Deserted Streets

A bicycle ride through town is noticeably different when the country is celebrating a holiday like Pchum Benh. All but a few store fronts are closed and the streets are bare. From what I've heard, it's a time when ancestors are released from a place of eternal damnation so that they can gather food. Living family members travel to seven or more temples to leave designated food for the spirits in hopes they'll find some of it. Many people travel home to their provinces.

I visited a temple last Friday with my language school to observe the rituals of Pchum Benh. To prepare for the visit, they offered us the vocabulary used when speaking to monks. Words like "yes," "food," "thank you," and "sleep" are different from those of every day use. I don't know if it's for respect to the monks or reverence for their god. Along with leaving food for their ancestors, they light incense for the forgiveness of their sins. This lasts for a total of 15 days, the last three being the most significant.

The English library is still undergoing renovations to prepare for the new school year. We'll be brainstorming as a team about what we'd like to offer there once it opens. It looks like this will be a place I spend a lot of time serving and I'm really excited. Right now Bekah and I are co-managing it's operations. Sounds important, huh? We like to think it will be a very meaningful place for many students. We just need to get them to visit...

The third pic below is of our beloved market. It will be hard for you to accurately picture what it looks like or how things work inside. It's unlike what we know and we really enjoy going. The fact that it's named after a tree helps its appeal to me.

And the fourth pic, well...I don't think riding in the back of a pickup truck is the most dangerous thing we could do on the road, is all. There are so many great ideas here. WARNING: If you let your children view all the ways people travel in Cambodia they may suffer serious injuries by trying them out.