Indonesia & Cambodia!

Tomorrow (because it's now officially Wednesday as I'm posting this) I leave for Indonesia, then Cambodia, for a work trip (tough life, I know). I will be gone until November 4, or Election Day for you non-campaign junkies. Yes, I'm voting absentee...later today!

For those of you interested, here's my itinerary and an explanation of what I'll be doing while on the other side of the world. While there, I'll have email access now and then and may even have time for a Skype chat/conversation - watch for me in the mornings/evenings (Indonesia is currently 12 hours ahead of Eastern time; Cambodia is 11 hours ahead)!

Itinerary - short version
10/9/08-10/11/08: Travel to Jakarta, Indonesia
10/11/08-10/23/08: Jakarta, Jayapura, & Wamena Indonesia with US church partner & WR staff
10/24/08-10/31/08: Cambodia Partnership Planning Meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
11/1/08-11/3/08: Sight-seeing in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)
11/3/08-11/4/08: Return home.

Itinerary - long version :)
10/09/08 - 10/11/08: Travel to Jakarta, Indonesia, via Seoul, Korea. I have a 24 hour layover in Seoul, so I'm hoping to go out and snap some photos of a palace or two. I won't have time for much else, but at least I can say I've been to Korea! :)

10/11/08 - 10/20/08: Jakarta, Jayapura, & Wamena, Indonesia (the last two are cities on the island of Papua, also known as Irian Jaya or the Western side of Papua New Guinea). Here I'll be accompanying a small group from a new partner church on their first 'assessment trip' to Indonesia. We'll be visiting programs, local partners, and local churches to get a better understanding of the work World Relief is doing (primarily in HIV/AIDS prevention education, also in maternal & child health), build relationships with our staff and local partners, and build the foundation for a long-term partnership in the country. My job is to facilitate the relationships and help guide discussions about long-term involvement - fun stuff. :)

10/20/08 - 10/23/08: Remain in Jakarta with staff after church group has returned to US. I'll be staying to talk through the trip, discuss next steps, and talk about capacity for more partners. And catch up on 2+ weeks of email (including all I'm catching up on now after the wedding!).

10/23/08 - 10/24/08: Travel to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My layover here is only about 12 hours overnight, so there will be no getting my passport stamped in Malaysia. Maybe next time...

10/24/08 - 10/31/08: Last minute prep for and participation in Cambodia Partnership annual planning meetings. Five of our six US partner churches will be sending reps to Cambodia for one week to visit programs, review the last few years' work, and discuss long-term goals/plans for the future. More meetings, conversations, and planning = very happy Lynnae. :)

11/1/08 - 11/3/08: Visit Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat and other ancient temples/ruins in Cambodia. Angkor Wat is a UN World Heritage site and (supposedly) a great tourist spot - not too overrun with people, but easy enough to navigate without knowing Khmer, the native language in Cambodia. Massages, anyone?

11/3/08 - 11/4/08: Wrap up meeting debrief and return to US, just in time to find out who the next U.S. President will be, rest up for a few days, and get ready to go home for a high school theater production. Never boring, my life!