Some memories from last week

Hens in the next door classroom

I showed my class some finger games and they loved doing whoops Johnny really fast on their fingers.  

Each day on my way to school I would pass this old chair on the river bank.   Families gather round it in the evenings

The little ones were thrilled to be allowed to try out the new playground at the disability house which was put up last Friday.

 For most of them it was the first time they had ever experienced such play equipment

The cafe we ate at in the post below was open to the river at the back

It was my last day at Grace House yesterday, and also pay day for the staff.  They often celebrate by going to a local cafe to  eat  balut which is a 17 to 21 day old duck embryo boiled alive in its shell.
If the egg cracks it is not eaten because it is believed to give bad karma .

Two of us hitched a ride on the back of staff motor bikes to join them in a local cafe but neither of us felt like eating.

The eggs are boiled for 30 minutes

Neither duck nor egg.  You can see the head and developed beak and wings.

They  are served with a sauce made with  salt ,kampot pepper, garlic and chilli.




I can't bear the thought of eating an ordinary boiled hen's egg, or even an omelette, at the moment.

It was a difficult day yesterday, having to say goodbye to the wonderful children who have made me feel so welcome here.  I was composed and prepared for circle time and the formal goodbye but totally overwhelmed when they  all jumped on me together for a hug at the end of the final lesson.  If I hadn't been sitting on a chair we would probably have all fallen over!   There was a lump in my throat ad tears in my eyes.

I hope to return next year, combined with a trip to Laos.

The link for posting photographs is causing problems so will add them later

The children loved looking at  photos of the grandchildren on my computer,particularly the recent one of Hugo swimming underwater and there were lots of comments about the  water looking blue. Their only experience of swimming is in very brown river water

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We now have a hen roosting on the top of the classroom cupboard.

There is something very incongruous about this mannequin next to the coconut seller that I pass by on my way to school each morning 

So good to hear from those who are reading this blog.   Thank you so much for your messages .

The sign says Tattoo Parlour....

Here are some photos taken on a lunchtime walk around the village

Some sort of fishing trap on the river

Making up some sort of  brew from coconut meat

The children I teach come from houses like this

Very efficient sign language used between this man and myself .  I really wanted a weaver bird nest to bring home!

This little girl and her mother are collecting empty plastic water bottles for re-cycling.

 They are regular visitors to the street outside my accommodation.

Found some PVA but have lost my room key and probably in trouble.

Here are my Crocodiles

and Buffalos 

There is so much that I want to share with family and friends, but internet time is limited. Also I feel you have to smell the food cooking, feel the dust between your toes and hear the wedding music ( three days of it)  or the chanting from the local pagoda to really experience life here in Cambodia.

There are always fishermen on or in the river as I travel to work.  Some are trawling with nets and some have lines.  There seems to be an abundance of fish in the polluted, dirty water.  One fisherman that I have been trying to photograph is usually floating in the middle of the river with two very large old plastic containers strapped to his front and back.   I  wonder if he can swim.  I am loathe to ask my tuk tuk driver to stop as I try to be discreet when taking photographs.

 I am now back in my room after another wonderful day with the children.  At last I am beginning to learn the names of the children in my class. The family name is written first, and then the given name.  Srey means sister in Khmer. I have a Sreyna, Sreynai, Sreypich and Sreypek in my class and  I think I now know which one is which!   I have been encouraging the children  to write their names in English at the top of any written work and that has helped me as well as encouraging them to take pride in a piece of work that might be labelled and displayed. (Not yet found anything really efficient for attaching to the sides of the classroom.  Sellotape and blu-tack have a problem battling with the dust and drawing pins are not suitable)

We have been learning words in English like Mother, Father, Grandma etc  so tomorrow we are going  to make  family pictures.  In front of me I have some pieces of felt, small pieces of tissue, lollipop sticks and straws and am going to see what I can construct for 'Here's one I made earlier'.  A search in town this evening  for PVA glue is on the cards.

  There is a black cloud in the sky this afternoon and  Mr. Lee Ho, my tuk tuk driver said the rain  has usually stopped by now.  Rain is always welcome because it calms the dust and fills the river.  I certainly experienced monsoon conditions last month but haven't seen any for a week or so.  It is still unbelievably hot and humidity levels always rise during the day.  I try to position myself under the classroom fan for the afternoon lessons.

Well done if you have read this far. So much easier to look at photographs.

I will try and post what is on my camera after my search for suitable glue

Only another week in this glorious country.  It is going to be difficult to say goodbye to the children at school at the end of this week.  

Last weekend's wedding photographs

 

 

It was the second  day of celebrations on Sunday and the bride and groom and their attendants changed outfits four times whilst I was there.  Cambodian weddings are grand affairs even in the smallest villages.

  A marquee is set up and everyone is invited and  expected to give a donation according to their means, to help pay for the festivities.  The heart shaped box in front of the groom is for the special donation envelopes









There were 8 courses, either eaten with chopsticks or fingers



The menu



 

 The men get up first and dance together, to be joined later by the women.  The lady with the knitted hat was handing out cans of Angkor beer.

 

As a 'barang' or foreigner, I was an honoured guest and one gentleman of a similar age (and a very good mover) insisted I dance with him - more than once.  This is a photo of him approaching my table whilst I was trying to take one or two discreet photos. 

 

 

I didn't realise at the time that he was - very seriously -  coming to ask me to dance. I also danced with the very jolly toothless character in white clapping in the background.

 

 

 

It was a wonderful experience, but a VERY noisy affair.  Note the size of those speakers!

I suppose the clue was in the drawing on the front of the packet.  I bought this seaweed to have with a drink back home after a busy day. A delicious snack, but very hot!

Gertie was on the inside window pane waiting to welcome me home from my trip to the Tonle Sap lake today.

This fisherman was searching for his nets amongst the rudders of the tourist boats

On the other side of the boat his neighbour was casting his net

 This year the  lake does not have as much  water in it as usual.  Last year the water level was only inches away from the base of the buildings.

The village school

The police station at the end of the village

No sign of Gertie Ghecko today but I am fairly sure she is under the notice board.  I am certainly not going to attempt to move it to have a look.

What an amazing, rewarding and very busy  week it has been.  Now I have a rapport with the children and know which ones need discipline and those with whom I need to be more gentle.

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 Yesterday was such a special day at Grace House.  It started with a blessing of the new building.

 This is to be a residential centre for disadvantaged children in the village and will be in interim home for them before they are integrated back in to the community.  There was much chanting from the  Monks who  came to perform the blessing.  This is done behind fans to prevent them getting distracted whilst meditating.   The volunteers were  asked to wear long skirts and a white top as a mark of respect.  We then celebrated with  the local community and ate traditional dishes wrapped in palm leaves.

A day at Grace House is divided in to two sessions.  The morning session finishes at 11am and we start again teaching the same thing to another group of children in the afternoon.  Both morning and afternoon classes performed for their parents and although my Buffalos and Crocodiles sang well known songs - The Wheels on the Bus, and Head and Shoulders - they were word perfect and in time with each other!

Today we played games and went to the library and there was much laughter.



 I am so happy to have had the opportunity to be here with these wonderful people.

In Nepal I shared my room with Boris, my pet spider who lived behind the mirror in my room.   Here I have Gertrude Ghekko - but perhaps she is some sort of lizard?

 She is very very shy and disappears behind an old notice board every time I come in the room and put on the light, so she is difficult to identify.  Gertrude moves VERY quickly and I keep dreaming of her falling on my face whilst the lights are off and I am asleep.  

My post on Facebook this afternoon....


Just arrived home hot, tired, happy but hungry.  Should I have no 9, the spicy fried frog?

The children told me that this innocent looking frog   I found in the classroom this morning was poisonous and they were all very wary of it.

 One brave girl got a long stick and tried to get it out of the room but the petrified amphibean jumped up about 5 feet in the air -and  we all jumped up on the table!  

Back to school tomorrow and the real reason I am in Cambodia.  There are plenty of opportunities for fun and sight seeing on the weekends however.

The waterfalls in the Kuhlen Mountains.  Last year an archaelogical team discovered and mapped the ruins of another ancient city, possibly even bigger than Angkor Thom, on the slopes of this mountain.

 

This is the face of the  largest 
reclining statue of Buddha in the country.The statue is carved into a huge sandstone boulder.  The 16th century monastery also has many smaller Buddhist statues made at the same time