There are kids who live in the church neighborhood who don’t attend school, however they are welcome to come and be on the church’s soccer field to play. We have found that these kids love to play games with us, hold our hands, give hugs and learn English the best they can from trying to start conversations with us. They are so determined despite their access to education to know how to speak our language and show us what they mean. This group of children has made it their mission to learn our names and run up to hold our hands every time that we are walking in the neighborhood. Their passion is contagious and they are so encouraging to be around! We got to spend each evening with them, playing games, learning their names, and practicing English. Their favorite game is a “helicopter” game where we pick them up and spin around with them. They each will wait in line and as soon as you put one kid back on the ground, the next is already there with their arms stretched open waiting to be picked up. This game can go on for hours as they never get bored and there's always a kid waiting to be next!
On Thursday night, after we had been teaching the kids at school, we were informed that the church we are staying at would be hosting a wedding the next day. This led to a little bit of a panic from our team as we do not have any clothes nice enough to attend a wedding. Thankfully Rebecca was able to gather together her dresses and gave us a huge stack to try on. We all were able to find a dress that fit and get a plan for what we would wear the next day. Friday was then a busy busy day. There were no house visits, as it was all hands on deck turning the church into a beautiful wedding venue. There was an arch made of flowers leading to the entrance, and then outside there were chairs and tables decorated. At the front of the outdoor space they even set up a stage for toasts to be made. About mid day we all went to our room and started getting dressed up and ready for the evening ahead of us. When we were finally ready, we came downstairs to see a snack cart set up with all of these mochi snacks laid out. Our hosts had fun coming up and telling us which one we should try next and waiting to see our reactions. They were all so good and often filled with fruits. Then it was time to go into the church. Somehow we got seated right behind the bride's family, which felt like we should’ve been back farther but they insisted. We then found out that it was the Pastors oldest son getting married who is so sweet and we are so fortunate to have gotten to witness this event! After the ceremony, they had the wedding party take pictures with the bride and groom, and then they brought up our team for a photo next. Again we felt like others should’ve gone before us but they insisted that we be next. Our hosts are truly the kindest people. We then exited the church and went out to dinner, which was a hibachi type of meal. Each table had its own stove and pan, and we got to cook veggies and meats and serve one another which was so cool! Then we got to the time of night when the toasts and speeches had all been made and everyone was finishing up their meal. We were then invited up to the stage to perform Cotton Eyed Joe, which we had taught them last weekend. Cotton Eyed Joe was then followed by the footloose line dance. Everyone had so much fun watching us perform. By the end of the night they had set up karaoke and we were all having fun singing and dancing to our hearts content.
The next day, Saturday, was Lydia's 18th birthday! We started the day off by sneaking out in the morning so that we could give her a cake with breakfast. Then we spent the majority of the day hanging out and relaxing, as it was our day off. We were informed around the middle of the day that there was a soccer tournament against a church from Siem Reap happening. We were invited to go watch at the field that was across town but we declined as it was a time of much needed rest for us. Later that evening we see the same tables from the wedding being laid out once again. They had left the stage out from the night before, and then they began to put more lights on the stage. We then found out that this was a big soccer tournament, and that the Governor was coming to celebrate the winner of the match, and we would be hosting a party. Fast forward to dinner time. We get all dressed up in our clothes and go down to dinner where we meet the Governor of Cambodia, and are introduced to his team. There's a huge crowning of the winners on stage; the Siem Reap church won, and there are medals passed out to each player. After this we are all served another dinner of the same style. As we are starting to finish the meal, once again we are invited up on stage and asked to perform the Cotton Eyed Joe. In front of the Governor of Cambodia. As the song ended we were asked to stay on the stage, and our pastor, with the Governor, brought out bread buns with a candle in the middle and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to Lydia. He then told Lydia to pray before blowing out the candles, and as she ended her prayer, our pastor started praying over her in Khmer. As he’s praying, the lights start strobing and they play EDM music. After we all looked thoroughly confused, he told us it was a joke and had the Governor present Lydia her real birthday cake. We sang Happy Birthday again and all got to take pictures together on the stage. This then led back into more dancing. As of course you can’t just do one dance. So we followed up with Footloose, and then the Cupid Shuffle, and then the Cha Cha slide. People thought it was so fun to see us dancing they could not get enough. It was such an unexpected weekend but so so fun!
October 23- 29