for Robb....

i dont know what to say.

i was shocked by the news about Robb's cancer. as soon as i saw a few emails saying 'urgent' and 'Robb Heaton' i knew something was wrong. i prayed 'god please dont let it be cancer again' of course then i read the emails and literally ran to Steve+midges house and prayed with them for a while. i had to go and find somewhere quite, then i broke down. im not ashamed to say i cried my eyes out. it was the first time in my adult life i have genuinely cried and not been able to stop. i sat there for over an hour.

i started to remember the things that Robb said to me at our cell group leaving party a few months ago before i left. he is a good friend and i love him dearly. there is nothing i can really do being this far away. if anyone see's him can you please tell him that i am thinking of him. i dont know whether he will read this, i assume not.

i cant underestimate how sad and shocked i have been feeling about this whole situation.

so in one sense it has been a traumatic week that reached a climax this morning in church. we had two new khmer come along for the first time so i needed to change my plans for the worship and include some more khmer songs to help them feel at home. unfortunately i am still learning the songs so really badly bluffed my way through it. i was relieved to have it over by the end, although steve was encouraging i felt utterly crap. a plus point was that straight after we had our khmer cell group/alpha style bible study. which is always good and vern one of the new guys is really interested and asking some great questions. so i am feeling good about that...can you see i am trying to be positive!

i managed to break my bike aswell. the line that connects the motor to the engine got cut open somehow. its a pain not to be able to use it untill i can take it to the repair shop. ughhhh stress. again, though, on a plus i took a moto taxi to church this morning and the guy was 20 years old and said that he learned to play guitar and sings christian songs. it is hard to assume that means he is a christian but it was nice to meet him anyway. he sits on the corner all day every day just outside my house, so im going to chat with him a bit more and practice my khmer with him.

some people who know me well might say that im clumsey, i would argue that im accident prone. either way i managed to drop this big heavy metal padlock on my foot which left me with this big cut. fortunately i was searching through my stuff and found the first aid kit lucy made for me to bring here and raided it for plasters. i found some paracetemol as well and downed a few of them! i also had heat rash on my left hand and my forearm which is a little worrying as ive never had it before, at first i thought it was leprosey or something. good thing it has nearly gone now.

forgive my complaining (and spelling), iam trying to paint a real picture of what it is like here and my day-to-day struggles. i hope i am being honest enough for you to understand that i am not in paradise and for you to realise that there is a cost that has to be paid. the gospel is advancing here at a steady pace, sometimes its barers struggle.

dedicated to Robb. i am thinking and praying for you always my brother and friend.

Ben.

glutous maximus

It turned out to be a real good few days down at the beach, a few days i wish had turned into a week. i was tempted by a gesthouse with beds for $3 a night. i figured i could live here pretty cheap for a few months then catch a bus home. my adult reason turned on and i humbly got into the car, a truely defeated and under adventurous traveller. maybe 2 monhs was too much anyway, i could have stayed for another couple of nights!

so straight after my last blog, in the shack just off the beach, i went and parked my glutous maximus in this nice little restaurant, one of the many that litter the beach front. i sipped a glass of ice cold beer and shoved mouthful after mouthful of lok-lak down my gob whilst watching a rather magical sunset. it made me think that actually i have seen this before many times whilst sitting on worthing beach or up on the downs. im just seeing it from a different angle today. its strange what the mind does when its starved of rational human conversation. i sat back and finished my book then partisipated in some fire poi khmer style...
...i enjoyed it soo much i did the same thing the next day at a different place then suddenly realised that you could do this for weeks before getting bored, there are soo may beaches with soo many bars and restaurants, what at first seemed a rather small and unappealing place suddenly opened up into a world of possible relaxation and chilled out beach bars. i must say the temptation to stay was huge. im glad im back in the city now though! cheap internet!

the three days cost me $25 per day, thats living pretty well. i recon i could survive down there on $12 a day. i will have to make another trip at some point to test my estimate.

i bought a bunch of books from a bookstore in sihanoukville. the political biography of pol-pot, a khmer dictionary and a book called 'off the rails in phnom penh' its all about the drugs, guns and girls of cambodia a paints a very vivid picture of life in the late nineties in the city. i must say although some of the stories dont leave much to the imagination it has been quite captivating and opened up a whole new understanding of the political scene, the recent history, and various funny anecdotes about westerners trying to buy guns and huge bags of heroine from market sellers. it is a strange world where anything that once seemed crazy to anyone with any common sense or conscience, now seems normal and acceptable.

life and times of a solitary adventurer.
Ben.

if you know what i mean...

so it turns out there is an internet cafe at the beach... its not really a cafe and im amazed it can sustain any decent internet service. it is basically a bamboo shack in a field with half a dozen computers casually slotted in either side. i cant imagine what they do when it rains. plus it costs 3 times more per hour so i was a bit narked. it is still only about 60p for an hour, but when your paying about 18p in the city it really bothers you.

the beach here is ok. if you got rid of all the tourists it would be a great place. it is actually really beautiful and the hotel is nice. it has cable tv and aircon which is worth every penny. unfortunately this means ive been lying on my bed watching premiership football ever since we arrived. appart from a bunch of beach bars and boat rides to nearby islands there isnt a lot to do which is nice. most of the people here are in big groups travelling together. which makes you feel a bit stupid sitting on your own. maybe im still too conscious of what other people think?

the ride down was good. it took 3 1/2 hours and we stopped at this waterfall outside the town whcih again was really beautiful. im going to try and post some photos when i get back to the city. like everything here something has potential to be really nice but is overshadowed (in my opinion) by the realities of khmer culture. for example, there is litter everywhere, which ruins the beach, there are more beggers and girls offering a massage (if you know what i mean). plus a lot of tourists who come here have few goals other than drinking and meeting locals (if you know what i mean) so it all makes for a fairly immoral place. fortunately i have sky sports to keep me company!

i realised yesterday, as i sat on the beach looking deep into the gulf of thailand and trying to avoid getting stung by all the jelly fish that were washing up around me, that i am as far away from home as i could ever possibly be. i wanted to get away and see the world, now i have.

we're half way there whoa-oa living on a prayer.
Ben.

BIG chunk of wood.

well its been a busy week. as they say time fliys when your having fun. time flys faster when your busy. ive hit my stride in terms of work and have a pretty full shedule.

its been great in terms of building for the future. this week alone we met three khmer men my age who all want to come to church and learn about Jesus. i wish i could take credit for it but Sothy(sotea) and Danet(dan-i) are really good at bringing others in. its been great to be faced with the prospect of some male Khmer in the church. there are barely any men both western and khmer so it would be great to boost the testosterone level.

so in answer to a bunch of emails about the specifics of my future plans. here we go. by the way did you notice how i went off on this self righteous rant about telling someone so its hard to back out of a decision then i didnt say a word about what i had decided? i have a big chunk of wood in my eye.

im planning 2 years in advance at the moment.

1. carpentry apprentership? i think this is a wise decision and ive always wanted to get a trade. plus building stuff is just soo cool.
2. leadership trainning with new frontiers. its a possibility but who knows?

then i have a bunch of stuff i have been delaying which i have decided to get done over these two years...like driving lessons.

i have a more in depth list which im not going to publish on here because it includes other more personal information, but rest assured i will tell someone about that stuff so all the bases are covered.

im probably not going to be able to post abnything on here till next weekend because of the long awaited beach trip this week. feel free to picture me sunning it up on a beach in the gulf of thailand with a decent novel in one hand and a pint of ice cold lager in the other. this is all i want. i hope i wont be dissappointed.

long live the king.

Ben.

a poor unsuspecting sun lounger

Its been an interesting few days. we had a boat party for Emily, a lady in the church who is going back to England for a period of time to get refreshed. no one is sure if she will come back though. life here can be really hard for people who put everything into it and see very small results. i think it has been a hard time for her. either way she is pretty sad to be going to England. i dont know if that is how i will feel but i tell you the truth i stood there all evening wishing it was my leaving party. i guess you could say im feeling home sick, although i hate to admit it.

Steve and I had the ''chat'' that had been booked in for over a month and i was desperately trying to avoid. Steve challenged me about planning for the future...something I came to Cambodia to avoid...or at least delay for another year. So i spent some time thinking about it and weighing up my options. Bob, who was over for a month from New Zealand, was really helpful, we went out a few times together just to chat and make use of his decades of experience. he is a truely remarkable man. i have a lot of respect for him. he said that its great to make decisions but unless you tell someone about them it is all too easy to back out and not commit to them. so there we go...i told someone. as soon as i did i was thinking 'have i made the right decisions?' I said to Lucy in an email the other day that my biggest fear is making the wrong decision. Im learning to get over it! its blummin hard though.

in other news...
i had my first Khmer hair cut. you have 3 options with this.
1 - you can go to a western salon ($4-7)
2 - Khmer salon ($1-2)
3 - you can have some dodgy looking bloke on the side of the road do it ($0.3)

i went to a Khmer salon and paid a buck. i think it was worth it, but next time im gonna argue and get it cheaper. apparently i paid too much. i dont know whether that was a comment about the state of my hair after the cut or just a genral comment about Khmer slaons, either way it doesnt look too bad. unlike when dad shaved our heads for world cup2002, i will leave that one to your imaginations...

...really flippin looking forward to going to the beach on monday. i cant wait to get away. i really need a holiday, so it should be good. im not planning on doing anything all week. i have a stack of books and a body of pale skin. so i will set up camp down on some poor unsuspecting sun lounger for the week.

It has been really great reading emails from people all over the world who have been checking out the blog. it has been a real encouragement, so thanks a bunch.
If you havent but want to the address is:
bentucker_87@hotmail.com
please stay in touch.

Psalm 91:1
Ben.

punching walls

glad to hear things are starting to get cold in the UK. sadly things are starting to heat up this end of the line. i remember like it was yesterday going to bed with a hot waterbottle in my sleeping bag under a big double duvet whilst still partially clothed. ahh heene road.

it has been good making friends here (as i mentioned in my philosophical rant in the last blog) yet it dawned on me that because of everything im doing here and the whole reason im here it is hard to build lasting friendships. everything i do here whether it be to do with the church or anything else is all linked into the whole bigger picture of my experience in this culture. so in some respects making friends feels a bit like going to work. unlike in worthing if i wanted to detach myself from the stress of working for the church, i could go and hide somewhere, but here it is impossible to find anywhere to retreat to. even my home and friends, outside of the church, cannot help me with this one. they are all part of my life here and i cannot escape it.

having said all that i havent really wanted to escape...yet. even someone with the best intentions still needs to find somewhere quiet where they can punch the wall.

...........change of subject needed

still looking at hummingbirds on ebay. its still going to be a while before i can afford one but there is a plan set in motion. i dread to think what has happened to jo-anna (my takamine) in the hands of joseph witchurch. i need another girl to name the next guitar after...any suggestions?

live long and prosper.
Ben.

a philosophical week.

its been a strange week. ive nearly hit 8 weeks away from home. a couple of days ago i bought a moto (scooter) which has been great fun, getting out and about on it has given me the freedom i knew i really needed. plus its just so cool. i felt so homesick when dad told me about his new car...ughhhhh.

www.sjtucker.blogspot.com
its pretty sweet.

we're going down to the beach in 2 weeks time which should be good, although im not sure how itsa going to be having a holiday with the smith boys. to be honest i think i need a holiday without them. but either way my new philosophy continues to lead me into interesting situations and relationships...

My New Philosophy:
'never turn down an oppertunity to build relationships'
its that simple.
however, it means that even if i feel crappy i still go out if im invited, or if im unsure about doing something or its with someone i dont really know all that well, ive decided to jump for everything thats thrown my way. the idea being that i will get the most out of my time away.
i was also thinking about life...as you do when you have alot of time with nobody but yourself, and it dawned on me that life is just one constant string of relationships. whether they are long or short you meet people and build them everyday. they are what makes life interesting. if someones life is predictable and boring i would suggest it is because they have stopped caring about the people around them and have shut themselves off.
anyway there it is.

so with this in view ive been meeting some really strange people with equally strange stories. we went down to the 'backpackers'part of town last week. i went with issac who i barely know and we picked up his friend mike who i just met that evening. we went down to a quiz night at the lazy geko bar. issac took off to attend a pregnant woman and left me with mike who i just met...
...so mike see's this bunch of girls he met at a halloween party the night before so we sat with them...again i didnt know any of them. we all chipped in on the quiz questions and by the end of the night wo won by a slim margin. everyone who plays chips in a doller then the winning team takes all. unfortunately these girls had by this time a pretty huge tab (they were drinking alot) so most of the money went to pay that off...but i did get $5 out of it. so not a bad evening altogether. having said that the company although interesting were not exactly wholesome and the conversation was far from edifying. that payed my food bill for the week.

football continues to be my social highlight of the week. the 'womb' refers to a big cut in my elbow i suffered from getting a little too competative. although, this week just gone was by far the dirtist so far. my goodness. it was great. i think i have a few enemies now...

must go i have people to meet and relationships to build.
email me at : bentucker_87@hotmail.com
please forward this email and by blog address on to others. thanks for reading.
relaxing and maxing.
Ben.

sack of potato's

i hope these posts are still proving interesting to read. maybe this one will be more interesting.
...
the night was halloween and the sun had fallen behind a blanket of darkness. the moon was draped in a foggy mist and roamed in the air like a thief in the night. for many this would be a normal night. for others it would prove so horrible that no words could mask the events of such happenings only the testimony of those who were unfortunate enough to be eye witnesses.

a small gathering of friends under the shadow of an abandoned hotel would prove a worthy adversary for a night of intense competative sport and manly showmanship. the ego in the air was almost as pungent as the odor from sweaty shirts. legs were sent flying. reputations were forming and amongst the ego,odor and spooky mist one man finds himself with the ball at his feet. running like the wind he hit his stride. with a foot on the ball and a balance momentarily misplaced the valient warrior hits the ground harder than a sack of potatos. the makeshift arena fell silent as blood poured from the womb and sweat dripped from the brow of a fallen giant. yet all was not lost as the ball rolled into the net to the sound of 'champions!'

the night was a staggering sucess for the underdogs who came out on top despite being massively under manned and full of rubbish thai's. this night like many others sums up the social lives of a large proportion of expat blokes in PP.

praise God for football.

a spoon full of discipline

the baptisms yesterday were a massive result. we went to logos school in toul kok which is a international christian school with a nice big pool and dunked a bunch of people. it was great to hear my friend sothy give his testimony and hear from some of the other khmer who had recently been added to the church. what a great time.

ive re evaluated the marathon idea...they have a 10k run which is more managable and i ran about 3k the other day before i started to feel tired, so i recon with a spoon full of discipline i could do 10k. plus how cool would it be to say i did a 10k run round angkor wat. result.

tonight is charlie and steve's engagement party they booked a boat on the riverside to go out on. apparently they invited like over 60 people so it should be a right bash. throughly looking forward to it.

its time to give, its time to go.
Ben.

sunburnt and twisted

lots to say today.

its been a really hectic week and to be honest ive been really stressed. im still not sleeping well and have a load of stuff on my mind, so its been a really testing week.
i read in the paper about a half marathon at angkor wat in december and ive decided to give it a go. well im going to check out the web site now! i ran three times round the northbridge football fields...which is quite a distance. i recon i ran 2 miles before i started to feel tired. so i have a way to go before i could run 13. im going to see if my american friend dave wants to give it a go. should be a laugh.
we played expat football on tuesday night which was great. a whole mix of people from all over the world. its mainly westerners and its with a full size ball on a small concrete parking lot it was really competative, im going to make sure i get there every week. its a really good work out and ive met a bunch of good people.

went out with sothy yesterday (pronounced so-tea) he wanted to introduce me to his friends at university so we first went and walked up the riverfront and watched the boats getting ready for the river festival next week, then we had a coffee and went up to the uni. unfortunately i wasnt allowed into the university , the guard said it was because they were having classes, which i understood but then i thought that seems weird because surely they are always having classes. anyway sothy reconed he wanted a bribe to let me in and i didnt have any money on me so we left. it was good to relax together and see each other to build our friendship. it is good having someone of that age that i can talk to about stuff. he was telling me all about his girlfriend and showed me a picture of her. none of the men get married untill they are 30 and have a decent job. sothy seemed to think that if you get married in your 20's you are destined to get a divorce. i think that is one of those cultural things that i will never understand.

im going to get a licence and a motobike soon. the reason i want to do this is because it allows you so much more freedom and the amount of money im spending on transport at the moment is quite alot. so by the end of my year here im sure i will save money by getting one...plus their so cool. there are thousands of them on the roads here.

i was chatting to mum on the phone earlier i cant believe its been 8 weeks since ive been here. which means only 8 months to go! she was please to remind me that i will be coming home...love you mum. cant wait to hear about all their adventures in india.

im a little sunburnt today which is the first time that has happened but my skin is slowly going a browny gold colour. im not sure if this is because of the sun or the dirt either way i still stand out a mile from the khmer.

livin it up.
ben.

now or never, forever?

I booked a bunch of language lessons this week. which should be good. ive been pretty impressed by myself and even steve commented that some of the khmer songs are sounding really good. im glad i went and got it sorted because now i have to make an effort. for me its quite a big financial commitment. so its now or never.

good to recieve your emails.

if you want to send something the postal address is
steve smith
po box 538
phnom penh
cambodia

Toul Sleng Genocide Museum

a cell...most dont even have windows
you can see the gallows on the right.
faces of the victims.

I dont have any words to say about this place. One thing is for sure I will never go back there as long as I live. seeing torture and death in movies is pretty bad but standing under gallows where thousands of people were hung and strung up is an aweful experience. the walls of faces will haunt me.

lets go fly a kite

this is the village the night after a big storm. you can see all the sewage water the kids play in. its all very unpleasant. i think i was well prepared for it so i wasnt too shocked but i think it was too overwhelming for Mary who didnt know what to expect.

these pictures were uploaded on a decent dell laptop which is by far the best ive used since being here. so they load up quicker, if i get the chance in the next few days i will try to add some more to the blog. i can imagine how hard it is to picture what things are like here by just reading my blogs. i can honestly say that this first month has been excelent and has blow away any expectations i had. i didnt really know what to expect before coming here but i feel very comfortable and at home.
these are a bunch of kids from stung men chay village.
this is harry buying a kite at independance monument a few sundays ago.

i forgot to tell you about my bike ride the other day i basically cycled all afternoon round a bunch of places id never have ended up in if i hadnt gone exploring. i did the british thing of never stopping to turn around or admit i was lost. just keep nodding and smiling. i ended up miles from anywhere safe and litterally nearly died sevral times. but the whole experience was good. i was dripping with sweat and my legs were cramping all over.

tumbleweed

this week has been great.
wednesday night a guy called dave from the usa came round for dinner. he works for some charity but is quite involved with the elim church and youth programe. they play football at least 3 times a week. so straight after dinner i jumped on his moto and we went to young life centre which is basically a youth centre where they do a bunch of outreach. they have about 60 regular khmer people coming to young life. so we played football in their yard which is slightly smaller than a tennis court. 3 a side. with this small wicker ball that looks abit like tumbleweed and is really bouncy. then play the winner stays on. it was the most fun ive had sinse being here. not only did i lose my bodyweight in sweat but it was real aggressive male bonding. plus there were a bunch of white expats my age there.
i met this guy jonny who is from northern ireland and is here for 3 months before going to kosovo. then two more kiwis called mark and justin. i couldnt believe it but these guys were the best out of all of us...and their from new zealand. apparently new zealand were in the world cup once but didnt score any goals. (at the end of the game this big fat khmer guy called sopy took of his shirt and wringed it out on the floor...there was litterally a pool of sweat. it was flowing like milk and honey. ughhh...)
...as you can imagine this was a really great thing to do (the football). ive had alot of independance since moving out and im really glad i did. plus haveing bob and mary with us has been fantastic, they are soo wise and full of knowledge about different weather patterns....long story.

my language is getting better. im going to start taking weekly lessons at this school near the market hopefully. these only cost about $3/4 for an hour so its well worth it. steve was quite impressed today when i sang one of the khmer songs at the practice. i could be alot more disciplined about it though so im really going to knuckle down.

i havent heard from the family in india yet. although mum sent a text saying their taxi driver had a death wish. i cant wait for them to see the traffic here.

another great thing about being with kerry is her tuk-tuk. she said she would show me how to work it then i can borrow it whenever i want. so if abyone comes to visit i might pick them up in the tuk-tuk. its pretty cool. i wish you could get one and take it back to england. although apparently they started a tuk-tuk service in brighton...

so life here is good. for the first time this week i actually realised that i could live here permantely and would be happy. but im not sure if that is what is going to happen so dont place any bets yet.

living in a pool of sweat.
Ben.

pace maker

wow what a crazy few days. Bob and Mary Cheesman from New Zealand have come over for a month. they are british but have lived in christchurch for 5 years. Both are in their 60's. and were amazed at the roads and traffic. i only realised after hearing them talk about it that i must have sounded the same a month ago...
Bob has a pace maker and is deaf in one ear. he is quite a pace maker himself he used to be the organisation manager for stonleigh bible week, which means he was overlooking all the medical, catering and security staff. mary is a little deaf in both ears and has hearing aids...bless them. they are a great couple. bob is going to be preaching on daniel for the next four weeks.
because of them coming to help with the home schooling and the fact that its their first time in asia they are staying with the smiths and i have been evicted! its actually good. i have landed on my feet. not only do i now have a bigger room. but it has an en-suite bathroom and a lockable door. so at least i can get some privacy. im staying with kerry a really nice american woman who used to come to the church but for whatever reason doesnt come any more. she has a bunch of kids one thai three khmer and one yank. they are all younger than Sam and jordan.

i get to do a bunch of tourist stuff this week with B&M which is good. we are going to toul sleng genocide museum which i havent been to yet and then to the royal palace.

today we went to (stung men chay) the village. it was my first time there and i actually really enjoyed it. i got to practice soe of my khmer phrases on the kids who just stood there and laughed at a white man speaking khmer! there was a massive thunderstorm last night so alot of the city is flooded today particularly down at the village which is by a small sewage river which bursts its banks in the wet season. this basically means that the whole place was ankle deep in sewage. the kids are all playing in it then they come and hug you. its all abit too much to do every week.

chris...a kiwi in the church got denge fever last week and had to be taken to bangkok for treatment there. its not a serious virus and the body treats its self 80% of the time. so its just a matter of enduring the pain for a few weeks. there are alot of sick people in the church here which you can understand when you see the condition some people live in.

i have been eaten alive by mossies.
forever young
ben.

headless chickens

thanks for all post matt. im looking forward to lost and newday...in that order! i havent preordered newday so it would make a much appreciated gift.
things here are really productive... yesterdday me and Steve spent 4 hours driving around the city trying to find somewhere that sells plastic so we could get a guy to build us a drum screne. on the plus side i got to see abit more of the city that i hadent been to yet. the north looks alot like bangkok with its high rise apartment buildings and seedy back streets which are always filled with people running around like headless chickens.
there are soo many odd things that happen here that you would never imagine ever happening on the streets of worthing. i saw a guy with a pig strapped to the back of his moto...not that weird but the pig had been gutted so all its insides were going on the road...there is still blood stains ! i cant remember if i already told that story. the incident with the rat seems to have died. not sure what happened the trap never went off and the mysterious rat screams stopped.

things here are well. keep reading and posting....i love all the banter.
long live 'lost'.
Ben.

cool aid acid test

ive been trying to upload some pictures but i fear it wont cope. we had a power cut at the office today and so there was no fans and no lights. this basically meant i was sweating in the dark. thankyou for you letters i had more than the smiths!
i was wide awake this morning at 5 am. there was a rat in the ceiling above my bed that was screaming and running around, so with a torch in one hand and a can of mossie repelant in the other i was armed and ready.
shadow (the cat) is proving to be a good rodent killer. i saw him kill and eat a mouse the other day. it sounds cool but it was actually quite disturbing. he pretty much swallowed the thing whole but stopped to crunch on its skull, which i recon you could hear a few streets away.

Bob and Mary are coming on tuesday for a month from new zealand. to take some of the preaching burden from steve and allow some time for language study. which will be good. they are english and im told Bob had led several churches in england so im keen to spend some time with him. it should be a good time.

i realised i havent told you anything about the country. probably because i havent seen much of it. some of the ladies in the church took the long ride to the beach for a few days this week and came back fully refreshed. im hoping to get down there for a few days before christmas.

im still not sleeping well, because of rats and other things, so i seem to be plagued with a never ending fatigue which has crippled me physically to the point of complete exhaustion. despite not actually being too busy.

i never thought id say it and so soon but i do miss everyone in england. however, i do feel like this is my 'cool aid acid test' it has helped me to realise that my relationship with god was heavily based on my relationships with my friends and the church. which is not altogether a bad thing but im learning to be more reliant in god alone and build something lasting. so far it has been a really positive experience.

we went kite flying on sunday afternoon down by independance monument (the only open space in the city centre big enough to pursue this pastime) it was good. although we saw some dilomat drive by with a police escort one of the police men asked glynn if he could have one of his children. this was altogether quite an upsetting experience for me more than anyone. the kids just shrug it off.

midge has the second part of a painful root canal operation today so i must rush home and stay with the boys when they go to the dentist.

long but not lost.
Ben.

Bob+Harry

06/10/2006
da neak jol jay plah bomb tay?
Do you like apples?
Baah, kynom jol jay plah bomb
Yes, I like apples

The word for cucumber is hard to pronounce. You have to roll your tongue on the ‘dt’
Dtrong sot
There is a silent‘t’ on the ‘sot’

Tay, kynom men jol jay dtrong sot
No, I don’t like cucumber.

Maysien has been teaching me and Jordan Khmer. He has spent the last three years resisting but he has no excuse now. If he is annoying me I speak to him in Khmer and he soon shuts up. He knows if mum or dad hears the conversation they will make him answer me. If he pronounces something wrong he has to keep going till he gets it right. I try to repeat this exercise a few times everyday. Not only does it help my language but it’s also very funny.

soo much has happened its hard to tell all.
however....
The best joke I’ve heard since being here…and I’ve heard a lot!

A travelling faith healer stops at this town and prepares for an evening meeting. The crowds soon gather. He shouts at the top of his voice: ‘do you believe?’ they shout back ‘we believe’ he calls again ‘do you believe’ they shout even louder ‘yes, we believe’
He then calls into the audience for sick people to come and receive healing. A man called Harry comes onto the stage with clutches. The faith healer says ‘what’s wrong?’ Harry says ‘I want to walk again’ so the healer says ‘ok Harry wait behind this curtain.’
A second man walks onto the stage, his name is Bob. The healer says to him ‘what’s wrong?’ he says ‘I-I-I-I-I want to s-s-s-s-s-speak without a s-s-s-s-s-stammer’ so he says ‘ok Bob go behind this curtain.’
The faith healer then says

‘by the power given me I pronounce you healed.’
‘Harry drop your clutches and come out.’
‘Bob say something’

Bob replies ‘h-h-h-h-h-h-harrys fallen over’

(This had me laughing for hours)
Ben.

daylight robbery

Alex - No i will not bring an AK47 home. i dont think i would get it in my bag before someone tried to offer me their children for it. also i think the police would have something to say about the matter...probably a pat on the back for my courage and an outstretched hand for a big bribe...no joke.

Joe - I hope you were joking when you said you've dropped my guitar 7 times already? we didnt discuss the conditions of the loan but i want her back in one piece. plus...i though everyone named their guitars after girls? oh well the cat is out of the bag.

Luke - you can buy Lost season 1&2 for about 3 pounds each at the market...brilliant. if you have no conscience (like us) you can get some real bargains.

everyone else:

i paid $5 for 2 shirts yesterday aparently i was ripped off. i thought it was daylight robbery but apparently you can get 3/4 for $5. i need to work on my 'thats unfair just because im white i pay extra' face.

seeing as my occupation is basically baby sitter/guitar teacher i thought id kill two birds with one stone. im putting the finishing touches on the ultimate beginners guitar booklet. it has everything you could ever need to know...or in other words everything i know. by the end of lesson 10 a competent and hard working student will be able to play 'amazing grace' standing upside down whilst being poked with a giant stick. this is more fun than it sounds trying to convince children that this is the way everyone playes guitar. ahhhh ignorant children.

so apart from getting my kicks from confusing innocent children, it is very quiet here, i have a lot of time. yet i have a lot to do and always seem to be on my feet.

highlight of the week:
someone said 'you look very dappy today' apparently it means smart and well dressed. how very british.

over and out.
Ben.

dead chuffed...

Sunday 1st October

Another Sunday rolls by. This one was great. Although completely exhausting.
I met soti today. I’ve been waiting to meet someone like him since I arrived. He is basically a really gentle 20 year old Khmer guy. After about 5 minutes talking with him he said in broken English ‘I think you and I be friends long time’ he offered to take me out whenever I have free time to see more of the city and meet some more Khmer students. He told me all about traditions and cultural practices of the Khmer, what is rude and what is acceptable. I’m so happy to have this new friend. He is a man. My age and he speaks English. The first I have seen in three weeks.
Although he and his sister are Christians he faces a lot of pressure from his family. This is a very common problem amongst this young generation. Their parents spend a lot of time and money putting through school and university with the understanding that they will help the family and support them. There is a lot of other stuff I’m ignorant about.

We spent last night having dinner at Chris and dale’s new house. These guys are kiwi’s and have been here for about 2 years. They’re really nice people.

The actual morning meeting is good. Sopiri one of the Khmer girls gave her life to Christ this morning! This is real New Testament, Acts chapter 2 church.
I’ve played for the last three weeks but am off next week. I’m preaching in about a month at a family service which I’m looking forward to. I’ve done a few talks now in Worthing with the same sort of size crowd so I’m not worried. In fact I’m dead chuffed Steve was so willing to let me do it. So it should be good. I think I’m going to talk about Joshua and Caleb returning from Canaan with faith that Israel can take the Promised Land. What a story.

Steve is flying to Sydney this week for a men’s conference. So, I’m in charge…
It will be good to have to fend for myself. Get my own transport and buy food at the market on my own. Although I’ve been to the market on my own the only time I talked to anyone Steve or maysien was there with me. So I’m going to be bold and practice me Khmer on some poor, unsuspecting old woman who is trying to sell me ‘levis’…

Everything is good.

Ben.