“Normal” Can Change

Life here is starting to take on some sort of normalcy at times. For that we are very encouraged and I am somewhat surprised. I guess I thought we would eventually view our lives here as normalizing but I just didn't think it would be this soon. Don't misunderstand and think that I am saying we are fully settled. That is absolutely not true. What I mean is just that the newness and differences are now taking on some sort of familiarity. For that I am thankful and excited. For example, I had about 5 hours with Alex and Cameron to get 5 things done and when I completed all 5 in that amount of time, it really was an accomplishment. I felt like I had a successful and relatively efficient day. The 5 things were: haircut for Cameron, flip flops for both of the boys, 2 light bulbs, flea/tick collar and a few groceries. Back in the states I would have run to Walmart or Target and been done…45 min to an hour tops. Here, 5 hours is a successful day because for 5 things you may need to go to 6-8 places or maybe more. In short, so many things that were normal or taken for granted have to be re-learned and now seen through the filter of where we live now. Another example of that is driving. I have used the example of watching an anthill after it is kicked to compare to the traffic here. Everybody drives in a way that allows them to get to where they want to go the quickest. It may mean cutting someone else off, going the wrong way on a street or just driving through an intersection when it is not their turn. Most, if not all, of these moves would earn someone showing you the universal sign of displeasure in the states but there isn't any road rage here. People just understand that that is how things go here. It is part of the pulse of the traffic here. Inside I can be saying "what is he thinking? It isn't his turn!", but slowly I am learning understand and join them where they are at instead of being the one non-conformist (besides, I really didn't have a choice).

However, in the midst of these things we have found joy and peace. Not because of the differences but in spite of them. We have embraced the differences although not always enjoying them. In almost everything we have found beauty and something to enjoy. Here is a great example: the dirty air. Phnom Penh has very dirty air. There is a lot of pollution from all of the cars (mostly diesel) and motos…in the city. That is compounded by the fact that most streets surrounding the city as well as quite a few within the city are dirt. This combination causes a lot of particulates in the air. So you can look at it as an annoyance and nuisance, which it definitely can be. The other option is to look for the positive you receive from it: beautiful sunsets almost every night. With the risk of sounding "Pollyanna-ish", it really is an amazing thing. Blessings!

The Van: It isn't German

(Pictures: Two are of the shop where I originally saw the van, one is of paperwork for the van and the other is of the van. Notice the emblem on front :-)So we took another step in forward in getting settled in Cambodia. We purchased a van. This was a fairly long but exciting process. It started basically a week after we arrived. I was trying to gather advice and input from people who have been here a while as to what they would recommend as well as evaluating what exactly we wanted in a vehicle. We concluded that we wanted a van so we put out there to everyone we knew to keep their eyes out for a van for us. They also have a couple of email lists that are as close as we get to craigslist that list many items for sale. What it finally came down to was our tuk tuk driver, Wibol. I say "our" tuk tuk driver because we have used him a lot and have developed a relationship with him. Wibol knows all of us by name and is very protective of the kids. He is a Christian and has an amazing life story. So he told me that his brother was selling a van. I went to look at it an drove it and liked it. However, I wanted to look around. I took a few other vans out for test drives and had each of them evaluated by a trusted mechanic here to get his opinion. We ended up purchasing the van that he said would be his choice out of the ones we looked at. We have owned it for aobut 24hrs now and we all enjoy it. It wasn't until last night when Carolyn were heading out on a date in it that we realized: none of us have been in a vehicle for about 6 weeks. That is yet one more area of change we are experiencing. By the way, the van is actually a SsangYong Istana. It is a Korean company that has some sort of official partnership with Mercedes so Mercedes actually blesses them using their logo. Weird, I know.
From a more interesting personal story, when I went to pick up the van, it was at Wibol's house. Many family members live together, including Wibol's father and mother-in-law. They live in a typical Khmai house which is one level and many units connected to each other. In front is a large swampy area. As I was there waiting for 30-40 minutes for them to install the rest of the seats, I noticed 3 or 4 trash trucks backing in and dumping trash into the swamp. At first I was appalled. I thought "How dare they dump waste in the front yard of their house!" That was until Wibol informed me that his mother-in-law and some of their other family will enthusiastically go through the new trash to find anything they can that would be worth selling. One of the most coveted items is a large ricepaper bag. They are large bags that rice comes in. Many people use them for trash bags so in each load there are usually a lot. Wibol informed me that with each load they can make up to $10 from the items collected. I was amazed and humbled. Imagine, sorting through a pile of trash that was just dumped in your front yard all for $10. My perspective is consistently being challenged and modified over here. His mother-in-law also works at our hospitality house as a cook. She used to own a restaurant but then quit. She began working again when her husband had a stroke and could no longer work. Needless to say, we are thrilled that we can help them out a bit. May God's name be glorified!! Blessings!

The Accident

The Accident

 

 

Okay. We are 10 days out from the accident and I wanted to fill everyone in on the details of the past week and a half since it all went down. I haven't yet partly because of time and partly because it was one of the most horrible things I have seen, watching Carolyn get hurt so badly. With that said, here is the story:

It was a dark and stormy night (not really but that sounded like the beginning to a good story). Actually it was hot, humid and clear last Saturday night when Carolyn and I left to go out. We had helped host the open house for Asian Hope's new hospitality house earlier in the day and had just gotten ready to go out with friends for the evening. We were both looking forward to going to a Mexican restaurant that we heard had good, relatively authentic Mexican food. So we took off on our moto, me driving and Carolyn sitting side saddle in back. We had done this many times before so we didn't give it much thought at all. We took a few back streets to make it out to the main road, Russian Boulevard. We waited in the left turn lane to get the green arrow. We were in front which ended up being a very good thing. As our light gave us the go ahead, we were able to take off and leave the other cars and motos behind (when you are further back there are so many vehicles trying to go at once that as a group they take off slower). So we were a ways in front of the other cars with an empty road in front of us. This is the main road in Phnom Penh so the speed limit is higher although we weren't going more than 25 mph. Just then I looked up and saw a Land Cruiser pulling out in front of us from a side street without stopping. He was crossing our lanes of traffic and was going to head in the opposite direction on the same street. When I saw him enter our lane I braked and turned to the right to avoid him. That is when Carolyn fell off the moto. The moto didn't go all the way down but it did tip quite a bit. This is where it is good that we were far enough ahead of everyone else as Carolyn was laying in the street. I went over to help her to the side of the street where she could sit down and we figure out what to do next. It was nice as we also had many Khmai come to help us as well. They asked us if we wanted an ambulance. I said yes right away as there was a lot of blood coming from her forehead which later we realized was lacerated from her helmet visor cracking when she went down. Her arm was also banged up pretty bad. A couple minutes passed and we decided the best option was to go to a clinic that the locals said was just right around the corner. So we went there and our illusion that it was the best option was quickly dispelled. The "clinic" was a storefront (see picture) with some pharmacy items in the front. Then you walk through a doorway and there are 2 beds right next to each other, I mean right next to each other. Then if we had walked through the next doorway we would have been in the living room of the family that owned this clinic. There was an old lady sitting on a couch watching TV right there. It was crazy. Once I got a better look at Carolyn's head, I knew we needed more than this.
I would have maybe stayed there for a paper cut, maybe. So I called a friend to come and pick Carolyn up and bring her to a hospital that was close and I would meet them there.

So we left and went to Royal Rattanak Hospital. It is a satellite location of a very good Thai hospital. It was clean, bright, sterile and just what we needed. They took great care of Carolyn as they cleaned, sutured and dressed her wounds. They also took an x-ray of her head which cleared her of any fractures (I am an even bigger proponent of helmets now). We left there with an appointment to return on Wednesday for a follow-up. Carolyn rode home with our friend and I followed on our moto. Since the staff seemed to forget to check for correct pupil dilation, I checked that at home several times that night. We also looked up symptoms for concussions and they pretty much matched with what Carolyn was experiencing: dizziness, ringing in her ears…etc. The follow-up appointment was on Wednesday and the Dr. said that since Carolyn was still experiencing those symptoms in her head that we should do a head CT scan. The funny thing about that is, just as they were saying she needed one, I saw an advertisement for "Brain CT scan for 50USD" but the rest was in Khmai. When the receptionist said the CT scan would be $185 I told them I wanted the special $50 price. Then they tried to explain to me that that special price was only for Khmai. Of course Cambodia is known for bargaining so I told them I still wanted the $50 price. After a little more conversation as well as some phone calls, they acquiesced and gave us the Khmai price. We praised God when it came back clear.

A week and a half later, Carolyn is still recovering from the trauma. The stitches in her forehead look great and the road rash on her arm is healing up nicely. Her black eye is going away little by little as each day passes. She is still dealing with some ringing in her ears and headaches, which can be frustrating and discouraging. Please pray for continued healing for her and protection for all of us as we continue to seek God in our lives over here.