Beach Vacation

After Christmas a bunch of us headed to Sihanoukville for a little Holiday on the beach. We arrived on Friday and I spent the day visiting the AG orphanage for their Christmas party. It was fun seeing the kids again and they still remembered me from last time I was there (4 months ago). On Saturday we hit the beach. I got a pedicure and a massage without having to leave my beach chair -- it felt soo nice! We also ate a lot of fresh sea food. My favourite was the fresh grilled squid dipped in chili sauce.

(This is a picture of me having my first fresh grilled squid on a stick.)

I also met a YWAM team at the orphanage, which was cool. On Sunday the kids had their church service on the beach and then spent the rest of the morning swimming -- so we joined them. It was a lot of fun!

It was really relaxing to get out of the city for a bit and enjoy Cambodia.

For pictures, you can check out my picasa site at http://picasaweb.google.com/Beca.Osmond/Sihanoukville#

Christmas Parties

So far this Christmas season I have attended 6 Christmas parties and one church play. Here are a few pictures from the Bible College Christmas party. Some of the guys put on a little skit about heaven and hell (a Cambodian mini version of the heaven's gates hell's flames drama). I must admit that one of the beautiful ladies below is one of my students. Their play was absolutely hilarious. This is a picture of the big pot of red curry (which seems to be the staple party dish). I have eaten a lot of red curry soup this holiday, but I don't mind because I love it!

Here are a couple of pictures from the staff party for the assessment center. It was a blast! Here is a picture of all the staff.

These two girls teach are training some of the staff on music therapy. They are also going to teach the girls how to play the harp. Sweet eh?!

We played many games including a gift exchange and limbo. One of the games was called fear factor. Bev had to put her hand in the basket and describe the items to me and I had to say what they were. We had a limited about of time and the team that guessed the most vegetables one -- which was us :) It was a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Cambodia! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

As for me, I have had a very nice Christmas which included a phone call from the kids at the orphanage. We were even able to have a delicious turkey dinner complete with Cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed potatoes with pecan pie for dessert. Some of the food items that you can occasionally find here is amazing. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas morning.

(Bev preparing the turkey.)

(Myself, Bev & Gary)

(Their Christmas tree.)

(My Christmas present from Gary & Bev was a recipe book called "From spiders to water lilies." I am excited to try some of the recipes ;)

May God bless you richly!

Bon Noel

So today was the day for Christmas celebrations. The day started off with Christmas at the Bible College. In true Bible College fashion we had a lovely little service followed by a fun gift exchange. I received my first Khmai Bible...now I just need to learn how to read it. Then we had red curry (one of my favorites)!

After a coffee break, Bev and I headed to party #2 at the center. I wish I could have taken pictures. The place looked like every child's dream birthday party. Imagine a room that is outside but with a roof and pillars. All around are paper streamers, lais and tinsel. Hanging from the ceiling are handmade lanterns and shiny paper decorations blowing gently in the breeze. My description does not do it justice but the room looked amazing. The girls put on a little show for us that involved cultural dancing and a skit about the birth of Jesus. I was in awe. Then we played a few games and gathered around a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to Jesus. It was a reminder of what Christmas is really all about.

After party #2 Bev and I met up with her husband and we headed to party #3 -- a North American Christmas. I was wonderful. It was hosted by an American couple and they had a beautiful tree and the place smelled of cinnamon candles. Then we (a group of Americans and Canadians) sang almost every Christmas carol you can think of and then settled down to watch "White Christmas".

So far this has been a truly wonderful Christmas!

It's begining to feel like Christmas!

It's starting to feel a little like Christmas here. Some stores have even put up tinsel Christmas trees on their doors. Yesterday I attended a Christmas service at the international church that I occasionally attend. It was really nice to sing Christmas carols together. Then at the end of the service, a few people from the church put together an African choir and they sang some Swaheely Christmas songs. It was really cool.

In the evening I went to my Khmai church's special Christmas event. We had a three hour service which included Khmai Christmas songs, a play put on by the youth, some dancing by the children, and of course a good message. (This is a picture of the MC's for the evening wearing traditional Khmai formal clothing.)

(The worship team. We took over the chapel at the Bible College for the service.)

(The play. The costumes were rather hilarious...notice the apron.)

(Some of the kids dancing.)

The message was good too. I even understood a lot of it. After the service we had a "potluck" -- which means a big pot of curry for everyone...plus Canadian food as the Canadians each had to bring a dish. LOL. It was fun.

More Cambodia!

So a few of you have been asking about when I am coming home... and I am please to announce that I have been approved to stay another 6 months. YIPPEE. So I guess that means I`ll possibly come home in the summer sometime. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

More Pictures

If you are interesting in looking at all the pictures that I took today with the kids, they are posted in my picasa at: http://picasaweb.google.ca/Beca.Osmond/HOA

HOA

Today after I finished teaching at the orphanage, I decided to spend sometime just playing with the kids. Here are some pictures from my evening.

(This is one of the girls who has started to call me mom. I don't know what I should be doing about it, but she is precious.)

(Today we were learning about emotions... this is Dinal and his lonely pose. He doesn't look to lonely to me.)(Sompa, one of the older girls, is grinding the spices for tonight's dinner.)

(This is Kim, the orphanage director, with Danit.)

Shortly after class finished, the older kids all had to go to their church for music lessons. They are preparing for a special Christmas concert. While they had their lessons, the rest of us decided to take the younger children to the riverside.

(Two of the kids are on my head which is why it looks severed from my body.)
This is Sothir (in the black) and Kim (in red). Sothir is one of the guys who usually translates for me.

It was a very fun evening!

The Small Things

Today I received a thanksgiving card from my family. One of the sayings on the card is:

"when we count our many blessings, it isn't hard to see that what we value most in life are the treasures that are free..."

It's so true. My favourite Christmas gifts that I have received so far are the cards from my nephews and nieces and some dried maple leaves packed into a card. As I am writing this I am breathing in the scent of dried maple leaves and it brings back so many good memories. I think it may even be one of my favourite smells. I passed the leaves around to my students today so that they could smell them too.

Don't get me wrong, I am not homesick. Well I am, but not for Canada -- which is really odd. I am homesick for the kids at the orphanage. Somehow those kids have grown on me. I realized today that when I left the orphanage I left my heart behind. I love those kids so deeply. Two of the girls today were hugging me and calling me mom and inside I wished I was really their mom and that I could love them and care for them forever. Eikes. It's scary.