Christmas is here!

I'm sure most of you will be caught up in the joys of Christmas over the next week or two, so I won't be too hurt if you don't have time to read this post.  However, if you do have time here it goes!

On the 10th, which happened to be the last time I wrote, one of the service workers, Amanda, had birthday cruise on the river here in Phnom Penh.  After months of anticipating one of these river cruises it was exciting to finally get on one of the boats.  The boats are pretty nifty with seating area on the upper deck as well as the lower deck.  Most of our time was spent on the lower deck eating, talking and dancing.  Yes dancing on a Mennonite river cruise.  I'll admit there was not a lot of dancing on my part, some toe tapping, but not too much dancing.  You might be wondering why the dancing?  Well turns out Amanda's husband is in a bluegrass band and so we were treated to a couple hours of their music.  We got a lot of peculiar looks from the Cambodian's on the boat as well as other boats passing by.  All in all it was a fun evening, and a good chance to catch up with all the MCCer's.

The following Monday MCC had there Christmas party at the water park here in Phnom Penh.  The party was organized by our national staff here in Cambodia and it was the first chance for me to meet some of their extended families.  It involved a number of games including a scavenger hunt, Christmas songs both in English and Khmer and some baay(rice).  It was a little chilly in the morning so the plan was to swim in the afternoon, unfortunately I had to work in the afternoon so there was no swimming for me :(

On to this past weekend...

The weekend involved some sleeping in which does not happen very often and a number of different Christmas activities.  Friday a group of us went to a local restaurant to partake in some carol singing.  It was packed with a lot of kids running around so we didn't end up staying to long.  We escaped to the solitude of a nearby cafe, where we could actually hear ourselves think.  On Sunday the Khmer church that I go to had their Christmas program.  The whole family attended, which is the first time that has happened since I have been here!  It was full of singing, drama, dancing and as usual a very inspired sermon from the preacher (he does a great job of keeping your attention for the 30-45 minutes he speaks).  After the service we had a meal together and then it was back to the church for the afternoon youth program.  I stayed for a little bit of the youth program, but after being at the church for 4 hours, I was getting a little overwhelmed and decided to slip out the back at get some alone time at home.

In the evening I went to the international church and once again took part in singing a number of Christmas carols.  It was a little more satisfying this time around as I could see the words and actually hear myself singing.  We even sang one verse of Silent Night in German.  Talk about feeling like I was at home for a little bit!

Talking to people who have been here for more than a year, Christmas has become a lot more commercialized here in Phnom Penh.  When you drive at night you can see lights and Christmas trees, and lots of restaurants are playing Christmas music.  However, it still does not really feel like Christmas, and more than likely this weekend will pass without too much hoopla.  And that might be a blessing for me.  Christmas has always been a time to spend with family and close friends and this year it will be a new experience for me.  So Merry Christmas if I don't talk to you before Sunday and also a Happy New Year.

P.S.  Tip of the week - Teachers make sure you erase everything you write on the board before giving out a quiz