So i am just wasting some time before i leave for the airport so i thought i would write a final blog.
I finshed off my time in Siem Reap with some breaky with my new friends. Chris and I then decide to take some shots of a group of sweet looking chairs that were at the guest house, and roped into a cat into being our model. Finally i had to say goodbye to everyone - which was actually pretty sad... as i wished i could of spent lots more time with them!!
I then got on the bus about 45 mins before it was due to leave, so one of the blokes turned the bus on and therefore the aircon for me so i could have a nap - which i did! When i woke up there was a lovely Cambodian women sitting across from me, and she spoke really good English because she was guide, she piled a soft drink can and some little biscuits onto my lap - which I ate and drink very thankfully. More than half an hour later than it should of the bus left, and about 30 seconds before it did so, a girl took the seat next to me ( Dam!!). After another couple of hours sleep i woke up to watch a Japanese movie with Khmer subtitiles, as one may guess i didn't really understand too much of what was going on. However the second movie they put on was a Jackie Chan movie set in Melbourne and it even had English subtitiles - so this was a slight improvement.
By the time i got off the bus and walked back to my guest house it was 8.30 and i was starving. I was greeted like a king, with Elise and I's favourite tuk tuk driver, immeditaly standing up from his dinner to come an say hello and pat me on the back and several other smiled and said hello too. After eating some dinner, I headed up to my new room ( which was Andrew's old one..by the way Andrew - jeez your shower was shit!!) , i pretty much fell asleep straight away, as i was soo tired still!!
This morning i got up, finished packing, checked up on the volunteers who are struggling as much as we were - and now i am wasting a couple of hours on the net before i return home...
So thanks for reading, and in a week or so if you check in again hopefully i will be able to get some photos up!!
See you all tomorrow or at least soon!
xoxo
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Cambodia Day 24
So today is my second last day in Cambodia, which will mainly be taken up with a bus ride this afternoon.
So i belive i left you just before i went out with my new friends last night - well the night continued well into the day - To start with our group had a few more drinks and some nibbles on our roof top bar, this time i was sitting next to Chris ( the other twin to whom i had met) and we soon found we had a very similar sense of humour, and continued to chat for the entire evening. After a while we walked into the main street of siem reap... for a while we just wondered and tried out a couple of places even a couple of further afield local places, but couldn't really find anything that pleased everyone. We stopped at a couple of places for a drink each, but none of the seemed to have the right vibe. Eventually we settle on 'Angkor What?' the oldest bar in the Siem Reap, after some more drinks and some more talking we wondered back to the accomdation and had genereal chill out for a while. But then Mika ( an awsome chick from Holland - like such an amazing girl) was keen to go back to the maion drag for a) some food and b) a dance so the twins, mika and myself headed back. We found some pizza and it tasted delicoius ( by this time it was 2.30) and then went for some more drinking and found some spice girls playing to dance to. Finally we headed back after a lovely night, very happy but tired - i feel into bed at 3.40 - which is pretty darn good effort for me!!!
It was so nice hanging out with these people hearing their stories, and what they did with selves. The twins for example work 3 months hard and live at their mums, then travel for 3-6 months with the money. They then write articles, book, website and have photography collection all based on their travel! They were all so complimentary of me to - Simon kept exclaiming "I am so glad I meet you, you are the perfect new edition to our group" which is alway nice for someone to say - and they all wanted me to change my flight so i could stay and party with them for new years.
So then at 4.40 my tuk tuk man alarm clock woke me up ( thats right only 1hr sleep!) to go to Ankgor Wat for sunrise. So we were the first ones their and it was pitch black and i was cold and tired and thinking this was not a good idea. Eventually the hordes of tourists pilled out of their buses, cars, tuk tuks and what seem like every mode of transport possible. So i followed their torches into the temple. Believe it or not i promptly found myself a seat and fell asleep and when i next opened my eye the sun had come up!!! How friken Stef is that!!
Since then i have returned to the accom, got a couple more hours sleep, had a shower, packed my bags and I am just killing time until my bus. none of my new found friends are awake yet... as they are sensible, and also don't have a bus ride that they can sleep on.
I think this has been the first time on this trip that i have really had a ''real'' travel moment, and the kind of experience, thats makes you just want to say, where are you going, all right i will come to! - Chris and I have already decided India end of 2010, although i am not sure where that fits in with their plans for me to shift over to the UK!!
Well i might right one more blog tomorrow - but who knows - but as my trip comes to an end - i am both sad to leave and happy to go home - and shall see you all soon.
xoxo
So i belive i left you just before i went out with my new friends last night - well the night continued well into the day - To start with our group had a few more drinks and some nibbles on our roof top bar, this time i was sitting next to Chris ( the other twin to whom i had met) and we soon found we had a very similar sense of humour, and continued to chat for the entire evening. After a while we walked into the main street of siem reap... for a while we just wondered and tried out a couple of places even a couple of further afield local places, but couldn't really find anything that pleased everyone. We stopped at a couple of places for a drink each, but none of the seemed to have the right vibe. Eventually we settle on 'Angkor What?' the oldest bar in the Siem Reap, after some more drinks and some more talking we wondered back to the accomdation and had genereal chill out for a while. But then Mika ( an awsome chick from Holland - like such an amazing girl) was keen to go back to the maion drag for a) some food and b) a dance so the twins, mika and myself headed back. We found some pizza and it tasted delicoius ( by this time it was 2.30) and then went for some more drinking and found some spice girls playing to dance to. Finally we headed back after a lovely night, very happy but tired - i feel into bed at 3.40 - which is pretty darn good effort for me!!!
It was so nice hanging out with these people hearing their stories, and what they did with selves. The twins for example work 3 months hard and live at their mums, then travel for 3-6 months with the money. They then write articles, book, website and have photography collection all based on their travel! They were all so complimentary of me to - Simon kept exclaiming "I am so glad I meet you, you are the perfect new edition to our group" which is alway nice for someone to say - and they all wanted me to change my flight so i could stay and party with them for new years.
So then at 4.40 my tuk tuk man alarm clock woke me up ( thats right only 1hr sleep!) to go to Ankgor Wat for sunrise. So we were the first ones their and it was pitch black and i was cold and tired and thinking this was not a good idea. Eventually the hordes of tourists pilled out of their buses, cars, tuk tuks and what seem like every mode of transport possible. So i followed their torches into the temple. Believe it or not i promptly found myself a seat and fell asleep and when i next opened my eye the sun had come up!!! How friken Stef is that!!
Since then i have returned to the accom, got a couple more hours sleep, had a shower, packed my bags and I am just killing time until my bus. none of my new found friends are awake yet... as they are sensible, and also don't have a bus ride that they can sleep on.
I think this has been the first time on this trip that i have really had a ''real'' travel moment, and the kind of experience, thats makes you just want to say, where are you going, all right i will come to! - Chris and I have already decided India end of 2010, although i am not sure where that fits in with their plans for me to shift over to the UK!!
Well i might right one more blog tomorrow - but who knows - but as my trip comes to an end - i am both sad to leave and happy to go home - and shall see you all soon.
xoxo
Monday, December 28, 2009
Cambodia Day 23
So it is the evening of my second day in Siem Reap. I settled in to new accomdation last night, and had a fairly good sleep last night. I woke up bright and early and once i was showered and what not i walked a k or so to a butterfly garden cafe over the other side of the river. As the name suggests the cafe was in a garden filled with butterflies, and would of been quite tranquil except there was construction work going on next door ( i swear the builders are following me) - but i settled down with my book and some breaky and a cup of perppermint tea, and was enjoying being bymyself for the first time in over 3 weeks ( not that Elise's company wans't grand). But this only lasted for 20 mins or so before Hywell suddenly appeared out of conincidence, so ended up finishing my breakfast with him, which allowed him to tell me just few more exciting travel stories. But then i was on my own again for a walk around siem reap - mainly looking into some galleries. By 10.30 i was ready for a nap and headed back to my accomdation. I slept until about 12.20 had some lunch, read my book and was ready to have a nap again by 20 to 2... as you can see an eventful day...but i have been so tired!!! In thge afternoon i was ready for another walk and an icecream, before coming back again to the roof top of my accom and watching a movie ( they actually have a pretty big selection).
About 3/4 though the movie, a man popped his head around the corner, asked where i was from and then invited me over to have a drink with his friends. This ended up including his twin brother, both 35 ( going on 25) from the UK, a 20 yr old NZ girl living in Perth, a 40 yr old Luthianian, a German working in a sex shop in Brisbane and a chick from Holland - They are all really nice and just having showers before we head out for a couple of drinks on the apdaptly named 'PUB STREET'. I had a really good time talking to them, and the brothers almost have me convinced to move to the West End in 6 months, as they swear their big bro who works there could get my job!
I shouldn't have a too big of a nite, as i have already arranged a tuk tuk driver to be my alarm at 5 am in the morning so i can see the sunrise over ANgor Wat and do a few more temples befpre i get back on the bus at lunch time!
I hope everyone is going well, and i shall see you all in a couple of days..
By the way family my flight arrives in at 5.20am on the 31st so it may be time to start pulling straws :)
About 3/4 though the movie, a man popped his head around the corner, asked where i was from and then invited me over to have a drink with his friends. This ended up including his twin brother, both 35 ( going on 25) from the UK, a 20 yr old NZ girl living in Perth, a 40 yr old Luthianian, a German working in a sex shop in Brisbane and a chick from Holland - They are all really nice and just having showers before we head out for a couple of drinks on the apdaptly named 'PUB STREET'. I had a really good time talking to them, and the brothers almost have me convinced to move to the West End in 6 months, as they swear their big bro who works there could get my job!
I shouldn't have a too big of a nite, as i have already arranged a tuk tuk driver to be my alarm at 5 am in the morning so i can see the sunrise over ANgor Wat and do a few more temples befpre i get back on the bus at lunch time!
I hope everyone is going well, and i shall see you all in a couple of days..
By the way family my flight arrives in at 5.20am on the 31st so it may be time to start pulling straws :)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Cambodia - Day 22
So here i am in Siem Reap -
I have just put in a whole day at the temples and am absolutely knackered.
Yesterday on the bus , a gentleman called Hywell sat next to me, a 40ish Welsh man who has been living in Melbs for the last 4 years - we had a nice chat along to 5 hr bus trip and decide to look at accommodation together when we arrived. He didn't really like the place i had originally picked out so we went hunting for about half and hour and finally agreed to share a room at a place near the markets. So i crossed my fingers that I wasn't going to be raped and let mum and dad know where i was just in case i went suddenly missing ( luckily neither of these occurred - although i think i must of had the lightest sleep ever as i was in attack mode just in case.) After sorting that out w hit up some Indian tucker and went for a walk before returning for reasonably early night.
Today we did quite a few of the temples - which were pretty interesting but i wasn't too fussed on the crowds. I took a few photos but mainly on my film camera, as i forgot to charge my digitial batteries before i left the Phom Pehn, and i want to save the battery for when i got to Angkor for sunrise. I have pretty much had my fill of temples today it think, and maybe just do an afternoon tomorrow if anything. I am planning to do sunrise on Tuesday morning before i leave. But i think there is some other coool stuff to look at around town, and yet more cheap massages.
Now i really need to go have a shower because my feet are sooo dirty from wearing thongs all day, and then i need a) cocktail and b) some food - in that order!!
Nite xx
I have just put in a whole day at the temples and am absolutely knackered.
Yesterday on the bus , a gentleman called Hywell sat next to me, a 40ish Welsh man who has been living in Melbs for the last 4 years - we had a nice chat along to 5 hr bus trip and decide to look at accommodation together when we arrived. He didn't really like the place i had originally picked out so we went hunting for about half and hour and finally agreed to share a room at a place near the markets. So i crossed my fingers that I wasn't going to be raped and let mum and dad know where i was just in case i went suddenly missing ( luckily neither of these occurred - although i think i must of had the lightest sleep ever as i was in attack mode just in case.) After sorting that out w hit up some Indian tucker and went for a walk before returning for reasonably early night.
Today we did quite a few of the temples - which were pretty interesting but i wasn't too fussed on the crowds. I took a few photos but mainly on my film camera, as i forgot to charge my digitial batteries before i left the Phom Pehn, and i want to save the battery for when i got to Angkor for sunrise. I have pretty much had my fill of temples today it think, and maybe just do an afternoon tomorrow if anything. I am planning to do sunrise on Tuesday morning before i leave. But i think there is some other coool stuff to look at around town, and yet more cheap massages.
Now i really need to go have a shower because my feet are sooo dirty from wearing thongs all day, and then i need a) cocktail and b) some food - in that order!!
Nite xx
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Cambodia - final days (17-21)
So we're back to blog for the last time together.
Steph is about to hop on a bus to Siem Reap and Elise is catching a plane home tomorrow morning.
We've had a fairly busy week, so haven't gotten around to getting onto the blog, so we'll give you a bit of a catch up.
Monday night we went to bed at 8.30 and slept for 12 hrs, we felt very well rested and refreshed the next day after such a busy weekend. On Tuesday morning we went to the Russian markets and bargained very well to buy all the tshirts for the kids' christmas presents. In the end we bought a total of 38 tshirts at ridiculously cheap prices really. That afternoon, uni classes went well, we were both sharing with some of the new volunteers, and then we combined our kids classes and made origami santas and elves. the kids went a bit origami crazy and started making anything and everything that they could, including the other things from the books we had brought. by the end of the lesson, we had not only santas hanging around the room off the paper chains from monday, but also boats, mice, hats, and randomly shaped pieces of paper. We also made origami lanterns with them in the second half, which seemed to be a bit more ordered.
On wednesday we spent the morning planning some lessons with the other volunteers and took the girls up to the stationary shop so they could buy some books. Steph also went for a walk in the mroning up to the camera shops to see how cheap the cameras were, but didnt buy anything in the end. Classes again went well, we got the kids to make chirstmas cards, which some of you back home may be recieving. we felt like it was almost our own little sweat shop with the kids churning out cards, but they give us so many drawings and everything every day taht we thought we might as well put their talents to good use.
On christmas eve we headed to the russian markets again with the girls, for our last hoorah buying dvds and presents. we again bought way too many dvds, because there were so many to choose from at ridiculously cheap prices. I (elise) also bought a small nymph (apsara in khmer) statue which i have been a bit obsessed with since seeing the carvings in siem reap, so i was happy with that :) i also bought a dress for $4 which was quite a steal.
We had our last class with our uni students which was a bit sad to say goodbye. we both had a small party with them at the end with lollies and christmas cards. In our kids class, the other 2 girls went to take aidens class because he was sick, so the two of us were left with all the kids. it went amazingly well, we kind of gave them free range with christmas activities, some made origami and some drew pictures. it was almost silent for practically the full 2 hours with the kids sharing 2 pairs of scissors and two glues perfectly. it was heaven for the 2 of us and we just kept looking at each other in amazement at how well they all behaved. we think it probably had something to do with the fact that there were just less teachers there to give them attention and therefore they werent so distracted.
That night we went to Khmer Kitchen for the last meal, unfortunately we couldnt sit upstairs on the cushions liek we normally do, but we still had a lovely meal. it was sad to think we wouldnt be going there again. then we met the others at the river side for a pre christmas drink at FCC which was nice. Steph also found a gorgeous dress in a small shop which the lady then altered to fit her perfectly which she picked up today (saturday). We then spent the rest of the night making xmas cards for each kid, steph with only 5 kids didn't have quite as much work as me with my class of 16 and didn't last quite as late, as i stayed up until 2.30 making mine.
On christmas morning, we exchanged our gifts (i bought steph a set of nice coloured pens the day before- which she knew about and she bought me a set of ipod speakers that we had gotten to play music for the kids on christmas - whcih i knew about). we went on a short walk with the others to find a pizza shop where we bought 6 large pizzas for the kids and then headed to the orphanage for celebrations. when we got there the kids had just gotten home from school, they were much less enthused than we were expecting and it ended up being a pretty chilled day. The pizza was a hit and we spent the afternoon listening to music, playing uno, making more origami and playing a few games. We gave out the shirts which they seemed happy about, but were a bit picky about the colours and sizes, which was a bit of a shame. It was a bit sad to say goodbye to them all, we got given certificates from the director and lots of cards and small gifts from the kids. They all waved us off which was nice and we headed back to the guesthouse to discover that all the tables had been moved and chairs were set up around the edge of the room ready for the christmas party.
The party was a completely bizarre experience, we all sat around the edge of the room in a row, chatting to a few people and then had a small feast which was about the only thing that remindedus of a usual christmas at home. then the games began.......the first was one where a potatoe is tied to a piece of string and then around the persons waist. they then have to try at hit another potatoe on the ground along the room to a target, oh and to do this they have to make pelvic thrusting movements which is quite hilarious to watch. steph, the good teamplayer got up and had a go, it was quite a rigged game, with the potatoes being kicked, swapped between players and moved back and forth during the game but lots of fun to watch. we also did lots of traditional dancing which was interesting but we discovered very repetitive.
We had a really good night and lots of fun, very different from anything back home, but an experience all the same. After the festivities we headed up with our mars bars to pack our bags and sort through all the pictures that the kids had given us over our time here. drawing being the favourite thing in my class meant that i had over a hundred pictures to sort through, i think ive ended up with about one picture from each kid along withall the cards, xmas letters and origami. it was an epic effort for both of us to get through it and we feel a bti bad about all the paper that is being thrown out, but we certainly cant bring it all home.
this morning we went back to the riverside so that steph could collect her newly altered dress, we also stopped into a couple more shops and ashamedly bought a few more dvds..... now we're just chilling waiting for steph to be picked up for another scary mini bus ride to the bus station and then she will be on her way to siem reap, a 6 hr bus ride. I will stay here at the guest house tongiht, and probably just chill in our room with my book and the tv ready to get on a tuk tuk at 7l30 tomoro mornign and off to the airport.
We hope everyone back home had a very merry christmas, it still doesnt feel to us like we even really had christmas, very strange. and look forward to seeing you all very soon.
much love,
Steph and Elise
Steph is about to hop on a bus to Siem Reap and Elise is catching a plane home tomorrow morning.
We've had a fairly busy week, so haven't gotten around to getting onto the blog, so we'll give you a bit of a catch up.
Monday night we went to bed at 8.30 and slept for 12 hrs, we felt very well rested and refreshed the next day after such a busy weekend. On Tuesday morning we went to the Russian markets and bargained very well to buy all the tshirts for the kids' christmas presents. In the end we bought a total of 38 tshirts at ridiculously cheap prices really. That afternoon, uni classes went well, we were both sharing with some of the new volunteers, and then we combined our kids classes and made origami santas and elves. the kids went a bit origami crazy and started making anything and everything that they could, including the other things from the books we had brought. by the end of the lesson, we had not only santas hanging around the room off the paper chains from monday, but also boats, mice, hats, and randomly shaped pieces of paper. We also made origami lanterns with them in the second half, which seemed to be a bit more ordered.
On wednesday we spent the morning planning some lessons with the other volunteers and took the girls up to the stationary shop so they could buy some books. Steph also went for a walk in the mroning up to the camera shops to see how cheap the cameras were, but didnt buy anything in the end. Classes again went well, we got the kids to make chirstmas cards, which some of you back home may be recieving. we felt like it was almost our own little sweat shop with the kids churning out cards, but they give us so many drawings and everything every day taht we thought we might as well put their talents to good use.
On christmas eve we headed to the russian markets again with the girls, for our last hoorah buying dvds and presents. we again bought way too many dvds, because there were so many to choose from at ridiculously cheap prices. I (elise) also bought a small nymph (apsara in khmer) statue which i have been a bit obsessed with since seeing the carvings in siem reap, so i was happy with that :) i also bought a dress for $4 which was quite a steal.
We had our last class with our uni students which was a bit sad to say goodbye. we both had a small party with them at the end with lollies and christmas cards. In our kids class, the other 2 girls went to take aidens class because he was sick, so the two of us were left with all the kids. it went amazingly well, we kind of gave them free range with christmas activities, some made origami and some drew pictures. it was almost silent for practically the full 2 hours with the kids sharing 2 pairs of scissors and two glues perfectly. it was heaven for the 2 of us and we just kept looking at each other in amazement at how well they all behaved. we think it probably had something to do with the fact that there were just less teachers there to give them attention and therefore they werent so distracted.
That night we went to Khmer Kitchen for the last meal, unfortunately we couldnt sit upstairs on the cushions liek we normally do, but we still had a lovely meal. it was sad to think we wouldnt be going there again. then we met the others at the river side for a pre christmas drink at FCC which was nice. Steph also found a gorgeous dress in a small shop which the lady then altered to fit her perfectly which she picked up today (saturday). We then spent the rest of the night making xmas cards for each kid, steph with only 5 kids didn't have quite as much work as me with my class of 16 and didn't last quite as late, as i stayed up until 2.30 making mine.
On christmas morning, we exchanged our gifts (i bought steph a set of nice coloured pens the day before- which she knew about and she bought me a set of ipod speakers that we had gotten to play music for the kids on christmas - whcih i knew about). we went on a short walk with the others to find a pizza shop where we bought 6 large pizzas for the kids and then headed to the orphanage for celebrations. when we got there the kids had just gotten home from school, they were much less enthused than we were expecting and it ended up being a pretty chilled day. The pizza was a hit and we spent the afternoon listening to music, playing uno, making more origami and playing a few games. We gave out the shirts which they seemed happy about, but were a bit picky about the colours and sizes, which was a bit of a shame. It was a bit sad to say goodbye to them all, we got given certificates from the director and lots of cards and small gifts from the kids. They all waved us off which was nice and we headed back to the guesthouse to discover that all the tables had been moved and chairs were set up around the edge of the room ready for the christmas party.
The party was a completely bizarre experience, we all sat around the edge of the room in a row, chatting to a few people and then had a small feast which was about the only thing that remindedus of a usual christmas at home. then the games began.......the first was one where a potatoe is tied to a piece of string and then around the persons waist. they then have to try at hit another potatoe on the ground along the room to a target, oh and to do this they have to make pelvic thrusting movements which is quite hilarious to watch. steph, the good teamplayer got up and had a go, it was quite a rigged game, with the potatoes being kicked, swapped between players and moved back and forth during the game but lots of fun to watch. we also did lots of traditional dancing which was interesting but we discovered very repetitive.
We had a really good night and lots of fun, very different from anything back home, but an experience all the same. After the festivities we headed up with our mars bars to pack our bags and sort through all the pictures that the kids had given us over our time here. drawing being the favourite thing in my class meant that i had over a hundred pictures to sort through, i think ive ended up with about one picture from each kid along withall the cards, xmas letters and origami. it was an epic effort for both of us to get through it and we feel a bti bad about all the paper that is being thrown out, but we certainly cant bring it all home.
this morning we went back to the riverside so that steph could collect her newly altered dress, we also stopped into a couple more shops and ashamedly bought a few more dvds..... now we're just chilling waiting for steph to be picked up for another scary mini bus ride to the bus station and then she will be on her way to siem reap, a 6 hr bus ride. I will stay here at the guest house tongiht, and probably just chill in our room with my book and the tv ready to get on a tuk tuk at 7l30 tomoro mornign and off to the airport.
We hope everyone back home had a very merry christmas, it still doesnt feel to us like we even really had christmas, very strange. and look forward to seeing you all very soon.
much love,
Steph and Elise
Monday, December 21, 2009
Cambodia Day 13 -16
Well Everyone ,
Sorry we haven't posted a blog the last couple of days , but we had stayed away from a computer!
So last Friday we had a pretty crusiey day at school , with a few tests for both kids and uni students and then games all afternoon. In the evening Elise and I asked our Tuk Tuk man to take us to the Night Markets , but he had lent his tuk tuk to a friend. So instead we piled onto the back of his motobike and he took us that way instead. It was really fun and we quite enjoyed the un expected experience. We had a nice time at the markets, and were able to pick up a couple of presents for members of our families at home :)
Bright and Early on Saturday morning we headed in a mini bus to the bus station ( which isn't really that far away). This was the scariest thing we have done since we have been here - and i made the mistake of taking the front seat ( Dad- you think I would of learnt in India this is never a good idea!) However we managed to make it to the bus alive, so we jumped on and things were all good. Until we relaised we were freezing to death under the aircon - so we huddles , grabbe dout my pashmina ( thanks Haylz who knew it would come in handy as a blanket somewhere along the line!) - eventually we followed suit of a couple of other passangers and covered the aircon with the curtin from the window and this helped alot. Who could of thought we could freeze to death here!! So about 4.5 hrs later at just after 12 we arrived in Sianoukville ( Elise might have to correct that spelling later, but she just went for a shower). We were hit with a wall of Cambodian Tuk Tuk drivers all screaming at us - this was so overwhelming, exspecially beause we hadn't booked accomdation so we had no idea where to go. Luckily and Aussie appeared out of nowhere and gave us the low down ( Life Saver) so we bargained out price in the tuk tuk and headed to look at a couple of diffrent places, we eneded up at a brand new resort called Aqua Resort which was run by some Americans. Compared to Narin this was heaven, hot water, a pool literally a step from our door, and even aircon!!! So after settling in we wondered down to the main beach which was only 500m away - we stuck into some cocktails and into a bbq seafood platter ( we got this for $7 only later to realise $3 was the general price- we had just picked the most expensive place to start with !!) . The beach was absolute bliss with a great astmophere and view. After this we headed back to our Resort and went for a swim, another drink whilist we were in the pool before laying back to read a book. I ha'dn't been reading long when something liked my hand, as you can imagine this was quite a fright, but it turns our it was a beautiful dog!! So i gave her a big pat and was told by the staff she had just recently had 10 puppies!! Was i in heaven or what - so as you would guess Elise and I practically ran to where the puppies were. They were only 4 days old and their eyes hadn't even opened yet! They are about the sizes of our hands, some were black, some brown and one was white. We played with the puppies for a long time, and then i went back up stairs to give the mummy dog a massage because i thought she had done a great job having all those puppies!! I also sang to her as their was some beaut 50's music on!! ( I am pretty sure she enjoyed the massage but i'm not sure about the singing ;)) . We also saw the puppies again that afternoon and watched the mum feed them.
After a while we headed to the beach for an evening walk, as the sun began to set it was a perfect afternoon. We setlled into the most comfy chairs ( giant versions of my pink one at home) literally a step away from the water, and got stuck into bbq prawns and cocktails... and then some more prawns, they were soo good!! Children let fire crackers/ flares off all along the beach so it was like fireworks and absolutely terrific. It was one of the niecest days of my live, and a higlight of the trip!
The next day we got up early for a snorkelling trip, we met up with two other Australians ( everyone seems to be from AUS!!) One was called Sarah and one called Jane ( she looked so much like Sandy Robson from School and lived in Mulimbimby - which is where Billy, Elise and I stayed when we went to Blue and Roots!) So we headed out on a boat to a spot to go snoreklling - my snorkle was just not working for me - so i did not have a very good time, but apprarently there wasn't much to see anyway. Then we took the boat to a second island for a swim and some lunch, both of which was brilliant after a walk across they isalnd we were ready to go to the isalnd for more snorkelling, also on this jounrney we picked up an Isralie who was backpacking. The next snorkelling bit was much better, for everyone as their was alot more to see and i wasn't as retarded! By this time we had used a whole tube of sunscreen and Elise and I were still bright red!!!! It was a really nice trip and we really enjoyed the company.
After returning back to the resort for a shower, we heading back to the same place from the night before. We ordered drinks and some chippies - but before we had them in our hand we were bombarded by the kids selling shit ( they had bothered us the day before but not as bad) one little boy sat between me and Elise for 20 mins and wouldn't let us speak to each other and was being insanely annoying - so we got up and moved - in the end we had our nails painted and had a trillion bracelts made - to finally get some peace. Although at one stage we were absolutewly surrounded to the point Sarah came and took a picture!
After finally getting rid of them , Sarah and Jane joined us for some happy shakes and for some more bbq seafood, we then just relaxed and chatted for a while. We had an early night because we were nackered, but on the way home we stopped to get some icecream, which didn't quite go as well as planned, because Elise's spoon broke so she had to dig at it with the broken end and i choose an icecream which had nuts on the outside so i had to pick them all out! After this icecream fiasco we went to sleep!
In the morning we got up bright and early had yummy cooked breakfast which didn't incluse a baggette and headed for the bus stations back home...
Back at Narin, we grabbe our stuff and headed to the Orphanage. There we met up woth the 4 new volunteers also 18 year old Australians!! We had a pleasant afternoon with introducing them to our classes and they seem nice enough. Looking forward to our last week and christmas with the kids. We gave them all xmas hats today and they were delighted! We also started to decorate the classroom whjch now looks brilliant!
So now I am hungry and Elise is out of the shower so we are going to get some dinner!!
Nitey Nite!
Sorry we haven't posted a blog the last couple of days , but we had stayed away from a computer!
So last Friday we had a pretty crusiey day at school , with a few tests for both kids and uni students and then games all afternoon. In the evening Elise and I asked our Tuk Tuk man to take us to the Night Markets , but he had lent his tuk tuk to a friend. So instead we piled onto the back of his motobike and he took us that way instead. It was really fun and we quite enjoyed the un expected experience. We had a nice time at the markets, and were able to pick up a couple of presents for members of our families at home :)
Bright and Early on Saturday morning we headed in a mini bus to the bus station ( which isn't really that far away). This was the scariest thing we have done since we have been here - and i made the mistake of taking the front seat ( Dad- you think I would of learnt in India this is never a good idea!) However we managed to make it to the bus alive, so we jumped on and things were all good. Until we relaised we were freezing to death under the aircon - so we huddles , grabbe dout my pashmina ( thanks Haylz who knew it would come in handy as a blanket somewhere along the line!) - eventually we followed suit of a couple of other passangers and covered the aircon with the curtin from the window and this helped alot. Who could of thought we could freeze to death here!! So about 4.5 hrs later at just after 12 we arrived in Sianoukville ( Elise might have to correct that spelling later, but she just went for a shower). We were hit with a wall of Cambodian Tuk Tuk drivers all screaming at us - this was so overwhelming, exspecially beause we hadn't booked accomdation so we had no idea where to go. Luckily and Aussie appeared out of nowhere and gave us the low down ( Life Saver) so we bargained out price in the tuk tuk and headed to look at a couple of diffrent places, we eneded up at a brand new resort called Aqua Resort which was run by some Americans. Compared to Narin this was heaven, hot water, a pool literally a step from our door, and even aircon!!! So after settling in we wondered down to the main beach which was only 500m away - we stuck into some cocktails and into a bbq seafood platter ( we got this for $7 only later to realise $3 was the general price- we had just picked the most expensive place to start with !!) . The beach was absolute bliss with a great astmophere and view. After this we headed back to our Resort and went for a swim, another drink whilist we were in the pool before laying back to read a book. I ha'dn't been reading long when something liked my hand, as you can imagine this was quite a fright, but it turns our it was a beautiful dog!! So i gave her a big pat and was told by the staff she had just recently had 10 puppies!! Was i in heaven or what - so as you would guess Elise and I practically ran to where the puppies were. They were only 4 days old and their eyes hadn't even opened yet! They are about the sizes of our hands, some were black, some brown and one was white. We played with the puppies for a long time, and then i went back up stairs to give the mummy dog a massage because i thought she had done a great job having all those puppies!! I also sang to her as their was some beaut 50's music on!! ( I am pretty sure she enjoyed the massage but i'm not sure about the singing ;)) . We also saw the puppies again that afternoon and watched the mum feed them.
After a while we headed to the beach for an evening walk, as the sun began to set it was a perfect afternoon. We setlled into the most comfy chairs ( giant versions of my pink one at home) literally a step away from the water, and got stuck into bbq prawns and cocktails... and then some more prawns, they were soo good!! Children let fire crackers/ flares off all along the beach so it was like fireworks and absolutely terrific. It was one of the niecest days of my live, and a higlight of the trip!
The next day we got up early for a snorkelling trip, we met up with two other Australians ( everyone seems to be from AUS!!) One was called Sarah and one called Jane ( she looked so much like Sandy Robson from School and lived in Mulimbimby - which is where Billy, Elise and I stayed when we went to Blue and Roots!) So we headed out on a boat to a spot to go snoreklling - my snorkle was just not working for me - so i did not have a very good time, but apprarently there wasn't much to see anyway. Then we took the boat to a second island for a swim and some lunch, both of which was brilliant after a walk across they isalnd we were ready to go to the isalnd for more snorkelling, also on this jounrney we picked up an Isralie who was backpacking. The next snorkelling bit was much better, for everyone as their was alot more to see and i wasn't as retarded! By this time we had used a whole tube of sunscreen and Elise and I were still bright red!!!! It was a really nice trip and we really enjoyed the company.
After returning back to the resort for a shower, we heading back to the same place from the night before. We ordered drinks and some chippies - but before we had them in our hand we were bombarded by the kids selling shit ( they had bothered us the day before but not as bad) one little boy sat between me and Elise for 20 mins and wouldn't let us speak to each other and was being insanely annoying - so we got up and moved - in the end we had our nails painted and had a trillion bracelts made - to finally get some peace. Although at one stage we were absolutewly surrounded to the point Sarah came and took a picture!
After finally getting rid of them , Sarah and Jane joined us for some happy shakes and for some more bbq seafood, we then just relaxed and chatted for a while. We had an early night because we were nackered, but on the way home we stopped to get some icecream, which didn't quite go as well as planned, because Elise's spoon broke so she had to dig at it with the broken end and i choose an icecream which had nuts on the outside so i had to pick them all out! After this icecream fiasco we went to sleep!
In the morning we got up bright and early had yummy cooked breakfast which didn't incluse a baggette and headed for the bus stations back home...
Back at Narin, we grabbe our stuff and headed to the Orphanage. There we met up woth the 4 new volunteers also 18 year old Australians!! We had a pleasant afternoon with introducing them to our classes and they seem nice enough. Looking forward to our last week and christmas with the kids. We gave them all xmas hats today and they were delighted! We also started to decorate the classroom whjch now looks brilliant!
So now I am hungry and Elise is out of the shower so we are going to get some dinner!!
Nitey Nite!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Cambodia days 11 and 12
Hi everyone!
Yesterday was a pretty chilled day. We began the day searching for a decent coffee, which we have been longing since we got here (the coffee at the guesthouse is only crappy instant). We wandered up to a really nice coffee shop, very modern and it even had air con! the coffee was very sweet, but still better than anything else we've had so far, so we enjoyed it a lot. we spent quite a while there, writing our lesson plans at the same time and after that we walked back to the book shop where we bought some headphones so we can now skype :) like most mornings this week, we then went to the photocopying place, where they have come to know us quite well and our large amount of photocopying each morning. its still cheap as chips no matter how much we photocopy, so we don't really mind.
classes went pretty well for the day. Damaris had sent us some great ideas for activities to do with the kids, so we made the most of them and pretty much used them all up straight away. steph's uni kids think Damaris is a guru, because any thing they ask her a grammatical based question, she says she'll ask her mum and then gets back to them with the answer.
Today, we again had a fairly uneventful morning, which seems to be a pattern since andrew and sarah have left (we're enjoying our small sleep ins). We had breakfast and planned our lessons down stairs at the guest house, but they managed to forget steph's boiled eggs and baguette, so by the time she asked them about it, she was so hungry she jsut got her usual baguette and nutella.
Our classes were again pretty uneventful. My (elise) uni class was really good and i had the students writing conversations which was great. the kids were fairly focussed but by the end of the second half we'd all lost it a bit. My (steph) uni class was really good as usual, lots of laughter and discussion. my kids class was aslo the same as usual, the opposite of my uni class.
By the end of the day, we decided that we really needed a cocktail (sarah and andrew will be surpirsed to hear that it was our first drink of the week this week) so we headed to FCC at the river side for happy hour, 2.50 cocktails! We then had a pizza which was very delicious and satisfying, we've got a bit left over for a midnight snack. We then ventured to the second hand book store and the dvd store we found last week, bought a few books between us and then 4 dvds each at $1.50.
Now we're back at the guest house, a bit tired tonight, becuase the last couple of mornings we have had the lovely wake up call of a construction site, a baby crying, dogs barking and cats fighting. So off to write our tests for the students for tomorrow (they have a small test every friday). Steph's uni class are looking forward to the top mark in the class getting a hug from her. We're quite excited that it is almost the end of the week, because we are heading to Sihanoukville on the weekend, which is a beach side town 4hrs bus ride from here. we're going to treat ourselves to a bit of luxury at a hotel and go snorkelling wihc should be fun :)
hope all is well at home
goodnight
love elise and steph xxxx
Yesterday was a pretty chilled day. We began the day searching for a decent coffee, which we have been longing since we got here (the coffee at the guesthouse is only crappy instant). We wandered up to a really nice coffee shop, very modern and it even had air con! the coffee was very sweet, but still better than anything else we've had so far, so we enjoyed it a lot. we spent quite a while there, writing our lesson plans at the same time and after that we walked back to the book shop where we bought some headphones so we can now skype :) like most mornings this week, we then went to the photocopying place, where they have come to know us quite well and our large amount of photocopying each morning. its still cheap as chips no matter how much we photocopy, so we don't really mind.
classes went pretty well for the day. Damaris had sent us some great ideas for activities to do with the kids, so we made the most of them and pretty much used them all up straight away. steph's uni kids think Damaris is a guru, because any thing they ask her a grammatical based question, she says she'll ask her mum and then gets back to them with the answer.
Today, we again had a fairly uneventful morning, which seems to be a pattern since andrew and sarah have left (we're enjoying our small sleep ins). We had breakfast and planned our lessons down stairs at the guest house, but they managed to forget steph's boiled eggs and baguette, so by the time she asked them about it, she was so hungry she jsut got her usual baguette and nutella.
Our classes were again pretty uneventful. My (elise) uni class was really good and i had the students writing conversations which was great. the kids were fairly focussed but by the end of the second half we'd all lost it a bit. My (steph) uni class was really good as usual, lots of laughter and discussion. my kids class was aslo the same as usual, the opposite of my uni class.
By the end of the day, we decided that we really needed a cocktail (sarah and andrew will be surpirsed to hear that it was our first drink of the week this week) so we headed to FCC at the river side for happy hour, 2.50 cocktails! We then had a pizza which was very delicious and satisfying, we've got a bit left over for a midnight snack. We then ventured to the second hand book store and the dvd store we found last week, bought a few books between us and then 4 dvds each at $1.50.
Now we're back at the guest house, a bit tired tonight, becuase the last couple of mornings we have had the lovely wake up call of a construction site, a baby crying, dogs barking and cats fighting. So off to write our tests for the students for tomorrow (they have a small test every friday). Steph's uni class are looking forward to the top mark in the class getting a hug from her. We're quite excited that it is almost the end of the week, because we are heading to Sihanoukville on the weekend, which is a beach side town 4hrs bus ride from here. we're going to treat ourselves to a bit of luxury at a hotel and go snorkelling wihc should be fun :)
hope all is well at home
goodnight
love elise and steph xxxx
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Day 9 in Cambodia
G'day everyone, because today was pretty same same and we don't want you to get bored, we have decided to give you random other bits about our stay which we don't usually bother to include.
1. Showering -
Our bathroom is about the size of pantry. There is only one tap ( cold only) and you have to postions your self pretty much ontop of the toliet to get the best water flow. We do have a sink but it is not connected to any plumbing, so combined with toliet and sink the floor is always wet.. and dirty because of our feet. So a typical showering experience begins with one of us closing our eyes while the other gets nacked in the main part of the room ( because a] its to small in to get changed in the bathroom and b] our clothes would get wet) So then we jump into the bathroom shout ''OK'' and turn on the water - spend 15 seconds getting wet all over. turn off shower, then we put shampoo in our hair, then condioner, then we soap up and body wash all at the same time. Then anothe 20 seconds under the cold water to wash off. Then face wash on, then 5 seconds under water to wash off. Then we have to shout "Close your eyes!" before we jump out so we can grab our towel and get dressed. It takes less than 10 minutes for us both to shower in the morning. Go Us for saving our 6 buckets of water a day! We also shower before we go to dinner, these showers take even less time because we don't wash our hair... but they are ridiculously necessary considering how hot and sweaty we get during the day, especially when we are teaching in the classrooms, that have one or two small fans for cooling.
2. Access to numerous amounts of clean clothes-
we have been particularly aware of this in the last couple of days and have learnt a very important lesson. never give all your dirty clothes to be washed, leaving you with only one set of clothes, and expect them to get back to you within the day. we made this very silly mistake yesterady morning, after our showers when we came down for breakfast, we handed in a pile of dirty washing, which had built up pretty quickly considreing its necessary to wear between 2 and 3 shirts a day here. we were in our last clean tshirts, and had even included our pjs in the washing. hoping to get it back that night, we were a bit disappointed that it wasn't there after we got back from dinner, forced to sleep in our same tshirts, we figured it would be back in the morning before we had to go to the orphanage. unfortunately, we hoped wrong, and we were stuck in our same clothes, after a day and a night in them, to wear to the orphanage for the second day. when we got home this afternoon and they handed us our washing, they looked at us strangely as we jumped for joy and the idea of a clean tshirt and underwear! we were both happy to be in clean clohes after our showers tonight :)
3.tuk tuk man-
we have a tuk tuk driver, who has a cute little beer belly. we don't know his actual name, so he will be forever known as tuk tuk man. he takes us to the orphanage every day and is there to pick us up when we finish. he often takes us wherever we want to go for dinner at night as well, and will be there whenever we want him to pick us up, or depending on the distance home, he will just ahve a snooze in his tuk tuk on the street, or talk to a random friend, which he seems to have everywhere. we have made up many songs about our tuk tuk man, particularly last night, when we were waiting for him to come and get us from the restaurant we were at, waiting on the street and then we saw him drive straight past us, but seemed to miss us completely. we figured he was going to turn around at the end of teh street, but then he disappeared and it was a good 5 to 10 minutes before he miraculously reappeared, it ended up he'd gone to visit yet another friend around the corner :)
4. the journey to our room
to get to our bedroom, we have to go up 6 flights of stairs, which we are slowly becoming accustomed to, but we always underestimate how many more fligthts we have to go. when we get to our floor, we then have to undo a combination padlock on our door, and hopefully we've remebered to pick up our key from reception so that we can then get inside. this is the biggest problem if we are downstairs at the restaurant or on the internet because we have to go through this whole process jsust to go to the loo!
we can't think of any other blaringly obvious differences between here and home right now, so we'll leave it there for tonight.
hope you enjoy
lots of love, steph and elise
xxx
1. Showering -
Our bathroom is about the size of pantry. There is only one tap ( cold only) and you have to postions your self pretty much ontop of the toliet to get the best water flow. We do have a sink but it is not connected to any plumbing, so combined with toliet and sink the floor is always wet.. and dirty because of our feet. So a typical showering experience begins with one of us closing our eyes while the other gets nacked in the main part of the room ( because a] its to small in to get changed in the bathroom and b] our clothes would get wet) So then we jump into the bathroom shout ''OK'' and turn on the water - spend 15 seconds getting wet all over. turn off shower, then we put shampoo in our hair, then condioner, then we soap up and body wash all at the same time. Then anothe 20 seconds under the cold water to wash off. Then face wash on, then 5 seconds under water to wash off. Then we have to shout "Close your eyes!" before we jump out so we can grab our towel and get dressed. It takes less than 10 minutes for us both to shower in the morning. Go Us for saving our 6 buckets of water a day! We also shower before we go to dinner, these showers take even less time because we don't wash our hair... but they are ridiculously necessary considering how hot and sweaty we get during the day, especially when we are teaching in the classrooms, that have one or two small fans for cooling.
2. Access to numerous amounts of clean clothes-
we have been particularly aware of this in the last couple of days and have learnt a very important lesson. never give all your dirty clothes to be washed, leaving you with only one set of clothes, and expect them to get back to you within the day. we made this very silly mistake yesterady morning, after our showers when we came down for breakfast, we handed in a pile of dirty washing, which had built up pretty quickly considreing its necessary to wear between 2 and 3 shirts a day here. we were in our last clean tshirts, and had even included our pjs in the washing. hoping to get it back that night, we were a bit disappointed that it wasn't there after we got back from dinner, forced to sleep in our same tshirts, we figured it would be back in the morning before we had to go to the orphanage. unfortunately, we hoped wrong, and we were stuck in our same clothes, after a day and a night in them, to wear to the orphanage for the second day. when we got home this afternoon and they handed us our washing, they looked at us strangely as we jumped for joy and the idea of a clean tshirt and underwear! we were both happy to be in clean clohes after our showers tonight :)
3.tuk tuk man-
we have a tuk tuk driver, who has a cute little beer belly. we don't know his actual name, so he will be forever known as tuk tuk man. he takes us to the orphanage every day and is there to pick us up when we finish. he often takes us wherever we want to go for dinner at night as well, and will be there whenever we want him to pick us up, or depending on the distance home, he will just ahve a snooze in his tuk tuk on the street, or talk to a random friend, which he seems to have everywhere. we have made up many songs about our tuk tuk man, particularly last night, when we were waiting for him to come and get us from the restaurant we were at, waiting on the street and then we saw him drive straight past us, but seemed to miss us completely. we figured he was going to turn around at the end of teh street, but then he disappeared and it was a good 5 to 10 minutes before he miraculously reappeared, it ended up he'd gone to visit yet another friend around the corner :)
4. the journey to our room
to get to our bedroom, we have to go up 6 flights of stairs, which we are slowly becoming accustomed to, but we always underestimate how many more fligthts we have to go. when we get to our floor, we then have to undo a combination padlock on our door, and hopefully we've remebered to pick up our key from reception so that we can then get inside. this is the biggest problem if we are downstairs at the restaurant or on the internet because we have to go through this whole process jsust to go to the loo!
we can't think of any other blaringly obvious differences between here and home right now, so we'll leave it there for tonight.
hope you enjoy
lots of love, steph and elise
xxx
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cambodia Day 8 and 9
Hey Everyone,
So not alot to report from yesterday, we slept, read and ate. That is pretty much it.
Then today we also had a sleep in because we have been so tired. So after breakfast we finished planning our lessons. we went to photocopy some worksheets for the kids as well and to our amazement, one copy was 100 riel, we got 40 sheets and it cost us $1! then we had a nap before we went to the school.
Because sarah and andrew have now left, we were split up for our uni class, steph took the two more advanced classes and i took the same one as we'd had before. I went through lots of grammar with them today, looking at possession and using 's. It wasn't as much fun without steph there, because it was quite good working together in the class before but it still went pretty well. With the kids today, I had a story book of the frog prince, that had some owrds replaced by pictures. so i drew up big versions of the pictures and went through that vocab with them before hand, so then they could help me read the stroy. it worked pretty well, and most of the kids stayed focussed but its hard with such a large group when they are at varying levels, some couldn't understand much so they tuned out a bit. Then they drew pictures of a part of the story, which is alwasy a fail safe plan. then we made new sentences with the pictures after and by the end of it, we played games because they were all over the place. all in all not a bad day, but now i just need to think of some more things to teach them this week until we get onto the crhistmas stuff next week. we just don't have enough things to do with them for christmas to string it out for two weeks.
So today i took a combined class for the inetermediate and preintermediate classes. I began by telling them i couldn't spell and i wans't good at grammar - i thought it was best to be honest and they were more compatent at English. This was fine they said and just laughed and smiled at me. one of the girls gave me a present and a letter even though it was my first day. One of the guys guys nickname is chicken - and so i called him fried chicken which everyone liked. It was a good class - no idea what im going to teach them though!!
My kids had an ok start, they ignored me but when i read their work that had taken in what i was saying. however their lost focus in their second half and began singing "my bonnie went over the ocean, my bonnnie went over the sea.."everytime i asked them a question.. i have no idea why?..
Tonight we went to our favourite khmer Kitchen for dinner because we get to sit on the floor. We are really looking forward to weekend because we are going for a trip to a beach and we are going to stay in a place with hot water!!
So not alot to report from yesterday, we slept, read and ate. That is pretty much it.
Then today we also had a sleep in because we have been so tired. So after breakfast we finished planning our lessons. we went to photocopy some worksheets for the kids as well and to our amazement, one copy was 100 riel, we got 40 sheets and it cost us $1! then we had a nap before we went to the school.
Because sarah and andrew have now left, we were split up for our uni class, steph took the two more advanced classes and i took the same one as we'd had before. I went through lots of grammar with them today, looking at possession and using 's. It wasn't as much fun without steph there, because it was quite good working together in the class before but it still went pretty well. With the kids today, I had a story book of the frog prince, that had some owrds replaced by pictures. so i drew up big versions of the pictures and went through that vocab with them before hand, so then they could help me read the stroy. it worked pretty well, and most of the kids stayed focussed but its hard with such a large group when they are at varying levels, some couldn't understand much so they tuned out a bit. Then they drew pictures of a part of the story, which is alwasy a fail safe plan. then we made new sentences with the pictures after and by the end of it, we played games because they were all over the place. all in all not a bad day, but now i just need to think of some more things to teach them this week until we get onto the crhistmas stuff next week. we just don't have enough things to do with them for christmas to string it out for two weeks.
So today i took a combined class for the inetermediate and preintermediate classes. I began by telling them i couldn't spell and i wans't good at grammar - i thought it was best to be honest and they were more compatent at English. This was fine they said and just laughed and smiled at me. one of the girls gave me a present and a letter even though it was my first day. One of the guys guys nickname is chicken - and so i called him fried chicken which everyone liked. It was a good class - no idea what im going to teach them though!!
My kids had an ok start, they ignored me but when i read their work that had taken in what i was saying. however their lost focus in their second half and began singing "my bonnie went over the ocean, my bonnnie went over the sea.."everytime i asked them a question.. i have no idea why?..
Tonight we went to our favourite khmer Kitchen for dinner because we get to sit on the floor. We are really looking forward to weekend because we are going for a trip to a beach and we are going to stay in a place with hot water!!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Day 7 in Cambodia
Howdy,
So today we had tours all over the city. We started with the Royal Palace, this was interesting, but because the palace is realtively new, it doesnt have any incredible history or anything. Although the silver pragoda was pretty cool, the whole floor is made out of silver tiles that weigh 1kg each. From there we went to the National Museum, this was also quite interesting, although i would of prefered to walk around at my own pace without the guide. Then we went Wat Penhom, which is a big buddist shrine, it was pretty gnarly as it was covered with monkeys.
After lunch we travelled about 15ks to the Killing Fields, this took half n hr or more because tuk tuk's are so slow. Immediately as you walk in you can see a big tower filled with over 9000 skulls that have been extuvated from the mass graves. There is over 200 mass graves, some holding up to 600 bodies, only 43 haven't been excavated. It is really hard to describe the feeling you get being there, what happened there is hard to comprehend - they had speakers hanging from the trees playing the regimes music to mask the moaning and scream from the victims, they had a particualr tree where they would swing children's heads into, babies were throw into the air and caught on the spears of guns.... bullets were not used because they were too expensive.
Poor Andrew was a bit emotional and was caught of gaurd with children beggers - so soon we were swarmed, after what we had just witnessed it was very hard to just look away.
From here we went to the Genocide Museum, which is called Toul Sleng - this was the high school that was turned into a prison between 1975 and 1978 ( it was called S-21), over 16 000 people were brought there and only 7 people survived. Walking thorough the building any emotions occur to you because it is so hard to understand how this could of happened. The torture is very well documented, and every single person who entered had their photo taken, all of this is on display. So you walk past rows and rows of boards each filled with 60 pictures, seeing these pictures make the statistics come to life - mother and baby, old men, young girls - every single expression on their faces you can imagine, their hands ties behind their back. You walk into their cells, and the tourture chambers, the weapons, chains and tolls still on the ground, blood splattered on the walls, and roof. I found so hard to understand this happened so little time ago, yet no one did anything about it, in fact most Australians wouldn't even know that it had happened. Our guide was 11 in 1975 and told us how he had lost his father, two brothers and two sisters, and his own story was very moving.
It was such an intense and draining day, so i think we will have a very quite night , even if it is our last night with Andrew and Sarah. Sarah was really sick today which was so sad because she was the one who was most looking forward to all these sites, and she studied them for her HSC. And because she was sick she could not come to it all.
I don't know what Elise and I will do tomorrow, it will be our first day by our selves and we won't have to go to school... maybe we will just have a rest - as we are both sooo tired!!
Love Steph xx
So today we had tours all over the city. We started with the Royal Palace, this was interesting, but because the palace is realtively new, it doesnt have any incredible history or anything. Although the silver pragoda was pretty cool, the whole floor is made out of silver tiles that weigh 1kg each. From there we went to the National Museum, this was also quite interesting, although i would of prefered to walk around at my own pace without the guide. Then we went Wat Penhom, which is a big buddist shrine, it was pretty gnarly as it was covered with monkeys.
After lunch we travelled about 15ks to the Killing Fields, this took half n hr or more because tuk tuk's are so slow. Immediately as you walk in you can see a big tower filled with over 9000 skulls that have been extuvated from the mass graves. There is over 200 mass graves, some holding up to 600 bodies, only 43 haven't been excavated. It is really hard to describe the feeling you get being there, what happened there is hard to comprehend - they had speakers hanging from the trees playing the regimes music to mask the moaning and scream from the victims, they had a particualr tree where they would swing children's heads into, babies were throw into the air and caught on the spears of guns.... bullets were not used because they were too expensive.
Poor Andrew was a bit emotional and was caught of gaurd with children beggers - so soon we were swarmed, after what we had just witnessed it was very hard to just look away.
From here we went to the Genocide Museum, which is called Toul Sleng - this was the high school that was turned into a prison between 1975 and 1978 ( it was called S-21), over 16 000 people were brought there and only 7 people survived. Walking thorough the building any emotions occur to you because it is so hard to understand how this could of happened. The torture is very well documented, and every single person who entered had their photo taken, all of this is on display. So you walk past rows and rows of boards each filled with 60 pictures, seeing these pictures make the statistics come to life - mother and baby, old men, young girls - every single expression on their faces you can imagine, their hands ties behind their back. You walk into their cells, and the tourture chambers, the weapons, chains and tolls still on the ground, blood splattered on the walls, and roof. I found so hard to understand this happened so little time ago, yet no one did anything about it, in fact most Australians wouldn't even know that it had happened. Our guide was 11 in 1975 and told us how he had lost his father, two brothers and two sisters, and his own story was very moving.
It was such an intense and draining day, so i think we will have a very quite night , even if it is our last night with Andrew and Sarah. Sarah was really sick today which was so sad because she was the one who was most looking forward to all these sites, and she studied them for her HSC. And because she was sick she could not come to it all.
I don't know what Elise and I will do tomorrow, it will be our first day by our selves and we won't have to go to school... maybe we will just have a rest - as we are both sooo tired!!
Love Steph xx
Cambodia 5 and 6
Hi everyone,
We're both pretty knackered, but thought we would give you a quick update on the last couple of days.
Yesterday was a public holiday here for human rights, so we didnt have our uni students and went in at 9 to just ahve our class witht the kids. We didnt have to do much work because it was a holiday so steph and i combined our classes and talked about friends, getting them to draw lots which they loved of course. then we taught them a chorus of a song about sharing by jack johnson and andrew played his guitar. thye all loved it and kept singing it, but the down side is now its stuck in all of our heads and getting really annoying!
We had all of the afternoon off, so we had a rest and then went bowling! we were surprised that it was quite similar to home and we had a good time there. Steph won the first game, and I was on a winning streak in the second, but we had to finish because our hour was up, so we will never knwo.
We went on to the FCC (foreign correspondance club) where we had some delicious cocktails and chips and then we were very happy because we had pizza for dinner. It was a very enjoyable night with lots of laughs.
Today, we had a bit of a sleep in, which was nice and then planned our lessons. Our uni class went well, we gave them a small test on the stuff we've done this week and then taught them some grammar. Fortunately, we over planned for today so we will be able to use the other stuff to teach on monday.
My (elise) class wasn't bad today. Being friday, we don't have to teach rigid english vocab or grammar. So i had a book with different world flags that i bought from the bookstore the other day. We talked about each place and then i wrote some sentences up on the board which they copied and then drew the flag. I managed to make it last for the majority of the lesson which was good and then some played games with steph adn andrew and some kids outside, while some just stayed in and drew. Its so good knowing that they love to draw becuase its the best time filler ever!
My ( Steph) class went ok, we started by doing a test, which showed they had really improved on their irregular plurals, but they are still struggling with their sentences. I thought they might enjoy writting and drawing their own picture books, so i tried a couple of diffrent ways to get them into this, however no one was interested, so they just did their normal ignore me routine. Giving up on this i just played games with them , and some of Andrews and Elise's kids for the second half. I am good at the diffrent games, so the afternoon was quite enjoyable. We played an epic game of simon says because it took me about half n hr top get everyone out.
We were all still really tired from last night, so we just went for dinner at the Khmer Kitchen, which was have frequented this week. Now were going to stock up on cholcolate and head up to Sarah rooom to watch tv.
We are really looking forward to tommorow because we are heading to the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Museum.
Goonight,
Love Steph and Elise
Ps Mum hit me an email with ideas for my kids please!! ( Steph)
We're both pretty knackered, but thought we would give you a quick update on the last couple of days.
Yesterday was a public holiday here for human rights, so we didnt have our uni students and went in at 9 to just ahve our class witht the kids. We didnt have to do much work because it was a holiday so steph and i combined our classes and talked about friends, getting them to draw lots which they loved of course. then we taught them a chorus of a song about sharing by jack johnson and andrew played his guitar. thye all loved it and kept singing it, but the down side is now its stuck in all of our heads and getting really annoying!
We had all of the afternoon off, so we had a rest and then went bowling! we were surprised that it was quite similar to home and we had a good time there. Steph won the first game, and I was on a winning streak in the second, but we had to finish because our hour was up, so we will never knwo.
We went on to the FCC (foreign correspondance club) where we had some delicious cocktails and chips and then we were very happy because we had pizza for dinner. It was a very enjoyable night with lots of laughs.
Today, we had a bit of a sleep in, which was nice and then planned our lessons. Our uni class went well, we gave them a small test on the stuff we've done this week and then taught them some grammar. Fortunately, we over planned for today so we will be able to use the other stuff to teach on monday.
My (elise) class wasn't bad today. Being friday, we don't have to teach rigid english vocab or grammar. So i had a book with different world flags that i bought from the bookstore the other day. We talked about each place and then i wrote some sentences up on the board which they copied and then drew the flag. I managed to make it last for the majority of the lesson which was good and then some played games with steph adn andrew and some kids outside, while some just stayed in and drew. Its so good knowing that they love to draw becuase its the best time filler ever!
My ( Steph) class went ok, we started by doing a test, which showed they had really improved on their irregular plurals, but they are still struggling with their sentences. I thought they might enjoy writting and drawing their own picture books, so i tried a couple of diffrent ways to get them into this, however no one was interested, so they just did their normal ignore me routine. Giving up on this i just played games with them , and some of Andrews and Elise's kids for the second half. I am good at the diffrent games, so the afternoon was quite enjoyable. We played an epic game of simon says because it took me about half n hr top get everyone out.
We were all still really tired from last night, so we just went for dinner at the Khmer Kitchen, which was have frequented this week. Now were going to stock up on cholcolate and head up to Sarah rooom to watch tv.
We are really looking forward to tommorow because we are heading to the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Museum.
Goonight,
Love Steph and Elise
Ps Mum hit me an email with ideas for my kids please!! ( Steph)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Cambodia 3 and 4
G'day Mates,
Ok so we didn't write anything yesterday, because we were to drained after our busy lessons so we will just tell you about both days today...
Day 3.
At the beginning of the day we found a bookshop, and brought some grammar and picture books for our students. Like everything else the books were really cheap - we were able to get Harry Potter for only $2. ( although some of the translations are a bit dodge). After planning our lessons we went to the school for our first lesson at 1pm. Elise and I had our university kids first up. It went much better with a planned lesson, we taught them about describing appearances and did some grammar stuff too. They responded really well and laughed at Steph again, especially when I had to correct her spelling on the board. We were really happy that it had gone a bit smoother today and they seemed to enjoy it.
I (Elise) then had my second class, with the youngest and least advanced kids. The planning helped more but I had over estimated how long it would take to teach the material I had, it didnt help that they already had a pretty good idea of what i wanted to teach them. I taught them some of the terms for time like quarter to and past and then taught them opposites. we had fun coming up with different ones and then I got them to draw some opposites which was the best idea ever because its their favourite thing to do! It kept them entertained for quite a while, and then i used games for time fillers which of course they love.
I ( Steph) then had my second class, with my troublesome 5. The planning helped a bit, but they are all just crazy and don't seem to like me very much. I have one student ( Vanna) who is really smart and just goes ahead on his own terms, then i have one girl who puts her head on the desk unless we are playing a game, and in general they are just not interested. I didn't know how to disapline them, and i think everyone else must of had this same problem because they have no manner, by the end of the lesson I just wanted to sit in the corner and alterniatvely scream, and cry.
Then for dinner we went to a place called''The lazy Geko" because Sarah has some weird phobia with gekos ( which are everywhere here) so it was rather amusing. The food was pretty average, but like everywhere else very cheap. When we got home we planned our lessons and then Elise went straight to sleep, where i had difficulty and stayed up doing crunches and squats, thinking how confused Elise would be if she woke up and saw me.
Day 4.
This morning we still got up fairly early even though we didnt have to be at the orphanage until 1. we had breakfast, both had pancakes which were very good, finished our lesson plans and then decided to head to the central markets. We expected them to be similar to the russian markets, largely aimed at tourists, selling cheap dvds, silk, bags, shoes etc. We walked there and when we arrived, saw lots of fruit and veges being sold, so decided to venture in and find the other things they were selling. After walking through a maze of crowded alleys, we found ourselves in the wet market where they sold all the meat and decided to head a different way. WE then came across a few sections selling clothes, but nothing very interesting. Andrew stopped to look at a pair of shoes, and then tried one on, but wasnt overly intersted. suddenly, the lady at the stall had called over to the guy at the next stall and he pulled out a stool and forced andrew to sit down. He put the other size on his foot and had practically decided the deal before andrew even knew what was happening. his thongs were shoved in a plastic bag and he reluctantly handed over the $10. it was quite funny how quickly it all happened, he's not partcularly keen on the shoes.
After that we walked though the fish market, this made us all ill, as live fish were just chilling on the ground and then were suddenly picked up and gutted on block of wood in front of us. Combined with seeing a chicken gutted, we decided to leave. because we thought the markets were going to be diffrent we hadn't really prepared our stomachs for what we were going to see. So afterwards we headed for lunch, i just had icecream because i felt sick, and the other only had half of their meals for the same reason.
Then we headed for the program again - For university class we felt pretty sick but it went really well still. We practised how to pronounce thin and shorts because they reallys struggle with th and sh sounds. steph likes to get them to pronounce words and get louder each time, they seem to find this pretty amusing, but it is really effective. we did some grammar and then more work on appearance, and played a game where they weren't allowed to say yes or no when we asked them about their appearance.
My (elise) class with the kids went fairly well, i had a book about animals and what they can and can't do which i read to them and then we discussed the use of can and can't and wrote down all the rules. At the beginning of the second half i got them to draw tehir favourite animal which was a bad idea because they were distracted for the rest of the lesson and i didnt get much else done. we played some games which are always a hit!
Mine ( Steph) were a little bit better today as i tried some new tactics, but by half time they had still had enough and one of th kids decided it was fun to continually punch me the whole time...enough said.
So to finish our day we had another delightful massage and a lovely dinner. now we're off to plan our lessons for tthe kids calsses. tomorow is a public holiday here so we only have the one class, no uni students, and because its a holiday steph and i are planning on joining our classes for most of the lesson and doing some fun stuff, like those papaer fold out peace dolls. so we'll see how her calss behaves when they're combined with mine!
Goodnight all!
Lots of love
Elise and Steph
Ok so we didn't write anything yesterday, because we were to drained after our busy lessons so we will just tell you about both days today...
Day 3.
At the beginning of the day we found a bookshop, and brought some grammar and picture books for our students. Like everything else the books were really cheap - we were able to get Harry Potter for only $2. ( although some of the translations are a bit dodge). After planning our lessons we went to the school for our first lesson at 1pm. Elise and I had our university kids first up. It went much better with a planned lesson, we taught them about describing appearances and did some grammar stuff too. They responded really well and laughed at Steph again, especially when I had to correct her spelling on the board. We were really happy that it had gone a bit smoother today and they seemed to enjoy it.
I (Elise) then had my second class, with the youngest and least advanced kids. The planning helped more but I had over estimated how long it would take to teach the material I had, it didnt help that they already had a pretty good idea of what i wanted to teach them. I taught them some of the terms for time like quarter to and past and then taught them opposites. we had fun coming up with different ones and then I got them to draw some opposites which was the best idea ever because its their favourite thing to do! It kept them entertained for quite a while, and then i used games for time fillers which of course they love.
I ( Steph) then had my second class, with my troublesome 5. The planning helped a bit, but they are all just crazy and don't seem to like me very much. I have one student ( Vanna) who is really smart and just goes ahead on his own terms, then i have one girl who puts her head on the desk unless we are playing a game, and in general they are just not interested. I didn't know how to disapline them, and i think everyone else must of had this same problem because they have no manner, by the end of the lesson I just wanted to sit in the corner and alterniatvely scream, and cry.
Then for dinner we went to a place called''The lazy Geko" because Sarah has some weird phobia with gekos ( which are everywhere here) so it was rather amusing. The food was pretty average, but like everywhere else very cheap. When we got home we planned our lessons and then Elise went straight to sleep, where i had difficulty and stayed up doing crunches and squats, thinking how confused Elise would be if she woke up and saw me.
Day 4.
This morning we still got up fairly early even though we didnt have to be at the orphanage until 1. we had breakfast, both had pancakes which were very good, finished our lesson plans and then decided to head to the central markets. We expected them to be similar to the russian markets, largely aimed at tourists, selling cheap dvds, silk, bags, shoes etc. We walked there and when we arrived, saw lots of fruit and veges being sold, so decided to venture in and find the other things they were selling. After walking through a maze of crowded alleys, we found ourselves in the wet market where they sold all the meat and decided to head a different way. WE then came across a few sections selling clothes, but nothing very interesting. Andrew stopped to look at a pair of shoes, and then tried one on, but wasnt overly intersted. suddenly, the lady at the stall had called over to the guy at the next stall and he pulled out a stool and forced andrew to sit down. He put the other size on his foot and had practically decided the deal before andrew even knew what was happening. his thongs were shoved in a plastic bag and he reluctantly handed over the $10. it was quite funny how quickly it all happened, he's not partcularly keen on the shoes.
After that we walked though the fish market, this made us all ill, as live fish were just chilling on the ground and then were suddenly picked up and gutted on block of wood in front of us. Combined with seeing a chicken gutted, we decided to leave. because we thought the markets were going to be diffrent we hadn't really prepared our stomachs for what we were going to see. So afterwards we headed for lunch, i just had icecream because i felt sick, and the other only had half of their meals for the same reason.
Then we headed for the program again - For university class we felt pretty sick but it went really well still. We practised how to pronounce thin and shorts because they reallys struggle with th and sh sounds. steph likes to get them to pronounce words and get louder each time, they seem to find this pretty amusing, but it is really effective. we did some grammar and then more work on appearance, and played a game where they weren't allowed to say yes or no when we asked them about their appearance.
My (elise) class with the kids went fairly well, i had a book about animals and what they can and can't do which i read to them and then we discussed the use of can and can't and wrote down all the rules. At the beginning of the second half i got them to draw tehir favourite animal which was a bad idea because they were distracted for the rest of the lesson and i didnt get much else done. we played some games which are always a hit!
Mine ( Steph) were a little bit better today as i tried some new tactics, but by half time they had still had enough and one of th kids decided it was fun to continually punch me the whole time...enough said.
So to finish our day we had another delightful massage and a lovely dinner. now we're off to plan our lessons for tthe kids calsses. tomorow is a public holiday here so we only have the one class, no uni students, and because its a holiday steph and i are planning on joining our classes for most of the lesson and doing some fun stuff, like those papaer fold out peace dolls. so we'll see how her calss behaves when they're combined with mine!
Goodnight all!
Lots of love
Elise and Steph
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Day 2 in Cambodia
Hello Everyone,
So today was our first day at the orphanage, it was pretty intense and nerve racking. For the first half of the day we made our lesson plans, which was a pretty hard considering we didn't have a clue what the kids had been doing and what they knew. We were each given a 2 sets of classes , one for the kids and one for university students. Elise had Class A for Kids, she has 17 kids in her class from ages ranging from 6 - 14. Andrew and Sarah have classes B and C respectively and they only have a few kids each. My class in called the 'under the tree' class, this is because unlike the others i don't have a class room, i literally just have class under a tree outside. Although today it was too hot so we had class in the kitchen ( this was interesting as their dinner was being prepared at the same time, so there was a lady chopping a chicken with a clever, as i was giving my lesson).
First we had university class , Elise and I got to teach together for this. It was really hard finding out what they already knew, and they laughed at us alot. But the class was really nice and easy to handle. When teaching its like survival tacktics and your head just goes blank about all the teaching techniques. I found myself learning the lesson from Elise at the same time , as i know nothing about grammar.
Next we had the kids. I had only five kids in my class and they were soo noisy and naughty - all i pretty much managed was t0 play games...hopefully it doesn't continue like this. One particularly disheartening moment was having a 6 yr old Cambodian kid correct my spelling of the word banana on the white board ( i had got a bit carried away with ''n'') .
Hopefully now we have a better idea of what they know, so we can prepare better lessons tomorrow... We only teach from 1-3 and 3-5 so we have some time in the morning.
This evening we went to 'Friends Restraunt' where we went the first night because it has a pool, so we had a swim before dinner, which was really nice.
Now we are absolutely wrecked and are ready for an early night.
Love Elise and Stef
PS.. photos and video will have to wait because none of the computers here register them when we connect them :(
xxx
So today was our first day at the orphanage, it was pretty intense and nerve racking. For the first half of the day we made our lesson plans, which was a pretty hard considering we didn't have a clue what the kids had been doing and what they knew. We were each given a 2 sets of classes , one for the kids and one for university students. Elise had Class A for Kids, she has 17 kids in her class from ages ranging from 6 - 14. Andrew and Sarah have classes B and C respectively and they only have a few kids each. My class in called the 'under the tree' class, this is because unlike the others i don't have a class room, i literally just have class under a tree outside. Although today it was too hot so we had class in the kitchen ( this was interesting as their dinner was being prepared at the same time, so there was a lady chopping a chicken with a clever, as i was giving my lesson).
First we had university class , Elise and I got to teach together for this. It was really hard finding out what they already knew, and they laughed at us alot. But the class was really nice and easy to handle. When teaching its like survival tacktics and your head just goes blank about all the teaching techniques. I found myself learning the lesson from Elise at the same time , as i know nothing about grammar.
Next we had the kids. I had only five kids in my class and they were soo noisy and naughty - all i pretty much managed was t0 play games...hopefully it doesn't continue like this. One particularly disheartening moment was having a 6 yr old Cambodian kid correct my spelling of the word banana on the white board ( i had got a bit carried away with ''n'') .
Hopefully now we have a better idea of what they know, so we can prepare better lessons tomorrow... We only teach from 1-3 and 3-5 so we have some time in the morning.
This evening we went to 'Friends Restraunt' where we went the first night because it has a pool, so we had a swim before dinner, which was really nice.
Now we are absolutely wrecked and are ready for an early night.
Love Elise and Stef
PS.. photos and video will have to wait because none of the computers here register them when we connect them :(
xxx
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Day One in Cambodia
Hello Everyone,
Today was my first full day in Cambodia!! Yesterday I arrived at about 4 in the arvo and was meet and the airpor by Elise and a driver, then we made our way back to the guest house and settled in. This didn't take very long as our room in very simple and small. Then we went with our coordinator Kimlay and a UK couple to the Night Markets, we had only a small look around though, so hopefully we will go again. Folllowing from this we went for a massage, a full body one hour massage cost us $7US - it was like a slice of heaven ( Billy I am pretty sure you would just live in the massage parlour) then we went out for a yummy local cuisine dinner. After returning we had a small incident with a cockrouch but that eventually resolved , after alot of screaming ( mainly elise), jumping ( me onto Elise), and book throwing.
Today has been nice and simple with a yummy breakfast beaugette to start, then a small orenitation ( which was pretty useless), learning a bit of the language before being meet by Sarah and Andrew from Sydney ( they will be on our project for the next week) - Andrew seems pretty cool exspecially. Together we had lunch then went to visit our project, the kids were just about to leave to go to their soccer match against another orphanage, they were all wearing matching uniforms that were all one size, so it was hanging off some of the little guys. They all pilled into a tiny truck. We asked to go see them play, and everyone said yes, but the guide and tuk tuk driver just didn't take us. Instead we went to the Russian markets - i went a bit crazy with buying box sets of tv programs, greys anantomy, gilmore girls, friends, and all of audrey hepburns movies. I am shit at bargaining they were like 6 dollars, i said 5, they said no 6, so i was like oh ok. Luckily Elise is much better than me.
Me and Elise began filming a video blog, however as i am retarded i forgot they video vord is diffrent to my cameras and i didn't bring it - so, ill just have to post them all at the end unless brett can find it in my room ( i have no idea where to look, Billy do you have it?) and sends it over...mind you it would prob get lost in traslation....
The computer today isn't regeristering my camera either, so hopefully another will and i can post some photos. Particualry we wanted to show you the bathroom as the shower just comes out of the wall in the tiny space between toliet and basin, and the basin pipes just pour striaght onto the floor!!
It is amazing here, i think i am a bit more settles than the others with the culture shock exspecially on the roads, because it is much quiter than INDIA. But it deffiently has it's own smells and views. Some of the stuff you see just makes you want to laugh, like today we saw a man riding a bike with like 10000 dead chicken hung on the front ( hopefully i can get the pic up later).
Hopefully we will have alot of stories to tell you as we settle in and get the flow of the place, but for now, ill say goodbye!
xx
Today was my first full day in Cambodia!! Yesterday I arrived at about 4 in the arvo and was meet and the airpor by Elise and a driver, then we made our way back to the guest house and settled in. This didn't take very long as our room in very simple and small. Then we went with our coordinator Kimlay and a UK couple to the Night Markets, we had only a small look around though, so hopefully we will go again. Folllowing from this we went for a massage, a full body one hour massage cost us $7US - it was like a slice of heaven ( Billy I am pretty sure you would just live in the massage parlour) then we went out for a yummy local cuisine dinner. After returning we had a small incident with a cockrouch but that eventually resolved , after alot of screaming ( mainly elise), jumping ( me onto Elise), and book throwing.
Today has been nice and simple with a yummy breakfast beaugette to start, then a small orenitation ( which was pretty useless), learning a bit of the language before being meet by Sarah and Andrew from Sydney ( they will be on our project for the next week) - Andrew seems pretty cool exspecially. Together we had lunch then went to visit our project, the kids were just about to leave to go to their soccer match against another orphanage, they were all wearing matching uniforms that were all one size, so it was hanging off some of the little guys. They all pilled into a tiny truck. We asked to go see them play, and everyone said yes, but the guide and tuk tuk driver just didn't take us. Instead we went to the Russian markets - i went a bit crazy with buying box sets of tv programs, greys anantomy, gilmore girls, friends, and all of audrey hepburns movies. I am shit at bargaining they were like 6 dollars, i said 5, they said no 6, so i was like oh ok. Luckily Elise is much better than me.
Me and Elise began filming a video blog, however as i am retarded i forgot they video vord is diffrent to my cameras and i didn't bring it - so, ill just have to post them all at the end unless brett can find it in my room ( i have no idea where to look, Billy do you have it?) and sends it over...mind you it would prob get lost in traslation....
The computer today isn't regeristering my camera either, so hopefully another will and i can post some photos. Particualry we wanted to show you the bathroom as the shower just comes out of the wall in the tiny space between toliet and basin, and the basin pipes just pour striaght onto the floor!!
It is amazing here, i think i am a bit more settles than the others with the culture shock exspecially on the roads, because it is much quiter than INDIA. But it deffiently has it's own smells and views. Some of the stuff you see just makes you want to laugh, like today we saw a man riding a bike with like 10000 dead chicken hung on the front ( hopefully i can get the pic up later).
Hopefully we will have alot of stories to tell you as we settle in and get the flow of the place, but for now, ill say goodbye!
xx
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