New Year, New Contact

My dad has been in a Cambodian band for as long as I can remember. A lead singer of both modern and folk Cambodian music. Because our trip is taking place in April, the month of the Cambodian New Year, the Cambodian community in Madison, WI moved their celebration date to March 30th so my dad's band can perform with him.

Though the real significance of that day was the day we received a phone call from my dad's family in Cambodia. We have contact! We found a friend who has family in Battembong, the same city my dad's family is located. They went the old fashion way and asked if the friend can have her family ask around to find our family. Little did we know, word of mouth is still more powerful than the technology we have today. My dad's family now know we are on our way and will be looking for my mother's family (in the village of Moung) and will try to have them travel to Battembong. Phew, a huge load off the shoulders. Another butterfly in the stomach, adding to the millions already existing. Meeting family becomes a lot more real.

Websites, Emails, Even Facebook

We are doing everything we can to figure out what the first step is in finding our family. Many friends have volunteered to help, though we continue to hit many dead ends and return back to square one. Trying to get a head start in searching is feeling like a fail. We only have three weeks there and we are starting to think it might take the entire three weeks to search.