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!