Yeah, But It’s a Dry Heat… Oh Wait, No it Isn’t

Hello, friends!

Way to stay hydrated, Nathan

When we arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, it was the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season. During the dry season temperatures, on average, are in the 100’s with the 110’s not being all that uncommon. During the rainy season, temps “drop” to the low 90’s. Of course, during the rainy season, there’s also a TON of humidity so it actually feels like it’s in the 100’s.

Honestly, it wasn’t that bad! Except for the fact that I needed to drink a lot more water to fight dehydration (which I was only able to do with moderate success) eventually my body got used to the heat. Thankfully, according to Meg, I sweat like crazy but I don’t stink when I do, which means that I wasn’t altogether unpleasant to be around in the heat. I even still got to wear my long socks without any discomfort. =0).

You know what I think it was? I think it’s because I didn’t check the weather. The human body is pretty terrible at telling the temperature. I’m kind of thinking that my body knew it was hot but didn’t know that it was MISERABLY hot. And, since it was MISERABLY hot so many days in a row, it just sort of normalized. Isn’t the human body a beautiful thing?

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

BACK TO HOME

Preserving the Space-Time Continuum

Hello, friends!

You know what’s crazy? International travel is crazy. Just legitimately nuts. Here’s what it took to get us to Cambodia:

Leave July 4 for Chicago

Leave Chicago O’Hare on the morning of July 5

Have a 10 hour layover in San Francisco

Take a 12 hour flight to Taipei

Spend 3 more hours in the Taipei airport

Fly 3 more hours to get to Phnom Penh

We arrived on the morning of July 7. Because we crossed the International Date Line, we actually SKIPPED MOST OF JULY 6. When we got on the plane in San Francisco, it was 1:40am July 6. When we got off the plane in Taipei is was 5:30am July 7.

Authentic Bubble Tea in Taipei

The trip back went like this:

Leave August 5 for Taipei

Leave Taipei 7:30pm August 5

Arrive in LAX @ 5pm August 5

6 hour layover in LAX

Red eye to Cincinnati

Leave Cincinnati 7:15am August 6

Arrive back in Chicago 7:30am August 6

Drove back to CoMO from Chicago

Y’all, WE TRAVELED BACK IN TIME! We also only had a 15 minute flight from Cincy to Chicago on account of the time zones. It was ridiculous.

Here are a few more thoughts on our international travel experience:

-          I’m glad that Jet Lag didn’t take until I got home. When we got to Cambodia I don’t think I had more than a half day of jet lag, which was a huge blessing. When we got back home, I was out of commission from Wednesday (when we got home) to Sunday morning. Getting up @ 3am is not a ton of fun…

-          International Flights are surprisingly comfortable! We flew EVA Air and I’d say it was an enjoyable experience. The seats were big enough to be comfortable. The food was pretty solid. They had a good selection of games and movies to watch and play on the plane. I could definitely see myself flying international again.

-          When compared to international flights, domestic flights are no good at all. Paying for baggage is no fun. The service isn’t quite as attentive. You have to pay to watch the TV, if they even have it! If I hadn’t been trying to fight motion sickness the entire flight, I’m sure I would have been more outraged.

-          The layovers weren’t ideal but they still were a lot of fun. We got to explore Chinatown while in San Francisco and during our layover in Los Angeles my family came and took the team to In N Out, which was amazing.

What’s the moral of the story? I have no idea but I got to time travel so I don’t think I care. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

BACK TO HOME

Cambodia Team… Assemble!

Hello, friends!

When Megan and I signed up to lead the trip to Cambodia, we knew that we would be doing something that we’d never done before. There were going to be all sorts of new experiences and different contexts. What I wasn’t expecting was to end up living The Real World.

One of MANY Team selfies

The Real World was maybe the first ever real reality show. Airing on MTV since 1992, this bad boy pretty much started the reality TV genre (for better or worse). The basic premise of the show is that a bunch of strangers are thrown into a house together to live and work in the same space. Since I grew up without cable, I’ve never actually seen the Real World but Megan assures me that we were living it.

Living together with folk is hard work! There are matters of simple logistics like there being more people than bathrooms. You have personality differences in terms of who is an extrovert and who needs alone time (which was not easy to get). There were routine differences as well between your early risers and your night owls. We had some cross cultural navigating to do as well, not just with the Khmer people but also on our team as we had 2 Asian Americans and one multi-racial Hispanic student. We also had to throw in the new experiences of being in a new country together and Jesus messing with all of us in different ways.

But you know what? It was actually pretty great. The whole team was great. There was some drama and a few conflicts but that was to be expected. What we saw much more was a group of people being united by a common goal and seeking Jesus together. This was a group that, for the most part, pursued love instead of revenge and put the group above their own stuff. I know that lasting friendships were built during that month, which was a joy to see.

Maybe the Real World isn’t quite the perfect analogy. In some ways, it resembled a family too. Megan and I were definitely the mommy and daddy, which had its perks and flat sides. On the one hand, we had our own room, which was a huge blessing, especially since we were the first ones awake (Meg) and the last ones asleep after locking up (Me). We both really enjoyed making decisions with Steph and leading the team in where we thought God was calling us. However, it was a little rough too feeling like we were one level separated from the students. I guess it’s just something that comes with the job.

One thing that I wasn’t expecting was how much I would be learning from the community about how I lead. Much of this was through gaffes on my part but it was interesting for me to be in a context where I was leading predominantly white folk and predominantly women, two areas where I do not have a lot of experience and apparently not a lot of acumen either. =0). It was an eye opening experience for sure.

So, to Alanah, Ellen, Grace, Julia, Megan, Colter, Nathan, Megan, and Steph, thanks for being a great team this year. I know that we had the right people with us on the trip and I’m excited for the next time we’ll get to see one another.

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

BACK TO HOME