Cambodian Tuk-tuks, Vietnamese Superwomen and other Reasons Why I Really Need to Blog

"You haven't been blogging since you got back!" exclaimed a friend I saw earlier today.

Someone else emailed me with the subject line asking, "Post mission blues?"

Two weeks ago Joni and I arrived back to the States after a whirlwind time on the ground in Cambodia. Fatigued with jetlag then crazy busy playing catch-up with family, life and work, has kept me on the down low.No blogging for me.

I thought about hosting a photo show this month and use my best pictures to help me tell the stories of the people I met. But it ain't gonna happen. Nope. Have to let that go. I'll do it later this summer.  I have terribly underestimated the time-consuming business of getting back into the swing of my American life. However, I am helping Joni develop a communications campaign to help spread the word about the needs of Vietnamese youth living in Cambodia. Our goal is to launch it before summer's end. We are right now working on getting a logo together. We had a strong lead today from a potential logo designer;  too soon to tell how that lead will play out, so if you or someone you know can help with logo design (for hire!) than send me your leads and/or rates.  We are on fire!

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Riding around Phnom Penh in a tuk-tuk was a great form of transportation. All of our tuk-tuk drivers were Khmer men with the exception of one: she was a Khmer woman!

She parked her tuk-tuk in Joni's neighborhood so we managed to score her a couple of times.  It was fascinating for me to watch how other motorists reacted to her. They seemed startled to see a woman tuk-tuk driver. And then, they would look to see who her passengers were and were startled some more by the sight of two middle-aged white women and one of them heavily tattooed!  It was great entertainment to see people's reactions. One old man, riding on the back of a motor scooter - of which is the most common form of transportation in Phnom Penh and are referred to as "motos" - he peered over at our tuk-tuk and as his moto zoomed by he did a double-take and swiveled his head as if to check if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Nope, it's a woman alright. Driving that tuk-tuk like a pro.



At one intersection, so busy with dozens upon dozens of motos speeding all directions as well as a few cars and trucks, our tuk-tuk Superwoman driver was stealthily making her way across the lanes, which seriously resembled some kind of video game of making it to the next level without getting killed, well just as she about made it to the other side I noticed a moto coming up behind another moto and this young guy is staring so hard at our driver that he slammed into the moto in front of him and landed on the paved road. I don't think he was hurt. It was a fender bender for sure, but that's all it took, a quick second of him being distracted by our fearless female tuk-tuk driver.

It almost felt like an act of defiance to be riding around with her at the wheel. That's how uncommon it is. I loved having her as our driver. And she was kick-ass, too! Knew all the short-cuts and how to get us where we needed to go without undue scenic driving, which unfortunately is how I drive!

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Let me tell you about one of the amazing Vietnamese women I met on this trip: this
is Trang (pronounced Chang).

Trang is the teacher and caretaker of the ministry center Joni founded in Phnom Penh. Trang is Vietnamese and also speaks Khmer, which is very helpful if you live in Cambodia!  She has two children she's raising on her own and besides running the kindergarten, which involves not just teaching kids in a classroom, but getting to know their families and their specific situations, home visitations, etc...  Trang also leads a Vietnamese youth group on Sunday mornings.

Trang and I were just starting to get to know one another better when it was time to leave. She has an amazing sense of humor and laughs often. We had a lot of fun talking about how dangerous my hips are in the land of petite Asians. I was like an elephant among gazelles, which deserves an entire post all on it's own of the hilarity of how a curvy American woman like me got around without knocking entire families down. Trang was so great to accept me, curves and all, and enjoyed the fun I brought to the situation. Like when we were all in a tuk-tuk, Joni and I in the back and her family in the front and STILL our end of the tuk-tuk was like a lowrider in east L.A.!  When our driver struggled to get our heavy-laden tuk-tuk up a hill I hollered at Joni, "Lean forward!  We gotta lean forward!!"  Trang nearly split her tiny gut open laughing so hard at that one!

Trang is in training to be a church leader.  Really, she already is. Our last Sunday there we were honored to be present when two of her youth group teens were baptized. By her. The first time for Trang to baptize anyone. She did great. Joni beamed at her friend and head teacher as she stepped into this new place of spiritual maturity and authority. It was very cool to see.

If we go back next year (yes, there is some talk and yes, it would be We and not just Me!) it will be awesome to see her again and her kids. She has a daughter the same age as my daughter and also an 11-year old son, just a bit younger than my son.  I would love to learn to speak more Vietnamese just to be able to talk with her more. She made such a deep and lasting impression on me. Joni and her make a dynamic team. I enjoyed watching them work together in the house and on home visitations. These two have enough chutzpah between them to  barge past obstacles like poverty and drug addiction for the sake of Vietnamese youth. They inspire me!

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The dust is settling in my Portland life. I will be blogging more and telling stories of the people and places Joni took me to. I have so much to tell you. Like what happened when she asked rice farmers if Jesus was white, or when we were on our way to Krati and spiders - dead, cooked spiders! - were for sale at a roadside snack stand. With a basket of some kind of bug right along side it. I'll show you a picture when I blog about that trip!

So thanks for the welcomes home. And thanks so much for your support and well wishes and prayers and everything. I have been deeply encouraged by each person who has taken the time to be interested in my humble life and the road I am traveling on. I am grateful for road buddies like you!!!