Khmer Princesses

I saved posting this to report on the more pressing matter of Tuesday's tragedy.

Had an extremely snazzy day on Monday, in which we were all dolled up in way too many layers of make up, hair sprayed into place (mine complete with a hairpiece) - not to mention being "blinged up" to the absolute max. I don't think I've ever worn anything so shiny. Or pink, for that matter.

Group shot!

They spent forever curling Ida's hair; I think they must have been in love with her gorgeous blondeness - I know I am! 

Since I was in pink...well, Will had to match my outfit. Sorry Will. I think he outshone me an ounce though.

So much pink! So much silver and gold! So many unnatural poses!

This little guy gets the prize for the most hilarious photographer. He was just precious 

One of my favourite pictures

Today, Saturday 27th November, is my LAST FULL DAY IN CAMBODIA. Eek! I'm having so much trouble believing that it truly has come to an end.

Hmmm...to look at it another way, though: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Juliet

Water Festival Stampede

We were on the same bridge two nights previous to the event, telling each other this would be the one and only night we'd be coming in this direction - the crowds were ridiculous and not worth the discomfort of getting to Diamond Island. Last night, we watched a Tiny Toones performance near the Royal Palace, and talking to Diamond (one of the dancers) after they'd performed told us they'd be going to that island later on. By this time, we'd already been subject to huge crowds at the Riverside area (which is about 20mins walk from Diamond Island) so decided to go get a drink in a quieter area. At about 11.30pm, as we are leaving Riverside for good, we noticed several Ambulances drive past us, as well as trunks carrying people. It was only this morning that we discovered the truth and scale of the tragedy.

It's a terrible, and somewhat sickening occurrence that I am still having trouble believing.

Condolences to anyone who has lost someone in this horrific event.

The Red House & The Empty House

Obviously the reason for me neglecting this blog for so long attributes to the fact that we've had such a hectic past few weeks - one event that originated at perhaps 10:30am on last Tuesday morning. Vy decided to remind us that we were going to Kep on the Wednesday afternoon - and good thing she did remind us - we all believed we wouldn't be travelling to the rural province (just 4 hours from Cambodia) until the Friday of that week. Hence, busy preparation began and before we knew it we had arrived.

Technically we hadn't reached Kep itself, but Chamcar Bei, a village about an hour away from Kep. BABC (Bridges Across Borders Cambodia, the NGO we are volunteering for) supports a huge project in this particular region, with opportunities for developing the community through agriculture, education and health. Our major role while there was to help build a house.

The Red House

...Yeeaah I fooled ya'. This wasn't actually the house we built, but the one we stayed in. The Red House, as it is known, is the local residence for the BABC volunteers working in the area. Currently there are 3 - Inge and Sofie from Belgium, and Michael from Germany.

Surrounding the Red House, which is complete with Kitchen, Bathroom (I say bathroom), Balcony & 2 hours of electricity per day, there are miles and miles of farmland stretching out in every direction, with some amazing mountains in the distance. Additionally it comes equipped with a local Swimming Pool, the beautiful, serene lake full of authentic Lily pads. We even ate some of the lotus fruit while we were there.

The Lake

So I apologise if I'm starting to sound a bit like an advertisement, but really, what could I say about Kep that wouldn't attract someone from wanting to go? The fact that it's a completely unspoiled area makes it unique from anywhere else on the planet. Perhaps the comforts of home missing, I would find it difficult to live there for months on end, although I think the beautiful location would more than make up for it. I suppose many wouldn't agree with me, but I find many cities just the same thing over and over - but somewhere like this? You can't beat.

ANYWAYS, so onto the house building!

It was about a half-hour cycle to the site on some (rather questionable) bicycles supplied by BABC. Doesn't sound all that pleasant? The picture below shows the scenery pretty much the entire way.

Tiring, yes, but incredible at the same time.

So arriving at the site started us off building a house that went from picture 1 to 2 in two days.

Beginning

End!

It was an amazing feat, simultaneously charitable and enjoyable. As a group, it cemented and bonded us even further - such that, when it came the time to leave Kep, I felt rather sad at having to depart from a location that would hold true memories for me of our time in Cambodia. 

NB: photos courtesy of Tien as I forgot to take my camera to Kep!

...And that sadness would reign true only a few days later, as on Monday 8th November 2010, Maxwell Moody and Victor Trisna departed from Cambodia for good.

We all knew it was coming, that they would be leaving approx a month before the rest of us - but that doesn't mean it made it any less hard! Those two were a huge part of the entire group and will be very much missed.

Some of the Facebook Comments that arose after they had left...

ERICA: miss you already Victor Trisna and Max Moody!!! have a safe flight bros <333

IDA: 3 months make you care more about people that what you realize at once :( i will miss you two so much :( remember youll always be my brotha´s from anotha motha ♥

TIEN TSIN: Victor awwww

thanks for the note, sorry for us all rushing you at A2!!
I miss you and Max Moody so much already!
BUT THE GROUP WiLL NEVER BE SEPARATED AT HEART
We all HAVE to have a reunion sometime in the near future ♥ ♥

I think those accurately sum up how we all felt about the boys' departure. 

As a surprise, we made them each books where everyone wrote individual messages, and t-shirts with all our names on for a Cambodian reminder. The catch was, we gave these to them an hour before they had to leave, and so they spent their last hour here hastily trying to scribble in everyone ELSES books while simultaneously trying to eat a last dinner at A2...sorry about that guys...

Although it's the end of the line for them, the journey continues for the final 6, and so I will hopefully still be blogging until the end if I can!

Much love (& curious as to who is still reading),

Juliet 

Three Quarters

I love this photo

It's almost been 3 months since we arrived in Cambodia.

Wow?

It's probably for this reason that I'm finding it more and more difficult to blog about something new and exciting...due to the fact that everything 'new and exciting' is now just events that occur in my day-to-day life. It's no longer a short holiday or expedition - these months in Phnom Penh will mark an entire period of my life.

So what have been my three 'happy moments' from the past week?

1. I FELL IN LOVE...with the $5 muesli from the supermarket. Okay, so it's definitely a weekly investment - but so very, very worth it. Combined with honey-lemon yoghurt and fresh banana - it's one of the major attractions for eating breakfast.
2. I HAD A PURPLE PAMPERING...in the form of a pedicure! For...wait for it...50cents! Everything that is cheap is always amazing, and this beautifies me to the max. Not that I wasn't beautified to the max before, of course.
3. PARTYING ON A SUNDAY...at Vy's birthday! We had an amazing time at a restaurant first (in which we bonded with the previously kinda-awkward guys in the office...through drinking of course) and then moved onto a bar complete with pool...and finally clubbing at Heart of Darkness. It was supersuper funfunfun, and I'm so glad Vy invited us.

Okay I have just realised something terrible has occurred - I have had yet to tell you about Vy!!! She is our coordinator here in PP, and one of the coolest, most lovely of all the Khmer people. You can always tell her anything if it is troubling you, or just funny things that have happened to you that day. But the best way to think of Vy is by her smile, which you rarely see her without. We couldn't get by in Cambodia without Vy!

This morning we went to meet with the top-of-the-top people from Village Earth, to talk about the volunteer program. When we were leaving, they thanked us for what we are doing with such heart, such sincerity, that I couldn't help tearing up a little bit. The fact that it is already three quarters of the way through is already beginning to hit me. As now that this time in Cambodia is becoming defined as a significant period to me, it is also about to end.

Alas - it is not over yet! Much more to come...so stay tuned readers, for we are about to enter the last month with determination and gusto. Let's do it.

Lots of love,

Ms Clark - revolutionary teacher of the future

Revelations? Well, Somewhat

Today was a day for revelations. Well, bit of an overstatement. But I don't lie - I did have somewhat of a revelation. And here it is:

Teaching the kids here is like that part in Friends where Phoebe tries to teach Joey French.



The point of me telling you this? Surprisingly it's not to suggest that my teaching has caused kids to speak to the same level that Joey speaks "French", though that's what this is implying. It's more to just show how difficult it can be.

Then again, when they realise that your name is actually Juliet as opposed to Julian after almost 10 weeks of daily classes, then maybe you have made a small impact. (Ahhhhh this has just reminded me - the kids have also taking to switching round the vowels of our names, so Juliet comes out as Jet Li Oo, almost making me a famous Kung Fu master, and William becomes Wam Li Ear. Just a fun fact)

Sadly enough 10 weeks marks two thirds of my time into my Cambodia stay. 5 more weeks and I'll be saying "Lia howie!" (or "...hia lowie," even).

Do you know what I reckon this most recent 'monthiversary' begs? That's right. Another list. For now it's time to soak up the rest of my short life here in Cambodia. This adds a checklist that I need to fulfill before my departure, and that hopefully I will be able to update before it's time to leave!

To Do List:

1. Having Khmer-style  BBQ (been saying we'd do it for ages, but never did)
2. Dressing up as Khmer Princesses (yes, for 10 dollars, you get the most dolled up look of your life in a mere 2 hours. Funky, no?)
3. Getting through the entire alphabet in class (we're on W - so close!)
4. Going to the shooting range (courtesy of Will)
5. Having crab in Kep (a province with another BABC project that we are visiting next month)
6. Having Khmer-style dessert (looks delicious)

Okay so it's a pretty short list, and most of it involves food, but in my opinion that shows how much I feel like I've already done since I've been here - and that really is a great deal. 

If anyone was curious, the impact of the floods has almost cleared out of the Phnom Penh towns and villages that it has been affecting, although it is still a danger to many of the outer provinces. Today I took a picture outside Youth School to demonstrate how the area has changed in a week.

Last week

This week

Though the water is almost gone, the area continues to be ripe for disease and these floods have had quite a disastrous affect on some of the housing. 

So I guess I wasn't lying about the revelation thing before - because here's another. It's amazing how my concerns have changed since I've been enveloped in such a different world to any that I have ever known.

Much love to all,

Juliet

Floods

A normal day. I wake up at 7am, just in time to get dressed, have breakfast (muesli, banana + honey yoghurt), wash my face and brush my teeth before it's time to leave. Then it's the regular tuk-tuk ride to Lakeside, to drop off Max and Victor, and then forward to Youth School for Will and I. Once we arrived, the topics for the morning classes would be the letter "V" and "Days of the week."

Ah, but someone had other plans.

I should probably have mentioned this previously, but yesterday was approximately one of the lengthiest rainstorms of my existence - when we woke it was raining, when we slept it was raining - with not even a sense of a pause in between. I suppose we didn't really consider the effect this would have, that by this morning, the whole of the area around Lakeside was completely flooded, the people's houses and all. Due to the controversial filling of the lake that is currently happening at Boeung Kak (at which lie the Youth School and Lakeside schools), the after-effects of a day of rainfall have been catastrophic.

One of the houses nearby Youth School

As Will said, the water they are replacing with sand in the lake has to go somewhere. And where has it gone? Into the houses of the residents nearby - the ones living on so little a day, the ones who could never afford to repair the damage done. They just have to wait for the water to go down.

The pathway up to Lakeside School

Due to the floods, both schools were locked and so all four of us - Will, Max, Victor and I - were at a bit of a loss what to do. Of course, the kids always save us. Hanging around outside waiting for their lesson that would never happen, I was immediately brought a "seo pulng"(book) and asked to "an" (read) out the words so they could repeat them. So we spent awhile identifying the difference between an ostrich and an owl. After some intense grueling of this, I'm pretty sure that they still didn't understand, probably thinking that both just meant "bird". Oh well, I tried.

We were also treated to many presents - this time, from the natural world. Yes, flowers in our hair and bracelets made out of leaves and grass, we were treated like royalty. Although at one point they did try and (quite forcefully) drag us into the volleyball-court-turned-lake that lay only 5 or 6 metres from the classroom entrance.

I should clarify that this area is usually dirt and mud.

It's all the cliched phrases and promises arriving at an absolute climax, a complete truth. That we really do take our world for granted. Our indulgences for granted. Our life for granted. And that when you are really there, in the midst of it all - that's when you know what it's really like.

More blogging later.

Juliet

PS: I found a really good blog that updates regularly on the situation at Boeung Kak Lake. To read more about the pumping, CLICK HERE.

Traffic, Teaching, Ten

Traffic...Jam

Just got out of a 2 hr 30 min traffic jam.

Wanted to blog just to remind myself that I survived this.

Even with Max slowly clapping to the sound of the nearby beeps of cars and tuk tuks reversing into each other; even with Will eating his way towards insanity with the despair that we may not perhaps ever have a square meal again (literally: at one point I'm pretty sure he took a chunk out of my leg) and even with Victor - his signature move of "sleeping" taken to a new level as he curled up in a foetus-like form. Even with all this, I still survived.

The road to insanity...moves excruciatingly slowly

Teaching...with a Twist

Now that I'm posting-away, I might as well divulge a few more juicy tidbits about this week past.

Last week was the end of September, and moving into October, we got new kids again. I'm not sure if you remember me posting about this (see Happiness, Slacking, Khmer post for more details) but the school system in Cambodia means that every month the kids switch between morning and afternoon, so in other words - or the twist is - that we get new students.

However it wasn't all a big surprise - mainly because we received many familiar faces back into our classes, who we had been teaching back in August. One of the sad things about the end of the month was that the assistant teacher at Youth School was leaving to study at university. All the luck in the world to Sorpeak, who has been an excellent translator over the past 2 months!

Sorpeak's last day!

Ten...%? Approx.

Tientsin (or 10cent, if we are using her official-teacher name) recently gave me an idea that if you write three things about your day that made you happy, it will increase your happiness by 10%. Well maybe not those exact figures, but it seemed like a pretty good idea to me. So here are my three things for the day:

1. Seeing the familiar faces of the kids from last month - the same smiles under new haircuts and slightly more maturity.
2. Getting to visit Rudi Boa with Victor and Max, and speaking to so many kids that I lost my voice!
3. Seeing some of the most awesome street aerobics (up close!) that Phnom Penh has had yet to offer me.

I even have some video evidence of the aerobics mentioned. Hope it tickles your fancy.

This weekend Will, Alex, Max and I are off to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! Anticipate a blog on this...it's going to be one hell of a holiday.

Juliet

Excuses, Excuses...and the Reason? It's Holiday Season!

Angkor Wat at Sunrise

So I suppose this is another occasion to excuse myself from the lack of blogging I have been doing (considering that this my first post again after two whole weeks). I assure you that (if you were concerned at all) I have been alive for this period and am very well indeed. If you find yourself unable to forgive my unforgivable absence - well, now it is time to forgive and forget with this blogtastic entry you are about to read.

The best kind of excuse is one in which the excuser has, although guilty, been spending a spectacular-magniferous time. Well truthfully the best excuses run along the lines of "I broke something" (something being perhaps a leg, a mug...) or "my dog has a very special homework diet". But for the purposes of this, the best of the BEST excuses is for spending a delightful and well-earned holiday.

These last two weekends, I have taken two rather spectacular holidays...


Destination 1: SINGAPORE

The date? 15th-20th September 2010. The reason? For doing my university application. A poignant moment? Arriving at 2am and eating a plate of cheese and strawberries.

Going back to Singapore was, surprising, quite a poignant experience for me just in general. Upon reaching my destination I was immediately struck by a feeling you wouldn't really expect at all. I've lived in Singapore for 9 years and so would consider it my close-second home to England. So why was turning the tap in a vertical direction so strange? The pressure of the shower - are the plumbing company trying to kill me? What is with the lack of motorcycles on the road, and why is it that, when I try to reduce the price to "moouy dollar" ($1) in the stores, I still have to pay the whole $20 on the tag?

The reason for this? Easy - I had been hit by a large dose of culture shock. I suppose it makes sense, after how comfortable I now feel in the PP house, but even so. Quite a strange experience.

I suppose what struck me the most about returning to Singapore was the indulgences that I immediately received - the comfy air-con cab, the un-chipped plates in the spotless kitchen and the overdose of perfect cuisine in the fridge. This reaction seems to be slamming the state of life that we live in Cambodia, that I'd prefer to have all those things back permanently. Yet of course, an even stranger feeling hit me. That I don't really need all those things, that I am perfectly happy surviving on the bare essentials. In some ways, even more so, now I'm making a difference and budgeting for my own living. Now that I am my own authority, I'm thriving with the feeling of responsibility.

Funny though - after Singapore for 9 years, I spend a month in Phnom Penh and I'm completely thrown off.


Destination 2: SIEM REAP

Awkward group photo at Ta Prohm (the tree temple)

The date? 24th-26th September 2010. The reason? For visiting Angkor Wat and the various other historic temples in the region. A poignant moment? On the 6 hour bus ride on the way there, we definitely drove straight into a goat.

Angkor Wat was, naturally, incredible. I could lapse into an essay-ful of description, but a picture tells a thousand words, and I'm sure the ones throughout will convey it much better than I could.

Double AW!

The day progressed from our 4am wake up call to our departure at 4pm, meaning that we spent almost 12 hours of temple madness in 3 different locations. My favourite would have to be Bayon - the detail of the architecture was incredible.

A montage of temple photos!

We were guided through our "journey" (if you will) by a guide, who told us some amazing stories about the temples and statues. Lots of interesting historical and mythological facts. Most of the specific dates went in one ear and out the other, but a large portion of it I'm sure will stick. I feel like I'm advertising tour guides at Angkor Wat...but if you do happen to go, I'd recommend it. Otherwise it's just a bunch of (albeit, wonderful) buildings in the blazing hot sun. 

Unfortunately the only evidence I have of our guide is the smudge at the top of the lens in this picture

So there you have it! A fun- & ful- filled last two weekends.

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this latest blog experience - blogsperience even. But now, after just having taken the 6 hour bus ride back, a well-earned pizza awaits.

Adios muchachos,

Juliet; traveller extroadinaire.

An Extraordinary Month

I've always kind of loved that word. Extraordinary. EXTRA ordinary. It's not just ordinary - there's something extra about it.

Last Saturday marked our 1st month anniversary (or as it should correctly be named, month-iversary) in Phnom Penh. A great triumph! Yet, exactly what IS the triumph of this, you may most justifiably ask. Alright, so we've survived living in another country for a full 30 days, but so what? Most of us have spent half our lives coping with moving to new countries and settling in. Alright, so we've maybe managed to keep ourselves comfortably alive for the duration, eating (mostly) well, sleeping (mostly) well...but after all, we are all (around) 18 years old and should be able to do these things with no effort.

In order to prove to you, oh so valiant reader, that we are actually making good use of our time here, I will provide a list of worthy accomplishments that we have so successfully managed.

1. Doing our own laundry (a good start I feel - cleanliness!)
2. Cooking for ourselves (and secondly, nourishment - see how the list builds!)
3. Washing up after ourselves (without complaining too much)
4. Managing to figure out the hot water in the showers
5. Getting the best deals for tuk-tuks aided by...
6. ...our new knowledge of the Khmer language
7. Crossing the rather scarily busy road that has the statistical potential to kill a great many of us
8. Ability to make our way to the gym without getting TOO frightened by the small dogs that run and bark at us (small, but scarily aggressive) 
9. Getting up every morning...at UWC hours
10. Surviving a bumpy tuk-tuk ride that sends dust in every direction
11. Arriving to teach with smiles on our faces
12. Being able to stand up in front of a class (with the knowledge that we have something to offer them)
13. Preempting that our lesson plans will always be either too long or too short for the intended lesson
14. Cementing the pronunciation of stomach to be "stuh-muck" and not "stoh-much"
15. Making the students understand that they have to do the writing before they get the colouring pencils
16. Spending a full five minutes encouraging students to participate (which seems to have paid off)
17. Teaching 8 idioms to a bunch of 18-22yr olds, which they now use in daily conversation
18. Explaining, to a class of kids that know approximately 10 words in English together, the concept of when the teacher asks a question, you actually answer the question, and don't just repeat what the teacher said. ("How old are you?" "How old ar-" "No no, I'm asking" "No no I'm -" "Yeah nevermind")
19. Baked a most extraordinarily good cake.

The Masters of Confectionary

And an ordinarily extra good cake it was indeed. Now, from the picture, it looks rather like a miniature igloo that Alex and I baked for a "science project" that would win best prize for yummy-ness, but not perhaps for relevance or value. However, dare you to slice into the delicious-ness within, you would find a carrot cake centre (with real carrot-flavoured pieces!), that looked like a bit like a giant muffin upon removal from the oven, with exactly the intended millimetres of burnt-ness at the base. If you were perhaps lucky enough to sample the flawless icing, which not only covered the entire top of the cake but additionally was smothered through the centre, you would be astounded by the perfection of the real lemon flavour and not at all question why a whole bag of icing sugar and a whole block of butter was required to create it.

Wow. I just wrote an entire paragraph dedicated to a cake.

I haven't been teaching for two days now, owing to the fact that I have lost my voice! A huge setback for a teacher, I have found. In place I have planned all Will's lessons for him, and feel extremely guilty at him having to teach alone. It's very dull being at home and I am dearly hoping to be able to teach again tomorrow. In the meantime, below are some photos from last week that I'd just like to share.

We taught colours the way you should - using colouring pencils blu-tacked to the board.

I love the way the students always share the colours between
them, and these three boys were a prime example.

Just a demonstration of how incredibly tiny the students are.
This girl is particularly small, but compensates with her overwhelming cuteness. 

Tomorrow night I will be flying back in Singapore for the weekend...a sudden but welcome break. Expect more blogging when I return!

Much love to my followers (even if you delete the notification email as soon as you get it) and any other readers (who arrived at this page by accident, decided initially that it might be worth reading before realising it was complete and utter dribble) and any other internet weirdos.

x

Idioms

This will be a short post of a mostly informative nature. Since I began teaching them, I have had a large number of people question me; what is an idiom? So for your convenience, I will list the 8 idioms Will and I have successfully managed to teach to a group of our students, to see if you recognise them. 

• Butterflies in my stomach
• Don't bite off more than you can chew
• Break the ice
• Your eyes are bigger than your stomach
• Arm and a leg
• Earn a living
• Cut to the chase
• Go with the flow

The funniest thing is, they actually use them now.  Success.

Happiness, Slacking, Khmer

Happiness

The enthusiastic students at Tiny Toones

The happiness in this photo pretty much sums up my own happiness over the past week.

I have been here for enough time now to know that the next few months are definitely going to throw, well - some erupting volcanoes at me. Metaphorically of course. Yet the smallest token of appreciation from those silly scallywags above gives me such an immense volume of satisfaction.

For the past few weeks, I have been receiving a large number of - well, gifts from the students! Many of them have taken to drawing me a picture (and then squabbling over who gets to present it to me) and even more prise open my notebook to draw "A is for apple" there. One girl even presented Will and I with Cambodia bookmarks. During class time, making origami boats and flowers is also a must.

Some examples of the wonderful presents I have received

A large portion of the time at Tiny Toones is also dedicated to the students drawing me pictures in my notebook, which I am then forced to identify in English. They then accept this new word into their new vocabulary with curiosity and joy (although a few days after I had told him the correct saying, one boy kept saying 'Eleven' instead of 'Elephant'. Oh the joys of cross culture).  The connection achieved through a Khmer child drawing you an object that you have to identify in English is a surprisingly effective way of bonding - and even an effective way to teach. This week one of our classes proclaimed that (after countless vocabulary and grammar lessons) they greatly wished to draw - so we obliged, to some wonderful results.

Slacking

This is the first time I've blogged in quite awhile and I have to admit I'm out of the habit. I will offer you a long explanation/excuse as to why this is:

I started reading my book on the first day of Cambodge. 2 weeks, 3 days later and I was barely half-way through it. This was mainly because I was spending all my usual reading time blogging instead - thus, the book gets untouched. 

So of course, by the 3rd week it was time to switch it up - time dedicated to reading and not blogging.

Here's a list of items from my notebook that I was SUPPOSED to blog about last week:

• The washing machine broke? (temporarily - Erica's clothes came out all soapy and there was a brief kerfuffle in which it was carried downstairs - but now it's made a comeback and is better than ever...well, to be honest it's just the same as it ever was but that wouldn't be so interesting now would it?)
• Amazing sausages and mash (back to many of our Western roots, with a hint of Asia - wasabi in the mash and naturally, very suspicious looking chicken sausages)
• Sept 1st = Cambodian tradition of the morning classes switches to the afternoon and vice versa - in other words, we get new students - EEK! (...this TECHNICALLY occurred, although now we have half our old students and half new, which is a bit confusing. Backup lesson plan...always colouring!)
• Khmer class - which I will discuss below vvvv

Khmer

Posin'

Since the last time I blogged, we've had several Khmer lessons (aka, lessons in the Cambodian language). It feels like IB again! Just kidding. If it did, I'd probably have killed myself by now (If you're currently in Grade 11/12 then again, of course, that's a joke. If otherwise...cue crying). 

Some cheeky words & phrases to add to your foreign dictionary:

Hello = Soou sdey

Goodbye = Lia hery

My name is... = Kh'ohm ch'moous...

How are you?/I am fine = Sok sa bai (yes, it's the same thing! Which means the people involved have the potential to get considerably confused)

Nice to meet you = Rik riay dehl ban joub niak

Stop talking = Chob moat (very useful during class time)

And just for kicks...

Food = Ah-ha (Alan Partridge-style)

Rice = Bye (which is why when we bid our students farewell they expect food as opposed to departure)

Noodles = Me (lol I'm a noodle)

Knock knock! Who is there? = Koous koous! Nor na ke? (!!! although unfortunately I don't know how to say the rest of the joke)

Must depart my lovelies. Promise not to take so long a blogging brrrrrrrrreak next time!

Juliet

(NOTE: The pictures throughout this blog don't always have much connection with what I'm talking about - I just happen to like the photos XD)

Firsts & Statistics

Hello, hello fine audience!


(Pls note am not trying to flatter; I really do think you are rather fine and dandy).

Two whole weeks now that we have been in Kampuchea - and I think it's time we reviewed the time so far, as to help you catch up on some of the great events that I have just happened to miss out.

Day 1: Our first sight of Cambodia. Basically, we arrived and found our beds - pretty eventful. But truthfully, quite bizarre. We would be spending the next 4 months here after all.

Day 5: Our first day without any supervision (an important day, to say the least). It's strange what we chose to do today - the world of raging drinking/clubbing/partying open to us. We visited the Tuol Sleng Museum, which documents some of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. Extremely interesting, and of course, horrifying.

Tuol Sleng; the high school-turned prison throughout the
Khmer Rouge, now a museum dedicated to revealing the terrible history

Day 8: Our first teaching day. It seems such a long time ago that we were almost completely blind, wading through the murky swamp of teaching English to Cambodian students (although if I'm honest, it's still pretty damn muddy). There's no better way to say it - teaching is an odd experience, especially after just coming out of high school. Naturally, we all appreciate our old teachers much more since that first day of being rather awkward turtle.

It's surprisingly difficult; going from saying WHAT you like to WHY you actually like it.

Day 10: Our first night "out on the town" - led by our trusty guide, Alex Malet, another volunteer here at BABSEA. She's 22 and has a degree in Chemistry, though she wants to study even further - Medicine (eek!). I'm sure she'll thank me for divulging all that information about herself here. She took us to a really nice restaurant bar where we all chomped on chips and garlic bread, and slurped the yummiest cocktails, only 1.50 USD each - wowee! We also had a small (I'll admit it) drunken burst of wanting to all dye our hair bizarre colours. Fortunately we all woke up with the same colour we'd had the day earlier - as the hair dye costs 13 USD each. Nice.

Alex + Tien

Nick + Max

Will + I

Day 13: The first time Will and I held a lesson with colouring. It was amazing. The anticipation to get the colours, the hushed wonder, the silence!!!

I accidentally used flash when taking this photo - causing them to all look up simultaneously after I'd taken it.

Oh, and of course, that was the same day Will sang Gold. Check the vid.

Today is Day 15, so I suppose I told a white lie earlier - we are actually just past the 2 week mark, and surprised at how quickly it is all going. We definitely still have a lot more to relish.

The following are some statistical facts of our wonderful trip so far.

FOOD

Meals Cooked:

• Awesome Cambodian meal: once
• Instant noodles (probably a lot)
• Poptarts...multiple times
• Rice pudding (yay!)
• Spaghetti bolognaise
• Chicken pasta
• Pomelo salad 
• Chili con carne
• Stir fry x a million
• Rice x a billion

Bananas eaten weekly = 48

Loaves of bread consumed weekly = 5

Bags of rice = many

Times we've caved and got fast-food/take-out = 6

TRANSPORT

Number of times a tuk-tuk/moto driver will offer us a ride daily = 17
Number of times crossing a very very very busy road daily = 6

GIRL'S ROOM

Number of times the wooden slats have fallen out of the bottom of Tien's bed = around 37?
Number of times Erica has fallen out of her bunkbed = 3

Number of times we've frozen to death under a freezing cold shower = at least 12 times each
Number of times the girls have been lucky enough to have a hot shower = once or twice each
Number of times Ida's been in the bathroom and there hasn't been any toilet roll = countless

BOY'S ROOM

Number of times a day Max and Victor sing Justin Bieber's "Baby" = at least 3
Number of times a day Will makes fun of "Baby" with his more...unique lyrics = at least 3
Number of times we've seen Nick walking round in just a towel = a least once each
Number of times we've walked into the guys room and then left immediately due to the overwhelming smell = pretty much every time we go in there

So there you have it. I hope I have covered the last two weeks sufficiently, and that you enjoy this collection of the Cambodia experience thus far.


Much love,

Juliet; Statistical Reviewer Extraordinaire.

Bathroom Antics

An event of a most extraordinary nature has just occurred.

I, Juliet Miriam Clark, have achieved an action that mere mortals can only dream of.

I got the hot water in the shower to work.

Now, before you start planning to throw me a parade and celebration at which I am knighted in honour of my efforts, I shall tell you the entire story - just so you are aware of how much society is indebted to me.

*****

We arrived in Cambodge, pleasantly happy with our abode for the next 4 months. We had a bed each, fully-functioning air-conditioning, and no bugs to be seen. A place to put our clothes, a kitchen down only a flight of stairs complete with stove, oven and fridge, we even had a bathroom off our room!

Life was sweet, and we proceeded to live our (now 11 whole days!) subsequent time in our comfortable surroundings in the BABC office.

Yet one evening a few days ago, the girls suddenly discovered a rather disastrous truth.

The girl's room (Bonteay Srey) and boy's room (Preah Vihear) are opposite from one another on the same level and one day, the girl's bathroom was occupied when I needed to visit it.


I strolled over to Preah Vihear and opened the door (to find all the males using their laptops, as usual) and, being such gentlemen that they are, they immediately welcomed me to use their bathroom whilst the ladies' was unavailable (simultaneously apologising for the smell). 

None of us had ever been into the boy's bathroom but we just assumed it to be the exact same as ours - just over a metre in width and a few metres in length - toilet, sink and shower head grouped around a relatively small vicinity. It wasn't ideal, but we'd learned to use it and never thought to complain.

Imagine the boy's surprise when they heard me cry out - "WHAAAAAAAT!"

It appeared that the boy's bathroom was not only twice, but three times the size of the girl's. Of course, this was a mistake, a terrible mistake - an insult to humanity in general. Why do boys need a bathroom that size? They just stick their heads under the shower, and then drown their skin in deodorant and cologne (and in Will's case, suncream), surely?

I quickly recruited my fellow women to take a look at this atrocity. Their horror was equal, if not bigger than mine. But lo and behold, it got worse.

"It's not all bad for you girls though, I mean, at least the shower water is hot and everything."

Hot? HOT?!?!

It was too much to take in. Firstly, their bathroom was huge; secondly - they had hot water?!

Sigh.

Being the peaceful, calm and content females we are, we decided to completely let it go and never mention it again. Well. Almost never.

*****

Yet today - joyous of days, calloh callay and all that rubbish, I began to take my evening shower as to revive myself after the weekend, before teaching again the next day.

"Tumm-tee-tumm...showering in the shower...singing along...tum tum tum- Hmmmm? Why, what's this? A reset button? Oh, maybe we need to press that..."

KABOOM. HOT WATER.

So there. The most exciting thing that happened to me this weekend (not true - I had a great Friday, although Saturday was mostly spent writing my personal statement, whoopee) and an excellent start to the week ahead.

Better cease blogging for now - it's already 9pm and I need to do some lesson planning.

Much love,

Juliet; Water Goddess

A Taster of the Talent at Tiny Toones

Day in the Life of an English Teacher

It's just like teaching a child how to recount their daily routine. I get up, I eat breakfast, I go to school...the simple schedule, the course of the day. How would I describe my own routine here in Cambodia?

I wake up at 7am. I wash myself in a freezing cold shower (which can be either refreshing or excruciating depending on if we used the fan/aircon the night before) and I eat breakfast, so far which has been peanut butter and banana sandwiches with fruit juice. I then head off to work at 7.30 in a tuk-tuk with Max, Victor and Will. Max and Victor get dropped off at their morning placement, Lakeside School, while Will and I head to the Youth School. This is the first of the three schools we work at.

12 hours later we're heading home from our final placement after teaching a total of 7 hours (7 different classes), a traveling time of 2 and 1/2 hours and 2 and 1/2 hours of breaks. We then have to cook dinner - 8 people in the kitchen takes almost 2 hours - and do any laundry necessary. Then we plan our lessons for the next day. If we have time, we then chat or read or play cards, listen to music...

Needless to say, we live a pretty hectic life here in Cambodge.

My thoughts overall? Well, I'm presenting a rather mediocre-negative viewpoint on the whole matter. It is rather a busy day. Yet what I find the most interesting, the most a-MAZE-ing (I input the 'MAZE' as opposed to their incorrect pronunciation 'ah-MAZ-ing' here) is how whenever I have a moment to think, I realise and am somewhat surprised by my own constant elation. Every second of every day, I am practically drinking in the experience as one of the most thrilling I have ever encountered.

An easier to understand example is when coming home from each work placement in the tuk-tuk, everyone around me silent, I'm just grinning to myself as I think of the next thing there is to do, the next kid there is to teach.

A sum up: I LOVE IT.

It's currently 12pm on Wednesday 18th August, and Will and I have just held our first two classes! They went relatively well though I admit some improvising was definitely in order. We are rather proud of our progress with the older kids, with whom we managed to cover introducing ourselves as well as likes and dislikes. 

Just want to express joy from not having embarrassed ourselves with our bad knowledge of teaching yet! Yay!

- Juliet; the blossoming wisdom-giver.