Today was a milestone. It might not seem like much but it is. Since getting my bike this week I've been working on getting a lay of the land and it's been an adventure of turning around, going the long way and discovering places on the other side of stinky river, the large drainage "river" that runs through our part of the city.
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| Taken on the way back. |
Today was a big day because I rode my green bike (we're still working on a name) to church.
Brett, our very own triathlete coach at
RAW Impact, volunteered to help me figure out a way to bike to church without going on the main roads and definitely avoiding the over pass, who wants to bike up the ONE hill in Phnom Penh? Not me, that's who. So at 9 am we started off. Me on my cute green bike with a basket and cover and Brett on his very fancy professional gear bike with clip in shoes. Our route turned out to be fairly straight forward. . . for Brett. After our almost 5 miles/37 min bike ride we were there! I was safely deposited at the church and I wasn't even
that sweaty AND I was wearing a cardigan!
Church was much better this week. There were less people because it wasn't potluck (the big meal after church where you bring a dish to share and everyone eats lots!) and that seemed to help people to be much more friendly. I'm guessing because it was easier to spot a visiter or there was room to move around and talk or the whole day was just less stressful, I don't know whey exactly but it was. I made a point to say hello to the little girl on my row and her family. At least little kids don't cry when they see a westerner. . . well, except that one little guy in the village, like they did in Tchad. I think some kids are in rapture of my bright colored eyes because they do tend to stair directly into them quite a bit. I had a new Khmer friend who sat with me, I had met her last week in potluck line and she even worked for RAW at one point so she knows heaps of the same people. Her father had the sermon and it was about being peacemakers from the Sermon on the Mount. I appreciated the story he shared about the time when he was in a refuge camp. I met a Seventh-day Church of God (I'm a Seventh-day Adventist so somewhere along the way our church must have been one), American who is looking for a church to fellowship at with his family in Phnom Penh. Hopefully I'll meet his whole family next week.
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| The ride takes us right past the Olympic Stadium. |
The tricky part of the day was seeing if I could make it home without getting lost, broken or hit by a car. . . . AND I MADE IT!!! It was so exciting! I am sure I must have looked silly the last several blocks because I was grinning from ear to ear. Once I got to the area where I recognized things from riding back from work I knew I was home free!
I then had a yummy giant salad I made from the market yesterday for lunch along with heaps of water to replenish my body after all the sweat!
It has been a sweet Sabbath and it's not even over yet. The fan is blowing air with the sent of fried food, the street sounds are not quite floating up to the window as much as jumping in and I'm overall content with being new and figuring this Phnom Penh life out at whatever pace it comes.
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| The long route! |
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