Thursday, June 26, 2008

Life After Cambodia

After being in the U. S. of A. for 2 weeks now post-Cambodia, here are the things that I am incredibly grateful for that are available to me in this blessed country and not in Cambodge:
  • Target.
  • access to good, clean hospitals and doctors.
  • spacious living conditions, especially a clean floor where Carson can scoot around.
  • ice cream.
  • many other delicious foods, especially options that do not include rice.
  • I can finally go outside and go for a walk! And the air is clean and nothing smells like dead fish.
  • Carson can sit in a real high chair and eat foods with a real baby spoon and bowl.
  • reliable internet.
  • a piano.
  • safe transportation. We are no longer cooped up in one room!
  • a washer and dryer. I will never wash by hand again.
  • hot water, right out of the faucet.
  • my parents and sisters.
However, here are the things that I am still missing terribly from Cambodia:
  • Carson's dad.
  • my husband.
  • this guy:

I have sworn to never get mushy in a post, but my heart hurt today. 11 more days without Rick.

Did I mention that my mom left for Utah on Tuesday, my dad is hiking the Appalachian Trail for a couple of days, and Mackenzie spends 12+ hours working every day? Talk about loneliness!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Home Sweet Home

A weekend of house-hunting with my parents and my in-laws, and without my husband yielded success!

Isn't it cute?


Looking out the front door.

One side of the house. Ivy instead of grass = less yardwork!

Carson, go play outside; I'm making dinner! It is all fenced-in!

The only downside is the tiny kitchen. But look at this adorable little breakfast room just off the kitchen!

Love the white trim and panels on the doors.
Double doors from the family room to the dining room, which we will make a playroom.

Carson with all 4 grandparents. The expert house-hunting team!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

7 months old and scooting!

Carson is 7 months old tomorrow!



My parents and I are off to Winston-Salem, NC this weekend to look for a place to live! The medical school decision has finally been made. It was hard to give up the dream of going to Georgetown, but we feel we'll be better off down south. There, we can afford a nice little 3 bedroom with a yard only blocks from the med school campus, whereas in Georgetown we would have been stuck in a teeny apartment. And, there's a chance that Carson will develop a southern accent.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Cambodia Re-cap

Here is the final report on our (mine and Carson's) stay in Cambodia. Rick's final report is yet to come, as he is still working hard over there.

I taught English to 2 classes of students. They had a very hard time understanding why I had decided to leave Cambodia early.

Shopping in the markets was probably my favorite activity in Cambodia. Tons and tons of the cutest silk purses ever, which you can get for as low as 5 dollars.

The markets, however, were very hot. Here, a store owner helps to cool Carson off.

Rick and Carson making friends while I complete my transactions.

A highlight of our stay in Cambodia was a visit from Brian and Callie. They are even crazier than we are for touring nearly all of SE Asia before working with a leper colony in India for 5 weeks. They are much smarter than we are for doing all of this before they have a baby.

We decided that Rick and Brian could pass for brothers.

While Brian and Callie were with us, we were invited to a "funeral." It was actually to commemorate the 3-year mark of the person dying. They do a Buddhist ceremony when the person dies, 7 days after, 100 days after, and then 3 years after. (I think.) Here, a Buddhist priest is chanting (very loudly) while others sit and worship.

These kids are worshiping, too. I got the impression that Cambodian children are very obedient and respectful. No temper tantrums from these kids about wanting some toy.

Our friends, Eng Bun Huouch and Dani. The funeral was for Eng's father.


Just our cute baby.

Just our cute baby's buns.
Carson enjoyed repelling off of the bed in the hotel room in Siem Reap.

This is the spider that was on our wall in the same hotel.

Cambodia offers some very exotic fruits. The purple bulb is mangostein, and I already forget the names of the others!

This is a dragon fruit, closed...
and open!

Carson's Cambodian bath tub.
Carson's Cambodian mo hawk.


This is the outside of Central Market, right in Phnom Penh.



We visited the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison in the same day. I didn't take a ton of pictures, as it was a pretty sobering experience.

One of the rooms in the prison. Another building in the prison features paintings from a survivor of the Pol Pot years. He survived by painting propaganda for the Khmer Rouge. Afterwards, he painted tons of huge pictures of the torture and victims. Tears came pretty easily from that display.

Our trip to Cambodia was worth it just to get a picture of Carson on an elephant.
How many people can say they rode an elephant as a baby?

Angkor Wat.




Just frolicking amongst the ancient ruins.


Some of the kids at Angkor Wat.


These kids wanted money for doing crazy dives into the water.

Call CPS if you want, but there were no car seats in Cambodia. I still can't believe we did this.

Monkeys played around Angkor Wat. This one is digging out some coconut.


And these are kindly picking lice off of each other.All the time, people like this would ask for a picture with us and Carson.

Carson befriends the natives.

"Whoa, that baby is white!" says the Cambodian kid.

At the Cambodian Cultural Village, Rick was selected out of the crowd to be part of a performance. They took him away for a few minutes during the play, and they brought him back later...

...looking like this!
Us with the king and queen.

A view from the bus on our way up to Siem Reap.

We attended the dedication of the church's second building in the country of Cambodia.

This is a very nice family that Rick taught on his mission. Doesn't Rick fit right in?? He is American, I promise.

Now let's just hope that Rick makes it back as safely as we did!!