Rich and Ronda Dolan

Temple tour #2 - This is the guardian temple, The Bayon. It was built around 1200 with additions later by subsequent rulers. On every tower, there are faces. Most towers have 4 faces facing each direction. It is like a maze through the temple with 3 levels. And everywhere you look are faces. Today there are 37 towers standing; originally there were 49. Unfortunately, because of the stone, the pictures I took of the entire temple, make it impossible to see all the faces. So I chose those that were closer. You really will have to come see it; it is amazing. This was probably my favorite as every doorway and opening led you to another face. And to know that they were carved so long ago. The picture with Rebekah I took not only for the large carvings, but hopefully you can see that above and below the large carvings are tiny carvings that cover the rest of the pillar. I can't imagine the time these temples took. Hopefully, if you aren't into temples or history, I am making these a...

Welcome to Angkor Wat. Rich, Rebekah, Dad, Mom and I went to Siem Reap this past weekend to see Angkor Wat as well as a few other temples (pictures of the others to follow later). Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious monument. It was built by King SuryavarmanII between 1113 - 1150 with some additions later. I won't give you anymore details as you can look them up if you are interested. The first picture is Rich, Mom, Rebekah and Dad on the causeway between the gateway of the Angkor Wat grounds (it is surrounded by a moat) and Angkor Wat proper. The next picture is Angkor Wat. The towers you see are actually in the middle of the temple area. The area is in a rectangle with hallways all the way around and then other buildings in the middle. The picture of the 5 apsaras are from inside of the temple area. There are nearly 2,000 apsaras in the temple and they have 500 different hairdos (only one has her teeth showing). The other picture is one of the hallways that a...

Hang with me and you'll see what I mean. Loren and Penny Hollingsworth (Ronda's parents) are here for the next 6 weeks. Of course, they are staying with us. (But they are not the miserable corpses.) Loren is teaching Minor Prophets in the morning (3 hours) and The Preacher and his Work in the afternoon (2 hours). It's a killer schedule for him. But, being a missionary for 35 years in Thailand, he is a great one to teach both the classes. I'm am thrilled that he can do it. And, it allows me to do some planning, but mostly to really focus on the language. The sooner we can master the language, the better it will be for the work here. Now, to the picture. We first took this a couple of weeks after we moved here. It is very near to our house. Our first guess was that it was bad translation; that the meaning was "we help the poor" or something like that. No, that's not it. It is really a funeral home. We've gotten to "enjoy" the music of several K...

Ken and Jean Fox got here on Dec 31st to help teach in the preaching school. They stayed with us until Feb. 9 when they went on to Bangkok. They were missionaries with us in Bangkok so it was great to catch up with them and their kids. And, of course, Ken did a great job teaching. Joe Chesser from Missouri is currently working at Partners In Progress but agreed to come encourage the students during chapel on morning. It is a great blessing for the students to get to hear so many different preachers and teachers. The last picture is Joe teaching during chapel. Tawn is translating. Tawn does a great job translating for everyone. It is a huge benefits for us and the students that Tawn has good Bible knowledge. Many of the words and concepts are different that normal khmer so translators that aren't Christians have a hard time conveying the correct message. Like the title said, mangoes are in season and mangoes picked right off the tree are truly fantastic! Rich said he could...

One thing I love about tropical countries is the open markets. This is the market near us that most of the khmers in our area go to for nearly everything. As you can see, it is just a walkway between buildings and then opens up a little further back. It is always crowded. When it rains, it is a mess! We go primarily for the fresh fruits and vegetables, which they have in abundance. We have also bought brooms and charcoal (khmer style) there along with some pants. They are all very kind. Only one other time have I seen foreigners in there. We usually go at least once a week. I have not yet bought meat there since we used to go after chapel time (9:15 or so) and I wasn't sure how long the meat has been there. But recently I have been going before chapel so maybe we'll try some. In fact, yesterday when I went, you could pick out the live chicken (feet were tied so couldn't get away) and they would kill it, pluck it, and get it all ready for you. You know those ar...

OK. Now for the part of the party we were invited to...it was a housewarming party. The first picture is the canopy with tables all set up that are in the street. So the people that lived farther down the road from us had to go out a back way to get out of their houses (the 'back way' is similar to an unpaved alley in the US). So the tent blocked the entire street. They will do this on the main streets as well. It's crazy. The 2nd picture is our courtyard looking from our side to our landlord's side. It is quite an ordeal. And they like their parties! They get very dressed up and have tons of food and loud music! As I am writing this, I can hear monks chanting at another party of some sort a few street away. Anyway, the party started at 4:30 pm but we didn't get there from church services until nearly 8pm. They have long parties and people feel free to come and go. Almost all of the women were in very fancy dresses, as you can see by the picture of the 2...