Saturday
I had some real cultural experiences. To start off the day I got a hair cut which I kinda felt forced into by the fact that here your hair is always crazy cuz you are always sweaty and dusty, and it tangles very easily. I had just got my hair cut in June. Normally I could have waited till Dec but it did work out that way. You can try and imagine my fear in letting someone I don’t know cut my hair, in a foreign country that doesn’t regulate things such as who is allowed to wield scissors. I have a very choppy hair cut that is popular with the Koreans, not bad just a little different. You have to really look at my hair to tell the difference. After that Lara picked me up(on the moto J) and then we went to the house and all(Naritas and I) piled into the car and off we went to a birthday party. The birthday party was for a very cute little 1yr old girl who of course, was very shy with all the people around. They had a church service and then they dedicated the birthday girl to the Lord. They had three pillars of balloons around the cake table and on the table was this big tiger balloon/thing and then the had the cake cutting ceremony where every one gathers around the table and claps and sings happy birthday while they cut the cake. Then everyone brings their gift to the cake table, and dinner is served. I guess it is the thing to make curry for gatherings, and what we had is kinda like curry but I forgot what it was called. It had meat, carrots, potatoes and leafy something. It was good! There were some other missionaries there and we were all joking around that the meat was dog meat, so we talked to one of the ladies who came along to give us more bread and joked with her a little. When she said "oh I like dog meat its good" and then she told us how she had hit a dog while driving and wondered if they should bring it but she said no they didn’t do that. I guess that is another sign that you have adjusted, when you joke about something like that and it is super funny but could also be true. The conversation then turned to whether we would get sick from eating this and then they told me that every time you go to a wedding here you always get sick. We all know how challenging it is to make food in mass amounts and then you add the conditions that people have to cook in and no fridge access and it can be stomach risky.

Monday
After school Neang, Sarah, Lara and I went to coffee at Caltex(gas station). They have a coffee plus store inside and it is yummy. While we were there, Katja came in and joined us. She was meeting her husband there so when Erik got there he joined us also. It is the hang out place kinda like in Modesto you can go to O’Brian’s Starbucks or Costco and see like ten people you know. Well here we see each other at Caltex(for COFFEE) or Common Grounds(for COFFEE) or the Lucky grocery store(coffee also available if you really need it). We are also known for having each other over to whoever’s house for Coffee. I have come to the conclusion that Coffee brings people together from all around the world and bonds them in a special way. Like at our little Coffee gathering we had, several different countries and states were represented. There was Neang who is from Cambodia, Katja who is from Germany, Erik who is from Holland, Lara from Hawaii, Sarah from Delaware and me from California. OK so maybe we are just fueling each other's addictions, but you have to admit that going out to Coffee with friends is great. I have learned the importance of this since I am living in a house of non-coffee drinkers. When I came I brought the first/only coffee maker(Thanks Paul) into the house. ANYWAY
We had a great time, after picking up Neang’s kids from school. We(Sarah, Neang and I) went to Elly’s house for Karaoke. This was interesting. We sang Bye Bye Love, Under The Boardwalk, Hard Day’s Night, Wait a Minute Mr. Postman, Downtown and Can’t Buy Me Love. I was introduced to Love Potion no9 which in my opinion is a lame and terrible song, and also some very interesting Cambodian songs.

Tuesday
We had a great day in school and Spanish was my favorite thing today, also history is fun cuz we are read aloud to and so the youngest and I color princess color pages. After that we went out to Happy Ranch and the girls had their first horseback riding lesson. I had a great time chillaxin in a big wood chair with my ipod and watching the horses, and I must admit I STARED at the grass. We are talking like a yard FULL of grass so nice and green, you just don’t see that here. Then tonight as I write this the Truexs are playing Apples to Apples card game, It is super funny cuz they play that when you put a card down you can explain why your card should win. This is funny like when Scott (the Dad) tries to explain why bubbles are nice. His reason is because when a baby is around 6-8 months and you blow bubbles for them it makes them happy and make cute noises and that is NICE. Nice was the Adjective and you have nouns and noun phrases in your hand that you choose from that go along or explain the Adjective( you can look it up online if you have never heard of it and this is confusing).

Prayer
A couple of people are a little sick this week so pray for healing or endurance.
For Sarah, Elly and Neang that they would come to know the Lord.
That I would be Christ like in my actions and words.
That I would not fight against the refining process that the Lord is allowing me to go through.
For the people of this country who are struggling to survive on the very little if any money that they make.
For the Christians who are/feel forced to marry a non-Christian spouse, and the young people who come to know the Lord and are afraid to tell their parents for fear of rejection.
Thanks :) P.S more pictures to come soon!