My guardian angel drives a moto

After living here about a month, Mike and I purchased a scooter.  It's a cute red and white Fino and we were excited to finally have our own mode of transportation.  (I should note that scooters, motorcycles, motorbikes are all collectively referred to as "motos" and are the most common form of transportation here in Cambodia.)  A few Saturdays later, we drove our moto out to the school where we work.  The school is located about 8 km outside of Siem Reap and we made the trip out there without a problem.  Riding along side a herd of cows, occasionally waving to small children playing along the side of the road, whizzing past rice paddles with the hot, humid air blowing in our faces, we were loving our new purchase.

Unfortunately, on the way home, our moto completely stopped working and we were stranded on the side of the road.

Within five minutes of our moto breaking down, a young Cambodian man pulled over to the side of the road near us.  He spoke English quite well and offered to help us out.   He tried to start our moto but it would not go.  After trying for several minutes, he offered to walk with us down the road to a mechanic who might be able to fix our bike.  He spoke with the mechanic and served as a translator between the mechanic and us.  The mechanic looked at the bike and informed us that the bike would need a lot of work and he does not have the tools to fix it.  Seeing that this mechanic was not going to work out, the young Cambodian man suggested that we get a tuk-tuk to take us into town and find a mechanic that can fix the bike.  Since we were outside of town and there was little traffic, we struggled to hail a tuk-tuk.  The young Cambodian offered to go into town and find a tuk-tuk driver that would help us.  About fifteen minutes later, the young man returns with a tuk-tuk driver in tow. Again, serving as translator, he communicates with the driver what we need then process to help Mike and the driver load the moto into the carriage of the tuk-tuk.   

By the time we loaded our moto into the tuk-tuk, almost two hours had passed since this young man first stopped to offer help.  Throughout this time, he happily conversed with Mike and me, calling us his brother and sister.  He never asked for money for his services and at one point even called his wife to let her know he would be late for lunch because he was helping us.  I am tremendously grateful for this man and his willingness to help out complete strangers.  Over the years, many people have come in (and sadly out) of my life, stepping in and offering help when I needed it most.  Sometimes it's a family member, coworker or friend, other times it's a complete stranger who just happen to be in the right place at the right time to extend me a helping hand.  These individuals I lovingly refer to as "my guardian angels".  On this particular day, my guardian angel drove a moto.