Wow. That's about all I could say, wow.

What could be better than a birthday party where dear friends read me beloved children's books? Naturally, ice cream was involved as well.

I need to do better at documenting Cambodian modes of transportation. This pickup has about 25 guys on their way to work.

Best T-shirt I've seen in forever. "NO! I don't need a tuk tuk!" It's especially fitting for Erin, who takes 90-minute walks across town most weekends.

"STILL NO!"

French students gathered earlier today at a cafe for yummy pastries and some rousing games like Telephone and I Spy.

I was so proud of them for how much they figured out from the French newspapers.

Bon travail, mes eleves!

The hope of glory

And the life that I now live no longer is my own,
Jesus lives in me, the hope of glory!
And each day I live no longer is my own,
Jesus lives in me, the hope of glory!

Realizing this again this week brought a much-needed breakthrough. So easy to forget...so deliciously satisfying to practice! Thanks be to God that I am NOT the star of my life.

His first-ever letter

Last week in 8th grade English, I had students write letters to former students who had moved at the end of last year.

One student, quite bright and motivated, was stumped. "If I put 'From (Name)' at the top, then where do I put who the letter is to?"

I tried to activate his prior knowledge. "Remember? You start with 'Dear So&So' and you end with...?"

But he didn't remember, and he asked for several more details before feeling satisfied that he had it right.

"Is it the opposite in Korean?" I asked him. "How do Koreans start a letter?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I've never written a letter in English OR Korean."

A smart, well-educated student, writing his first-ever letter at age thirteen. How did that happen?

After living here a year, I've still never seen a post office or a postal worker...my mail is sent to the school. The postal system is certainly corrupt, slow, and generally inconvenient. Still, though, I can't imagine. No thank-you notes? No pen pals? No "pretend you're this character and write to this other character" in English or history class?

This may have been his first letter for my class, but it will certainly not be his last.

Wade in the water

Even before my arrival last year, I heard about the flooding during rainy season. But where I lived last year, none of the streets flooded in my neighborhood. So all that I witnessed firsthand were giant puddles on the edge of streets, next to the sidewalks. I had to cross them a few times but never walk the long way through them. This year, I live several blocks away. The house never floods, but I've experienced a good bit more flooding on nearby streets.

Sunday night, I went to a local cafe for Internet. I opted to walk instead of driving my moto, since it's only about 10 minutes on foot. Every day brings an afternoon rainstorm, but I hadn't noticed heavier storms than usual that weekend. Having crossed one small flooded section, though, I was confronted with an entire block flooded about 8 inches deep. I happened to know that alongside this block was a field where oxen were pastured each night after pulling wagons with pottery all day. This water could NOT be clean!

Just in front of it was a motodup driver who agreed to take me the rest of the way for $0.25, a bit pricy for such a short distance, but well worth it in this case. I hopped on and we began to cross. It was kinda like fording the river, for you Oregon Trail fans. His moto soon began making sounds: bug-a-bug-a-JOOT-a-bug-a-JOOT... Seconds later, it quit entirely. I sat on the back, wondering whether to give up and walk or stick it out. He pulled off a part and blew on it a few times. No luck. Then he propelled the moto, using his feet, until we reached dry ground. I realized both his flip-flops had broken along the way! He stuck them under his thighs and blew on the part a little more until it started again shakily. Success!

An hour later, I emerged from the cafe. There were no motodups in sight my entire way back. I rolled up my capris and started crossing the lake, much to the amusement of some young Khmer guys on the corner. I dind't want to pick up my feet with each step and add to the splashing, so I slogged through slowly. The longer I was in there, the more prayers I added under my breath: "Thank You, God, that I don't have any open wounds on my legs. Please, if I fall, don't let my computer land in this. Thank You that I haven't hit anything mushy yet. Please protect me from typhoid and all the germs in here. Thank You that my house doesn't flood like some of Sarah's friends' homes. Thank You that I didn't get my moto stuck in this." I arrived safely, rinsed off thoroughly below the knee, and I'm hopefully none worse for the wear. It may have taken over a year, but I'm finally initiated into Cambodian flood-wading!

Grasshopper pie

Thursday was the annual senior class "Pie in the Face" fund-raiser, auctioning off the right to smear a pie in various teachers' and students' faces. As one of two senior homeroom teachers, I was involved in helping them organize it. The first dilemma: what kind of pie filling to sue. Ready-made whipped cream is pricy here, as is shaving cream. (Yuck!) Last year's seniors used meringue, but I wasn't confident ours would succeed - making meringue is a delicate operation. Plus, with no mixer, ten pies' worth of meringue takes a lot of time and elbow grease. Finally I hit on banana pudding as an easy and cheap alternative. It seemed like a shame to waste all that food...it worked beautifully as a fund-raiser, but there sure are a lot of hungry people around here.

A team assembled Wednesday afternoon at the home of Monique, a Khmer girl who lived with relatives in California until two years ago. I knew her neighborhood was upscale, but wasn't prepared for the fishpond in the living room, the bathroom sink made of shimmering glass, or the seven servants hovering around us. When one cook finally arrived with the ingredients, we abandoned our Uno game and dove in.

We easily mixed up the pudding, and Monique even added Kool-Aid last-minute for a deep rose tone. Because of the cook's delay, the other students had to leave after we made the first of two batches. Monique invited me to eat dinner before continuing. I seized the opportunity, partly bause I don't know her very well yet, and partly because I was really enjoying our conversation. She's very American, having grown up in a mostly-white US community. It was neat talking to her about the culture shock two years ago of being treated like a princess at her parents' house. (And "princess" really is how she's treated, in terms of both privileges and responsibilities.) She became a Christian shortly after starting at Logos, much to her parents' chagrin, and struggles to find any common ground with them. During our entire dinner, her mom never once looked at either of us.

Thursday morning, the seniors added Monique's secret ingredient: fried bugs! We had beetles, crickets, and more, but the tarantulas caused by far the biggest stir. The victims were pretty grossed out, especially my roommate Megan - I didn't realize how much she dreads spiders! Thankfully, her pie just had crickets, but I'm living in fear of her retaliation. Most people were resigned to their fate, though they agreed that the smell (vaguely like vomit?) lingered for hours.

The auction started slow, but soon students really got into bidding. We ultimately earned enough for our class trip, sparing us the need for other fund-raisers we had considered. The pie filling *did* look pretty remarkable on faces, even if it wasn't the traditional look that meringue or whipped cream would yield. Even students who didn't bid were captivated as each pie was smashed on a face. Dan and Dean, our principals, were great sports. Dan ate a giant spider from his pie, and Dean took off his shirt ahead of time and let students smear the pie all over him. At the end, the victims pooled their money for the right to pie Monique out of pure revenge. I'm so glad they spared me!

Miraculous

The further I get into this school year, the more these two thoughts float around in my head:

1. This is sooo much easier than last year!
2. I am at my limit: I can't handle any more than this.

Which leads to the question, how did I do it last year? I have NO idea. How did I juggle 5 separate courses, culture shock, heat, power outages, brand-new age groups, brand-new learners' needs, and the list goes on? How did I handle my numerous commitments outside of class? I pulled that off for a YEAR? Because at the moment, with 4 courses (2 repeated from last year), I am on the verge of exhaustion.

Last year, I would constantly be tempted to give into panic attacks. "I know I was okay the LAST time, but look at this crisis now! I can't make it! Any day now, I'm going to break and everything will fall apart." Time and again, God showed me that He was faithful to renew my energy. Eventually, I started expecting Him to come through, just as he always had.

But somewhere along the way, I convinced myself that the panic was the crazy part. "I must just be a worrier - it's illogical to stress about this." I'm now realizing that from a logical standpoint, worry WAS the logical response. Any sane person would know it's not possible to do what I did last year, or what so many other Logos teachers have done. Yet we did. As my roommate put it, "Students know that we love them. But they have no idea how long ago our love ran out and only God's love was left to pour through us." My new proof for God's existence: come to Logos and see for yourself!

Same with my students. This year I've been astounded to see so many of them thriving in school and to learn more about their families' struggles. How can you possibly be working and growing the way you are? This one's mom is on drugs, that one's dad recently passed away, this one's brother was murdered, that one faces all kinds of abuse, and these ones live by themselves. How are you still breathing, let alone discussing utopian societies and Greek tragedy and college applications?

I always knew God's grace is real here, but I'm catching a glimpse of just how big it is. And I'm glad that He has me at my limit already; it will highlight His power and faithfulness once again this year. I need the constant reminders that it's not my strength that determines what I accomplish; it's only Him.

I’m baaaaack!

Miscellaneous observations since returning to Phnom Penh two weeks ago:

-Returning is so much nicer than arriving for the first time! I've loved reuniting with staff and students and rediscovering quirks and fun things from last year.

-It's rainy season, so there's a storm every afternoon. The heat is SO MUCH more livable as a result. Rain is fun! Except when you're driving a moto and it's up to your knees. Thankfully, that was my housemate, not me.

-To prevent flooding in the classrooms, they poured concrete strips for the cracks under the classroom doors. (Our school is California-style, with open-air hallways.) Mine and my neighbor's already broke when people accidentally kicked them...not hard, either. Note to self: move new books off the floor!

-Students have so much more energy and motivation when they're not melting in heat waves.

-In some contexts (ex. restaurants and grocery stores), Cambodia's customer service is phenomenal. In others (ex. Internet installation), it leaves something to be desired.

-Cambodia is awfully far from Pennsylvania. This is sad.

-Teaching wears you OUT!

-Life in Cambodia sometimes feels extraordinarily hard. And I'm not always sure why.

-Little things quickly become big things if you let them, maybe more so here than at home. If I let myself become minorly stressed or annoyed, it can turn into a crisis in no time flat. I know too many missionaries who have struggled with bitterness and burnout. I need to guard my thoughts and not give into anxiety and frustration.

-Helpful people (and they are many) keep me sane. They're like a direct injection of God's grace.

-Something I failed to notice last year: using a moto to tow a wheelbarrow. No trailer hitch or bungee cord needed, just have your passengers hold the wheelbarrow handles. Brilliant.

-When it's in season (ex. right now), dragonfruit is fantastically delicious.

-Speaking Khmer is so much more fun when you've learned a lot more words recently. I want to keep up both the studying and the speaking this year, in contrast with last year.

-God is so faithful, even when we can't see it right away!