La Sonya

RAW Impact's ute after I drove it through the mud. Not the same ute as the story. I'm not sure if I told you I have my Cambodian drivers license. I got it just in case I ever needed to drive the ute (that's Aussie for Utilitarian Vehicle, that's what they call anything that has a bed behind a cab.) and for driving my motor bike, if anyone asked me for it I'd be all clear. The time came in the first week of December for me to put it to good use. Being the only RAW Impact staff to actually know how to drive on the right hand side of the road I think I'm most qualified to drive. . . but that's not really my point because honestly, HAVE YOU SEEN PHNOM PENH TRAFFIC?! No thanks. No way José. Last week while I was working with a team at one of our partnering projects in Kampong Speu they needed someone to go get another bag or two of cement. Blake was leading the build and Brett was working on office work so I got chosen to go. I accepted the challange and ...

Here's some pictures from the last month in Cambo. I need to work harder at posting updates!  Enjoy. Chma (cat) at the hotel in Siem Reap Me and Brett on the last build day with our team from Brisbane State High School. The dirt road leading out to Koki, a village we work in. This village is in the red zone for the UN. It's the edge of survival. The house we built with BSHS. The grandma has lived through a lot and we were honored to help her get her first house and out of living under a tarp since her old one blew over.  A pretty lady just after getting her hair and makeup done at a local beauty spot in Kratié I see this billboard all the time and I'm not a big fan. A sweet girl in Koki who helped me move lunch to the community center. Pidow and I at the home she helps run called Jumpah. She's a gem and helped me a lot with my Khmer.  A little cafe near Jumpah where I went in the middle of the day to take a break and hav...

Okay, so this is a bit late but better late than never, right? For my Thanksgiving tradition I have composed a list of 100 things I am thankful for. Here it is in no particular order: Cambodia Australian slang Adventure Purpose Family who support my life choices even if they think I'm crazy Mom  Dad and Deli Fifer, my kaka Andrea Rachel BurlyKim Xelxi messages from friends and family Gertie the Green Slug Khmer Donuts Khunara/Ra RAW Impact Cold weather Warm weather Rain Free Wifi and cheap data plans Tuk tuks Hope God Love Travel Music My flatmates Joma coffee in the morning with Brett and Jay (and whoever else comes) Khmer iced coffee Team trips  Outdoors Church Community Curly hair Sunrise Quite mornings English The corner restaurant Hanging out with the Family Kitten's Puppies!! Good office days Air con Fun bed sheets Line drying my clothes My porch garden Growing and learning Mexican food Trees Angkor Wat Running M...

I go to bed without running through a million scenarios in my head about school board meetings, teachers meetings, parents, students, lesson plans or any other million things. I have HEAPS of free time on Sunday and by HEAPS I mean all day. I don't have to go to the school, write lesson plans, grade papers or brainstorm ways to recruit more students.  I go into work at 8:15 am everyday. I leave work at 5 pm everyday. I am not having to "be on" all the time.  I don't have to wear a million different hats. I don't feel terribly inadequate, overwhelmed, stuck or like a fake.  I still get to teach, brainstorm ways to teach concepts and ideas to students. I bicycle to and from work most days (motor bike on days when I go to the village). I don't have to shmooze or woo people to donate, volunteer, like me, like the school, or even care about anything when I am at church. But mainly I have so much free time on Sunday. Time to ex...

I found myself looking for all my extra courage today. I've graduated from the little moped bike to the one Kerry has been using. It's a manual bike. It's roughly the same size as the black moped bike, only it rides much different. I have to pay attention to the gears and shift up and down with my left foot. I have to break with my right food as well as my right hand all the while remembering the throttle in the same hand. I have to look around for drivers, pot holes and landmarks to know where to turn. The thing is, it's hard. I enjoy being pushed to grow and learn. I often volunteer for new things. I like learning languages, leading groups of people and being the first to try something. This however is pushing me a lot. I want to stay in my comfortable zone of push bike. It's hard going out to the village on my own. I have a great coach here in Phnom Penh but he can't do it for me, he can't ride me out there. I am having to summon up all my courage and...

*typical oozy Sonya happy gushing ahead* Hi guys! Can we talk for a moment about things I love about living here in Phnom Penh?  My neighborhood . We might have a large populous of westerners but it's the best little neighborhood in all of Toul Tom Poung (that's the name of this area of Phnom Penh.)  Royal Mart . It's owned by our land lord but it's got the best prices. I save almost a dollar on my muesli. I can dash down to the corner grab soy milk and dash back up my stairs all during a commercial break.  Plus they all know me now and we swap smiles and small Khmer greetings.  T he Russian Market.  This is where I can go get my fresh veggies and dried goods. I have my regular stalls that I visit. We're friends and getting good at communicating. I can also stop by and pick up some comfy clothes that are made local. I'll take another blog to talk about this place in depth. Joma . I stop most mornings before work to hang out with a few other coworke...

We recently had an office worship talk about all of us being different parts of the body of Christ. Brett, who gave the talk, focused on how we all have different skill sets and attributes that contribute to the smooth functioning of RAW Impact. The verses are found in 1 Corinthians 12 . To bring it all home and make it personal he had us write our name on a piece of paper and that paper got passed around with all of us taking turns writing something we see as an attribute or a word to describe their unique skill set and what they bring to the team etc. As a words of affirmation-love language person I loved the worship exercise. It was, however, a bit uncomfortable when at the end the person to the left read aloud the list of words used to describe me. Only because sometimes. . . okay, always. . .I find it hard to be the focus of a room full of compliments. I don't mind being the focus of attention when I am calling the attention, just not when I don't have control and it...