Dignitaries and Trapeze Artists

The past few days as we have taken our walk there have been new displays and banners around the park. These were in preparation for a visit today from the President of the People's Republic of China. Newspaper reports indicated that there would be a security team of 7,000 which is their largest security force ever for a visiting dignitary. That uniformed presence was very noticeable in Phnom Penh today.

Traffic had its challenges today, as well. We went out on errands which took longer than usual. Our trip around town was not as challenging as others reported, however.  As we inched along there were some interesting things to see, such as the cargo on a moto including a toilet seat. We just never know what we will see when we venture out in this city.

This morning we didn't even have to leave our apartment to see some of those unusually spectacular photo-ops. The building across the street is nearing completion, so today they brought in a ladder to work their high trapeze act. The crew was removing the green border from the bottom edge of the sign, which is up 5 stories from the ground. The rungs were probably 2 ft apart, and each move of the ladder required a climb to the top where there is a narrow ledge to perch on. All this is done without safety equipment. We were told that the rate of accidents increased when people started using steel-toed shoes and hard hats.

This morning as we had our usual Skype call with Sister Roberts in Hong Kong, all of a sudden she jumped up and said wait just a second. She went to get someone to say hello to us, Lynn & Karen Beckstead the new Area Public Affairs Couple. The Becksteads were tax clients of Elder Oveson and we got to visit with them in Siem Reap back in February. They just arrived in Hong Kong this week and it was great to see them again.