Silk Island - Cambodia blog entry #36

Here I finally am – blogging about what we did on our last day in Cambodia. A bittersweet day before the arduous journey home.

In the morning, we rode the tuk tuk to Silk Island, boarding a ferry to get there, yet another mode of transportation. Maybe someday, I’ll blog about that.

Watching the whole process of making silk was as exhausting as the whole trip had been.

I always wondered how those little silk worms made silk. Imagining them sitting in their tiny rocking chairs weaving with their 50 pairs of legs a thread they exuded from some orifice in their body.

I mean, really? Do any of you know how it's done? And who figured out how this was even possible?

So here are the steps. First they grow silkworms, feeding them mulberry leaves – their favorite - until they are ready to make their cocoon.

Next, collect the cocoons and watch for them to be ready. I think we were told that the cocoon will shake when it is ready.

Then they boil the cocoons, which releases the sticky substance holding them together. This is the part where – believe it or not – PETA gets involved, claiming this is inhumane to the little silkworms. I don’t know. They are worms. Think of how many warm-blooded animals we kill in probably inhumane ways.

One bonus at this Silk Farm is that they leave 30% of the cocoons alone to produce moths so that they can continue the process. So, I tell myself that some of those silkworms are going to make the metamorphous to moths and complete their life cycle.

Also, the worms who die get sold in markets for frying up and eating. Yes, a lot of silk worms die in this process, but at least they don’t go to waste.

Okay, so back to the process. After the cocoons have been boiled, they are stirred until they unravel and the silk threads are released.

The threads are dyed to make the beautiful colors you see in silk fabrics and then rolled unto spindles.

Then a group of women weave the thread on their looms. Watching them work so tediously at their looms was fascinating as well as tiring. Our tour guide said that they weave 40 cm in an eight-to-ten-hour day, taking few breaks. Some of them work in teams though, such as a mother and daughter, so that they don’t get so worn out but they share the income.

It was impossible to not buy a handwoven scarf from them. They do get 70% profit from sales made at the farm. So I forked over $70 for a beautiful teal scarf which I have only worn once in the four months since I’ve been home. 

Wat Samrong Knong - Cambodia blog entry #35

Well, here I am, finally winding down telling tales of my trip to Cambodia. It has been fun reliving it and is hard to believe it’s been four months since I was there.

The last pagoda we visited was Wat Samrong Knong in Battambang.

Once again, we walked throughout the grounds of this religious site filled with fascinating buildings and statues, and we weren’t sure what they were all about.

The oldest pagoda in Battambang Province, it was built in 1707 by a monk named Thudong Chey. It was named Samrong because of the many Samrong trees growing around the temple.

Tragically, as at so many other sites in Cambodia, this one was used as a prison during the Khmer Rouge, from 1975 to 1979.

It’s estimated that possibly as many as 10,000 victims were housed here throughout those years. Many were tortured and murdered.

After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, this pagoda was built to house the bones of those who had been killed here.

After witnessing all the atrocities that took place in Cambodia during the late seventies, and after reading about all the other genocides that have happened throughout history, I can’t comprehend that these horrors continue. And yet they do. And how close to home will the next one hit? 

 

Turning Water into Wine

          

          Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 

When the wine had given out, Jesus' mother said to him, “They are out of wine.”

“You must not tell me what to do,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

Jesus' mother then told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

          The Jews have rules about ritual washing, and for this purpose six stone water jars were there, each one large enough to hold between twenty and thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill these jars with water.” They filled them to the brim, and then he told them, “Now draw some water out and take it to the man in charge of the feast.” They took him the water, which now had turned into wine, and he tasted it. He did not know where this wine had come from (but, of course, the servants who had drawn out the water knew); so he called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk a lot, he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now!”

Jesus performed this first miracle in Cana in Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:1-11, Good News Translation)

 Oh, gosh, there is so much in this short episode that I could drag it out over several weeks. Instead, you’ll get a long post today. Hope you take the time to read it all.

1.    Jesus, His disciples, and His mother, Mary, were attending a wedding. It was a time of celebration, and not just for one night like we are used to. The Jewish weddings of those days would last for days.

2.    And because the party would last for days, the host had to be prepared with ample food and beverages. But this poor host ran out of wine! Can you imagine how disgraceful that would be? In our day and age, friends would bring it up years later – “Remember when John and Sally got married? They ran out of booze! It was a horrible party, and everyone bailed on them and went down to the bar.” Does anyone ever want that to happen at their wedding reception? So Mary appealed to her Son, knowing in her heart that he could fix the problem.

3.    His answer to His mother shocks us. In most Bible translations, He refers to her as Woman, which sounds disrespectful to us, but it was how any son might call his mother at that time. In this translation, Jesus’ words sound even harsher.

4.    At this point, I picture Mary having the same look on her face that many mothers have worn over the years, thinking to herself, “My son may sound snarky, but I know my boy, and I know he will do right.”

5.    Jesus tells the servants to fill a bunch of huge jars with water. Umm, according to this translation, that would be up to 180 gallons. Wow! That could get a lot of people good and drunk! And here’s where it really gets interesting – the wine Jesus changed from the water was better than what had been served up to that point.

6.    Turns out this was the first recorded miracle that Jesus performed.

There is so much we can take away from this short story, but here is what just dawned on me. We may not be drinking the best stuff now – we may have problems in our lives and may be struggling financially, physically, or emotionally – but don’t leave the party, the best is yet to come.  

Banan Mountain – Cambodian blog entry #34

After we left the grape farms (aka flower gardens), we rode our tuk-tuk to the base of Banan Mountain.

On top of that mountain was another fascinating and ancient temple with the added bonus of 365-degree views of the surrounding countryside. The downside is that the only way to get there is to climb nearly four hundred daunting steps. I would be game had I been in the cool forests of Michigan's UP, but in Cambodia's oppressive heat and humidity? Us three ladies who hail from cooler climates took a hard pass.

However, after a short tuk-tuk ride down the road, we arrived at yet another bamboo railroad. This one was anything but authentic. In fact, it was very commercialized and definitely a tourist trap.

It was still a lot of fun. 

At the end of the line were extensive gardens with a plethora of statues and flowers and one big Buddha. 

Once again, it was a great place to shoot too many pictures, and it would be the venue to take the little kiddos for a family picnic. But it was pretty empty the day we were there.

Which I would never complain about.

Flowers, Flowers, and Grapes – Cambodia blog entry #33

I really don’t have much to say about these two places. We were told they were grape farms, but the growing season had passed.

We saw a few random grape clumps, but nothing remarkable. And because the majority of them had been picked, the people running these places were no longer giving tours.

But my friend Denise and I thrive on triumphing over disappointment. We wandered the grounds of the first place, which turned out to have more beautiful flowers than many greenhouses back home.

And I naturally took way too many pictures.

As if I’ve never seen any of these flowers before.

Even set up the timer on my camera for a selfie.

The second place had a few more lingering grapes on the vine, but way less flowers, so we were soon on our way to our next adventure.

Jesus’ First Followers

 

As Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake because they were fishermen. Jesus said, “Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.

As Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee, he saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus told them to come with him. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and they followed Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-22, New Century Version)

I tend to assume that if you are reading my Sunday blog posts, you already know the story of Jesus – His birth, His teachings, and His death and resurrection. But what if you don’t? What if you don’t know me well enough to know about my faith, or what if you don’t know me at all and just stumbled upon my blog? What if you only know about Jesus from what you’ve heard about Christmas or Easter and want to know more? 

This year, I’ve decided to write about a different Bible Story on my blog each Sunday. Since we just got through the Christmas season and the birth of Jesus, and last week I wrote about His baptism, I thought I’d begin with when He started calling His disciples.  

Throughout His ministry, Jesus had many followers, but eventually, He named twelve men to be His chosen few, His disciples – Simon Peter, Andrew (Simon’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (called the Zealot), Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot. If there is only one of these men whom you have heard of, it would be Judas Iscariot, right? We’ll get to him when we get close to Easter.

Instead, over the next eight weeks, I’ll tell you about other things Jesus did and said.         

Two Different Houses - Cambodia blog entry #32

 

Today I’m going to tell you about two very different residences we visited in Battambang. 

First is the Battambang Royal Residence, built by the French in the early twentieth century. It looks very impressive from the outside.

Inside however, it was mostly a museum. Many of the items weren’t properly marked and some of them were only in the Khmer language, and we hated to make K constantly translate for us.

The governor actually lives in a similar building just behind this one. So, at least we were able to wander unimpeded in this building.

The next day we visited the Khmer Ancient House.

Not sure why it’s called the ancient house, as it was built in 1920.

The owner gave us the history of the building and her family, how it was taken over during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, and how the family was miraculously able to return to it years later.

It was a simple home with simple furnishings.

But had as much history as the Royal Residence. 

And as many stories are within its walls.