Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Cold Weather, Colds, and Warmed Hearts

On Monday, I road on the back of a motorcycle to language class wearing a short-sleeved shirt, as usual. However, this specific Monday I realized that I was almost shivering. The phrase, "It's cold today," is a new one for us to be using here in Phnom Penh. The climate is changing...
With the climate change has come our share of colds. Bethany was the first to come down with a cold, passing it to Juliana, and then Juliana to Kai, and now I've got a bit of a sore throat. It was hard to hear Juliana and Kai echoing coughs back and forth through several nights this past weekend. They both are on antibiotics and we're seeing some improvement. We look forward to returning to good health.
Juliana's excited about the weather because she now gets to wear pajamas to bed! She's thrilled about the new "jammies" that Bethany picked out for her at a nearby market the other week. (She's also sporting her new haircut!)

What's cool weather without doing some baking? Last week marked the first time our family made cookies together here in Cambodia. We made a batch of chocolate- and butterscotch-chip oatmeal cookies. Above, Kai is doing his part in helping the process.

Our hearts have been warmed with the visit of Skip and Carol Tobin, EMM Regional Reps. for Cambodia. We enjoyed spending time together this past weekend, visiting and "checking up" on how we're doing. We continue to appreciate the servant leaders that they are.
Above and below are two pictures of the church Ministry Team meeting that Skip and Carol led at our house with the Phnom Penh Mennonite Church.

That's all for this week. Blessings to you from afar!
-Ryan
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Wedding Weekend - Part Three

Ryan provided transportation for the wedding party's location shoot in the afternoon, so got in on the fun outdoor shots taken in Stung Treng Town near the Mekong River.


Is this a gorgeous wedding party photo or what?! Notice the "un-da-new" (rainbow) in the sky. And now's a good time to explain that Khmer brides become quick-change artists at their weddings - SreyPenh wore at least 8 different wedding gowns throughout the day, probably more. (You may have noticed in the pictures, she wears a different gown in almost every one.) It depends on the bride and the financial status of the family - some brides may change as many as 20 times!



The reception was held in the evening at a restaurant several km. from the bride's home. Here's the happy couple cutting cake. It was then offered to their parents before they ate, and not served to all the guests present. (We only saw children and family eating any.)


Juliana became buddies with Soda (emphasis on the last syllable), one of the young women who travelled with us from Phnom Penh. She, like most other female guests at the reception, wore a very fancy evening gown (different than what she wore to the morning ceremony) and VERY heavy makeup. (We weren't clued in on the two-dress tradition, and I personally opted to pass on the inch-thick makeup application. PTL for the grace extended to clued-out foreigners!)

Kai gets a dance in with the groom. Well, sort of. : )


The weary travellers on the way back to Phnom Penh...

...and the horrible, rush-hour traffic jam that greeted us once we got into downtown PP!
All in all, it was a worthwhile trip, and a blessing to celebrate with Sopheak and SreyPenh as they start their marriage together!

Wedding Weekend - Part Two

Sorry, I really did mean to get back to this before a week went by. Anyway, continuing with the wedding...
Here we are sharing breakfast with other wedding ceremony guests. We are eating a rice-noodle soup called "baw-baw lote." The families provide wedding guests with breakfast and lunch, and then even more guests are invited to the evening reception!


During the ceremony, the groom and bride washed each other's feet. In traditional Buddhist weddings, only the woman washes her husband's feet. This was a believer's wedding, so they shared the symbolism together.
Here, Sopheak and SreyPenh exchange wedding rings.

Wearing silk outfits purchased just for this event, we get our photo taken with the new couple!!
Side note: I (Bethany) actually had my outfit tailored just for me. Cambodia is amazing that way - if you can't find what you're looking for, find someone to custom-make it. Since my feet are large for Asian shoe sizes, I actually found a shop to custom-make leather dress shoes - for $15! Imagine!!
(Continued in additional post)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Wedding Weekend - Part One

This past Thursday, our family and a few friends hit the road for a long trip to Stung Treng, a province in northern Cambodia, bordering Laos. We were on our way to attend the wedding of our friend Sopheak, and we had a great time learning more about Cambodian wedding culture, getting outside of the city, enjoying fruit fresh from the tree, seeing dolphins jump in the Mekong River, and celebrating with the friends and family present for the wedding and reception.
Ryan drove the EMM van (he's getting really good at driving like a Cambodian - which is a little bit scary at times!) and Sophal (Women's Dorm Director), Soda and Pala (former dorm students), and Greta Kauffman (EMM intern) came with us. We stopped at Sophal's aunt's citrus orchard on the way, and enjoyed fresh orange juice in the grove. We slept the night at a guest house in Kratie (pronounced Kraw-jeh), stopped a bit on the banks of the Mekong River to see an endangered species of dolphins jumping in the water, and arrived at the SreyPenh (the bride)'s house on Friday afternoon.

At 7 a.m. Saturday morning, we joined the other guests in the traditional Khmer wedding proceedings. That is, getting in line behind the groom for a walk with family and wedding guests from a different location (maybe a kilometer away) to the bride's house, where she waits with her family. The guests all help to carry the "dowry gifts," which are food (fresh meat, veggies, fruit, desserts, etc.) that will be shared at the meals provided for the guests. In the photo above, Sopheak (in gold), wearing traditional dress and flanked by his parents, is waiting until the guests are all in order for the procession to begin. (We understand that some weddings start even earlier than this!)

Here, SreyPenh offers Sopheak a drink (coconut juice) to refresh him from the trek (which was not even a kilometer in this case, but such is the tradition). She is also wearing traditional dress, as Khmer royalty would have worn in centuries past.


Sopheak and SreyPenh before entering the house

Another tradition of Khmer weddings is to broadcast the proceedings and traditional wedding music from loudspeakers throughout the neighborhood and surrounding area. Even though we weren't always sure what was going on, the neighbors a couple km.'s away woud have known what was happening!


Well, due to some internet issues we seem to be having with the blog site, I'll have to make this into a two-part post and share the rest of the wedding photos later. Stay tuned for the rest of the story!