It's 10pm and the day is ending.  All in all a very productive day and all without planning.  My plans don't work, but God's plans work out perfectly.  So I was feeling quite jet lagged yesterday and when I am feeling so tired and out of it, it's hard for me to be there for people.  I knew the girls were coming home and so asked God to make me ready! And :)
Noonish the rhea's arrived. Mr. Rhea came straight to my room to talk. It was so good to see him. He is sooo happy! So alive. So excited! I loved it! I was supposed to be leaving for lunch so was sorry I wouldnt' be able to talk to them all, but the housing appt couldn't be delayed so lunch had to be :) So I got extra time with the Rheas and they came to see the house with me.  It was a blessing to have them there. I love the house! Yes there are issues but it's better than I could have expected! Especially my room :)  and it comes with two airconditioners! :)
Met up with Kimmy after that.  There are certain people that although we are both christians we never talk about God, we just laugh and laugh and laugh and have fun together and although I have a ton of things to share about the last year, I shared none but one and we just laughed and had fun the whole 3 hours we hung out.  She was a great source of info for me about a lot of things.  I told her she was my little angel from God.  :) I am so blessed! And I met her by chance at the orphanage we visited 2 years ago. Instead of talking and playing with the kids like everyone else I ended up talking to her and we bonded over indian movies and shah rukh khan heheh! :) Interestingly enough, when it was time to leave, my child is the one who started crying although I had only played with her for the songs.  I think when God wants you somewhere, the hearts of the people are so open to you, they can feel the love God has placed in your heart for them.

Got a tour of the Intercontinental hotel and then Michael picked me up.  We were headed home but since I had offered to help with his english class we went there and he introduced me to the principal and I got invited to the Christmas party they are having and will be teaching a health class :)
Then we went to a local government official's house (she lives in a dumpy area and has a little shop like you see on the side of the road in India.  Her kids were adorable.  While I smiled at them at a loss for words, Michael arranged for me to meet with the community leaders later this week and this lady is going to take us to a village after that! It's awesome how God opens doors. I was wondering how my medical side of things would take off when I left America and it looks like it is going to be up and running even before the center is open - but I really like the place for the center/shelter - it's even a gated community!
God is sooo good!
So I felt a little bad cause I was coming home 2 hours after dinner and I figured the girls would be all sad BUT they weren't even home when I came home. They had gone to a birthday party. I came home and ate and just when Michael and I got done with a little business they showed up! So we were up talking and sharing our lives till they had to go to bed. I love them! They are all sooo awesome!  Any awkwardness I had about staying at their house has totally melted away now! I love the rheas - each and every one of them.
God is sooo good to me! I get to meet the best people all over the world.
Hope you all have a wonderful day and remember that with God all things are possible so shoot for the stars and dream big, because God will make your dreams a reality!

Looks like everything has started. I have appointments that are booking up already! Lunch today, afternoon meeting tomorrow and then lunch on wednesday! I love how God works and how everything falls into place :)
Yesterday I was pretty jet-lagged.  Stayed up till 2 am the night before and woke up at 6am to barking dogs and the helpers shouting and running down the stairs.  It was too hard to sleep after that so lay in bed for a while. Made use of my kindle and the devotional my friend had me download.  I am so glad she did. I didn't see the great value of it till arriving but it was God's little encouragement that He is in control.  The verse of my life has been Hebrews 11:1.  For those of you who know me, it is what got me into medical school and over and over it is what gets me through.   Well, guess what the verse of the day was :)  I accidently re-read it again today too and it was sooo wonderful.
Dragged around all morning and finally went downstairs for breakfast only to discover there was no milk, but praise God for the little snack bag my older sister prepared for me! :)
Church was good.  Nice to see how it's grown since the last time I was there. At the end I ended up talking to a man Michael introduced me to.  As we were talking I discovered Michael had applied to leave for america to work  with a Christian group but had just gotten his rejection letter 4 days before I arrived! Wow! And here I thought he would be there to help me the whole time. hehe! I guess he will be now.  Yesterday after lunch and shopping (bought my sim card.   It cost 25 cents for the sim card and $1.25 to get it cut to the right side to fit my latest gift of the Iphone 4S).  I'm not sure how many minutes I can talk on it, but it's great since I will need to meet so many people now and will need a phone.  Then we went to buy me some food.  That cost over 5 dollars!! Shocking! Will have to find a cheaper super market.
At church a boy was messing around with Michael's motorcycle and I was thinking, "I want to learn to ride it too." but of course I am a little weary of my balance skills and driving in cambodia is a little scary. hehe! Well, as we ate lunch Michael said that we had to work on my transportation needs and thinks getting a moto is the best thing and  he's going to start giving me lessons! AHHH! Definite prayer is needed, but I feel like I have been getting mentally prepared for this day since last Sept when I went to visit Maiko, a Japanese missionary and rode on the back of her moto all around Chiang Mai.
Was so tired I went to sleep super early (6pm), had a phone call at 10:30 and then stayed up till 2ish finishing the last of my extra medical stuff. I had decided it was unimportant while I was in America since I had enough credits but God is so good! He knew I wanted to get through all the magazines and He gave me time! 
Woke up this morning and read the new devotional and it was another one of my theme verses (Romans 8:28) - another encouragement from God.  Checked my email and 3 people had responded! Hence my meetings mentioned above! Spent 2 hours rearranging my suitcases and trying to consolidate as until I get my own place I am sharing a room with 3 other girls and my suitcases have taken up the entire room! So I packed a suitcase full of stuff I don't need while I am here so that if needed we can move that to another place and store it.  Stuck a hand-back in my other suitcase and so am down to a backpack and two suitcases and my purse :) Yes!! I travel heavy but!! I am here for a year!
So I am thinking of starting an english school for the rich cambodian and possibly a clinic/pharmacy.  Michael and I were talking yesterday and we are going to try to work with the local government officials.  It would be so cool to be able to do public health or teach at the local medical schools and maybe get some of my friends to do that as well! Let's see what God has in-store. This is just my first day's thoughts :)
So the plan for today is to look at the house, have lunch with an old friend, spend time with the family I am staying with and pick their brain after we catch up and possibly open a bank account but I think I need to change my visa status first! :) Life is wonderful and I am soooo blessed!  

I’m on my way to Cambodia! Almost there! Sitting in the lounge in Seoul. The last few days have been so hectic! People to meet, last minute errands, but everything has been working out. I can’t believe what great friends and family I have. Everyone has been pitching in and helping and loving me.  The hardest part of the last few days has been telling people I can’t meet with them because I don’t have time. 

There was so much to do before leaving but God worked it all out so now I can be in Cambodia without any worries about things that aren’t directly related.  All my medical education is all taken care of for the next year  :)  What should have taken ages got done in an hour! My kindle is full of books thanks to Jenny and my sister Anu.  My packing is all done thanks to Trylla coming by to help.  My shopping got done thanks to my brother Salil and sister Sungeeta and I got to the airport on time thanks to Ann.  Thanks everyone!!!

So my friend gifted me a business class ticket to Cambodia! I am so blessed. The seats fully recline, the tv screen is huge.  The food is fantastic! You can watch movies before the plane even takes off! The bathrooms are cleaner! The glasses are real and the tea comes in mugs! :)

I board my flight to Cambodia soon.  My itinerary had the wrong date of arrival so I hope my translator and the family I will be staying with will be at the airport to get me or else a friend will treat me to a 5 star hotel.  I have to say, I am pretty blessed.  Whoever said being a “missionary” is hard.  I think it’s full of God’s blessings! On all sides and in everyone you can see His goodness helping you along.  Gotto go catch my flight!!
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God is sooo good! I am here! Everything worked out perfectly.  All the last minute possible complications didn't bear any fruit and once again God came through.  
I don't know why, but I have been behind schedule this whole time.  I think it's because what I think will take a few hours takes more than a day, a few minutes takes hours, but despite all my miscalculations, procrastinating watching hulu and meeting people, everything worked out.  I am here and all my stuff arrived safely. :)

I am staying with a wonderful family that I met on my second trip to cambodia.  Michael my translator and helper in everything I will be doing here introduced me to them as his family. I met the wife Akemi for a few minutes and she offered her place if I ever came alone (and not as part of the medical mission trip).  I thought nothing of it at the time, but the next year I stayed at their house for 1 week and simply loved the family.  True hearts of gold.  And while I am settling in they are letting me stay at their place.  They have moved but this new place is cheaper and nicer and hopefully no snakes! Their daughter was bit by a snake at the other place and had to be flown into bangkok for treatment.  She almost died. But they have permanently moved here. Everyone is at a retreat today for 1 more day so I am in the house alone with Michael and the helpers. :) I kind of like being able to collect my thoughts and spend time with God before they all arrive. What a blessing!!  

So all my worries didn't pan out.  I was worried that I would be charged for taking 3 suitcases and that somehow the internet information would be old, but that wasn't a problem.  I was worried they would stop me at customs and take all my medicines and medical supplies, but that didn't happen.  I was the only one with so much luggage, but they just counted it and let me through.  I was worried Michael wouldn't understand that the itinerary I gave him was wrong and he'd show up a day earlier than he was supposed.  But praise God he was there smiling away!

The room is great. I will be sharing it with 3 of the girls.  I don't know if i get the bottom or top bunk but it doesn't really matter.  :)  
Michael said he found a house for $250 in a safe area! So we'll go look for that! If it works out, it will be 50 dollars a month cheaper than originally planned!!! 

My goals for this first month are:
getting my npo status here
finding a house and furnishing it with the basics (I brought some decorations from america)
learning the language
setting up a bank account
getting my phone activated
meeting people/meeting all the contacts that people have given me
praying and figuring out all the details

I can't believe how good it feels to be here. All the stress is gone and everything is at perfect peace in my mind. I just know it will all work out. I knew it in America but now even the little bit of worry I had seems to have disappeared.  I feel like I did when I was in Japan, just full of joy and peace and at rest.  It's sooooo good to be here! Looking forward to my adventure with God and the cambodian people!

Wow I can't believe there are only 5 days left till Sapna leaves for Cambodia and the Women's Center is started! We are so grateful to everyone who has helped her over the past couple of years as she formed her vision of what now is a reality. Thank you to everyone for your belief, prayer and encouragement throughout this process. And thank you to all the wonderful people who have make donations big and small to Save Each One, words cannot describe how blessed we feel and what a huge difference your help is going to make at the Women's Center.

More to come soon!
Trylla