After walking out of Phnom Penh International airport, we were greeted by a Life University theology student named Jessie who came to help us get to Life U. We loaded up a tour bus with our luggage and then went to a special buffet lunch. The restaurant was relatively fancy and had a lot of special foods.

Cambodia is very hot and humid, and we realized that right away as we left the airport building. Luckily, the bus we sat in for four hours had air conditioning.

Though Phnom Penh is the capital, largest, and wealthiest city of Cambodia, everything still seemed very old and poor. Driving through made me wonder what kind of lifestyle poor Cambodians had.

I also noticed how everyone rode "moto-bikes" rather than cars. Sometimes whole families could be seen riding on a single bike. The traffic in Cambodia is also very crazy, and it seems like no one here follows any traffic laws. Instead, everyone just does what's convenient for them on the road while avoiding accidents. Reminded me a little of China's roads, but crazier.

After we ate, we made another stop at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former high school that was used as a security prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. Two people stood outside and asked our team for money as we entered and left the complex. The museum has many displays, photographs, documents, and other displays that seeks to make public the horrific atrocities that occurred during the genocide. Many of the classrooms have a single metal bed frame that was used for tortures, and photographs of victims can be found on the walls of the rooms in which they were discovered. In a different building, room after room contains mug shot photographs of people that were kept, tortured, or executed in the complex.

From the museum, we drove another 3 or 4 hours through the rain to Life University and arrived at 8pm in darkness and torrential rain. We had to unload all the luggage and carry it up four flights of stairs. We ended the day with a dinner prepared by the staff cafeteria cook.

I tried a new fruit for the first time today on the bus to Life University. It's called mangosteen, and isn't normally available to the public in most countries due to import restrictions. I read that it sells in specialty produce stories for as high as $45 a pound... The fruit is pretty good and exceptionally sweet.

Here's the daily update that was sent to church members back home:

Cambodia Team 1 Update - Day 1