Logos International School

Not everyone knows what we do here in Cambodia, so I've been trying to use our blog to show you different aspects of our daily life.  Ryan, Lauren, Brenna, and Addie spend their days at Logos International School, where Ryan teaches elementary music, middle school band, and high school choir.  It's a big job!

 

The entrance to the school compound.

View from inside the gate.

Standing on the turf - a little hot, but better than mud!

The view from the playground.

The swimming pool!

Ryan at work with the 4th graders.

After school dance rehearsal - recognize the long hair? (it's Lauren)

Ryan's Salon Concert

Last Wednesday, Ryan performed in a salon (small) concert downtown with the mother of one of his students.  The concert was sponsored by a Korean bank that is new to Cambodia, and most of the people in attendance were associated with the bank or, as in our case, family/friends of the performers.

Ryan played the piano and the trumpet, and Addie and I enjoyed a night on the town.  Afterwards we were treated to dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  It was fun to do something very out of the ordinary in our own city!

All dressed up and ready to go!

A picture of the performers and their spouses, I think.

Logos Jog-a-thon

Every year, Logos School has a Jog-a-thon fundraiser.  This year, the students raised over $9000 dollars to help renovate the gymnasium.  The gym currently floods when it rains, and has very limited seating on the sidelines, so the improvements will be great.  Plus, our gym is used by many different groups during the week, so it won't just be something good for Logos, it will be for the whole community!  Thank you to all who made donations!

Kids in the gym before the race

Addie - sporting the Jogathon t-shirt

Brenna at the finish

Lauren and friends

Ryan and Megann - nearly the first ones to finish!

Megann with the big girls

Logos Teachers Retreat

Can you imagine it?  Beautiful sunshine, sandy beaches, refreshing pool, good food, air-conditioned hotel room, great friends.  Too bad I spent the first half of it in a bad mood.  I don't know what my deal was.  Maybe it was because Ryan was sick, and I couldn't help but remember June of 2012 (the last time we were at this hotel) when Ryan was sick with dengue fever.  Or maybe it was because we forgot to load the suitcase that had all of Megann and Addie's clothes in it into the car before we left.  Or maybe it was because I was so incredibly exhausted from having three Thanksgivings the weekend before we left.  It's hard to know.

Aren't they cute?!  That's pretty much what they looked like all weekend!

But the speaker at the retreat spoke about Sabbath, and our physical, mental, and spiritual need for rest.  It was sooo good.  So, as Advent season begins, this family is going to be taking things slow.  A lot of really good things are not going to make it on the calendar, and that's okay.  We've had an unbelievable year, in so many ways.  We need time to think, time to reflect, time to enjoy being together.  

It was pretty sunny!

Fun with friends

Going on a Walk

The other morning we decided to go for a little walk.  It was before 7am, which is already pretty warm, but the cloud cover made it more bearable.  This first picture is the view from our front door.  As you can see, I had a sweet little walking partner sitting out under the mango tree, ready to go. 

Our new home is at the end of a quiet road, which is wonderful! 

At the end of the quiet road is a busy road, which goes to Logos School.  It's always a challenge to pull out into traffic, because if you wait for a safe opportunity, chances are that 1-2 cars have already pulled out from behind you - directly into traffic.  It is common for motorcycles and vehicles to drive the wrong way into oncoming traffic, until they are able to pull into the correct lane!  I've found that when I drive I often think, "Am I far enough behind that truck that I could stop if those people fell off?"

Well, enough of the traffic - this is supposed to be a nice walk, right?  So, Megann and I turned around back down the quiet road to our house.  You can see our neighborhood in the distance.  The ladies on the motorcycles are on their way home from the market with fresh produce for the day.

And this is just a random gate on our street.  I have quite an affection for this color of blue that is often found on metal gates, railings, and shutters of the stilt houses in the countryside.

And back to "Home, Sweet Home" - we live in the left hand side of this duplex.  It is 3 stories high with the living area and kitchen on the main floor, master and little girls' room on the 2nd floor, and the office/TV room/guest room and older girls' bedroom on the top (that's really only 4 bedrooms altogether). 

Want to hear more from us?

Oh, Friends - You're still reading our blog?!  I have to say I'm a little bit shocked.  It has been forever since I posted anything, and yet I keep coming back to it too - then I feel guilty about how much time has passed since I last wrote.  Needless to say, I'm trying to think of what to write.  What do you want to hear about?  What pictures do you want to see?

I'm going to try to see Cambodia today through a new lens.  I'm going to try to see it they way you might see it, instead of the ordinary way that I often see it.  I'll be back soon!

My Day

I had a rough day today, and I'm kind of nervous about blogging about it because it's only 1 o'clock in the afternoon. But today was a doozy that will go down in the history books.

It started off okay (except that one of the girls wet the bed, and we were a little bit late to school). I walk the girls to school every morning, and when I get home I am drenched in sweat. So, I decided to do some last minute cleaning (Ryan's parents come tonight). When I finished with that I put Megann down for a nap, took a quick/cold shower, and told our helper that I was going to the grocery store.

When I got to the store I tried to get money from the ATM with Ryan's card (mine doesn't work because the new card which arrives tonight with Ryan's parents is already activated). Unfortunately, I tried getting out cash with my pin, which obviously didn't work with his card. After a few unsuccessful attempts it locked me out of the account. The only other card in my wallet was Ryan's credit card, which I knew I couldn't use in the store because they always check the signatures (I've tried before). So, I called Ryan (on the verge of tears) to see if there was anything he could do to help. He had some time before his next class (about 45 minutes), so he hopped on the moto, stopped by the house to get his ATM card for our local account (which had about $25 dollars in it), then stopped at the ATM to get me some cash for paying my tuk-tuk driver and the water delivery guys that come to the house with drinking water every Friday. During this time I was busily trying to pick out the groceries I needed for the weekend.

The shopping experience was quite frustrating because several of the items I wanted weren't in stock (this happens a lot). A few minutes later my phone rang - it was Ryan. When I answered the phone I could tell that something was wrong. There were the normal traffic sounds, but there were also voices in the background. Ryan said, "Umm. I have a flat tire." Honestly, I was relieved that he hadn't been in an accident, but my nerves were on edge and I could feel my heart starting to race. After trying to figure out what to do next, Ryan called my tuk-tuk driver and had him come meet him at the repair shop. I stayed in the store trying to hold back the tears. As Ryan and Mop were sorting out the moto, I ran into some friends in the store... and then the tears started rolling. As I tried to spill the story of my day (the past hour of it, actually) they listened with empathy. They knew how rough days like mine felt. They had been there before, and they understood. Ryan called again to say that he was on his way, and that the water guys were at the house waiting for me (of course, why wouldn't they be?!). We visited for a while as I pulled myself together, and had a good laugh when Ryan walked in the door. I had forgotten that he was dressed like a rapper for Spirit Week at school! He paid for the groceries and then hurried back to teach his class. I crawled into the tuk-tuk, asked my driver to take me home, and then cried the entire way back. I was so thankful for Ryan and for friends, so homesick for a "normal" life (because you never have bad days, right?), and so grateful that all of this happened today and not on Tuesday (because Ryan had gone to school that day dressed like a nerd!).