Two Weeks at Diamond

Today marks the two-week mark since I moved into Diamond. I continue to love living here and I am also continuing to find new “discoveries” in the neighborhood that I truly feel blessed to live in. Yesterday, I went to a nursery and purchased some orchids, which now hang on my balcony. I also purchased a pot that I have used to plant some vegetable, herb, and wild flower seeds that were given out to guests at my cousin’s wedding two months ago. I have met a lot of really nice people who live here at Diamond, people at church and NGO’s, and at the place where I am playing badminton. One of the people I met at Diamond shares the same name, Akiko, as my mother. Akiko is from Japan and is living at Diamond while doing work with a health care NGO. I have volunteered to do some proofreading in English of her work documents. She has a group of youth from Japan who are coming to Phnom Penh this weekend to do work the NGO. She invited me to join them. All of the trainers at the gym are really nice and very helpful. Two of them speak very good English. They are really helping me to find resources in Cambodia, have introduced me to contacts for work, and have even invited me to be on a team with them to research a business idea regarding recycling materials to NGO’s and other businesses in Phnom Penh. It is starting to feel more like home here. 

 

None of the belongings that I sent from the States have been delivered to me yet. Essentially I have only what fit in one suitcase (since the second suitcase I packed was only gifts). Since being here I have had to buy one plate, one set of flatware, a tea kettle, a pan, and one set of bed sheets (which bled and ended up dyeing my underwear pink on the first wash). It is hot here; I sweat a lot. I don’t have a lot of clothes and have to run the laundry often. People are going to catch on quickly that I keep wearing the same 3-4 outfits. I only have one thing on my walls – a world map that my good friend, Madge, gave me at a going away party. But the lesson I have learned in all of this is that it is not only possible, but really quite a bit more pleasant to live with less rather than more. Mother Teresa spoke to the fact that we become smothered when we have a lot of things because the more things we get, the more of our time, attention, and resources it requires from us to take care of those things.

I am pursuing starting my own business here. I will keep you all posted of the progress. It is still too early to share with you, but it is beginning to come together.