Author: Charles Dittmeier
Different celebration of death
Today I went to the funeral of a colleague from the Philippines who died here. There aren’t many funerals in the Catholic churches in Cambodia because there aren’t many Catholics and because the Cambodian Catholics are mostly quite young and the foreign Catholics tend to be younger or robust middle age also. We don’t have a significant population of older foreigners living here. This was only the second or third time in twenty years that I have been at an actual funeral in a church with the body present. Most of the time I have funerals at the Buddhist wats (pagodas) where the body is to be cremated or else there is a simple ceremony at the morgue before a body is shipped to its home country for burial.
Lunar New Year
This coming Saturday is the Lunar New Year celebrated by the chopsticks countries. It’s not an official holiday in Cambodia—but everyone takes off for 3 or 4 days or a week. The stores and shops are already showing off their decorations.
Find My Phone
This is an autorickshaw (as they are called in India, their country of origin) that has become the main mode of public transportation in Phnom Penh now. I used one to go to St. Joseph Church this morning and violated my own rule: Never put my phone down on the seat. I did just that and in the hassle of getting out and collecting my stuff and paying the driver, I walked off and left the phone. The beauty of this online hailing system is that the autoricks are called from a phone, and so the passenger’s phone number, time of pick-up, and destination are all recorded. When I got home I called the company, named Grab, and a very helpful young woman called the driver for me and he had the phone. She then gave me his number and I had our guard call him to explain in Khmer (better than I could!) how to get to the Maryknoll office. Within an hour the man above appeared and I was reunited with my phone, and he went away happy with the remuneration I gave him.
Deaths of Two Sisters
Maryknoll in Hua Hin #10
Every year Maryknollers from various parts of Asia travel to southern Thailand for an annual retreat and meeting. Click below for news of each day’s activities.
• Tuesday (7 January 2020) — Travel Day
• Wednesday (8 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Thursday (9 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Friday (10 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Saturday (11 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Sunday (12 January 2020) — Final Retreat Day
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Maryknoll Mission Gathering
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Evening Talent Show
• Tuesday (14 January 2020) — Charism Meetings
• Wednesday (15 January 2020) — Travel Day
Maryknoll in Hua Hin #9
Every year Maryknollers from various parts of Asia travel to southern Thailand for an annual retreat and meeting. Click below for news of each day’s activities.
• Tuesday (7 January 2020) — Travel Day
• Wednesday (8 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Thursday (9 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Friday (10 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Saturday (11 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Sunday (12 January 2020) — Final Retreat Day
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Maryknoll Mission Gathering
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Evening Talent Show
• Tuesday (14 January 2020) — Charism Meetings
Maryknoll in Hua Hin #8
Every year Maryknollers from various parts of Asia travel to southern Thailand for an annual retreat and meeting. Click below for news of each day’s activities.
• Tuesday (7 January 2020) — Travel Day
• Wednesday (8 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Thursday (9 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Friday (10 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Saturday (11 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Sunday (12 January 2020) — Final Retreat Day
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Maryknoll Mission Gathering
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Evening Talent Show
Maryknoll in Hua Hin #7
Every year Maryknollers from various parts of Asia travel to southern Thailand for an annual retreat and meeting. Click below for news of each day’s activities.
• Tuesday (7 January 2020) — Travel Day
• Wednesday (8 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Thursday (9 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Friday (10 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Saturday (11 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Sunday (12 January 2020) — Final Retreat Day
• Monday (13 January 2020) — Maryknoll Mission Gathering
Maryknoll in Hua Hin: #6
Every year Maryknollers from various parts of Asia travel to southern Thailand for an annual retreat and meeting. Click below for news of each day’s activities.
• Tuesday (7 January 2020) — Travel Day
• Wednesday (8 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Thursday (9 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Friday (10 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Saturday (11 January 2020) — Retreat Day
• Sunday (12 January 2020) — Final Retreat Day