Today was our Cambodia travel day from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. Along our journey we stopped to have lunch at makeshift roadside café if you will. Mostly it was just a gathering of vendors on the side of the road.
As I stepped off the bus this sweet little girl held a bag of fresh pineapple in my face and said in her adorable Cambodian accent, “hi beautiful lady. You buy pineapple. Maybe later?” all in one breath. She then followed me to the street vendors and continued to say, “maybe later you buy pineapple? You remember me. You buy pineapple maybe later?” She then asked my name and as I told her she introduced herself as Tina. 
Then we were friends apparently. J “Come, I show you spider” she said and took me by the hand to show me the fried tarantulas they were selling nearby in big baskets. She casually reached in and picked one up, tore a leg off and ate it as she said, “you eat spider. You like. It so good.” I responded with a cringe as I said, “Tina, I’m scared!” “You no scared. You eat. You like. It good.” Her smile was contagious. She didn’t push the subject too much and I opted instead to hold a cooked tarantula and take a picture of it.
As we waited on the other team members to find food, Tina and I stood there right between the basket of tarantulas and the basket of crickets. She informed me that these were small crickets with no eggs, but the large ones with eggs were better. I nodded in agreement, hoping she didn’t want me to do a taste test to prove her point, ha.
As we stood there those 10 minutes, I learned a lot about little Tina. She’s 9 years old and goes to a school nearby, but she was on lunch break. She has studied English in school for 5 years and wants to be a teacher when she grows up. She asked where I was going and for how long and if I would stop back by on my way through. It seemed like Tina just enjoyed talking to a visitor about something besides pineapple. She didn’t seem at all interested in selling me pineapple anymore. It’s a good thing because just an hour earlier I ate an entire pineapple and now my taste buds are burning, ha. She saw me back to the bus and wished me a safe journey with a handshake and a huge smile. Then she reached into her bag and pulled something out. She said, “I make this for you. Take. It a heart.” She put this piece of paper folded intricately into a heart into my hand and walked me to the bus. I soon discovered it was a 100 Real bill, the Cambodian currency, equal to about 2.5 cents.
That just blew me away. Here’s this child who much spend her lunch break trying to sell pineapples to the tour buses that stop here. She is one of about 20 children who are relentless in their attempts to make a sale. They will follow you around in sing-song fashion trying to sell you fruit until you finally give in. But instead Tina chose to engage in a 10 minute conversation with me about her life and the journey I’m on. Then she leaves me with a gift! Wow! This just made my heart smile today and I thank God for how I experienced a taste of His Kingdom today through 10 minutes spent with Tina.
