One of the most popular traditional Khmer New Year games is – quite simply – called Smash the Pot. It involves hanging thin clay pots filled with flour (or, in the city, baby powder) and a prize of some sort (usually tamarind candy) on a rope. The aim of the game is to smash one…
Category: Daily life in Cambodia
No Longer Undocumented.
Caleb is no longer an undocumented person! After many weeks, visits, reminders and some financial incentive, the local authority has issued his birth certificate in Khmer language and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has translated it into English! Next stop – the US Embassy for passport and Certificate of Birth Abroad. I just submitted not only applications…
Maternity Leave and Orientation
Orienting new international workers is my favorite part of our role as Reps. Yes, its very busy with many trainings and logistics, but the energy they bring to our team is infectious, as is the joy of the national staff when they see, again, that international people really do want to come to Cambodia. As…
A Tuesday in May
It’s 3:30 in the morning and he’s cooing at the diaper changing table nightlight. After babbling to it for a few minutes he bursts out in his biggest smile – the one he usually saves for when Charles is wearing glasses. I’m not sure if its the delight of the shadows or a purely internal…
Hot Season with a Newborn
Caleb was born during an atypical hot season week, with cool breezes and 80 degree days. In Cambodian tradition, we were actually able to dress him head to toe in cozy clothes. This not only allowed us to sidestep the constant unsolicited advice from all Cambodians that he needs to be covered all the time,…
Raise the Anti-Mosquito Fortifications!
Last year we meet with some wonderful Lutheran missionaries who spent many years in Hanoi before moving to Phnom Penh and who had gotten to know the Mennonite Central Committee Vietnam team quite well. When they saw Charlotte wearing a MCC shirt at a churchgoer’s birthday party they immediately connected with us. Later, when we…
Monarchs of Asia
In December 2021 I spotted some rather familiar looking caterpillars on a Crown Flower plant that was growing at the corner on the end of our street. Crown Flower, or Calotropis Gigantea, is a regional variant of Milkweed and, like it’s North American cousin, is popular among a certain regal species of butterfly. Crown Flower…
Mearda Maternity Clinic and Susu Birthing
In the past, MCC Cambodia parents who were expecting a new child would travel to Thailand and deliver the baby there. I hadn’t thought about it until some MCC alumni asked and we realized that Caleb is likely the first “MCC baby” to be born in Cambodia. I asked Pou Cheang and Ming Ramy, who…
One Week of Caleb Daniel
Even when we lived in Pennsylvania we were far from most of our family. So, for Charlotte and Catherine, I did weekly Google photo albums up to 52 weeks. Then, since we already had the photos all together, I printed a photobook for the girls and the grandparents. I thought about sharing the weekly albums…
How the girls are doing
In October 2021, we had a dangerous miscarriage – a complete molar pregnancy. This is when the mother’s chromosomes are missing from the egg and the cells that would normally develop into the placenta develop into a molar growth instead. This can lead to tumors, cysts, a rare form of cancer, and necessitate a hysterectomy….