Day 3

OK, let me first address some of those leftovers from yesterday.

First impressions of Cambodia:

Like the poorest parts of Mexico but with a lot more rain and humidity. (I know the south-eastern parts of Mexico are wet, never mind those). If you haven't been to poor parts of Mexico you'll just have to use your imagination for now. Actually I can say a bit more. I knew to expect lots of bikes and scooters and crazy driving but it really is something to see first hand. For the main road in Phnom Penh going by the airport imagine something like Broadway or Hastings in Vancouver, minus 95% of the traffic lights and erase the lane markings. Change a bunch of the cars to two wheelers with an average of two people on them. Some with helmets some without. And just because they only have two wheels doesn't mean they can't carry as much as we carry in our SUVs. To cross the street as a pedestrian or vehicle involves waiting for a lull in traffic and then slowly moving onto the road and hoping the traffic will stop or move around you. If you really need to, you can drive in the wrong direction for short distance to get where you need to. Passing can be done at any time in any place, even with oncoming traffic, even when you are a bus. The oncoming traffic can move over on the shoulder a bit.

It has been raining most of the time I've been here and not terribly hot, almost cool when it is raining, but it is terribly humid when you step away from the air conditioning, except in the early morning.

I haven't spoken with a lot of the locals yet.

First impressions of the ship:

Inside the Doulos is a ridiculously confusing maze of narrow hallways with all sorts of different people going to and fro encouraging each other or being playfully sarcastic. There are lots of papers posted throughout the ship for anything from schedules to reminders to encouraging suprise notes for indivuals on the ship. My quarters are shared with nine other STEPpers deep down in the ship with no windows.

The people:

There are 39 people in the STEP program for this round. The biggest STEP they have probably ever had. There are lot's of Germans, a bunch of Aussie's, 4 or 5 Taiwanese, a few Americans, 2 from Northern Ireland, 2 Swiss, 2 Finns, a Romanian, a New Zelander and many more. I'm the only Canadian in the STEP. The age distribution is similar to college or university. Our coordinators are a super cheerful American girl, Abbey, and a crazy smiley Kenyan, Leonard.

Some introspection:

Well the atmosphere here is really neat. I can tell I am going to enjoy ship life. People here are either nice or super nice. It is pretty awesome being able to meet people from such vastly different places and feel an instant kinship in Christ. Even so, it is hard work getting to know hundreds of people all at once, and I have found myself at times just wanting to stare at the wall rather then introduce myself to yet another person. On top of that there is a steep learning curve in the first few days, so my head is spinning, partially from that and partially from the constant rocking of the ship. But I think within a week or so that will all settle down.

Day 3 finally:
Our first full day on the ship began with orientation for all the STEPpers. Stuff like safety procedures, computer and internet setup and introduction to various department heads. In the afternoon we got some drama training. After that we began taking turns sharing testimonies which was inspiring stuff as usual. One Scottish/Australian guy who is actually a roommate had a particularly wild testimony. In brief it involved child abuse, drugs, auto theft, the army, the Khmer Rouge, successful business, marriage, divorce, alcohol, golf, emptiness, JESUS!, and now Doulos! He really seems passionate for the Lord and is very humble about his testimony.

Prayer requests:

• Pray that I would keep up the social interaction, ask people lots of good questions and appreciate the practice.