Back in Camboland Baby!!!

Vietnam was great...but it is so nice to be back in Cambodia. Well, it's "nice" in a weird way. I guess I could start by explaining the bus ride over here. I was really looking forward to the language and people that I love. I was looking forward to walking down the streets and knowing what I was doing. Speaking the language is a huge advantage. I was looking forward to making the kids laugh and making families smile. I loved that about my mission...just making everyone smile. There was a lot that I was looking forward to. On the bus ride over here I fell asleep. I was just tired, so I slept. Well I woke up in Cambodia. I woke up in one of the areas I had served in....Kean Svay to be exact. At first I didn't know I was there; I was in the post-nap haze. Then I recognized the name of one of the pagodas, then a street name, then a village name. I WAS IN KEAN SVAY. Right when I realized where I was, I immediately started crying. Luckily Steven was sitting at the back of the bus so he didn't see me :)  "Don't cry Kory," I said to myself. Why was I crying? What did I have to cry about? I had a lot of happiness on my mission, but there were a lot of other emotions that diluted that happiness. I remembered all the homesickness, and illnesses, and heartache that I felt on my mission. Just being in the country brought a flood of emotions...heavy enough to bring me to tears. It was a weird feeling. Being here is great, but hard. The memories from my mission are still so fresh, even after a full year. This is a very special, sacred country. Cambodia helped me to grow a lot, but with that growth came a lot of pain.

The first day back we got to stay in the mission home which was great. It was so nice to see President and Sister Smedley.  I definitely made sure I shaved before getting there...had to make a good impression on the President. That first evening we went to the Sagemaster's house for dinner. Two of his daughters came and picked us up on motos....most uncomfortable thing ever. I am used to being a missionary here, keeping missionary rules and staying away from girls. It was so weird to be on a moto, but especially be on a moto with a girl driving. Setha said, "Just hold on to my waist." YA RIGHT! I clutched on to the back of that moto with all my strength. There was no way I was gonna grab her waist. Getting on a moto was enough for me....grabbing some girl's waist would have been pushing it.

A snapshot of the bicep in Phnom Penh...still lookin' good!

We got dinner at the Sagemaster's house. The picture of me as a missionary is still up in their living room...right next to a picture of Buddha lol We ate some fruit and then ate some rice and vegetables. It was great to be in their home again. They still won't get baptized, but it was another step closer :) This is their family.....

Oh ya, and somehow I got roped into teaching English class somehow....still not sure how, but I thought I would do some service :)

The girls just took us to us to some school and expected us to teach an English class lol

 Yesterday morning Steven and I went to the market and Steven got some clothes made for him. We are gonna pick them up at the end of this week. Steven dropped some serious cash at this place....so we got a free lunch out of it :) That's what I'm talking about. Right when we walked up, the tailor remembered me. I was a regular at his shop because I always got my white shirts made there. After lunch, we took a picture with his sweet family. 

 

After the market we got on the bus to come to the Kampot Province. Missionaries have never been to this province before, so people really freak out when we speak Khmer to them. Their reactions are so funny. We got here in the evening time so we just ate some dinner and went to sleep. The hostel we are staying at is.....nice? Last night was about 110 degrees in our room. Luckily we have a mosquito net here because with all this water around it makes for some serious mosquitoes. 

After a long night we rented some motos and decided to find some waterfalls that all the locals talk about. The countryside is so beautiful here. I can't even explain it. I wish I could have served as a missionary in this area. The people are all farmers, humble and loving. The weather is a bit cooler because we are closer to the coast so it was nice today. It was overcast most of the day, but somehow Steven managed to get roasted on his arms and legs. Everyone was saying that this place was about "20" kilometers away. Well after 20 kilometers, we stopped to ask. "Ya, it's just another twenty kilos down the road." That initial 20 kilometers quickly turned in to a long moto ride in the rice fields of Kampot. Here is a picture of the countryside, my moto, and my muscles a little bit too :)

Lakers shirt forever! It's my good luck shirt...and I definitely needed it on these roads

We finally made it to the waterfalls. It was so beautiful out there. This is a recreation spot for the local people, so tourists don't really know about it. It was really fun and the people were so sweet too. Here is some of today's action....

Mmmm.....crazy rice field chicken for lunch....nothing better :) I ate three plates full baby.

I forgot to mention how we got into this place. So, for locals this place is free. When they saw two white guys show up, they tried charging us three dollars each....well this was before we spoke any Khmer to them. We noticed it is safer to speak only English first and see what happens. We listen to what they are saying back and forth, then we go in for the kill. Well, I told them that I was Cambodian. They asked how I speak Khmer so well, and jokingly I said that I was Khmer. THEY BELIEVED ME!!!! Free entry baby! The blessings of a mission are so apparent lol So all day I was the "White Khmer." Everyone from the village was coming out to see the white guys that speak Khmer. It was fun. We also wanted to go to this old Hindu cave that we heard people talking about, but it got too dark and I didn't know how safe it would be. We are hoping to rock that tomorrow morning.


K so a quick note for the adventurous readers....Mom, skip this paragraph. This place we went today is super remote. We went about 25 kilometers down this road into the jungle. So...you don't get the jungle without the animals, and we realized this today. We went off the beaten path in search of some waterfalls and cliff jumping. We found a waterfall, but we weren't the only swimmers. Today we saw a crocodile, some water snakes (which I hate a lot after seeing the movie Swiss Family Robinson as a child) and monkeys all over the place. Luckily, my limbs are all intact and no mishaps today. Mom, I'm sure you are still reading this paragraph so just remember that I'm fine :)

Well we need to get some dinner and hit the sack...big day tomorrow. The traveling days are surprisingly very tiring even though we are just sitting in cramped buses. Tomorrow we are headed south to Kampong Saom. I have made some good friends here in Kampot and I'm excited for all my new people to meet in Kampong Saom. I'm going to finish this post off with some more pictures.

From Asia with love, 


Kory