This past week I spent time visiting MCC partner organizations in the province of Prey Veng. Christa and I traveled out by mini-bus on Saturday morning. After being dropped off and leading Carol on a wild chase in the pouring rain, we eventually met up and had lunch. Later we went and saw her spacious home, which we were lucky enough to stay in for the whole week. On Sunday we went to church and then had lunch with the Weiderkhers, a MCC family also living in Prey Veng. We later took a lovely afternoon bike ride and were chased home by the storm just in time.

On Monday morning we headed out to the district of Mesang to visit the Organization to Develop Our Villages (ODOV). The road out was considerably bumpy, at least according to Christa and I who were duping on the back of the motos. We were somewhat bow-legged by the time we got off two hours later. That afternoon we were able to hear about ODOV's work in the district as well as visit a finance meeting of a village bank. Once we arrived the focus shifted somewhat from finance to stare at the baraang (foreigner). The next morning we visited several local farms and were able to see the work being done on food security and diversification: not being completely dependent on rice production. After that we headed back to the town of Prey Veng. I rode with Charles, another MCC worker on the way back. We took a different road than before, and though it was less bumpy it was considerably more muddy. After the first spill in the mud I realized I might have to rinse off when we got back to the office. After the second, I provided much entertainment for all the people who we passed for the rest of the ride, being mostly covered in mud.

Wednesday was spent visiting Charles' partner, a village school some distance away. Because of the reputed poor road condition, we took a boat across the flooded plain to reach the village. This ended up being a slightly wetter experience than I anticipated, but I eventually dried off and really enjoyed seeing the primary school there and partaking in the community lunch at the pagoda.

During the week, Christa and I also spent time learning to drive moto ourselves and making preparations for the team meeting. Now that I am back in Phnom Penh, I will spend this week going over curriculum and helping administer placement tests in preparation for classes starting October 6. I'm also looking forward to a side trip to Vietnam this coming weekend. I'll be going over the Cambodian holiday of Pchum Ben with three other MCC workers, so that should be a very exciting time.

I have now been in Cambodia for three weeks now. It seems so much longer than that, however. In this time I have been able to see many different parts of the city of Phnom Penh, read several good books, spend time with my host family and, of course, study the Kmae language. The language learning is all about perspective, I find. During lessons when my tutor is asking me to make sentences from the vocabulary I have learned, I am amazed by how much I actually can say. An hour later when meeting Cambodians who don't speak English, I despair that I can't understand a word they're saying. If only everyone spoke about buying fruit in the market then I could (maybe) understand them.

Yesterday I went with some other staff members to visit an MCC partner organization in the province of Takeo. We went in the truck and it took about two hours on paved, but slightly bouncy roads. Once there we met with the staff of the organization which I cannot remember the name of. We walked around and saw some of their primary efforts, which include planting and harvesting trees, making charcoal and a natural insecticide, as well as building canals. The canals in particular have apparently been instrumental in increasing productivity to more than double original levels.

Next week I'll be traveling out to the MCC office which is in the province of Prey Veng and I'll get to meet some of the partner programs there and learn more about rural development., so be prepared for further updates.