The Kingdom of Cambodia

Due to a very unpleasant mistake on the part of our old school, we had visa issues and had to quickly leave the country this week. We flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Tuesday afternoon, and flew back to Bangkok on Wednesday. It was a very expensive day off, that's for sure, and sadly we had to foot the bill (Thanks a lot, Saint Francis School), but it was nice to get away for a night (and cool to get the Cambodia stamp in our Passports.)

After a half-day of work on Tuesday, we got to the airport, boarded the plane, and after an hour, we landed in Cambodia. We booked a random hotel on expedia, which turned out to be really nice. Right off the bat, we were amazed at how well everyone speaks English in Phnom Penh. Although it is a poorer, less developed country than Thailand, the amount of people who speak at least passable English is much higher. People were very helpful and kind, and we really enjoyed our night there. Our hotel happened to be connected with a French restaurant, so on Tuesday night, we had a wonderful French dinner on the roof: French onion soup, red snapper and crepe Suzette. Yum! We loved how much quieter and darker this city was compared to Bangkok.

The next morning, we slept in (a novelty now that we work six days a week and go to church on the seventh), and went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Our hotel was in what appeared to be the Korean district of town, so we naturally stopped in for a Korean lunch, made by real Koreans. Nikki would be very proud of us for using our three Korean phrases: Anyeonghaseyo, Kamsa hamnida, and Mashisoyo (Hello, Thank you, and It's delicious). I could even read a couple of items from the menu thanks to my self-taught Korean alphabet lesson back in May 2010.

We also found an awesome, very Portland-ish style coffee shop to chill for a couple of hours. I got a spiced Indian tea, and John got a coffee brewed with beans from Lao.

We enjoyed walking through the city. There are a ton of parks, and a lot less pollution than we are used to in Bangkok.

Prayer Request: Please pray for John. Over the past weeks, he has had three random, non-connected foot injuries. Today, while playing football with some teachers from school, he completely ripped off his big toe nail, and he's in a lot of pain. Don't worry, I won't post pictures, but if you could pray for a quick recovery, that would be great!