I'm writing this blog as I go. Currently I am 3 hours into a 6 hour bus journey to the province of Preah Vihear it is Friday morning. Bro Dy an I are going to talk to and teach two unbaptised friends. We also have 1 sister and 3 brothers from the phnom penh ecclesia joining us there tomorrow. So far it has been an uneventful and moderately comfortable ride for a man who's ears and knees are on a mutual plain (mind I just don't fit on public transport, even in western countries) We are through the dust and pot holes and on a relatively smooth road.
The plan is to meet up with a girl named Khanha. She is traveling further than all of us and is making a great effort in her search for the truth. We will meet her tonight some time and have dinner, organise accommodation and have an informal class with her.
The rest of the party will arrive and take part in our fellowship weekend. Saturday night hails the arrival of another interested friend named Vichear who has expressed his interest in being baptised. I will wright more when there is something interesting to say.
It is now 5:00pm and we are finally there. We had a lovely 8 hour trip and both had headaches when it was over. We walked to the Heng Heng hotel and booked two rooms. We will get another tomorrow when the others arrive. the hotel is a tall pink building and sits quite uncomfortably in this little basic town like a man on the train going to a fancy dress party dressed like Marylyn Monroe unfortunately seated with 12 road workers.
We are waiting for Khanha to arrive and we will then go for dinner. I just had a long hot shower (which I was not expecting) and I'm keen to get some classes happening.
Dinner time and we are at the recommended restaurant. I have some duck bones in sharp lemon grass shreds. A bad choice considering I am half way through a delicate dental procedure in phnom pehn. Haha the rice was soft.
The class went well and I have worked out that we have to go right back to the very bare bones of biblical teaching with this student. It's actually something I am not used to as most people I have taught have had at least a basic understanding. To be honest its quite refreshing to see someone develop in these early stages. I have given her a bible and asked her to read Romans 6v1-14 and jot down what she understands.
Ah … its too early for complications. Vichea has informed us that he is very busy and won't be able to meet us at Preah Vihear. He has asked us to travel to his province (1-2 hours by bus) so he can see us at night time. It is disheartening as we came here mainly to speak to him about baptism. Bro Vithou is calling him from phnom penh to see what can be done.
We are having breakfast and after being turned away by the single clean restaurant in town we have come to a small but relatively clean one near the hotel (Clean: the flys are not so thick they can take your food to a more comfortable place). On the way back from the cleanest but least open eating place we bought some cheap bread that has fluffy pork inside it (as shown gere by Khanah and closer below).. Not sure how they do it but it's like pork fairy floss. I love ironic food ;)
For breakfast we order chicken and rice and we have coffee. I have mine hot because boiled water has less chance of making me sick. Although in these small local towns i am beginning to feeling as though i am fighting a losing battle. Im glad I brought some "plug-ya-up" medication.
We have packed up and payed for our rooms. We have a tuk-tuk coming to take us to vicheah's place. They said it would only take an hour to get there. It will be good to see some
more scenery.
Our class went well this morning with lots of questions
on the trinity, baptism, christening, death to sin and life in Christ. Over all a great discussion.
Well we did take off in a Tuk-tuk but we are now sitting on the side of the road with our bags. I thought to myself as we hurtled along at about 65k "this is the fastest I have ever been in a tuk-tuk, I wonder why they all don't drive this fast?". The inevitable happened, there was a mighty shriek as the back tyre of the moto pulling the tuk-tuk released all of it's air in a millisecond. Savvy was driving and skillfully worked the fish-tailing vehicle to halt. He dropped us off and is now wobbling back to town to fix the tyre. I have given him 70,000R ($17.50) to fix it.
I wouldn't say the trip has been a disaster but it has indeed been interesting. I will suggest we do some bible study while we wait.
We did some more study on acts 8 and looked at the correlations in Jeremiah 39. I will be speaking on this subject at the outreach next weekend. Savvy has come and we are on the road again but traveling considerably slower this time.
The scenery here could be compared to Killcoy or perhaps Blackbutt (SE QLD) we are heading for a big mountain which is a refreshing rarity in Cambodia. The houses become less modern and are raised taller on stilts. I would assume this is for flooding or keeping the house cool. It seems grass and bamboo homes are in fashion here.
It's great to breathe fresh unpolluted air again although currently the air is tainted with grass-fire smoke. Oh and there's a burning grass home. I'm told that it's ok and that they wanted to burn it...??
Finally we arrive in the little town. We stop and have a meal at a small local home/restaurant we eat rice, fried eggs and two dishes which I assumed was beef. I commented on how tender it was... The penny dropped, so did my stomach.. Hang on beef isn't this tender even in Australia and certainly not in Cambodia. I cautiously.. Nay, sheepishly asked (theres two intended puns there, sorry)
"what animal am I eating?" as I poke the slightly rare, pink flesh of this unknown animal.
Savvy replies "is not beef"
Oh... And what is it? Feeling a little nervous now..
"It is a forest.. animal".. he seemed to be having trouble with the English word for it. Optimistically I rule out dog and cat.
"Ah.. it is... donkey" he said, not so confidently.
Ok... I can handle donkey I guess (I thought to myself) but I do a charade just incase.. Turns out it isn't donkey.
Dy tells me that it is like a mix between a donkey and a goat, It doesn't have horns, it squeaks at night time, it is brown and has a white stripe on its face.
I'm left to assume a small native horse, deer or antelope/giselle thing. I'm going to guess giselle thing as I have eaten venison before and it's as tough as a boot.
Either way it was delicious.
Well the guest rooms this far away from town are a little on the dirty side and boast squat loos, ash trays and spiders. The room was also crawling with Mosquitos that look like they could bite off your arm. I have been taking malaria medication and I have a natural immunity to them anyway, it could be my hair they don't like.
I have been given a room to myself and we are having a short Nanna nap because we have done nothing but travel. Vicheah has to work till 7pm so we will continue to teach khanah as I believe she has a long way to go on most subjects.
We will have a class and dinner (hopefully more of that unknown animal) and then I will have a mock questioning for Vicheah. He has expressed his desire to be baptized and is thinking next weekend.
I let everyone sleep for a good hour and I was surprised to find that Sophia and Kong went out an I think I saw khanah leave on a moto dop. Dy is in his room working hard on solitaire with his laptop and I'll assume that I'll be doing bible lessons on my own this afternoon. I will admit that we have been working pretty solidly when we are not traveling. To this point the only people who have done any bible study are Dy and khanah. Hopefully everyone will be present for the 7:00pm class (which is just a mock questioning) I do hope we have more success with biblical motivation soon.
To my dismay Vicheah has minimal knowledge on his spiritual plate with a large garnish of false doctrine. This is not necessarily a bad thing as he is keen to learn. I do not believe we will be having a baptism with him for a good while. I have never rejected a baptism request but it would be culpable negligence on my behalf to grant his request before he even knows truly who God is or what satan is. I also believe he should have his convictions strongly proven in his own mind and not just a parody of what a westerner tells him. He did not own a bible, neither did Khanha so I have given them one each an will also give them some leaflets in Khmer for personal study when they come to outreach next weekend. They both have a long way to go and it is their own personal effort that will dictate the time of their baptism.
Our dear friend Vicheah has run off to the city again and has asked us to follow him back there. We only had 1.5 hours study with him last night and then he left again. We have since slept, had breakfast and had a short memorial. I believe Khanah will have more knowledge than than Vicheah very soon because she is very studious and asks many questions. She also has received the most attention as she has been with us since Friday.
Sister Kong and bro Sopiah left after the memorial. They say they are busy but i suspect they are sick of following Vicheah around Cambodia. They really haven't been present for this trip. They turned up for dinner and we had a short mock questioning which was disheartening to say the least. They had the short memorial this morning an left.
I am very greatfull to brother Dy as he has shown patience and kindness all the way. He has tirelessly translated for me in our classes and occasionally involves me in the conversations between the Khmer. I have felt a little detached to the group because of my small selection of khmer words and phrases.
We are currently in a tightly packed van that is taking us to the province centre again. Thankfully it only costs $2 each and we will hopefully get there faster than we came.
Vicheah has said he will come to the outreach weekend and it will be easy to rate his conviction to baptism by his attendance and display of interest at the classes.
These two young people are willing to learn and have no resources to study. I do not blame them for their lack of knowledge. It surprises me that we have not sent them bibles and study tools. It is not my place to say but perhaps a starter pack or leaflet collection would be good to hand out at the outreach. We cannot expect their knowledge to expand of they have no resources. A request for baptism can only be expected to receive a decline in this situation.
Remember how I said the van would be quicker than the tuk-tuk? I was quite wrong, we went around in circles countless times picking up packages and people. All the way we stopped for longer than we were driving.
We are back at the heng heng hotel and I can have a shower again woohoo!!
We will rest because my two companions are quite zonked. We will have lunch at 12 and then do some more study.
Well Vicheah, Khanha and I went for lunch. Dy was too tired to eat and just wanted to sleep. I ordered noodles and Khanha got fish. The hero meal was vicheah's and he was kind enough to let me try it. It was unknown animal kidneys and red ants fryed with garlic. It was quite the culinary experience and to be honest I was pretty scared of eating it. Once I had a taste I realised why it was on the menu, it was great! "Mmm chnyang naa!!" I say and we all share our meals. There was lots of left overs so we took some food home for Dy.
We had a 2 hour class and I took the opportunity with both hands to finally talk to Vicheah and politely rammed quotes down his throat. At the end of 2 hours I had a khanah with a sore throat and a half sleeping Vicheah. I decided there was no point whipping a dead horse and finished the class there with heaps of take home questions and quotes.
Vicheah is resting for 30 mins and going back to work. Khanah is not well so I gave her some ibuprofen to gargle and showed her how to work the confusing hot shower system. I'm now finishing some personal bible marking.
Dy and I went for a walk and talked about stuff. We then got tickets to Pnyum Dan to visit bro. Supoen. It is his young brother's wedding and he has invited us to participate. We had dinner with a Hebrew couple who were quite irreligious but obliging to answer some translation and geography questions I had about the bible. We are getting an early sleep for another big morning of travel and (for me) draining, restrained communication.
On the road again! Goodbye Preah Vihea!! We woke up, I had a shower and Dy had half a shower as the water stopped working just as he had soaped up. He used the last two water bottles to wash off and we got some more at the bus station. We had a fast an healthy breakfast of nom (deep fried dough and seeds sold on the streets).
we are now at the provincial town of Pnyum Dan. This is the home of Bro Supoen. He and his family have been very welcoming and kind. Their homes are quite nice and very clean, wooden and thatched buildings. There is a lot of excitement building about the wedding of his little brother.
Lunch is served at 11:20 here and it's very nice. I cut down some coconuts and was attacked by some red ants. It's only fair as I did eat them yesterday. These coconuts are sweet and gold in colour. The call them "dong-ploeung" which means "coconut-fire" it refers to the colour and age.
We are now having a Nanna nap or "gi-don dek" Supuen's older brother brings us some dark green and purple fruit. It tastes great like a sloppy custard apple and excretes milky sap from it's pourous flesh. They call it milk fruit or breast fruit for certain aesthetic and characteristic reasons. A chicken helps by eating the skins.
Dy wants to stay for the whole wedding (2 days) and Supoen wants us to stay too. I must say it is tempting to be able to go for a whole 24 hours without squashing into a bus, tuk-tuk or van. I will have to call vithou and see what he thinks.
I called and he said it was fine to stay. This afternoon I spent a long time playing with the kids of the village and teaching them how to wright their names in english. They were really cute and quick learners.
Tonight Supoen is taking me to the police and I hope there is no money involved because I don't think it will look good on the financial report saying "police bribes: $300". I am currently on the back of supoen's moto going there. I left my money back at the house so i'm not asking to be robbed ;) We stop at the uncles place for a special explanation of the police and then we go...
Oh it's a no-show, the police aren't home. So we go home to cook some ants, some chicken and some vegetables at supoen's Sisters house. I am on cooking chicken and banana flower duty.
Oh, dinner was very delicious "chanang na" we had a great meal of rice, red ants and larvae (Dy cooked it) and finally my chicken and banana flowers in a sweet beer sauce. So good!
I just had my first Khmer bath which is taken outdoors with a big bucket and a thin material modesty waist wrap. Whitening shower soap may have been involved and could explain why I feel like I have been dipped in bleach. The cold bath was refreshing and I do feel clean. There were many piglets and chickens getting in on the action too.
We are ready to go and visit Supoen's brother. Turns out there is a pre-wedding party and everyone drags me into the dancing and just waits for me to break out in elaborate dance to a tune I really cannot sense any rhythm to. I just start parroting their half step and hands movement to get them started and to my relief they continue.
Some old lady's try to feed me bean curd and I just ate a big meal so I force one down but they keep offering, finally I have to say "Kinyum chop kleaun" which means I have stopped being hungry.
Finally Supoen says we can go and the fun ends with a three man moto ride home and bed. I'm going out like a light.
Haha spoke too soon, I did not get any sleep. I'm normally ok sleeping on hard surfaces but maybe my back didn't like the uneven timber slats. Either way I am now in a hammock absorbing some morning sun. I was freezing last night so I invite the warm Cambodian day with open arms.
Ah a real Khmer breakfast.. I had two different ones. First meal was after the first wedding ritual where everyone carries in gifts of bananas and Pepsi and pigs heads, the hosting parent accept them and taste some of the fruit and say it is good. I feel slightly underdressed in my ripped jeans and plain black T. Everyone is in ornate sequinned clothes. Even the kids get dressed up with gesha like white make up. One of the funniest things I saw this morning was a young girl all dressed up, painted face and up-styled hair (featured above in yellow). She got board half way through the ceremony so she just stripped off and wondered away to find something fun to do. Imagine a kid running down the road starkers with an amazingly overdone hair and makeup. (made me laugh)
Now breakfast.. We were served some Khmer porridge after the ceremony and I started eating as I'm a curious puppy. Supoen tasted it and got up and said "come to my home" I thought he meant after breakfast so I politely finished my bad tasting porridge with many bugs that I believe fell in overnight.
Dy and I walk to the house and Supoen has made us bug free porridge, this one tasted fantastic! I noticed pork and pig fat. I ask are these mushrooms? Poking at one of the maroon/black squares floating in my bowl. He answers "it is braad" after a couple of charades I interpret it is cakes of solidified pigs blood. I actually like it and it's one of the most tame meals I have eaten here.
The policeman has finally found me and spoke to me through Dy. He said there are many gangsters who do not know the law here and he was sorry about the fight last night at the wedding. (I saw no fight because we went home early) he said there will be more police there tonight and they will protect me. They are happy I am here and being part of the wedding. Poor Dy he gets tired of translating everything someone said to me. Supoen's family speak in slow Khmer for me so I can understand what they are saying to me sometimes.
Back to the wedding for some hair cutting rituals and other things like embarrassing the young groomsmen. There is a male and female celebrant and they constantly sing, chant or talk into microphones that squeal so loud that they raise you off your small plastic chair. This has been going on for a good hour or so and I have gone into a state of defeated relaxation. My eyes are open but the only thing my brain is up to is deciding when my eyes are dry enough to blink.
Supoen is borrowing my camera to take some photos of his friends and family in the crowd.
We finally retire to the house again for a rest and I really need to pee. There is a toilet but I literally do not fit into the space. So I go for a walk into the large dried rice fields to find a secluded spot. I am hailed by some teenagers sitting on a tall shelter I wonder over. This must be their place to chill (or mull), it's right beside a small dam and is the only shade for acres. They invite me to join them so I climb up the structure and perch there and make small talk for a while. They are very giggly, perhaps it is the palm wine they are drinking. Debbie was right, it is revolting. They offered some to me an I pretended to drink some to be polite but only had a sip. It's like ginger beer that has gone off. We chat for a while and I establish who I am and find out that some are supoen's young brothers (oen) and some are his cousins (gi-don-moi). We chat about swimming an the fine characteristics of palm wine. We discuss it's effect on your head and belly.
On the way back to the house I finally find a conveniently large pandanus palm to use for visual obstruction. Relief is a beautiful thing.
They are watching a movie on supoen's laptop so I decide to update this letter… Btw if this gets boring please don't think I'll be offended if you choose not to read this. It is useful to me anyway because in this busy country my memory's seap out of my mind like sand in the hands of a fingerless man with Parkinson's disease.
We had lunch at the wedding and blessed the couple with the classic "give em some money, splash them with water and tie red string around their wrists". It was not strange for me because I have been through a speed course in Khmer weddings (Jonno an Ren's). We chill at supoen's sister's place and I get in some personal bible study in. I found a nice connection to Jonah and Jeremiah. I have had my headphones blasting because there is a home sawmill next door.
Off to the wedding for dinner. Supoen's uncle dragged me around the tables for some unknown reason showing me each one and I guess giving me the choice of positions. Due to my lack of understanding (the music was at bleeding ears setting again) they chose a table for me. I was keen for some food and strangely enough I felt like some rice. Sadly the uncles at the tables did not want rice because it fills you up. When your full its harder to get drunk. So the meal started with Dim sims and raw beef. I declined a plateful of the fine looking dish and just tastes it instead. It was very good actually and raw beef is not foreign to me anyway. There was other dishes eventually and to my delight, some cooked beef and some duck pieces.
I have never been so popular in my life. Every time i stood up someone wanted to take a picture with me and i think everyone in the village got a dance with me. Oh and I'm finally getting the hang of Khmer dance. There was so much dust kicked up from all the dancers I'm still sneezing. Some short, drunk guy in Cammo clothes thought it was fun pushing me around on the dance floor and shouting slurred words even the Khmer couldn't understand. Thankfully the others cased him away many times for me. Older men would forcibly lure me onto the dance floor and slyly lead me to the real reason they dragged me there. They would point at a girl and then to them selves and then rapidly point to me and her like he wanted us to dance. Sneaky old men... I think if they could see my bank account details they would send me packin.. Haha.
I'm at the bus station now and enjoying some morning sun, a concept that my companions don't seem to grasp. They huddle in the shade in their long sleeves and jeans. Even my good friend Khanah wears a fur lined coat in the middle of a 40deg day.
This morning I had breakfast at the local school as supoen's sister makes breakfast for the secondary kids. I had rice with beef, egg and pickled vegetables. It was a great meal and she also gave us some sweet round deep fried things that were also one of the best things I have eaten all trip. To my great sadness and despair the small delicious balls of goodness passed away on the road that morning as Supoen accidentally dropped the bag from his moto handlebars. We were sent off with kind goodbyes and other such blessings from the elders of the family. Now for the easy bit. Squish into another bus and head for Phnom Penh.
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