Wednesday 12^th November

Fr Panus and most of the staff are away at a Pastoral Meeting in Battambang, so I said Mass this morning in Khmer, it is all very quiet around the Church when they are all away. I am still not fully right in my stomach, so I had a very quiet day, trying to get rid of this bug. John had an eventful evening, he was robbed just outside his hotel by two lady-boys who took his wallet. He managed to persuade some moto drivers who saw what happened to give him a name, then he went to the Police and told them to get on with it, dropping that he was a senior police officer in the UK. When he got back to his hotel he had a word with a group of lady-boys and told them to get his wallet back, it duly appeared, minus the cash, an hour later. Next day the police called John and asked for a donation for their services, John told them that once they had found his stolen money they could have that, but they would get nothing else, they hung up on him!!

Thursday 13^th November

Bernadette of Caritas had invited me to the morning session of a conference being hosted here, Catholic Asia Pacific Coalition on HIV/AIDS, CAPCHA; some of those affected were giving their testimony and story. There were four speakers, and Indian woman who is trans gender, a man from Tonga who is a transvestite, a gay male from Cambodia and a Cambodian woman who had been a sex worker but who now runs a women’s forum and union. They were all very moving and challenging. 

After the morning break a psychologist from Singapore and a priest from Manila spoke about their work with people with, and affected by, AIDS. There were about 60 people at the conference, a bishop from Bangladesh and another from Myanmar, several priests working in this field in the region, some sisters and some lay people. It was really good to be there for just one session and meet some people doing amazing work and searching the church for answers. The last contribution of the morning was a comment form a Cambodia interpreter, a Buddhist, who said he had learnt something new to him, he thought of the Catholic Church as the building, but during the morning he had come to realise that the Church is the people, it was a wonderful comment to close the session. 

They all went off to Angkor for the afternoon and then came to the Church for Mass, which I attended, it was very moving, Fr Richard Bauer was the celebrant.

I finally went to the pharmacist in the afternoon and got some antibiotics for my stomach, I hope they will work. After Mass, John and I took Ratana and Sr Casino for dinner at a local restaurant.

Friday 14^th November

Quiet day today, swimming and teaching, then evening Mass. After Mass we met the group from Kompong Tom, breaking their journey from the Pastoral Meeting, we had a brief chat with them before they continued their journey home. Then we went for dinner at the Japanese restaurant with John, a new experience for him, the food is all on a conveyor belt and you choose what you want for your own soup, and cook it in the middle of the table , I went a few weeks ago with Ratana and her family, very enjoyable evening again.

Saturday 15^th November

I went and did a bit of gardening this morning with Pola, who is a gardener and has grown some shrubs to go in the border alongside the church property. We put in about 10 shrubs, carefully placed so as not to upset the laundries opposite who use the border as drying space. I did some sweeping and tidying the border and gutter. It all looked good when we had finished, now we must water everyday.

At Mass this evening two French priests, brothers from Lille, concelebrated, they are on holiday, the one works in Lille, the other is in a missionary society working in Hong Kong. So far I do not think I have celebrated the Saturday Mass alone, there always seems to be a priest from somewhere else here wanting to concelebrate, or sitting in the Church. So much for the shortage of priests!!

The antibiotics are working, so I am feeling much better; John’s time here is coming to an end, so Ratana is on a mission to give him as many experiences of Cambodia as possible, so we went to 60^th Street again. This is the Cambodian night market, we had barbecued chicken and fried noodles, maybe a bit risky for me, but I was OK afterwards and it was very enjoyable. We went in a tuk-tuk and invited Ean and Pharoth to join us. 

At the market stall with the owner, fried noodles on the go in the front.

Deep fried  crickets on the right and deep fried silk worms on the left, I prefer the crickets!

Enjoying our food together.

After dinner we walked a little to the fair and threw some darts, John was very good and altogether we won a bottle of cooking oil and some washing powder for the girls, they thought that a very good result.

Sunday 16^th November

After the early Mass in Khmer here in Siem Reap they serve some rice soup to the children and anyone else who wants it and there is a general community time which is most enjoyable. All those who are in the catechism programmes have to get a book signed to say they have been at Mass, so I have been doing a lot of that, it takes a little pressure off Fr Panus as he is dealing with others who need some of his time. 

At about 10.30 Fr Panus leaves for the second Mass at one or other of the out stations, this week it was for Prek Taol, a floating village about two hours away, John and I went with him. It is about 20 minutes in the car to the jetty and then an hour and a half or so on the boat. On the way we dropped off Brother Dou at Chomm Kineis, he does catechism in Vietnamese for the community there. 

We arrived at Prek Taol, the children were already there waiting and a few adults as well. We celebrated Mass and then served rice soup to the children. I think some of the community may have moved as there were less people than I remember from previous visits. They run a school here for about 30 children five days a week and serve rice soup twice a week to the children and families. After the rice soup we had our lunch, some lovely fresh smoked fish.

 

We got back to Siem Reap about 4.45, just in time for Fr Panus to go to football from 5.00 – 6.00 pm. John and I had a short break, including a well-earned Sunday gin and tonic and then met Ratana and Pharoth for dinner. We went to one of the barbecue restaurants where you choose your own meat and they bring a bbq to the table and you cook for yourself. It is good fun and a very different kind of experience, I guess we might say it is a little like a fondue, but it does get a bit hot with all that fire right on the table.

Monday 17^th November

John has started an English class for some of the staff at the Golden Orange and I am going to take it over for a few weeks, so I went to meet them this morning. There are about three or four, depending on days off and shifts, but they are keen to learn, I will start with them on Wednesday. 

After the class we went with Ratana to the Baray, which is a man-made lake from Angkor times for the people to enjoy. It is lovely. It is on the outskirts of the city, near the airport so we went by tuk-tuk. 

 We had lunch there, bbq chicken and some rice and fried noodles all right next to the lake under a bamboo shelter. Very picturesque, I think it is a place to enjoy again before I leave.

On the way home from the Baray John and I had arranged to visit the Jesuit Service house, which is on that road. Sr Denise, Elizabeth and Hayley made us very welcome and the two girls gave is the guided tour of the garden. It is all laid out to tell the story of the Jesuit Refugee Service and it is  beautiful, very informative and very moving.

The Maze

They use plants to make a small maze and then have sculptures and pots to explain their 7 core items, all of them re-appear in the chapel as well. The work of the centre invites us to explore Cambodia through the eyes of the poor, but the same challenges face the whole world. The challenges are: development that enriches all; education for all; environment; peace after genocide; displacement; disarmament; ethical governance and health; the transcendent in our lives.

Right: Lord I have no foot for you to wash.

All are represented in art form in the garden. You can learn more from their own website, simply search for “Metta Karuna, Siem Reap” and learn and enjoy. It was a very worthwhile visit and a lovely tour. We got back in time for me to teach at 4.00 pm and again at 5.00 pm.

Below: the woman at the well

One of many pieces of art in their beautiful chapel

This is John’s last evening here so we are having dinner at one of the apsara dance restaurants. You choose your own food from the buffet and enjoy dinner and then there is a traditional Khmer dance show which is very colourful and elegant.

We were at a large restaurant which I had been to before with groups, it is usually part of the cultural programme for tourists. As were getting our food at the buffet I picked out a very strong Irish accent next to me so I inquired where they were from, “Templemore, Tipperary” was the answer. When I go to Ireland I usually visit a friend who is a Sister of Mercy in Templemore, so I mentioned her name, and of course, they knew her; what a small world. Dinner was lovely and the show was very beautiful.

These pictures show some of the cultural dancing being revived in Cambodia after the Pol Pot era. The Church is involved in supporting this dancing in some of the villages and has a dance group who do international tours sometimes.

Tuesday 18^th November

This is John’s last day, after he had taught his class and said goodbye to them we went for lunch at Molopor, the upstairs room is Japanese style, so sit on the floor around a low table. The food was excellent and the whole experience very enjoyable. With John’s encouragement I have now become quite good with chop sticks. John said he did not want us to waste time going to the airport with him as there is nothing to do there, so we said goodbye at the hotel and he went by tuk-tuk. 

After a rather dizzy spell of eating in many different restaurants, I was quite glad to have a light snack at home for my evening meal.

Wednesday 19^th November

Now that John has gone I have taken over the English class at the Golden Orange, so I went there this morning, there are three in the class, but with very different abilities, anyway we started just with sounds and letters, they are lovely young people and keen to learn. I have three classes today, so I needed to prepare a little for the other two, so I had a quiet day at home. Ratana and Pharoth came here to cook in the evening, they did a lovely simple meal but so beautifully presented.

Thursday 20^th November

Feast of St Edmund, I say Mass in English on Thursdays, so I said the Mass of the feast and told them a little about St Edmund. I offered Mass for the intentions of the people of St Edmund’s in Bury St Edmunds. I taught my classes and had a swim. In the evening Soklin was passing through on her way to retreat in Thailand, so were all having super together at Ratana’s room. Sometime ago she asked me to bless the room which has now moved back to, so it was agreed to bless it this evening. 

 We had a lovely time, 7 for dinner, I blessed the room and the kitchen and bathroom and then we enjoyed dinner with much laughter. This is Sr Soklin and Sr Casino, one of the Japanese sisters.

Lovely food, spread on the floor, they do not have space for a table.

Friday 21^st November

Again I taught classes and went for a swim. I am trying to arrange with the evening class to take them before Christmas to the beach. None of them, aged 15 – 24 have been to the seaside, so we are trying to get that together, but it is ten hours each way and we need an overnight stop. They are very keen and have got permission and time off and we hope to go on 19^th December and back on 21^st. in the evening I had arranged to go the Jesuit Centre again to say Mass for them and to have dinner. Ratana took me on the moto and stayed for Mass and dinner, it was very nice. They were quite distressed with two lots of bad news, so dinner was a bit disrupted with phone calls and trying to make arrangements, but that is life when you share in a community.

That is all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing the pictures. Please keep me in your prayers as I do you and do send comments,I love to hear from you. God bless, Fr Philip