Welcome to our first blog, given the fact that we have limited internet use, we are not entirely sure how regularly this will be updated, but we will aim for once a week.
The flights from Gatwick to Bangkok went smoothly, and we arrived safely at 18.30 local time, to a stifling heat of 31C. We were met at the airport by Nori who is an Australian working for Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO). After complex negotiations for a taxi, we arrived at our hotel for the night in Bangkok, the A-one inn, and met Matt, Nori's husband and Sarah, an American who is working for CHO on a placement for her masters degree, who will be with us for the next 4 months. After a crazy tuk-tuk journey, we got some food in a local restuarant, after visiting a market we got some much needed sleep.
The next morning, after some more confused taxi negotiations, we were on our way to Poipet, with Mr Dilok.
We arrived at the border at about 3.30 after some heavy traffic in Bangkok and a stop on the way. As soon as we approached the border, we were instantly sruck at how busy and chaotic it was, with cars, bikes, buildings, markets and people. As soon as our taxi stopped, we were harranged by baggage cart carriers, and made our way to the Thai passport control, and entered the casino district. We found the area a contrast to our preconceptions; because of the rain it was particularly muddy, with a pungent aroma! We continued onto the Cambodian passport control, joining the long queue. It was exciting to have arrived at Poipet, and we were taken in the CHO bus back to the CHO offices, where we are staying for the next 6 months.
Poipet is bigger than we expected, and is centred around a main highway (no.5), the city is bustling with locals, a few tourists, markets shops, and the odd stray dog. For the rest of the day, we met Chomno, the director of CHO and his wife Kim, as well as various other members of staff, who's names escape our minds at the moment! We then ate in the CHO restuarant, where we will eat all our meals, and spent the rest of the day unpacking in our room which is on the top floor of the building. It was good to be here, but felt surreal to be in the place we will spend the next 6 months. Everyone is lovely and friendly, and we have already had some interesting cross language conversations, the majority of which both parties were laughing!
On Friday, we woke up painfully early given the bizzare sleeping patterns we are in at the moment. We took a 'shower', though we find the word shower a little strong in describing the water flow, more of a squirt/trickle! Every weekday morning there is a devotion at 7.30 for the CHO staff, which we attended, and were introduced by Chomno, following this we had meeting with him, where we met the project leaders,and talked about what we will be doing for the next six months. Dara, our Khmer teacher who is a graduate in English and IT, showed us a video of CHO's work and more about the Kingdom of Cambodia. He then began to teach us some basic Khmer... not a walk in the park, but it was good to start. We then had some lunch, and went to a prayer meeting and bible study, led by Nori. It was really good to spend time praying with the staff about CHO's work. After this we met the worship band, and had a short practise with them, playing some songs and enjoying their company. Dara then took us around Poipet briefly and entered the casino district to have a look around. We experienced our first sight of children begging, and had difficulty in how to react, accepting that this was real and a part of life here.
When we went back to our room, we spent some time praying and reading the bible in preparation and to focus ourselves on God and the work he has set for us. The rest of the evening we spent chilling, playing guitar and chatting, the guitar has already made it's self useful, and worth the hassel getting it here! We look forward to the time ahead, and pray for God's protection and that he would help us to settle in here.
