We've arrived...

In the above photo we are still on the plane. We had been traveling for about 24 hours which includes layovers in LA California and Taipei Taiwan. We tried to sleep on the plane, however, economy flight accommodations are pretty tight. I got up and moved around some; being short I was able to prop my feet up on the drop down lap table.  It was dark and I had a lap blanket I used for privacy.  Dale could not do much readjusting of his sitting positions. When he tried to put his shoes on to leave the plane he discovered that his feet had swollen  considerably.  Fortunately the swelling gradually left as he walked. We had lots of fun at the gates to enter the country. It was a bit hectic but we managed to finally get past the gates of entry. Beyond the gate we were greeted by several of the Senior Couples serving here. Our mission president and his wife were among the group of greeters. A group picture was taken, but we have not received it. Once we get it we will post it.

We spent our first night with President and Sister Smedley in the Mission Home. It is a beautiful, very old house with incredible wood work and many of the furnishings are beautifully carved. Many of the buildings in this area are gated with barb wire along the top to prevent unwanted guests.The Misson home is no exception.  The above photo is the guest room of the Mission Home. We were exhausted from out trip but were advised that in order to adjust to the new time zone we needed to force ourselves to keep awake and busy.  We were given about 15 minutes to freshen up and then we met the Smedley's in the dining area for lunch. We spent some time getting to know each other.  We met some of the people who work in the office and some of the caretaker staff. The khmae staff are wonderful people.  We had fun trying to speak khmae with them. They just laughed and were so surprised.  They would say "you speak khmae!"  We only said some very basic words, but they were very excited that we were trying. President and Sister Smedley had quite a bit of training for us so we spent a good portion of the evening doing that.  Part of the training was on food and water safety. 

This is a photo of our sink with produce we bought this week.  The carrots are huge.  The water is unsafe to drink so we have bottled water.  The produce also is not safe until it is cleaned well.  The carrots are soaking in bleach water.  This same process is done for all fruits, vegetables and should be done for meat also. I am still getting use to this.  My hands smell like bleach most of the time.  Washing dishes has also become a major job.

We ate khmae pancakes.  I call them that because I bought a box of Bisquick and when I scooped out the flour there were tiny ants in it.  I made pancakes and we ate it anyway.  Western food is VERY expensive. Our grandson, Owen wanted to know if we would eat bugs on our mission.  Well, we have started small and we will see what the next 17 months brings.  The ants are really microscopic in size.  Ants have made their home in our office also. At first I could not figure out what these tiny bugs were.  Looking very closely I could see that they were ants. So far our apartment is bug free.  We did see two geckos on the laundry room wall, but the laundry room is open air. In the mornings the laundry room is used by young women who sit on little plastic stools.  They use large metal bowls to hand scrub clothes and they also use the machines.  I suspect they are doing laundry for tenants in our facility. The washers are very different from ours. One of these days I will take a picture. 

These pictures were taken today, Sunday March 18.  We had to be to the Tuol Tom Pong Branch by 8am so we took a tuk tuk. We usually walk everywhere. The streets were fairly quiet today. Weekdays the roads are packed with tuk tuks, motorcycles, cars, trucks, fruit carts, etc.  There was a gentle breeze this morning which made for a very enjoyable ride to church. I did see a man who had caught a rat in a cage and he was carrying it down the street with his dog at his side.  I do not know what he was intending to do with the rat and I don't think I really want to know. The poverty here is incredible.  We attend three church branches.  Today we went to an 8am sacrament meeting and then we walked to our office building to attend the International Branch. Next week we will attend the Kean Svay Branch.  We will need to ride in a tuk tuk because church begins at 8am and the meeting house is quite some distance from where we live.

 

Saturday we went to our office thinking we would get lots accomplished.  That did not happen as we had lots of visitors and then we received a phone call to attend a wedding at the Tuol Tom Pong Branch at 1:00 pm. The new Branch President requested Dale be at the wedding to confirm the marriage was being performed correctly.  The Branch President did great. We were told that it is rare to have a wedding at the meeting house. Everyone was pretty excited.  The wedding was quite fun and we met some more wonderful people.  FYI:  Most weddings are held in the streets of Phnom Pehn.  Huge canopies are set up usually close to the person's place of business, which could also be their home. The canopies are draped with fabric and flowers. As you drive by you can hear music, and speeches and peer in to see lots of people enjoying lots of wonderful food.  Life goes on around the canopies.  Tuk tuks, cars, bikes, pedestrians simply make there way around these tents, their daily routine uninterrupted. There is always a wedding in progress somewhere.  Although people do not have much money they go all out for weddings. It is my understanding the groom foots the bill. Gifts are usually money to help pay for the celebration which cost thousands of dollars. The average person here makes $100 or less a month.

This week has been very long and very full.  There is so much I would like to tell.  We are still adjusting to our new time zone. At 6:00 pm it is dark everyday and at 6:00 am it is light again. We haven't had a chance to see a sunset , but hope to in the next week or two. We have had little free time.  In the above photo we are at our first official Cambodian restaurant.  We had a great meal.  It was a rice bowl...the bowl being a hollowed pineapple filled with rice, chicken, pineapple, veggies and coconut milk.  It was GOOD. Restaurant prices are very inexpensive. Each bowl was $3.50.
It gets hot here but has been bearable. The humidity is not bad at the present time. We hang our laundry to dry and it actually dries.  I was so proud of Dale...he ironed his shirts and one of my blouses.  He did a great job.  I was so grateful he did the ironing.  I was getting overwhelmed with doing dishes and sanitizing everything.
This Thursday we will travel to some of the Provinces.  I do not know which one but will find out tomorrow.  This means we pack our bags and spend a couple nights away from Phnom Penh.  We will be back Saturday morning.  We teach Institute Saturday evenings.  Our first class was this past Saturday.
Family and friends thanks for visiting our blog. We love you and are grateful for your prayers.

We received our arrival picture. Here it is.