Gecko Tales

GECKO TALES

AUGUST 2006 NEWSLETTER by Debbi


Greetings!

When we arrived in Cambodia last month we had definite ideas about how we would re-enter into our very familiar surroundings. First we’d reconnect with our helper/family member, Yana, look for housing options in our former neighborhood, and reconnect with friends who we’ve missed for the past year.

We quickly learned that the many changes we’re either about to take place or had radically changed already……

Yana announced upon our first meeting that she would be leaving permanently for the U.S. and her entire family would be joining her over the next few years. She had only stayed in Cambodia until we returned to tell us in person. We were saddened by this of course, but wished her well and we were all comforted by the fact that she’d be relocating near my mom in California. We interviewed a new helper named Srey Nieng who was recommended by our friend Lisa Everitt and hired her as our new helper.

We were fortunate to have great accommodations at the Everitts while we looked for housing. They only asked that we leave before Lisa’s return from the U.S. on the ninth of August. No problem. This would give us over 2 ½ weeks to find a place before she returned and 3 weeks before the kids started school. Normally this would provide plenty of time for finding housing and getting settled in before the start of school. But, things were anything but normal or typical this time around.

Of course we looked around for a real estate agency. Many such agencies abound in Cambodia. Agents will aggressively search for housing as they can receive a commission from the landlord for the full amount of one month’s rent. The service is free for the client. After securing the assistance of at least 8 official and unofficial real estate agents we were blown away by several new facts:

• The average cost for our place had gone up $200 over the past year
• There were no possibilities in our desired area
• There were no possibilities in the areas surrounding our desired area
• There were few places that even had the number of rooms we needed
• There were many new places being offered for double our typical cost (with fewer rooms!)

I started to do personal research on the notion of people suffering from H.H. I. D. (House Hunting Induced Depression). After finding nothing before the Aug. 9^th deadline, we moved into Tom & Lynn Newhouses’ home while they were away for 4 days. Everyone was lobbying hard for just moving into our own house; any house.

There was one place near Brian’s office that offered enough rooms and was also near the kid’s school. It had flooding issues and it was clear across town and many of my errands, including my office was in town. Matt was lobbying for a “patayah lavang”. It was new, freshly painted and almost half the rent we were anticipating. But, it is situated on four floors. The first floor is where you park your car in front of your living room and kitchen. The 2^nd floor has two rooms. (one overlooks the living room).The 3^rd floor 2 rooms, the 4^th floor, one room with a great balcony. Problem. There are windows only at the front and back of the house. We’d need an intercom to stay in touch and I couldn’t keep track of Jordan.

Alana liked the first house we looked at. It was tastefully furnished with elegant wood furniture, beautiful garden. Truly suited for her champagne taste, but unfortunately our beer budget could not withstand the extra $200 it would cost to rent. She dramatically rolled her eyes to express that we were so cramping her style.

Matt said,” So you mean we’re going to start school next week without an address?”

Things were bleak on the house hunting front. However I was having the most hopeful and encouraging quiet times. Daily reminders “to wait patiently and with confidence for the things you hope for, knock and the door will be open, seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you; He will bring into existence that which does not exist”; He will give you the land. These verses where juxtaposed to daily outings with nothing to show for our efforts.

I didn’t have the verse which says “Let your yes be yes and your no be no”, but I did have to fall back on this one. Remember Yana our beloved helper of 8 years? Well it turns out that things weren’t as definite as she thought and the U.S. embassy denied her request to go to the states immediately. She would be staying in Cambodia for at least another year while she pursues her immigration visa. So she and her husband start to hint that maybe it God’s will for her to stay here and work for me???? As unsettling as this all was I felt strongly that I could not go back on my agreement with Srey Nieng. We compromised by offering Yana part time work until she returns to the U.S. Helpers: 2; House, 0.

Thida is the guard of Alana’s good friend Leanna. Of course he too was in on the search for the Maher’s home. When he phoned to say he had found a place I immediately remembered the home he showed me the week before- I didn’t need to go inside to know it wouldn’t work- It was just that bad. Also by now, we’d seen many places twice and I could officially become a real estate agent myself! Anyway, did we have a home yet? No. So of course I had to check it out. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It is a two story house with grass (rare in Cambodia), two fish ponds, fully furnished with tastefully simple wooden furniture, a modern kitchen area, pretty tiles in the bathrooms, small back yard with a covered area with table and chairs. It’s a new house. We are the first tenants, and we have very warm landlords. One drawback, though. It doesn’t have the office space. It’s missing one room. It’s just too perfect. We’ll just make due and create office space – some where. The next day we signed the contract and they agreed to create an additional room! We moved in two days later on Saturday, two days before the start of school. The rent is less than our budgeted amount. I know!

We’ve had some bad experiences with previous landlords. One kept one month of our 3 months deposit, one raised the rent without warning, and another shared our electricity line. Our new landlords are so generous. First furnishing the house, then continuing after the contract to bless us with additional items which we could have purchased on our own – but they just seem to want to make things nice.

So thank you for your prayers. We are really enjoying our prayers with birds singing in the background.

Love,

Debbi

P.S. Upcoming newsletter topics: The Glass Bedroom; The Monkey Invasion, Possible Video Tapes Miracle and Are we Kinda in the Provinces?