Orientation is over, it was crazy busy and we did so much in such a small amount of time. The first few days consisted of Khmer lessons every morning and I'm trying to use it as much as possible, mostly saying thank you and no (mainly to tuktuk drivers). It's a difficult language with many 'blended' sounds like b+p and d+t sounds. We also had to sit through a few presentations on child protection and culture talks. I'm up-to-date with how to live here now I think; it feels like I've been here for at least a month.
So, I've tried a few new foods: dragon fruit; rambutan and having noodle soup for breakfast. I haven't been too adventurous as I've had gastro just once so far, fingers crossed that was the last time too. I've been to a few tourist sites: Tuol Sleng Museum; Royal Palace; Silver Pagoda and some more markets, which are so repetitive I'm not going again until I need something specific as I get totally ripped off as I am a 'white' person.
These past few days I have been on a trip to Kratie and Roungeav Island to visit an NGO which the school's money supports. As the school is run by volunteer teachers the classes are quite cheap and the money it makes goes to Cambodia Rural Development Tours (CRDT) which helps families in rural villages. They help them to make more money through growing their own vegetables and keeping chickens and pigs, they also encourage a more sanitised way of living, something as basic as using bins and having toilets. During our visit we saw the projects that were going on and stayed on the island in a village called Koh Phdao which CRDT supports. Here we stayed with families as a homestay. My homestay was with the Prum Sarin family. We slept on mats on the floor with a mosquito net over us, so basic but so comfy. There was a school in the village which we visited and handed out notebooks and pens to the children, it was a very strange experience for me and I am not able to put it into words but it seemed that the children very much enjoyed it and really that's all that matters.
We did a few more things whilst around Kratie, we went onto the Mekong River and saw Irrawaddy dolphins that are extremely rare and can only be seen here. We also got to watch some traditional Khmer dancing when at the Koh Phdao community as they put a show on for us during the evening. The dance is so simple and elegant.
During this visit I have had to take Malaria tablets which are an experience in itself. They have been giving me the most weird and vivid dreams. I'll give you an example of one that I remember. I was waitressing in my dream, just walking around doing the usual, however... I was naked and at the time it seemed normal - everyone was naked. But then my boss told me to put knickers on and I tried, I really did but the knickers felt like them and I was opposite ends of magnets and I just couldn't put them on. I was so frustrated at the time. I can't remember if I got them on in the end, but it doesn't matter because it was only a dream.
I'm back in Phnom Penh, getting ready for my classes that start on Monday. I'm teaching 4 classes a day and my times are 6AM till 7AM; 7AM till 8AM; 4PM till 5PM and 5PM till 6PM. I'm liking the schedule and looking forward to the 5AM wake ups.
Heaps of Peace,
Jay
