Peaks and Valleys

So sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of days. 

I just get so tired at night.

Lame excuse, I know. And I apologize for that.

But it's real. 

Thursday was great. 

Much better than my Wednesday of mishaps.

I went into the classroom that morning with a positive attitude and cheerful heart. *because that's the way that a day should start... shout out to all my HYG friends* 

We played a game that used all of their direction giving/receiving skills. I made them come up in pairs and had one of them close their eyes. While their eyes were closed, their partner would arrange a maze of chairs in front of them and then direct them through the maze using only English. It was so funny to watch as they both struggled. I even had a turn. I may or may not have let them play for the entire hour. That afternoon I began teaching them vocabulary words and they really enjoyed those. I taught them the definition of "matching" and we played a lot of matching games with the newly learned words and definitions. It was pretty funny trying to explain the definitions of some of these words, but they were troopers and we learned 10 new words. The rest of the day was typical; full of laughter, communication struggles, and interesting food. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Friday came and we were thrilled to have the weekend a day away. 

My students wanted more vocabulary words. 

I was excited. 

By the end of class Friday afternoon, they had learned 23 words and could match them with their definitions. Can they write sentences using the words yet? Eh. Not so much... 

Baby steps. 

Okay, so I have a confession. 

One of the vocabulary words was "peak."

You know like the top of the mountain?

Well they got that down. 

But a certain 19 year old English teacher may have taught them that "peak" also means the same thing as "peek" because that certain 19 year old English teacher forgot that you spelled "peek" differently from "peak."

Whoops. 

I guess 12 Cambodian boys will now believe that peek is spelled peak. 

Cassie White: Failing at spelling since 1994. 

We finished up our Friday at the school and then headed back to the hotel to enjoy a nice bag of popcorn and an orange Fanta. 

Hooray for Friday nights and that top level of the food pyramid. 

Today is Saturday and Sarah and I just got back from a day out and about with Roth *pronounced: Rote* and Selah.

We were kind of politely uninvited to the village today.

I think my vomiting episode kind of ruined our chances of ever going back out there. Although, I'm not tooooo upset about that. 

We slept in until 8:30 *WOOHOO*

The boys picked us up at 10:00 and we headed to the S-21 museum. 

We drove through town and I slipped some motion sickness pills out of my pocket. We got to an intersection and came across a huge parade *they are called street parties here* that was blocking traffic. It was a promotional parade for the Cambodia's People Party which is the party of the current Prime Minister of Cambodia. They will have and election to vote for a new Prime Minister in a month, so there is a TON of promoting going on. 

Roth and Selah were not only annoyed with the flamboyancy of this parade, but also with the whole party itself. They went on to tell us that the party is for rich people and is absolutely corrupt. A rich person can commit murder and pay their way out of it, while a poor person can commit the smallest crime and end up in prison for life. They said that they both will be voting against the Prime Minister, but it's a lost cause. He'll win again. Roth then said something that I was not prepared to hear. He said that maybe all of these horrible leaders was God's way of punishing Cambodia because they do not believe in him. 

Well how on earth are you supposed to respond to that?

I unfortunately didn't have time to because he immediately began to make a joke. He told us that if you wanted to know about Cambodia, all you had to do was look at the traffic. It's crazy and unorganized. Street signs and laws are ignored. You want to drive on the wrong side of the road? Go for it. The lines are merely a suggestion. The laws are merely a suggestion. 

The parade finally ended and the topic was soon dropped. 

But I kept thinking about what Roth said. 

And this world is a lot like Cambodia's streets. 

Crazy.

Unorganized. 

Corrupt.

Unjust. 

Selfish. 

And so dangerous. 

I look around here and think to myself:

Guys. There is a stop sign there for a reason!

I'm sure God looks down and thinks:

Children. I gave you this commandment for a reason!

We are so dumb sometimes.

We can't agree on anything. 

We conveniently look over laws. 

We live incredibly selfish lives.

We cross lines.

We, as humans, are just like the traffic here. 

But it's so wonderful to be loved by such a forgiving God. 

And it's so comforting to know this is not our home. 

So that was my 45 minute ride through the streets of Phnom Penh. 

We finally arrived at the Genocide Museum and went inside. 

It's official name is Tuol Sleng and it was security office 21 in "Democratic Kampuchea." It was a high school-turned prison created by Pol Pot in 1975 and designed for detention, interrogation, inhumane torture, and killings once the prisoner confessed. There are 4 buildings that surround a courtyard and each building houses many prison cells that were constructed out of wood and bricks. The building are 3 stories high and are covered in fishnet barbwire in order to prevent prisoners from jumping off the balconies and committing suicide. 

So basically it's a really dark place. 

Each room had a bed and a torture instrument in it for visitors to see. It was incredibly eerie. There were signs posted around by the museum facilitators *not sure if that's the right word* that depicted a man laughing with a huge red "x" through his mouth. We assumed that to mean that we shouldn't laugh. But believe me, you didn't feel like laughing. There were huge displays of all of the pictures of the prisoners. Men, women, children. It was really hard to see. 

It's just so frustrating to me that this event in history was never explained to me. It may be because it's a fairly recent event, but still. It's frustrating that my generation knows nothing about it. 

We stayed for about an hour and then headed to our next destination. 

Mike's Hamburger House. 

Sokhom told us about this place and said that it was the best hamburger in town. And let me tell you. it was. We walked in and ordered for ourselves and then thought to order for our kind hosts. *stupid Americans* We all found a table and I went to get drinks for Roth and Selah. As I was at the coke machine, struggling to work the thing *stupid American*, a man came up to me and *with surprisingly good English* told me how to do it and gave me the right cup. *I picked up the to-go cup instead* He then asked where I was from and if this was my first time to Cambodia and to the hamburger shop. We chatted for a while and then he introduced himself as THE Mike. It was Mike.. the hamburger guy! I felt like I was talking to a celebratory. He told me how his restaurant had been featured in the news all over and even in the New York Times. 

I was impressed.

We talked for a while longer and then he told me to enjoy my hamburger because it was going to be the best I've ever had. And let me tell you. 

It was. 

So thank you Mike. 

Thank you for giving me a little taste of home. 

Did it make me sick to my stomach?

Absolutely. 

Was it worth it?

Absolutely. 

I stopped on my way out and told Mike that he was right. 

I also told him that I would be back. 

Ah.

I love Mike the burger man. 

After the hamburger, we drove quite a ways and reached another museum. This one was called Choeung Ek and it was a literal killing field during Pol Pot's reign. We paid *native Cambodians get in free to the museums* and picked up our headsets. This museum had an hour long guided tour and it was incredible. The area that we were in was once an orchard and there were many fruit trees still in the area. It was so green and extremely peaceful since there was no talking allowed. Sarah and I made our way past mass grave sites, trees that served as killing tools, and cases full of bones and clothes that still continue to appear in the ground during the rainy season. It was an extremely saddening walk through that area and the stories and information that were shared via the headset, were both horrendous and inspiring. It was awful listening to all the ways that they killed the prisoners there, but the stories told by the survivors were incredible. We ended the tour at a huge monument known as the Memorial Stupa. It is 17 *I think* levels *not stories* tall and each level displays the remains of the victims. The first 10 levels hold over 9,000 skulls and then other bones fill the top levels. 

It's unreal. 

*If you look to the right of this post, you'll see a link that will direct you to my Flickr account. There, you can see pictures that I took today*

Once we were done, we all headed back to the car. 

Selah had been to the museums several times, but it was Roth's first time today. They both talked about how their parents talk about the Khmer Rouge a lot. Roth said that his grandmother always cries when someone mentions it though. 

The affects of this Genocide are still very present here in Cambodia. 

It's heartbreaking to realize that this country is still very broken and very fragile. 

The boys dropped us off at the hotel and we reseted and did laundry until it was dinner time. *Although, I was still incredibly full from lunch* We went to the school and had a dinner of chicken, banana  flower, and rice. 

Ah Cambodia cuisine. 

I might miss you. 

We talked with Sokhom about his experiences in prison during Pol Pot's reign. It's so incredible to go and see all of this and then talk to a someone who witnessed it firsthand. It's unreal. 

After dinner we headed back and now it's time for bed. I'm up late tonight *it's 9:00* but Sarah is already asleep. 

It was an emotional day.

Kind of like a roller coaster.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

But then again. 

So is life. 

There are evil people.

There is corruption.

There are genocides.

There is war. 

There is brokenness. 

Life is full of peaks and valleys.

But God is present at every peak.

And he's holding your hand in every valley. 

Blessings,

Cassie

Ps Who really cares if it's spelled peak or peek.