Cambodia and Me

I am back! Back to blogging. Back from Cambodia. I went to Cambodia this summer with a team from my church who also happen to be some of my closest and dearest friends. We brought 900 lbs of medicines, hygiene items, baby clothes and jewelry making supplies. I was especially excited to visit my friend Holly who I have mentioned before. She runs a home for vulnerable young women in Phnom Penh called ‘The House of Refuge’. 

The rehabilitated girls at Refuge make jewelry to raise funds to live without ever having to return to their old lives which usually involved sex trafficking. Unfortunately it is the norm for the poor people to sell their young daughters to pay off family debt. Holly rescues girls from different places, but one way is street outreaches. This is when you go out at night to the red light areas, speak to the girls, and offer them a new life.

Much prostitution centers around the temples, such as this one. We split up to cover more ground, each of us had a Khmer (Cambodian) girl from Refuge to translate. The girls who are rescued are so brave and eager to go out to the brothels and streets to help others. One girl did come home with us that night, which was beautiful. My heart broke though for the countless girls who didn’t.

My favorite place has got to be the province of Kampong Cham. I fell in love with the place and the people. They are living in a kind of poverty that we don’t know here in the US. This is a small “village” that is actually the dump. The garbage trucks dump the trash, the people here sort it and the trucks pick it up another day and pay them a pittance.

Such Beautiful children! Dirty and scarred from playing in the trash, but ever eager to flash you a playful smile. They are malnourished and are in great need of clean water and medicine. We hooked up with a local church that makes weekly visits to bring food and supplies. For these people the church is their lifeline.

This beautiful woman was left in the dump by her children. She lived through the Khmer Rouge. I asked her how she survived, I know they killed everyone who had a defect and she is blind. She says they spared her because she could cook! Everywhere we went we heard amazing stories like this. I so badly wanted to take her home, take care of her, and hear all of her stories. 

We got the word out that we would be having a medical outreach at the church near the dump. Many people came, for 6 hours we nonstop served the people. I was helping out my friend Jodi who is a chiropractor, she told me where to rub, massage or tap. She had 5 tables set up with patients and a long line out the door! It was hot and I should have been exhausted, but it wasn’t that bad. Once you get a patient you just want to do anything to help. Many people walked away who hadn’t walked in years! Crooked people stood and walked! 

Jodi said never in her practice would one treatment cause results like that. It was all God. We prayed with and for all the people we treated. Many people renounced Buddhism and walked out with Jesus after witnessing his power. Truly amazing!

We were able to get into a prison and a hospital. The Aids Ward at the hospital was my most horrible memory, it just makes you feel so helpless. I didn’t take any pictures because I think it wrong. We asked them if they wanted prayer, that we could give them. 

At the prison we had to leave everything electronic at the gate, all phones, cameras. Pictures are a no-no. They offered the prisoners the choice to come talk to us, sing with us and study the bible. We also brought gift bags of hygiene products.

It was all emotionally and physically draining, but great! I definitely want to go back and stay longer. I continue to support my friends who are full time missionaries with encouragement and finances. They are doing amazing, life changing work and it is not easy!

Yes, it is very hot and humid and it floods… There are bugs. I even ate some. (Yep)

But, Cambodia is one great adventure that I highly recommend. You will overlook the uncomfortable parts because the people will touch your heart and hopefully you will be able to touch theirs. 

My daughter's Cambodian Adventure HERE

Back on the Blogging Road....

HeLLo Everyone and Happy Fourth of July! Sorry if any of you kindhearted folks worried about my absence from the blog world. I am just fine, I just lost touch with blogging. 

It all started back in March, when my two lovely friends, Holly and Alicia came to visit us. They are missionaries who run a home for "at risk" girls in Cambodia called House of Refuge. Please visit their site and support them if you can. I know firsthand that the work they are doing is legitimate and is saving girls lives.

I had the best time showing them NYC and  getting to know them more intimately. Alicia ended up staying with us for an extended couple of months. My family and I fell deep in love with her and she has become a daughter/friend/sister to us.

During that time I just didn't think about blogging. And after they left...

 I was out of the habit, I felt so disconnected from the blog world. 

I started thinking things like, "why blog?". Questioning my motives. 

Why blog?

I am blogging again because I like it! It's that simple. I love the connections I've made with other bloggers over the years. The inspiration I have borrowed from fellow bloggers is amazing. You never cease to bring new and wonderful ideas to my attention.

 I can honestly say that my entire blogging experience has been a positive, happy journey and I've missed it and all of you who keep me inspired and keep my creativity moving forward.

All this to say, I am heading back down the blogging road and I am very excited to be back. I'm looking forward to taking unknown paths and falling down some rabbit holes with you.

watching the celery grow

We are coming down from a week of busy- busy- busy. It feels so good to just stay home and *watch the celery grow. 

By coincidence (more like divine synchronicity) two of our friends, Rin and Holly  happened to be visiting us here in NY from Cambodia during the same week.  They both work with an organization called Water of Life. That's how we met them. Water of Life is a church and an orphanage in Pnom Phen. A couple of years ago my church began visiting and helping to support Water of Life. Through our close contact visiting and working together on various projects these folks have been knit into our family.

 Rin had never been to NY before so of course we wanted to show him a good time. Central Park, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the B'way production of Les Miserables were some of the things crammed into our week together. On top of that we had to show them the natural beauty of NY State. So we climbed a mountain...and had to climb back down. Whew!

Add to these activities VBS (Vacation Bible School) every day. My daughter signed up weeks ago to work at VBS, so we couldn't very well back out now. Our crazy week finished up with my big girl's 15th birthday. By then neither of us wanted or needed to plan a celebration. The whole week was a party! A friend suggested that a bunch of us gals could meet at our favorite tea room for a no stress/ no work birthday tea, so that's what we did. 

It was a wonderful and memorable week, but I'm really happy that I have no plans or obligations this week. The only deadline I have is to make a dress for my young one to wear to the Ren Faire this weekend. Ahhh. 

* The celery thing is fun to do with kids and you get some bonus food. It's a kind of recycling. My young one likes to measure and document the growth. Just take those cut base ends of celery stalks and put them in water. They will not only grow roots, but they will grow more celery. They won't get as big and as thick as they once were but they will grow. 

Adventures of an Elf

Yes, I know it has been quite a long time since my last blog post. I have been rather preoccupied with "real" life. Life is interesting, life is unpredictable. Life gets in the way of  blogging, blogging will never get in the way of  my life. There is so much to do, to see, to try. Sometimes I admit...I just forget to blog. The longer I stay away, the harder it is to come back. Today I'd like to recap a little of the past month while the memories are fresh. It has been a very exciting and fun time.

My daughter has been writing a story about a dark elf/Drow who because of complicated circumstances is being raised by her wood elf grandfather. This week she finally gathered all the necessary pieces to dress up as her elf counterpart. The autumn colors made for a perfect elf walk and photoshoot. It seems like only yesterday that she was a tiny girl devising a way to attach hair to her Frodo feet. She insisted on going to church that way, barefoot in very cold weather. We compromised with flip flops. She was born with a wonderful, brave, adventurous spirit and many times I have had to look away and just let her do things that worried me rather than crush her spirit.

 A year ago she began earnestly asking if I would let her go on a mission trip to Cambodia.  My husband had been to Cambodia in 2011. He met some amazing people there whom we have become very close with. They run a church and orphanage in the city of Phnom Phen called Water of Life and they are doing miraculous things in their community. 

When my husband first went it was scary to think about the strange and dangerous things he was doing. Twenty-six hours of travel each way, oppressive weather, strange food, anything goes traffic, trips into the jungle and dangerous slums. Our friend Holly is a missionary who runs a home for vulnerable woman and girls called House of Refuge. Sometimes girls come to her for help, sometimes she goes out and finds them. Holly took my husband to a horrible building used for human trafficking where she and her girls frequently go to talk to girls and offer them a way out. The people are so poor that many of these girls have been sold by their own families.  My husband was horrified at the misery and filth of the place. One of the girls they spoke with that very day did come to live with Holly and her girls.

 Knowing these things and then hearing my 13 year old daughter tell me how much she wanted to go of course made me anxious!  My little girl! On the other side of the world!

 She started having dreams that she was going to Cambodia, that she was there with Holly.  In my gut I knew then that she would go.  If God was setting this up for her, then she would go. How could I keep her from something that meant so much to her? To hold her back might even kill the fire in her forever.

 My husband was eager to go back to Cambodia and reconnect with the friends he had made. When a group from church planned another trip he took my daughter with them.   The children there need money for food, medicine and vitamins. But they also need mentors, adults that they trust who can guide them and give them hope for a better life. We stay connected with them through the internet and are hoping to arrange more visits going both ways.

Our team ended up at three different orphanages. My daughter taught jewelry making to the older girls while another woman did a craft with the little ones.  They were long, hard, hot days but she did a great job. That's her in the purple shirt. Dara, the boy in blue translated for her.

Only after they came home did I hear about the crazy stuff.  How they had to stay at the Water of Life orphanage instead of the hotel one night because of terror threats against Americans. How their tuk-tuk got stuck in the mud and almost tipped over. How they were threatened with bodily harm and spiritual curses when they tried to help a young street hustler. How my adventuring elf went for a joy ride on the back of Holly's motor bike. She said it was like Indiana Jones. "We drove through a crazy market that had huge pieces of meat hanging from hooks and chickens were running out of our way!" On their way home they got caught in a flash flood. The water was up to their thighs so the moto's engine flooded. They had to push/carry the moto for two miles. When she came home I unpacked her boots, they were soaking wet and had mold growing over them.

When people ask my daughter what her favorite part of the trip was she always says,

 "THE FLOOD!"

Asian at Home

Do you love Asia food? I do! All kinds, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, you name it, I like it. My husband went on a mission trip last spring to Cambodia, not only did he fall in love with the people, but he fell for the food also. He bought us a Cambodian cookbook so I could try the delicious foods he had over there. We have become very close with some of the Cambodians and American missionaries over there through the wonder of the internet. In fact one of them just visited us last week, it was her first time in NY. I was able to go over my cookbook with her and get some tips on the methods that they use to make their incredible dishes. Of course there are things I just can't find over here, certain fruits especially. For the most part you can get some pretty authentic results if you have access to an Asian market (if not try online). Not only is this type of food super tasty, but it is quite healthy. Lots of veggies, fruits and fresh herbs.  At the Asian stores I can pick up all kinds of noodles, spices, nori, teas, and condiments. Compared to what it would cost eating this kind of food in a restaurant, it is for a pittance. 

Here's my version of the Korean dish Bi Bim Bap. Pickled veggies, fresh and sauteed veg, tofu (instead of the traditional ground beef) and egg all sitting on top of a bed of rice. It is so good! We eat this with Korean garlic chili paste and kim chee. Small amounts of each thing makes this a great dish for a crowd.

A favorite of mine, Vietnamese spring rolls. They are also called summer rolls and sometimes they are all I feel like eating in the summer heat. Veggies and herbs wrapped up in soft rice paper. I like a lot of basil and maybe a little mint, any raw vegs,with lime and garlic in my dipping sauce. This time I rolled it up with some cold shrimp.

 

OK, this is pretty extravegant. Not my usual dinner at home. We got together with a few friends for a sushi party. All the fancy rolls were done by the host, but we all tried our hand at the simpler ones. I don't know how much this would have cost in a restaurant. We all chipped in for a really great time, it's an activity and a meal! 

If you have never tried to make foods that you love because they are from different cultures you should. We have so much at our fingertips, even in "regular" grocery stores. We have every recipe available online. I found my perfect chai on YouTube. I watched an elderly man from India make his chai, I tweaked it a bit and now it is my own.

Sometimes you just can't find something that you need in a store. I have japanese cook books and they often call for shisho. Shiso is an herb in the mint family. I can find the green version in my local Asian market, but many of the recipes call for the red. It is used not only for flavor, but to color the food. I ordered a seedling and grew it myself. That was a few years ago, now it is everywhere! It is quite invasive, being like mint. In the fall it turns from bronzy red to this brilliant burgundy when it goes to seed so I bring it inside to enjoy another facet of it's beauty.