Homesickness, Illness, and New Friendships – by Riah Stroot

As we start to unpack the last few weeks, we’ve all agreed it feels like we’ve been here for an eternity already. At the same time, it is crazy to think we’ve only already been here a month! Time flies by, especially experiencing jet lag and a new culture. The first few nights we arrived consisted of people falling asleep sitting up and passing out on benches in restaurants while waiting for our food! It was also difficult to sleep through the night because our bodies wouldn’t let us and we were “not allowed” to take naps to allow our bodies to adjust faster. Therefore, everyone had permission to wake each other up if they were caught closing their eyes. 😴

Along with this, the first few weeks were a whirlwind of emotions. With the constant schedule, long days, and the continuous traveling, all eleven of us were getting very tired. At the same time, we were getting to experience so many exciting, new things! In this, the Lord gave us endless opportunities to practice gratitude and patience. 😇

Finally getting moved into a house has allowed us to start getting organized and in more of a daily routine. Recently, some of the kids have been missing home and experiencing homesickness while others are completely captivated by the new environment around them. I, too, would say that I am missing everyone back home very much! While getting adjusted, we’ve each had our fair share of unsettled tummies, dehydration, and little rest! The sun has been extremely draining and with some slightly mysterious local food, we’re surviving with pepto bismol, cheap coffee, and consistent reminders to drink water! 

In the midst of these last few weeks, the Lord has sent us many individuals that have already become our good friends. They have provided so many connections and been extremely generous with their time and help. In our upcoming blogs and videos we will continue to introduce them!

Up first is our friend Sambat! We met Sambat on a tour of Buffalo Village where he lives. It is about twenty minutes from our home. He started a school for all ages out in the village and has a three year old boy of his own, Sathear (suh-tee-uh). While we visited, he made us a home-cooked meal out at the school that included eel, duck, and chicken. From there, Sambat became a close contact and started bringing his little boy over to our house almost daily to learn better behavior from the Davidson kids.

Sambat has been an endless helping hand, with his wife owning a little homegoods market and providing us with all the household items we needed to move in, and again just having so many connections to help fix our newly purchased tuktuk. He also lent us his scooter for the time being which has helped tremendously. Meeting Sambat also provided an opportunity for us to go out to his school every week to immerse ourselves in some khmer classes and interact with the students! 

Right now, Cambodia is in the middle of their rainy season until about the end of October, so it has been raining and flooding many times a week! Thunderstorms are a common thing here during this season and are the same as back home only with palm trees instead! The weather is super weird, because it’ll be super sunny and hot and then all of a sudden pouring rain! Sometimes the rain lasts a while, other times it doesn’t. You just never know. We have been told by many locals that this weather isn’t even very hot yet compared to the “hot months” of March and April…EEK! Because of the super humid rainy season the bugs have been really bad, in and out of the house. Especially the two little ones, we all are bit up and itching all the time. They should hopefully clear up once the weather changes and the temperature rises.

In conclusion, the first few weeks were exhausting, but high on excitement and curiosity! Moving is a huge project, but we’re here! And we’re doin’ it! Even with homesickness, bug bites, and upset stomachs, we get to remind ourselves how blessed we are to be here with a team, palm trees and sunshine!

St. Teresa of Calcutta
Pray for us!!!!