day 18- 21

day 18 (Monday)
Being in Thailand you have to be ready for the culture. That is easy to say and really only learned fully when you get here. Time is a huge difference in this culture. They abide by "Thai time". This basically means nothing... and gives them a free pass to be late, early, or never show up. We have found that usually it means very very late or more likely not showing up at all. Monday we were supposed to have practice for our prison concert that we were going to be putting on. But no one showed up for that. Also that night we had dinner with a couple that was getting married. My sister was going to play in her wedding, so they wanted to hear some of the music and meet us all. Everyone showed up a little late, but not bad for Thai people. The funny news came on Tuesday when we found out that Joci was not doing the wedding at all after all that practice and dinner. This was followed by another practice being skipped by everyone but my sister and I. Then on Tues. night we found out that we were not doing the Prison concert at all. So that is how it is over here. You just have to be ready for anything and be slow to anger.
Another issue is that it is a saving face culture, so the people do not want to cause you any harm, anger, or anything. This leads to them not telling you things are canceled, giving you wrong directions so that they will not have to tell you they do no know, saying you can play a wedding when they don't want you to, and just flat out telling you whats going on. With the language barrier and the difference in culture it gets really tuff at times to know whats going on or what is going to happen, but with patience and grace things get done.

Day 19 (Tuesday)
Like I said, another practice was skipped and unfortunately all of these changed plans and things really effected our schedule because we were planning on practicing, so that was frustrating, but we had a good time and still got to meet new people and different things.
The orphans are now in school so in the mornings we usually have time to do devo's and get things done that need to be done until around 3ish when they begin to get out of school. So We have been practicing alot in our spare time and getting work done. Wednesday night we got to go to an international bible study that was really cool. It is an English bible study but the people who attend are from all over the world. There were like 5 Americans, an British guy, a girl from the Netherlands, and some others. It was refreshing just to talk and studying with English speaking friends.

Day 20 (Wednesday)
Wednesday was a very busy day. We woke up and visited the biggest Buddhist temple in Chang Mai. It is on the top of a mountain and is very beautiful. It is just sad to see all the money, the time, the beauty, the artwork, and everything put into these buildings. They are everywhere and all of them are beautiful, but this one in particular is amazing. It's so disheartening to see people still worshiping idols so diligently. They just look so hopeless even when worshiping kind of staring at the statue while holding incense. It really just breaks your hear. There is no passion. The temple really just reminded me of the Bible where Jesus goes into the temple and flipps all the tables, because these Buddhists have turned this worship temple into a tourist destination and though it is still used for worship there is a coffee shop, booths of random gifts and jewelry, and photographers running around taking peoples pictures for money. I just felt offended for the Buddhist people that they let this happen in their own religion. I know if this was in a church setting I would be furious. Needless to say it was a beautiful place and on the way down the mountain we stopped at an awesome waterfall that cut through the rocks and jungle.
As soon as we got home we left for "the farm". This is owned by Asia's Hope and is a very beautiful large piece of land an hour outside of Chang Mai. There are many different crops grown there. At the moment the main crop is corn, but they have a ton of leechy fruit trees and other veggies and spices. They also have many cool technological things to help with productivity and to keep coasts down. They have water tanks under the pig pens that are warmed by the manure and pigs so they can have hot water. They also have a filter for the pigs manure and wastes that turns it into gas to be used for the stove. They have quite a few pigs for food. They have a ton of chickens as well. They have 3 fish ponds to breed the fish in, so they are doing very good for themselves. Tutu's parents live on the farm along with one of her brothers. There there is also a family of I think Niece of Tutu's who lives there with her baby and husband. They have a widows house on the farm that has room for 6 widows. There are currently 4 widows living there, They have been rescued out of their hopeless situations and now help out wherever needed on the farm. They also are begging to make bags and such to make money. In the future the Goal is to have an orphanage put on the farm so that the widows can have jobs to cook and take care of the kids not only for a job for them, but so that Asia's Hope will have another orphanage. The current problem is simply just provisions to pay for the rest of the farm land and especially the future of an orphanage. I believe they need like 30,000 dollars still for the land, so this is the current prayer of Asia's Hope so that they can simply keep the farm.

While at the farm we got to witness the sloter of 2 pigs. This was a delightful gory adventure. hah At least I know how to kill and butcher a pig if I'm starving in the wild or living in Thailand. Everything the rest of the day smelled like pig blood. It is funny how different food is over here. They just kill and eat. There is no such thing as grocery stores, the closest thing are markets where you still either buy the whole animal dead or huge chunks of it cut up laying out in the heat. So its Pretty manly here to say the last. I had the freshest pork ever that night though! literally like killed, butchered, and eaten. I had Liver and good pork meat. It was very tasty, kind of different, it was cooked in mint. Then I was talking to Tutu and her family and I had the chance to try pig heart and raw pig... So I did it. Surprisingly it was very good, especially the raw hah.

it was a wild day.

Day 21 (Thursday)
We spent the night at the farm and the next morning woke up and slotered another pig to take home to the orphans. On the way home there was a very cool hot geyser, the biggest in Thailand so that was interesting. But when we got home we spent the rest of the night practicing a tone, because we are doing a concert for the orphans this Friday. so that's literally all we did all day.

day 17 (sunday)

Today was interesting because I had to preach at church. It was to all the orphans, leaders, and such, but it went well. David Tutu's son translated for me, so it was an interesting experience. The service included: worship, special songs by every age-group of orphans, a few random speakers, communion, and then my sister and I speaking. It was a fun service. After we hung out with the kids in the blistering heat. Then we went with Tutu to "the best" noodle place around. I found out that my favorite Thai dish so far is noodles cooked in pig blood, haha so I got that again! The thing is I found out that it was pig blood the 3 time I was eating it. It is very good even though it sounds nasty. We went back to Tutu's house to wait for the instruments. They finally came in and filled up her living room. There is so much nice stuff its amazing. So It will definitely be a good time playing this concert Wednesday for the woman's prison and Friday for the orphans.

day 15 and 16

day 15

Yesterday we started our venture to get electronics for the concert we are playing for the woman's prison in Chang Mai on Monday. This is not as easy of a task as it sounds because we need a whole sounds system and every instrument, cable, amp, and everything.. so we went to multiple stores to compare instruments and prices. Yesterday we did not end up buying a thing. After we were shopping most of the day we came back to the house then went to the "wal-mart" type store of Thailand and got food for the lunch of the orphans for the following day. We also ate some cheap yet good Thai food and went home and did a video chat with crossroads for a video, then went to sleep.

day 16

Today we finished our task of getting all of the equipment. We went to a different store where some of David's friends who know music sent us to. This store was super nice, like nicer than stores in America. It was packed full of everything. I think they were surprised when we bought a PA and everything else, but we ended up spending like at the very least 3 or 4 hours in there as the guys all talked to the owner negotiating prices and figuring out what we wanted. We tested guitars and all kinds of things and finally got it all squared away. Soon after this we returned to the orphan home and played with the children. It was the final night of English camp so we played then had a massive dinner. It was a fancy nice dinner with all the kids from every orphanage, all the staff, and all of the team who put on the camp. It was Delicious and very spicy like always. After dinner we had worship then the kids danced for us. We then thanked the team for helping with the camp and gave them gifts. Then they gave the children the gift of ice cream and fire works. It was a good end to a good day. All the kids were very happy and going crazy ha.

day 11-14

day 11 (Sunday)
We woke up really early to go to the airport to head out to Thailand. we first flew to Bangkok, Thailand then got on our connecting flight to Chang Mai. It went very well and smooth. We were met by a flood of orphans and friends. We went Tutu's house, where we were staying and unloaded. When we arrived I was feeling sick so i took a nap. When I woke up it was time to go visit all 3 orphanages and meet up with Jon. So we went and ate afterword at a nice Ty restaurant. Following this we went to the night market in the middle of Chang Mai city. there were endless tents and merchants everywhere. This whole time I was still feeling sick. When we finally got home I was sick the whole night haha. I think I lost a few pounds so I'm looking good now. :) just kidding..

day 12 (Monday)
This is the day that English camp started for all the kids! It is where campus crusades comes in and helps put on a camp to teach the kids and just have a good time. I was still feeling sick so no one woke me up and I got to sleep in a bit. ha We went to the orphanage and met up with everyone once I was up. It was really fun we played games and had a good time with the kids. My favorite part was watching the Disney movie. ha so relaxing. Anyways it was a good time. after this we went to eat some pizza, our first American meal in a while. After we went back home and met up with Zack one of tutu's sons. we all hung out for a while and eventually went to bed.

day 13 (Tuesday)
We woke up late again because no one woke us up. Today we were supposed to go to get a guitar to use when we have our concert for the woman's prison next week. But this didn't end up happening. Of course Thailand time and change of plans accrued, so we basically just ended up hanging out with Daniel, another one of Tutu's sons. We went to the mall, a movie, food, food, food, we were all over the place. He showed us the ropes of Thai culture especially for a teen. We then went and met up with his girlfriend and went to this "goodwill" type of store, but it was Thai style, ha. It was under a tent in the middle of a field with clothes laid out everywhere. We soon finished dropped his girlfriend off and went home. It was a fun day with our "tour guide" Daniel.

day 14 (Wednesday, today)
Ok so it has been very laid back being in Thailand they really want to serve you as well as possible, so we want to serve them and help them out in any way possible. After our morning we headed back over to the English camp. we were taking all the kids swimming today, but first my favorite time, Disney movie time! hah We loaded the kids into huge vans and dumped them off at the pool. It was so fun, just crushing kids in the water. Though there is a language barrier for me, it is still fun and really easy to connect and get along with these children. So we played for a while and i slit my foot on the pool bottom all the fun times that go with being at a pool. Oh yes and throughout the day I have been learning and driving a motorcycle, it's the funnest thing ever! After being with the kids again today we went to this amazing dame with a restaurant on it. we were in this tiny little shack overhanging a Cliff and lake surrounded by mountains. Pretty much the most beautiful thing possible, with the best meal ever, 2 full fish, and a plate of shrimp, and papaya salad(super spicy nose running fun). So it was Delicious and beautiful to the max.

later

day 10

This day we really fun and relaxing. Srey Mao took us out on the town. First we went to Tuol Slen which was a concentration camp/ killing place during the Khmer Rouge take over in Cambodia. It was intense with pictures of all the people killed there on the walls, because they took pictures before or after they killed ever person. Also there were still beds where they had found bodies on in rooms, with the pictures of the bed and body on it when they found it. Needless to say it was a pretty early place.
the second thing we did was go to the Russian market. There was tons and tons of stuff there, so this was fun though hit was so hot I just wanted to sleep ha. after this we went home for a late lunch. But soon we were back in action and took a moto tour of the city. Srey Mao's cousin was with us the whole day so her and her cousin took us by moto to see the town. It was so fun.. really like just to see what was happening in the city. We ended up going to a huge arena where they said everyone goes to exercise. So there were like 30 soccer games going on, tennis, badminton, you name it! We found out that it was the stadium where the Olympics had taken place and when we reached the top of the stadium.. there were people dancing everywhere! It is funny because in Cambodia there will be a huge group of people dancing, and they call it exercise. there will be an instructor in front and like 200 people dancing.. its really funny.. but there there was at least 10 groups of 200 people dancing with different leaders so it was super funny.
After this we went home and made dinner again. Then we wen to bed..

Day 9

This day was really up in the air at fist. We had no idea what we were going to be doing, but it ended up going very well. First we went to the christian school and met the kids. They did a dance and did some singing for us! The Cambodians are so good and dancing.. maybe not at the singing part as much ha. But it was good to meet the kids of the city.

After we met these kids we went to one of the orphanages and ate with a few of the orphanage leaders and team. It was a good Cambodian meal. Full of spicy mango's, little full bodied fish, and stir fries and such.. but good stuff. after we ate we got the opportunity to go back and teach english at the school. Finally after all this we went back to the guest house where we were staying with our good friend Srey Mao. She is a crazy Cambodian girl who is super outgoing. She is 24 and just pretend to be my "girl friend" the whole time. ha It was really funny when we were in town she would tell people in Kamhai that I was her boyfriend. So we had fun together.

when we got back to the Guest house we just made our own food and went to bed.

day 8

sorry that I am so late... But we have not had Internet till Now. We just arrived in Thailand.

back to day 8...

Day 8 was a sad day, it was the day we had to say goodbye to the orphans and Batdambang. We woke up extra early so we could meet the kids at the orphanage before they took off for school. Basically we just played with them and hung out for a little bit. Then came the sad part, the goodbyes. It was so sad! All the kids started to crazy, even the orphan mom and dad, Savey and his wife, it was so sad and hard to leave.
Then we proceeded from the orphanage to the bus station for our 5 hour drive back to Phnom Penh. I was kind of expecting a really crusty bus, but we got a stinking nice coach air conditioned bus. There was even a plasma screen on it playing Cambodian movies. We got back to "the big city", Phnom Penh, and got to the guest house where we were staying. It was nice and air conditioned as well. we were really living in high class in the Cambodian culture because many homes do not even have a roof, let alone walls, so every thing we had been treated to while here is really their best of the best. The funny thing is even their best of the best in many areas is mediocre at best for us Americans. But we've truly been blessed while in Cambodia.
After we had unpacked and gotten settled Sivorn picked us back up and we went to "lucky market" which is basically a little chunk of American in the middle of this town. There was a 6 story mall that was stinkin' nice! also we shopped at the American style grocery store connected to the mall. After this quick adventure we returned to the guest house and slept till the next day...

day 7

Today was an amazing day yet again! We planned to do something with Savy's family, they said they were going to take us to some mountains that we could not pronounce... which is cool, but we basically had no idea what we were in-store for. We took off at 9 in the morning to our mystery destinations of the day. First stop was a really cool Monastery on a mountain. There were multiple steps and elevated buildings and relics. It was a very beautiful site with mountains in the background, flowers and trees everywhere, monks in their orange robes, nuns in their white robes, and us walking around awkwardly in the middle. We soon took off again to our second location. We travailed on a remote jungle-like road to a clearing at the base of a mountain. There was a walkway leading toward the mountain and so we got out and followed it. When we got to the base of the mountain it was amazing.. there were stairs that lead all the way to the top of the mountain.. this took about 10+ minutes to climb.. I was basically taking a shower in my sweat.. Delicious! When we reached what we thought was the top, we found relics and Buddhist alters. We soon were lead to a path that came to these amazing caves and holes in the mountain. We found out that this was the mountain that the Enemy during the Genocide stayed. They would throw people from the top of this mountain down into the caves where we were at. There were human bones piled in these cages from real people who had died there. In one cage there were bones piled as tall as I am. There was a huge statue of Buddha laying down in the cavern as well. It is amazing how superstitious these people are.
As we further explored the mountain we found that there was still more mountain to be climbed. We continued to climb and find more and more and more and more relics and Buddha statues.. they were everywhere! We found more caves and relics everywhere as well.. it was so beautiful. We came to this one clearing and there was a huge Buddha statue sitting Indian-style. There were wild monkeys all over the statue and surrounding trees so we fed them bananas. It was such an awesome time.
The third place they took us was to a lake. We pulled up and there were these huts along the side of the lake with elevated floors about 4 feet off the ground with hammocks everywhere! so we got in our own hut and had an enormous lunch with a whole giant fish, a whole chicken, beef, cooked bird, vegetables, fruits, rabbit soup, and some random mango spiced things (kind of like coleslaw with mango). after we ate we took an hour nap by the lake, the biggest lake in Cambodia.

It was so awesome to get to spend more time with the family of B3 and have them treat us with such respect. This was definitely one of the more eventful days. We then came back to our hotel and took the family out to dinner later. We payed for them and really treated them for all that they had done and given us. This day was soo gooooodd!

Sadly tomorrow we leave to go back to Phnom Penh and stay there for 2 days then fly out of Cambodia to Thailand where we will be staying the remainder of our time here. It is going to be really hard to say goodbye to the orphans and family of B3 orphanage and to our new friends Jill and Keven.. but I am excited for what is to come in Phnom Penh and Thailand. God is really working here with Asia's Hope and I am excited to see more of what he is doing.

Day 6

Today I was feeling kind of sick(sore throat), but luckily we got to sleep in a little. When we woke up Joci, Kallie, and I had a late breakfast then walked to the buddist monistaries and back to the hotel. We dropped Kallie off and talked to the hotel enterance man for about an hour. We discussed Khmer words and English words mostley. Joci and I are starting to pick up a few more phrases and words. We then decided to go back to the monistary and talk with the monks or Preasang in Khmer. We hesitantly walked in and sat for awhile alone. Finally we walked over toward some monks and this guy Khem Chanratha asked us a question. He asked about the word "Carbon Credits" and said he did not understand. He was reading an all english paper. We looked at the paper and discovered that they were credits that factories and buisnesses could buy to allow more polution or carbon to be emitted form their factories. We explained this to him and he was very thankful. This led to a very in depth conversation with him and his friend who was a Cambodian woman. Soon we were sourrounded by at least half a dozen monks and boys asking us questions and having a good time. We ended up talking for over an hour with them. they can speak very decent english so they had many questions and love to practice. they ended up teaching us the Khmer alphabet which has 33 letters, as well as some additional words.

A teacher soon came over and joined the discusion. He was an english teacher so his english was very good. He asked us if we could go to his class tomorrow and help him teach and interact with the kids. So if we are around we are going to do that! Also we may take a trip tomorrow to the "something" mountain.. I'm not sure of the first word, but I guess it is where there geniside or killing of masses of Camboidans in the past occured. Savy and his family will be taking us and we want to treat them maybe to dinner or have a good time with them for all the hard work they do at B3 orphanage.

Also tomorrow we may attend a service at the local YWAM.. Depending on times of everything else that is happening.. we have to leave the hotel here in an hour to go to B3 orphanage again to take the kids to the park, then we will go from there to the Cains house for dinner. so we have a very exciting night ahead as well as great day tomorrow!

see you soon!!!

Day 5

Today was a wonderful day. We were up at 7 like normal for breakfast then we got to come back and do some work in our rooms. It was one of our most relaxing morning. I got to do devo's and some computer work so it was swell. The intense part was how hot it was today.. I truthfully do not even know the degree that it was, but my body felt the pain. It was steeping hot! I found out today that I like to watch the geckos climb on the walls of our hotel as they eat bugs. Its cool.. so far we have seen many various lizards here, one of which, an iguana, I almost stepped on going to the market the other day. hah.. The market is a interesting place that smells of rotting fish, poo, fruit, and about anything else you can imagine. You will be walking and all of the sudden a wall of death will hit your nostrils. They sell tons of jewelry, shoes, bags(mostly designer rip-offs), and tons of everything. It is funny though they sew random brands on other pants to make them look nice. It is a really good time, as everyone stares at your white skin as if you are an alien, but it really is fun.

We had the honor of going back to our(crossroads) orphanage. (sorry i just had to pause typing because I had to kill an ant running across my screen, bugs everywhere!) The man who runs B3 is named Savy. He is an awesome guy who has 3 kids: Simon, Jennah, and I don't how to say his third sons name or his wife's name. ha They are amazing though, they made us an amazing meal and again really honored our presence. They just keep serving, so I helped set up some chairs and anything I could to help out. They really just want to serve and honor you, but i try and serve them right back and make them fell even more special, though I do need to allow there service to honor their traditions. Refusal of service would be even wost then helping them, it would be a slap-in-the-face insult. We had an amazing talk with Savy's wife and kids for 2 hours over dinner. We found out all of their needs so we can bring them back to the church and get funds together. They really only need a few things like bikes, computers, but most importantly a car.

It was so good to learn more about the culture and each other. we talked about many things.. it was good. before we ate dinner we gave the kids some candy and made up some really funny games to play with them. We brought them 3 juggle balls, so we made a relay race where they had to run, throw the ball up, catch it, and run back to their team, first team done won. So this was hilarious, but it got better. The second time through we made them jump and make a face as they were throwing the ball and catching it. Finally, we made them run, hopping on one leg, get the ball, spin in circles 2 times, and run back on one leg, Good laughs all around! we ended the game sessions with one I made up. It was like a spin of off jackpot but whoever caught the ball won. but if I yelled chicken in their language they could not catch it and let it hit the ground. Finally, I added the rule if I yelled ninja they had to chase me and the first person to touch the soccer ball got to throw it.

we ended the night playing some worship songs for the children and making funny dance beats on the keyboard. These kids love to dance so much! They are either playing games, eating, dancing, or sleeping, that's my kind of life:) So after it was all said and done, my sister, Savy, and I all piled on a moto, yes A MOTO, 3 people on one, and drove back to the hotel. Now I'm here clean, and ready for bed.

I wish i could fit every detail into these posts, but it would take forever, so you will just have to ask me for good stories when I get home!

Miss everyone.
blessings.
Eric

day 3 and 4

A few of my cute orphan friends :)



Ok. The internet is actually working good enough to post today! :)

day 2: Friday (the rest of the night, that i was too tired to tell you about before)
We got to where we are staying and got to have a delicious Cambodian dinner with our missionary friends, Kevin and Jill. They are awesome and are missionaries here in Cambodia full time. They have really helped to show us the ropes of Cambodian culture and teach us some very useful information. Anyways, we met them that night.. so that was important.

day 3. Saturday:
We woke up and had breakfast with the same crew. the crew= Me, My sister Joci, Kaillie, Pastor Bob from Grace church in Wooster Ohio, and Dr. John, and Kevin and Jill the missionaries. So anyways we ate breakfast, which at the hotel we ate at has the western or Cambodian option. So you could have a nice omelet and eggs and toast or pork chunks with some brothish soup, random pickled veggies, and rice. Of course I chose the second choice. It was very good, fortunately I love basically all foods, so its good.

We had a big day ahead of us. We got to witness the dedication of the newest Asia's Hope orphanage B4. The really cool part was that they have never had an official ceremony

for any of the other orphanages, and the pastor of the church that sponsors that orphanage, Bob, was there for the service as well, so it was a huge ordeal. You have to understand Cambodian culture, they are very very respectful, to Americans, elders, really anyone, but the older and more knowledgeable the more respected and lifted up. It is such an interesting culture.. hah they are so touchy feely it is really strange yet nice. The perfect example of this was surprisingly the kids brought us out chairs and asked us to sit down. They then proceeded to massage us, all of us, it was hilarious. Yet it was also amazing!! hah They kids are so starving for affection, most of their parents are either dead or have abandoned them, so they really are reaching out. They have amazing facilities and leadership, but with show many orphans and so little older males and femails they really crave your attention and touch. As soon as we first pulled up to the orphanage they all rush the van and do a huge group-like huge and say "hello" in there amazing accents. basically they few phrases they know are, "hello, how are you?" "God bless you" "goodbye" "see you tomorrow" "how old are you" "what is your name" and "my name is.." so they just run around saying and asking those questions to you all day. It is so hard to not know the language I just want to talk to them so badly, but it is a wild language. Kevan and Jill have already lived here for 3 years doing missions and they are just beginning to pick up the language at a basic conversational level.

During the ceremony they every orphanage was present, so there were 150 orphans plus additional leaders running around. They sang and danced for us for at least an hour, then a few pastors spoke and the cutting of the ribbon took place. It was alot for one day we met the orphans and had this huge event, but it was very good. After the ribbon everyone ate. we had this very good fish, duck, and chicken, the thing is there was the whole fish, the whole chicken, and a bowl of duck soup with all the parts in it, including the feet. :) Needless to say I ate everything hah and it was delicious.

After the dedication we got to go back to the hotel and rest up for the dance party that night, yeah dance party, you heard correctly. So everyone took naps and was lame when we went back to the hotel.. and all I wanted to do was explore the streets and meet people.. but i ended up just sitting in the lobby of the hotel we are currently at talking to Sohcar, the desk manager. We had a lengthy discussion about everything it seems, but he ended up teaching me phrases and words from the Khmer language. So that was cool to connect to a Cambodian and now every time I walk buy we say "hey". Now to the interesting part, we go back to the orphanage for the dance party. and I know your thinking lame traditional Cambodian dancing. Nope! This was strait up raving time. They had a huge system set up and were blaring strait rap and techno all night. Yeah.. so we boogied it out with Cambodian kids all night.. it was boss.

day 4: Sunday (Joci mostly has pic's of this day)

Today was an awesome day! We woke up had breakfast again with "the crew". Then we went to church with all the orphans and everyone. it was an awesome service. The kids all had dances and songs and it was beautiful. Then after we got to finally hang out with the kids and play games. They are so awesome and cute. So every time we leave they get all sad and say their "goodbyes" and "God bless you"'s and we came back to eat lunch at this beautiful random building/soon to be hotelish thing. It was amazing, marble floors, amazing carved wood everyingthing, and an outdoor restaurant with amazing food. That was an awesome experience, then from there me and my sister went to the market. Of course everyone else was too lame to follow, so it was just me and her. We got a few things that we needed: toothbrush, drinks, and some fruit and bread, and just had a good time. from there we came back and got to visit orphangage B3. This is the orphanage our Church is personally sponsoring. It was awesome to just see exactly what kids we were sponsoring and how amazing they treated us. I feel bad because they really treat you with so much respect, even the adults who are my parents age treat me like a king. It is a very humbling experience, and to deny them the services they provide is very rood and not looked at well. So you just kind of have to let it happen hah.

But I am having an amazing time! I am sorry I am really leaving out a ton that is happening but I'm always tired and don't feel like righting alot.. and can't remember it all at the same time so this is it. :) It's amazing here and I am having a blast!

Miss everyone,
Eric


These are our kids from B3 "crossroads sponsored" orphanage, I love them!

day 2ish

Well.. we made it! after our 37 hours of flying and layovers.. we got to Cambodia safely. As soon as we got to Phenum Penh we had our lovely 5 hour drive to Batdambang. It was a beautiful drive through the countryside, which consisted of rice fields, houses/huts/monastery relic monument things, ANIMALS such as cows, chickens, elephants, water buffalo.. dogs.. you know.. ,hah, the "norm". Seriously though, there are more cows and water buffalo in this country than I have ever seen in my entire life! so many in fact that we had to stop our car every 5 to 10 minutes because one of them felt the urge to walk across the road and/or stand in our lane for a while. Needless to say we made it in one piece though we were faced with many battles with livestock and moto's (crazy kids on mopeds who do as they please).

We stopped on the side of the road and got lotus flower.. basically big green looking pistachio tasting nutish grapes.

This is a normal Cambodian city scene. crazy.. this really does not capture the business of it all.

we are going to bed now and getting ready to party with the orphans tomorrow. There is a huge celebration for new kids and orphan church sponsors. so we get to take part in the ceremony where the children with do their sweet dances for us and awesome stuff. It is going to be great.

On a random side note.. while we were flying from LA on our 13 hour flight I got this strange nasty feeling. Yes, the feeling of woosy, fainty, lightheadedness. So I stood up, tired to get blood flowing, tired to streach, and it made it worst. So I sat back down, turned to Joci and said, "Hey I'm really light headed, its weired... Yep I'm gana faint". The next thing I know I'm dreaming away and wake up to Joci saying Eric Eric! and the whole dealio. Neadless to say I felt amazing after that.. haha, Oh yes! Then this random Asian lady, who apparently was a doctor, turned around and was helping me out to see if I was ok. She was a actupunctur doctor... hah... I kid you not.. she grapped a toothpick from nowhere and instantly was stabing my hand asking if I felt better.. it was WILD.

All in all, a good day :)

later
Eric

Day 1

Still in the U.S. :( I am currently in LA where we have a layover fight. Unfortunately it is a 6 hour layover!! I know crazy, right? So we are just chilling around after we already had a 4 hour flight here. Just wait it gets better! we have a 13 hour flight ahead of us to Taipei.. then another few hour flight to Phnom Penh. after that we have a 5 hour drive to Battambang where we will finally stay for a few days. so that is our 37 hour journey. It has begun, but is far from being over! :)

So I'm pumped, kinda.. hah

keep us in your prayers,
thanks
Eric