cambodia.

- Alan

We made it!

We are in Cambodia! Our travels went right as planned, and we and all of our belongings arrived safely here.  We were greeted at the airport by some of our coworkers and program participants.  It was really comforting and exciting to walk out of the airport into a foreign land and be met with cheers and hugs.  We have enjoyed our first few days here and, much to our delight, we have been inundated with language and culture.  Any worries we had of not being exposed to the language are gone, and we plan on going tomorrow to sign up for language school.  Since we plan on making these first few months a time of intense language learning, we will be stopping our communication briefly so that we can focus on spending as much time practicing Khmer (the language of Cambodia) as possible.  We will take a break from our blog but look forward to updating you in a few months about what we’ve experienced and learned.  Today in Khmer church, I understood 7 words:  16, 11, 7, thank you, yes, hello, and Amen.  Hopefully by the next time I write, I will understand a lot more.  Don’t worry, although we hope to improve our Khmer, we still plan on continuing to communicate with you in English! 

-Katy

We're on our way!

Hello all,

Well, we're on our way to Cambodia, only a day left in the United States. It's been a great summer spent with family and friends. Our bags are packed and we're prepared as best we can be. We had a great sendoff from Common Ground Christian Church a few weeks ago. We feel very blessed and encouraged by all of you.  Goodbyes are tough, but there's no way around them. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers, and we will miss you. We value your friendship, and please feel free to send emails. Our email address is beringerak@gmail.com.

So what am I feeling right now? Well I'm nervous, a bit scared,  and have some anxiety, but when I think about the people that we'll be serving in Cambodia all these feelings go away. We're excited and ready to see God lead the way in our lives and in the lives of the people of Cambodia.

Our travel time is 26 hours. Akron, OH to Atlanta, GA to Seoul, Korea to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  We have flown this flight a few times and have a system for not going stir crazy on the 14.5 hour flight from Atlanta to Seoul: we try to sleep as much as possible!

Our next post will be from Cambodia!

Alan