On the way to Svay Rieng

On Tuesday afternoon, we traveled in our van to Svay Rieng. The trip itself was quite an experience. On the way, we had to drive the van onto a ferry to cross the river because there is no bridge. The line was long, and we finally got the third ferry after our arrival. The scene while we waited for a ferry was a quite amazing. Our van, along with every other car, was surrounded by vendors wearing large baskets filled with exotic foods. They would knock on the van windows vigorously to get our attention, and we did indeed buy some things. Karen Scheib gets the award for being the most adventurous. She ate two fried crickets our Cambodian drivers offered to her, and she said they were quite tasty! The others of us sampled some of the exotic fruits that Marilyn selected for us. I can't begin to spell all the names, but two I can manage are lotus and jack fruit, both of which were great. I have never seen some of the other fruits we ate, but perhaps I just have not spent enough time at the DeKalf Farmers' Market.

We arrive in Svay Rieng around dusk and went to a Methodist Church where the pastor greeted us. After a short break, during which Sarah impressed a group of Cambodian boys with her volleyball skills as she joined a game, we headed on to an even more rural area where the Methodist church, through Marilyn's efforts, supports women in a basket weaving project. The women greeted us warmly and proudly displayed their basket weaving skills. The church provide funds for the bamboo which the women cut into strips for weaving baskets of all sizes. The baskets are purchased by a middleman who takes them to the cities to be sold in markets. The women sell these baskets for about 38 cents a piece, but the enterprise provides them with badly needed financial resources. The homes are very modest, mostly built high on stilts with the open air area under the home used for keeping animals and for family basic living activities. Before leaving the women, Marilyn shared with them some of medicines we had brought and the reading glasses. It was heartwarming to see the smiles on the women's faces as they tried on different pairs of glasses to select the best strength; and they were very happy to receive the medicines. After leaving the women, we traveled a bit further for dinner and then settled into the Red Cross Hotel for the night. Perhaps you can imagine why we were too tired to post that night!