What A Ride.

The Cambodian Adventure has sadly come to an end.  We will be finishing a final video over the coming weeks (months) that will hopefully embody our experiences with the Siem Reap Junior Soccer League.  We will share it when it is ready, but until then, have a look at www.WASSADEAL.com for Miles' musings on the world.

Thanks for following our adventure everyone.

Old Market Madness

Cantering In Cambodia

Our time here is coming to an end and besides finishing up another project for Grace House and getting the last of our footy footage we are trying to make the most of our Cambodian adventure.  Gabe has been traveling with his visiting brother for the week but before they left we all went horseback riding.  Just a fifteen minute walk from our house there is a place called Happy Ranch where you can get lessons or go on guided tours.  Although we had each ridden at least once before we were certainly not qualified to just take off on our own – fortunately we were able to fake some credentials to do so. 

I rode a pregnant horse named California aka Miss California.  I was told she had a week left of riding before she’d be taken out of the starting lineup to give birth to little Cali, but that I shouldn’t be afraid to kick her into action. We rode through rice paddies and villages and even at one point a pagoda – monks and children alike waving and yelling “hello!” as we passed through.  At a few points we went through open areas where we got to take our trots to a cowboy canter and fly.  I must admit I could easily have lost control of old California and landed in a ditch somewhere but I held on long enough to ride into the Cambodian sunset that seemed to be timed perfectly with our trek.

Can't say I am not ready to get back to America the beautiful but I really am going to miss this place.  Plan on spending the last few weeks taking photos, hanging with my DVD family (paying for their future son's college tuition through my purchases), and taking in every-asian-thing that I will miss upon my return.  Time here has been nothing short of amasian.  Gotta run - my fried tofu with peanuts, basil, and chilis just arrived alongside my mango and shrimp salad.  Nom. Nom. Nom. 

Some Soccer, Siem Reap

New Dance Craze Reaches Cambodia...So We Filmed It.

The Final Countdown

We are closing in on our final forty days in Cambodia and the heat is up - literally it has been in the 90s starting midway through the week.  Although we have been able to produce several small projects in our time here, we are only just beginning several others which we will have completed before heading home.  Admittedly we are guilty of succumbing to the slow (and disorganized) pace that is Cambodian life, but as our time here is winding down more pieces of the puzzle are falling into place.  We came over here with the hope and intention of telling stories about Cambodian children involved with Gary’s soccer league.  We wanted to use the soccer league as a vehicle for exploring the realities of kids born into harsh livelihoods due to the historical social and political turmoil that engulfed Cambodia for much of its recent history.  We have met many wonderful kids through the soccer league and children centers, which provide education and other lacking necessities for them.  What we did not count on was just how difficult it would be to share the kids lives through film – both due to the language barrier and to the way the children and their ‘images’ are protected by the school/center administrators.  Having said all of that, we have found other ways to get involved and portray some of what we hope to share with all of you.  It has been a long road building rapport with the various members of organizations and hopefully these relations will be the foundation of the projects to come.  These projects have changed from personal documentary aspirations to aligning with the goals and missions of the many people doing humanitarian work in Siem Reap who were in need of our videography skills.  We hope you have enjoyed reading and watching what we have presented thus far and stay tuned for more to come.

Grace House Library Project

Wassadeal, here is our latest video.  We made it for a small community center called Grace House which is just four kilos south of Siem Reap.  They recently finished building a library.  They only have two shelves neither of which is completely full of books.  They are hoping to have as many as six.  We hope you enjoy the video and stay tuned for more soon.


Grace House Library Project from Wassadeal Productions on Vimeo.

Now go donate 10 bucks!