When life gets too much......

Sometimes when I have had a long week at school or feeling tired or homesick......to keep going I have to take some time out. Usually what I need is peace and quiet, no obligations or people to talk to. I am one of those funny people who likes to go to coffee shops on my own and sit by myself. I might read the paper or just sit and watch the world go by.
So if you come up to me or I ignore you it is nothing personal.....I have just zoned out and probably didn't see you! :)
I have a few favourites in Phnom Penh and some I want to try. Java Cafe is one, but it is quite far away so I have not ventured there yet on my moto but one day I will. Yejj because they now recognise me (oops! been too many times) and I can sit at the front and people watch which is fun.

Then Jars of Clay because they have amazing mango cheesecake which I have been trying to get a piece of for about 2 months. Everytime I went in they had sold out it was so popular but finally I got a piece and it was worth the wait!!! :)
Or if I am feeling like I don't want to go anywhere ther is a hamock on my roof which catches a lovley breeze....so I sit there with my book and chill out.
I read in a book once.... that God has put within each woman the desire for beauty...this does not mean girly gushy beauty but something deeper. Sometimes we need that time out and time to stop and appreciate the world around us to be refreshed and revived. I know that ultimately God is the one who does this for me but He has also given me lots of other things which help keep my life in balance.
So what ever it is that God has given you which is your beauty...music, sport, reading, nature,walking the dog, coffeeshops!! Take time this week to enjoy and thank God for this provision in your life!

Last week we were asked by one of our neighbours if we minded if another neighbour used the front paved area of our house for their wedding. This is quite a normal occurance in Cambodia, often a wedding marquee will go right across a street and if you need to go down you drive through or go another way!! So we said yes, not sure what would have happened if we said no!!!! We were informed the wedding would be on Friday and Saturday and our hearts sank!. We had been looking forward to a quiet weekend as we had had camp week at school and were quite tired.  Cambodian weddings are not quiet and involve a lot of loud music blasted over loudspeakers!
On Tuesday of campweek we arrived home to find the marquee going up....this sent me into a state of mild panic!!! This is a view from our roof garden looking down onto the street.

So I got a Khmer friend from school to translate for me and went off to find the neighbours. This was really good as I have only seen them from a distance and not reaaly had much chance to speak to them. (i have little Khmer and they have little english not a good starting point for chatting!!!) I was a little embarrased as my hands were blue from tie-dying that day!!!
It turned out they had family coming and wanted to make use of the space before the wedding. Fortunately the most noisy part of the wedding was to take place on Thursday and Friday morning (we had a sleepover at the school that night which was well timed) The main party and dancing was to be held somewhere else.
On Thursday we arrived back from school to see the rest of the marquee up and the first part of the wedding in progress. It was very weird to march straight through the wedding proceedings with my motorbike....but perfectly normal!!!

The gold and silver bananas always signify a wedding it is something to do with prosperity in married life.

 

wedding car not that much different from UK!

  

 

Our front door is at the back between the two left pillars! To get ther we have to walk through everyone eating! We drew lots of attention (so embarassing!)

View from our front door as they were setting the eating area up. 

 

The kitchen area was to the left of our front door and shielded by our row of plants.....very convienent! I noticed all the cooks and servers were men not sure if this is normal....will have to ask someone. Health and safety...mmmmmm

 

This is the view into the bride's house. All Cambodian weddings take place at the bride's house. I was very interested and wanted to take photos. I explained I lived next door and everyone was quite happy for me to take photos. The only person I did not manage to get a photo of was the bride. At the beginning she was not in the ceremony and was having her make-up done. As I was taking photos a young man proceeded to tell me all the diferent parts of the ceremony which was fascinating. 

This part of the ceremony involved a man who was like a compare/ceremony leader who would direct the proceedings and a group of musicians and singers.....this bit was quite loud over loudspeakers so everyone in the neighbourhood can hear!! It went on for several hours and then the priests came and took part chanting...also loud! I did get a look at the bride but she was too far away for photos.

 The young man was telling me the food was offerings to wish the married couple blessings in their married life. I think it is offered to the ancesters. The main part of the ceremony would take place on friday morning (which we would miss as we were at the school sleepover) All the guests come to the house and receive a bowl of fruit which had been prepared by the brides family the day before (I saw this in the house next door to the weddding) They would then go and line up out side the house, sometimes stretching round the block, and present the fruit to the bride as a token of their good wishes to the couple. Our house helper saw this and said there were many people. The guests were then served "boubou" which is a rice soup that is a traditional breakfast dish. After this there was another part of the ceremony. We arrived back at about 12 noon and people were sitting down to eat. Someone did mention we could eat if we wanted to but I thought the end of camp week my children were exhausted it might be pushing my luck!

I was pleased that I made the effort to go and take photos and chat with my neighbours as I met quite a few of them. I found out that there are at least four houses where they are related in this street but it was quite complicated. I think they were all related to the bride. The bride and groom will most likely live at the house they got married in with her parents or they will llive with his parents.

This is one of my neighbours who has the most gorgeous children. She can't speak english but was happy to listen to my broken khmer. Her daughter was so cute and I even got a cuddle! Now I know where she lives and feel more at ease to go and initiate conversation.

 

So today it was all quiet as the wedding was over, the marquee dismantled and we enjoyed a quiet relaxing day! It made me realise how much I want to speak khmer and how frustrating it is not being able to hold even a simple conversation but thankful that I have learnt some and this is apprecited by my new neighbours.
So although the wedding was a bit noisy I am grateful as it was a great opportunity to make friends.
The most embarassing moment of the whole time was when I had wheeled my moto outside the front entrance to the wedding and then it wouldn't start! Pretty soon there was a little cluster of wedding guests trying to get it started. It wouldn't start due to a flat battery and Colin had to wheel it back throught the wedding!!!

Big Picture

Camp Week at School

This week the whole school goes on camp. The High School has already gone and the rest of the school will follow later in the week.
I am staying at school to help with the Pre-School to Year3 Camp which is held at school. We started the day with an assembly.....about how awesome is God. Their favourite songs are...Jesus You're My Superhero , Let Your Light Shine ,Then we did a BIG PICTURE. We painted four pictures on 8 foot by 4 foot boards. It was crazy!! Gloss paint everywhere and kids everywhere but we nearly finished! I have a bit of finishing off to do. It was fun to do things with different children.

Going To Angkor Wat.....

Tomorrow we are going for a long weekend to Angkor Wat. We are really excited as we have been wanting to go to different places around Cambodia while we are here and had not visited the most famous place in this country. It would be like visiting England and not going to London.
So we face a 6 hour bus journey in the midday sun!! But our guest house was specially chosen for its pool so we have that to look forward to. we are looking forward to seeing some amazing sites like trees growing out of buildings and stairs which would give you virtego!

mango lassi

It is funny how you take things for granted. I have discovered several things which I can't get here in PhnomPenh or I can get them but they are expensive!
Plain yogurt is one of them. I can get plain yogurt but it is full of sugar yukk!! There is plain yogurt but it is $1.50 and a 15min drive for a small tub.....not practical! I use yogurt for so many things...dressings, on cereal (have to make the muesli too!) it is good for stomach upsets, smoothies, Indian curry accompaniment, healthy desserts etc....


I had brought with me a thermos yogurt maker....mmmm but not the instructions or a thermometer! So after a quick look on the Internet (thank you God for Internet!!! ) I found a method but I still needed a thermometer. You have to slowly bring milk to just under the boil and hold it at that point for about 1/2 hour. Then bring it down to 140 degrees. After a bit of maths (Colin) we worked out that the right temp is if I can quickly put my finger in and it is not too hot. The secret is to have it warm enough so the good bacteria can breed, if the milk is too hot they will be killed. it works a little bit like yeast. The bacteria multiply and cause the milk to thicken and sour slightly.
Then I add "live" yogurt to start it off and a bit of gelatin (that's how they make yogurt thick!!!) put it in the thermos for 4 hours on the side then refrigerate.
Well after 3 attempts I think I have got a successful batch yey!!!


So we decided to make lassi.....a fruit yogurt drink yum!! The children made clementine+ honey and I made mango. It was fun for the children to make a healthy drink with fresh yogurt and fruit!