Happy List (Part 1)

i'm so grateful to be starting at UNICEF on monday! to celebrate, i decided to make a happy list, because it is always nice to think about things that make you happy and that can help you develop a more positive and grateful heart.

*****

flourless chocolate cake

air conditioning

a comfortable place to call home (even if it's temporary)

a bright blue sky with puffy clouds

good friends that always find a way to say the right thing

running water

target

your fan club that greets you on the road as you leave and come home

reliable electricity

family that is so happy when you call

a new addiction to coke that seems to conveniently prevent you from getting sick

pretty flowers!

smiles on the street

khmer children blowing kisses as they pass you by

beautiful opportunities to do work you're passionate about

bright colors and brightly colored pants

sting (a strawberry drink in cambodia)

a church that offers anyone a member family anywhere in the world

facetime

khmer people blatantly taking pictures of you because you're white

afternoon rain showers

^^^and happy songs ^^^

meanwhile, in cambodia...

traffic looks like this

hair looks like this

a back looks like this

and the worm whose shower i use looks like this.

this is my landlord, brandon.

let the adventures begin

over the weekend we took a trip to lazy beach. it is this tiny, secluded island, where we had pretty much our own private beach. to start, we jumped off the boat and swam to shore. apparently, not many people do this. i don't know why because the water is so warm and crystal clear. the staff was so friendly and only laughed at us a few times. we really enjoyed our stay there and had some serious adventures.

on the boat to the island. we made friends with a family from denmark.

adventure 1 - these are bungalows, and they mean it. there wasn't much separating us from the outside environment, so naturally, our charming bungalow was home to several geckoes, all of which were over a foot long. we got used to it after we decided that we were indoor camping.
adventure 2 - snorkeling! it was so fun to see all the pretty fish. this was a first for me. i think i’m hooked. watch out great barrier reef.
adventure 3 - a tropical thunder storm. while, one of the 5 of us played it cool, 4 of us had quite an experience waking up to a tropical thunderstorm at 1 in the am our last night there. honestly, the loudest thing i have ever heard. while i was sure lightning was going to strike through the roof, we managed to evade it, somehow. it was beautiful to see the power of nature, at least to this degree. the lightning was incredible, and the thunder so strong. it was a reminder as to how powerful the elements are and made me feel so small. anytime i felt scared, i just thought of my new denmark family. if they were on the island too, then everything would be ok.
adventure 4 - the sun is a bit different here. by this i mean, you may apply sunscreen multiple times, but you are still going to burn. i am now dealing with an all over the body sun burn, and a heat rash decided to join in the fun. this makes riding a bike in phnom penh summer very comfortable.

would you ever imagine that i pressed the timer button on my
camera, ran in fins, and sat down half a second before this pic
was taken?

i have one regret in my life, my whole life thus far. not bringing enough american food with me to cambodia. lesson to be learned to all developing world travelers, bring more food that you could possibly imagine you could ever need. ever.

i am missing my friends and family a lot lately. thankfully, i have had many lovely and kind emails and text messages. i love you all so much, really truly! thank you so much for your love and support.

just a side note. i am very grateful that mac power buttons don't turn of with the first light press. i always hit it multiple times while attempting to delete something. so thank you mac for not shutting off my computer just because i am a spaz.

what i'm loving the most

what am i liking best about cambodia, you ask?
easy. it's the simple and clear excuse not to wear any make up and not to do my hair... at all.

really good ice cream

we’ve spent the last couple of days trying to find new internships, but since the holiday, which is only one day so naturally everything is closed for a week, it has been hard. we will really start on monday. we did have one meeting a few days ago. i saw that they had pineapple juice at the restaurant we were at. it sounded so delicious, so i ordered one. it came out in the most flamboyantly dressed cup. i was so embarrassed. 

yesterday we did the killing fields and s-21 (cambodian genocide from the 70s). horrific, heart wrenching, recent, and real. feeling rather icky, zoya and i suggested we get ice cream after the trips. we went to a place called swensen’s. it was exceptionally delicious. everyone got sundaes. i got a sundae as well….. and i also got a chocolate shake…. (yum). it was mango sherbet, remember how serious i am taking mangos here, with mango puree, some sweet green sticky rice, whip cream, and coconut. i didn't take any pictures because i was feeling too morose... poor me ;)

we are going swimming today. i am the sunscreen police and i have also eaten all the chocolate i brought to cambodia with me. whoops. 

yes, it does look like i am holding a diaper bag.
but i needed to stuff it full with everything i could
possibly need for that day, plus my camera i didn't use.

i have learned how to wash my own laundry, by hand. i find it rather enjoyable to be honest. i feel like i'm getting in touch with my nature woman, pioneer, domestic side. WOMAN! (this is read with a manly voice)

cooking class

today was cooking class day. we made four plates: chaio yor (fried spring rolls), amok- the banana cup, nyom trayong jek neung moan (banana blossom salad with tofu), and sticky rice and mango. we did the entire thing all by ourselves entirely from scratch. 

i forgot to take a picture of the real thing, because i may
 have eaten it too quickly to remember to take a pic

we went to the market with our darling, darling teacher and she taught us how to pick things. naturally, i was paying not an ounce of attention to her because i was too busy looking at the market around me. it was so fascinating. i accidentally swung my shoulder onto a piece of raw meat, panic. i survived. there was a lady who was chopping raw meat too then just picked up her phone and started talking on it, did not wash or wipe her hands. public health disaster. the food was pretty good, all khmer. my favorite was the dessert. it was one of the best desserts i have ever had in my life. i thought about it for hours after i devoured it.

the shoulder thing

we tried so hard to take a picture, but people kept bumping zoya

if you need a fancy bra, or any bra or underwear, or jewelry while buying your raw
 meat and veggies, no problem. they have them at the market next to the shrimp

we try to use our khmer at home with ohm, we are disgraceful. we were trying to tell ohm that the food was delicious. after many failed attempts on our part, she told us to say, “akun ohm, so good.” we can’t say we didn’t try.

tonight, the BYU young ambassadors had their show. we attended. all the kids were so talented, really truly. i struggled to accurately assess where i was in the world while the were performing. their costumes were quite interesting. if they weren’t dressed in prince and princess costumes or in basically “its a small world” costumes, they were dressed in what can only be described as playhousedisney slash disneyjr slash 90s elementary school talent show slash the beat portion of the disneyland parade. you can see why i was confused that i was not actually at disneyland.  craziest thing though! i walk into the building and i feel someone coming in my direction. i look over and it is hong stevens, from my old home ward, walking toward me. she apparently has been serving a mission here for the past year. the costumes were accurate because it is a small world. it was so nice to see her.

we were given out fans during the show. we were all very excited about this because we had been meaning to buy some at the market. so at the end clarissa and i made sure we had ours, plus we thought it was a good idea to take a few extra just in case. i honestly dont know how, but we each ended up with 25 fans. they are sitting in my bike basket right now. i am keeping them. you never know. 

i'm getting used to the traffic. people don't stop, they kind of just roll out and inch their way. oncoming traffic just moves around you. people move pretty slowly. 

locals take pictures of white people. i noticed it today, while i was yawning, i turned around and noticed a woman with her camera pointed at us. when she finished she looked at me and we both smiled a little embarrassed. the BYU young ambassadors were like celebrities, everyone would just yell and scream. so funny.

waiting around

i feel like i've been doing a lot of waiting around lately. while, yes, this makes me incredibly insane because i am impatient and detest inefficiency, i have been able to just take my time getting to know my surroundings. 

yesterday morning i took a shower with a lizard. at least i didn't have to be alone. 

in the afternoon we went over to the river walk. now, when i say river, i am not talking about the mississippi, or the seine, of the thames, or anywhere at all lovely. its a filthy and very potent river. the area surrounding it is pretty cool though. its where the king's palace is, as well as some great ice cream! 

i'm hiding the chocos i am wearing in this picture...but thank you so much! angela santos

appreciate the yellow

cool sign

sometimes your shirts just get too sweaty

i asked these boys if i could take a picture, and this is what they did

at 3 o'clock we had a meeting to receive our internship assignments from RACHA. they didn't even know we were coming and have no assignments for us. the first guy we met with was just "oh, yes, byu", then he started scanning the pages in his empty notebook. empty notebook, there was nothing on the pages but he continued to flip through the pages and scan them up and down as if searching for something. i guess things just run differently down here. inefficient.... (tut tut). so needless to say, we are a bit concerned about our internships. luckily, cambodia has more NGOs than anywhere else in the world, so i am positive that we will find something. 

there was a YSA activity at night. it was so fun to attend. the people here, i am convinced, are of the nicest and friendliest in the world. a performance group from BYU was there as well, so we all watched and danced (mostly i watched and then slept on the gym floor, until a rap song came on that i could ghetto fabulize my way all over the place with the little boys there). we taught them some moves, and more importantly, they taught us some sweet steps. i quite like the music too. i haven't the slightest idea how to describe it, however. 

at the end of the night i was still jet lagged, having woken up with a start at 4am that morning. i was incredibly cranky and started mumbling about waiting around too much. (why is it that the one thing all senior missionaries have in common is the ability to accidentally hold people hostage? they can talk to people for hours without the slightest idea that you might have other things to do) eventually, my friend and i brought our bikes out to the scene. 


everyone else jumped on board and we were able to go home, where i took a cold shower. believe me, i wouldn't want a warm shower even if it was an option. speaking of water. the toilets here have hoses on the side. think bidet. dan was trying to convince us of its utility and grace earlier. we rejected his praise. secretly though, a few of us tried it out on our own. i have never felt to clean before! especially after being so sweaty all day, it’s nice to kind of get an extra, tiny, sparse, shower in the middle of the day. i’m going to attribute my acceptance of it to my being so fabulously european. 

Susdei

with our host mom ohm

our street

it took me a few days after i left to blog anything, but to be fair, i was traveling for 24 hours, and let me tell you, my feet and ankles will attest. i made friends with the man who was sitting next to me on my first flight. he is from the philippines, but lives in l.a. county, and was headed back for his 92 year old father's funeral. he was so so so nice, and he taught me some neat things about the philippines, like there are a billion dialects of tagalog. he wished me luck as we left.

back to my feet though. i am currently sitting on the bed with my feet up against the wall to try and deswell my feet and ankles. it looks like i got stung by a bee on both feet because they are seriously so swollen. i need support hoes i guess. i think it is because i didn't move around on the flight at all because i slept for the entire way, thank you xanax. when i finally did get up to go to the bathroom on my first flight, my friend next to me gave a sigh of relief and said he had been worried about me.

take a look at that right ankle, FAT

the second flight was the emptiest thing i have ever seen. i would say, the flight was 20 percent full. i guess no one wants to fly to cambodia. the clouds here are incredible. they look like someone took an almost empty whip cream or shaving cream bottle and started spraying it around, focussing heavier in certain areas.

first arriving was quite overwhelming, and honestly still is. i am trying not to put any value judgements on anything yet, because i just haven't gotten my bearings. i can say one thing though, it is freaking hot! we have ac in our rooms though, which is nice. basically, it is over 100 degrees F and superdy duper humid, so sweat is just a thing that is always present. when we are riding our bikes though, it is not so hot.

yeah, just want to touch on that. riding a bike in phnom penh is an experience unlike any other. i’m just trying to laugh at it rather than be scared out of my mind. it would be nice to say that it is organized chaos, but it’s just chaos. for the most part, everyone just rides wherever they want, whether it be a car, moto, a bike, or a tuk tuk. There are two flows of traffic, but if you feel like it, you can totally just ride over to the other side of the street and go against the flow of traffic, no big deal. there are lanes, but they are just for decoration, and intersections are just a big blob pretty much. the key, i am told, is not to hesitate, you just have to go. so far so good. i do have a hot pink helmet that makes me look pretty cool though. 

outside the central market

inside the central market. we found these butt pads

after kind of a tour of the city, we went to dinner at a thai and khmer restaurant. i’ll be honest, the food i’ve had so far is not my absolute favorite, mostly because the meat is all like soggy beef jerky. it is sliced very thin and is very tough. i suppose i will get used to it. we aren’t recommended to get chicken though because apparently, they will often just cut and cook the whole chicken,bones, head, beak, and everything together. i have been introduced to a drink. MILO. it is basically a very creamy ovaltine. delicious!!! later, we went to see spiderman, i may have fallen asleep in the end and thought everyone was joking when they told me she died. i still kind of think they are.

chuch was such a wonderful experience. we attend the international ward. there were people there from camaroon, nigeria, mexico, singapore, thailand, a leaders from cambodia. it’s amazing to see how the gospel is exactly the same, even across the world. only, it’s not the same because these people have such a unique insight. i am really looking forward to getting to know my ward members better and learning their individual stories. there was also a man who was baptized today, he is from nigeria. the missionary who had been playing the piano before was the one who was baptizing him, so my sweet friends from the states offered to play. it was pretty much the funniest thing ever and the whole ward was so off beat, i just started laughing. we pretty much doubled the size of the congregation when we got there, the branch is so small. it's really neat though because we are in the same ward with the man who brought the church to cambodia 20 years ago. honestly, these members are so fascinating and amazing.

here is something not to laugh about. MANGOS! i am very serious about the mangos here. they are divine. the most deliciously, delicate mango of your life. just kidding, of my life…sucker.

the people here are amazing! everyone is so nice and friendly. people will walk or drive by and say “hello!”. they love white people. we just wave and smile at everyone and they wave and smile right back. the little kids are darling too. today we were walking around our neighborhood and this little group of kids was following us around, then running away when we came close. they are just so darling. 

this boy and his friends were so sweet. they wake up every
day to catch fish from the river and then sell them in
 the neighborhood. he was a really good sport while i took
 my sweet time taking pictures of him and his friend. they also
 taught us the khmer word for picture....but i forgot it.

this beautiful little girl was the ring leader of the group who
was following us around. i finally got her close
enough to come take a picture. she was giggling all over the
place when we were taking this picture.

the fruits are so colorful

this was another little boy who was saying "hello" to us
today. his dad came down the stairs while we were
taking this picture, probably thinking,
 "what are these white people doing with my son?"

and then we found this little beauty outside a beauty shop.
 no idea what is happening in this picture.

also, last night i was moving something around in my room when i found a dead cockroach on the floor. ohm came in to help me with something and when she found the "c" she put her foot over it and drug it out. oh my gosh, that is a real woman right there.

i really am so excited to be here. i am looking forward to getting adjusted and actually having some clue about what is going on around me.