First Bite

When most people hear "Romania" they may think of vampires or Dracula. But our Romanian friend, Teo, had her first bite of Pecan Pie. From the pecan trees in the yard of Rick's mom in East Texas came pecans that I made into a pie. Bill and Marie Claire thought that this could possibly be the first pecan pie that they had eaten in Phnom Penh! Pecans are not grown here and the few that can be found in the markets are very expensive. Teo tried to find the Romainian word for "pecan" and could not! The fun of having a variety of cultures under one roof is the new experiences we have together. Gail

Football Mania

The excitement of World Cup soccer is happening here in Cambodia as in all the world. Bars and restuarants are staying open all night to allow patrons to watch and, of course, purchase food and drink. On the streets, people have brought out televisions for the night guards and workers who live nearby to watch. Even though Cambodia is not involved in the games, people here still enjoy watching football. I still always say soccer because it feels weird to say football. As you can see in the picture, Sovann, Bunna, and Sopecktra are wearing the t-shirts with the World Cup logo. Rick is still able to keep up with his Rangers through the internet. The television stations here show a few baseball games, but they are reruns and mostly the Yankees. ESPN is an Aisian network, so it shows mostly soccer. But thanks to the internet, news about the sports back home is only a click away! Gail

Sounds of the Night

This little Gecko has been making some noise the last few nights. It may be that since I had been gone for a couple of weeks I forgot the sounds we get use to at night. Out of no where this... "eeeckkkk-ooooooo" sounds and almost makes you jump. They don't sound continously, so it happens off and on suddenly. Another sound that does happen fairly regularly is the night guard sweeping up the leaves in the morning. Notice I said "night guard" therefore when he is sweeping it is like 5:00 am before he leaves. I guess they feel that is part of their job description because they all do it up and down the street. A couple of mornings I wanted to take the broom and sweep him out the front gate. One more which is unique to this country is the bread man. Around 6:00 am, you can hear them yelling "nom paung" as they ride their bicycles carrying baskets filled with loaves of bread. It is a joke to try and mimic them because of the way it sounds. All is well! gail

Cyclo Fun

Two of the teachers are leaving today. Betty Nance and Doris Lohry have been here for three months teaching English so last night we had a farewell banana split party. We took tuk tuks to the riverside to where we ate ice cream overlooking the river. To return to the house, Rick got together 9 cyclos for everyone to ride home in. I know in the picture he doesn't look very happy, but we had a fun time riding back, racing each other in the last 100 yards! Gail

Rainy Days

Rain Rain Rain. We have it every day now since it is the season! This is our first time to be here full time during the rainy season and it is hard to believe that the people here deal with this daily every year. Streets flood terrible as you can see in the picture. This is the corner where our house sits. I have not been out in the countryside yet to see how all this affects them. But it is what they need and want to fill the fields to grow rice.

Back in Cambodia

Good things have been happening during my absence. Two baptisms took place from students of Rick and Betty Nance. Kavich and Kimyim have been students for some time and everyone was excited about their decision. The students here at the PIP school are mostly young university students. You come to appreciate their desire to better themselves through education and yet you experience with them their disappointments when there is not much out there as far as future job opportunities. A young female Christian student, Ly, just wrote us an email about her disappointment in not getting a job with one of the embassies here. Her family has sold their residence and used every means possible to pay for her brother’s dialysis and her getting a job was very important. The email expresses her questioning her faith and why would God not help her. We feel her sorrow as we have all questioned why things happen or don’t happen. Please pray for this young Christian and her brother’s health. Gail
Stick with us... should be some good news about the boat soon. Bill has spent the last week in Vietnam and will return tomorrow.

Sunset

Have you ever been driving and happened on a beautiful sunset? Wednesday night driving from church to my brother's house I saw a beautiful sunset with a bright orange glow. I think it was God's perfect timing as I needed a little uplift to my spirit that night. There are probably more times when, if we would slow down to notice, God shows us some pretty spectacular creations. I'll be heading back soon to the other side of this earth. I miss Rick and am ready to return after a wonderful visit with the kids and family and friends. There is that saying about home is where the heart is. I'm not sure where to call "home" right now since I feel aboth sides of the world is where I have a home. So that saying fits as we travel back and forth. I have really appreciated everyone's encouragement, support, and love. Thanks! Gail

Camping

Having been able to travel alot and see many beautiful places, I think Lake Quachita ranks up there with the best. With mountains around the lake having a blueish haze and with the trees and water, a beautiful scene is created. This was the location of a fun christian family fellowship this past weekend. With seven RVs and five or six tents, the campsites reserved were full of families having fun together. The weather couldn't have cooperated any better. A chill in the evening was good enough to sit around the campfire and roast marshmellows and also sleep well in a tent. That was were I was on Friday night, sharing a tent with my sister. Our family has always enjoyed camping when we were little, and we carried that tradition on with our children. I was glad that my trip back coincided with this camp outing of the family ministry. Of course, the only thing that was missing was Rick! Have you ever tried to do something that you use to do good and you just wanted to see if you could still do it? Well, I tried waterskiing and am paying for it today. Yes, I got up (on one ski no less), but I am so sore today it is difficult to walk! Ha! I think I will leave that to the younger generation from now on.

Forgotten How?

There are some funny times in life that seem to occur to you out of the blue. Last week I just laughed and laughed as I went on-line to look at our bank statement. Gail has not used a credit card herself for almost three whole months and I thought that maybe she had forgotten how to. That would be a great thing, huh guys? Well, no such luck!
When I looked at our online account, she had not only used her credit card, she had used it eleven times her first full day back in the States! If she had forgotten anything it has come back to her quickly! I do love that woman!! To her defense though, she spent most of it on her kids. And I do love those kids too!

Ship of Life Update

We are anxiously waiting for the boat project to be completed. Bill McDonough will travel to Vietnam this Monday to make a final inspection. Our man on site tells us that everything looks good for a final inspection. If everything looks good, all mechanical equipment will be turned on for several days simulating normal use. If there are not to many bugs found we should be ready to head for Cambodia. The next hurdle will be to clear customs in Cambodia which can be difficult. We are hoping to have final clearance from the customs office this coming Tuesday. Everyone is holding their breath and praying that all will go well. I solict your prayers as well but you don't have to hold your breath!