Friends, Romans, countrymen... ok, just some friends.

This is John. Another one of Aidan's friends!

Yes, it is true. Good things come in threes. In this case, three hundred. What am I talking about?

I'm referring to the amount of people that seem to pop up in our lives on a daily basis. :) Ok, I am exaggerating a little, but it does seem the longer we are here, the larger the cast of core players becomes. Let me introduce you to some more VIPs.

Vun - you may remember him from the 'let's run over daddy!' biking incident.

This is Mr. Vun (pronounced voon). He's been working with Eric and Ginny a very long time. He is an honest, friendly man who also happens to adore Aidan to the point of teaching him to ride a bike. Score! I may be Aidan's teacher, but he really does need more than one. Especially since I am his motivation for learning to ride (see caption).

Sokra - like Okra, but not fried.

We also have Sokra. I see him a lot in the church worship band. He's also quite handy around the house, as demonstrated when he came to help me put together a wardrobe. Sadly, I turned him away. It's sad because 1. He's a good guy, and 2. Because when I went to put together wardrobe #2, things went very wrong (think 'Why did someone use a hammer on this thing? Oh, make it work? Sure!). I could have used the help... or at least had a laugh about it together. I also could have used duct tape, of which this country appears to have no knowledge... probably because there aren't many ducts.

Ducks? No, we have those. A guy across the street is raising about 20 Mallards. I'll get a pic for you some day.

Sopheak - A genuinely curious man.

Next up is Sopheak (So-pay-ick). This guy here is one of my favorite people. Why? Well, he's curious!

What? No, curiosity doesn't kill the cat here. I won't really go into the whole cat thing, but suffice to say that a thirst for knowledge is admirable in a country where 40 years ago people were shot for wearing glasses - Yes, just for looking like they were smart. Of course, curiously wandering into a field is not so good, but I covered that in a post that not many of you stopped to read (Cambodian survival guide - use the archives over on the right!).

As I said, curious - about many things. So far, he's had me helping him with his English and we've talked about economics of Cambodia vs. America, and what American produce looks like vs. Cambodian.

What's the difference? Well, American's fruit is huge, but has less taste. Granted, this also refers to imports like Papaya, but really, it's probably better to eat a Papaya the size of your hand that tastes like heaven, than one the size of a small watermelon and have it be a little bland. 'Genetic Engineering' was also brought up in this discussion.

Sorry. I talk about food a lot. I can't help it - the food tastes better here. Cereal - the same brands from the States - even taste good. This, I think, is because you don't see the words 'corn syrup' anywhere on the label. Just natural sugar, and lots of it. Hey, it's still junk food either way, so I haven't gone total health nut on you. Why, just the other day, I had extremely dense and delicious chocolate coffee cake!

Mmmm... cake.

Ok, moving on.

Theavy - mother of Sokun from the last post.

This one's Theavy (Tee-Vee). She's one of the directors at Sak Saum (It takes time! That post needs more than one source! I'm getting there.) and is the mother of Sokun, whom you met from the last post about pizza.

She's a very quiet woman with a grateful heart. She's been through quite a bit, and uses her time to help others and work with Ginny. Jess knows her a little better than I do, but she still seems like family to me.

Rhiannon. Canadian. Canadians are awesome.

Gabby. American. Americans are awesome.

These two are the now-embarrassed interns here. Gabby, on the right, hails from somewhere I haven't asked about yet, and will be with us for several months. Rhiannon, on the left, is a Canadian native. I like Canada, personally. Many cool things come from there, such as maple candy, neat accents, and Wolverine from the X-Men.

What do they do?

Well, so far, they are getting settled in (remember, jet lag... gravel in your head... etc.) and as of right this moment, probably reading about themselves on this blog.

Teaching about hygiene...

...and clipping nails.

Outside of that, I've seen them a lot at Father's House helping with the children's program, and the youth one too as I understand it.

Aidan helped too - by being an example.

What? You want to come intern here too? Sorry, not my department. You'll have to ask Eric and Ginny.  I already have my own intern...

Que? No hablo ingles! Yo quiero Taco Bell...

He's only the size of a quarter, and doesn't listen too well. I'm beginning to think he's not from around here.