It's Monday morning, and I'm getting settled into my new apartment. Tomorrow is my first full day at school, and tomorrow night is class with the ladies. After weeks of hotel living, school, and vacation, I am ready for real life to start. To start teaching, to start volunteering, to start cooking in my own kitchen, to live normal life here.
I am excited to start teaching the kidlets. They are so adorable, they don't cuss me out, they don't have big problems yet. They are just kids, and cute, and they seem to like me. When I was in last week, a few of them would come over and just sit by me, or show me a book, and point to pictures. It's stupid cute.
I'm ready for classes to get started with the girls. They have been split into two groups, tomorrow is my beginner class, and Thursday is my more advanced group. It has been so much fun, and the girls are so amazing. It's great to see them smiling and laughing, and just having fun. Right now I am teaching twice a week, and will do one on one tutoring once a week too. I will do more once I have gotten settled, and am used to my other teaching schedule.
I hope that everyone out there is good! Miss you guys.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Getting Settled
Hi everyone! I know it has been a while and I apologize. This supposed relaxing 2 weeks of lots of free time has turned into anything but! I have interviewed, demonstrated teaching a class, gone to Transitions, found an apartment, started training, working on my Khmer classes, lesson planned, student taught, and still found time to sleep and eat, and spend about an hour and a half a day in a tuk tuk. And it's not like you can work in those things, although not seeing the other cars and motos coming at you when your driver goes the wrong way on the street might be nice. So I have been busy! I'm looking forward to next week when all I have to do is start teaching kindergarten full time. It'll be a vacation!!
Today was my first day at Raffles. I got to observe, and see what I had gotten myself into. All I can say is it will almost be a nice change to have the kids sing the Barney song vs. getting cussed out. We'll see how long that lasts, but the kids are adorable, and they spent today coming over to me, showing me books, and their worksheets. I know that these little kids are a whole different beast than high school and middle school kids, but maybe that is what I need and will love. Moving here was a big change, and is working out great, so I'm going with changing the age group I teach will turn out the same.
For everyone not on Facebook, I found an apartment! It has a great balcony, is in the part of town I wanted to be in, and is a five minute walk to school. AND we get a cleaning service three times a week, they do our laundry, AND iron, for $50 a month. Plus, I have an actual bathtub in my bathroom!! Whose jealous??
I hope everyone out there is doing great, I miss you guys!
And now, you can drool over my new apartment!
Today was my first day at Raffles. I got to observe, and see what I had gotten myself into. All I can say is it will almost be a nice change to have the kids sing the Barney song vs. getting cussed out. We'll see how long that lasts, but the kids are adorable, and they spent today coming over to me, showing me books, and their worksheets. I know that these little kids are a whole different beast than high school and middle school kids, but maybe that is what I need and will love. Moving here was a big change, and is working out great, so I'm going with changing the age group I teach will turn out the same.
For everyone not on Facebook, I found an apartment! It has a great balcony, is in the part of town I wanted to be in, and is a five minute walk to school. AND we get a cleaning service three times a week, they do our laundry, AND iron, for $50 a month. Plus, I have an actual bathtub in my bathroom!! Whose jealous??
I hope everyone out there is doing great, I miss you guys!
And now, you can drool over my new apartment!
Our balcony. Enough room for 2 papasans, and a mini lily pond. And it has plants already. Can't wait to add more!
Our green wicker living room. That dashing young man is my new roommate Jaxon.
My pink and yellow bedroom.
Yes, that is a tub in my bathroom...
Dining room/room of random instruments (or rori)
Check out the "stove"... and the oversized dorm fridge.
View from our kitchen
Hopefully we didn't sign our lives away. Don't worry, I read it. The only bad news is that we can't start a political party in the apartment. Sorry Green Party, you'll have to find someone else to get you into Cambodian politics....
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Who has two thumbs and a job? THIS GIRL!!
So after turning down one offer that seemed too good (the guy at the school said yes to every question I asked) I was hired at a Montessori school here in Phnom Penh. I will be making a considerable amount more than I ever expected to when I came over here; I'll even be able to save some! My class will have no more than 25 students, and I will have 2 assistants with me (bonus!) at all times. I also get 2 weeks paid vacation, 6 sick days, and they will reimburse me for my visa after my first year. If I re-sign with the school for another year, they will pay the visa for the next year, and possibly pay for a ticket to the US to visit. I can also get raises based on performance. All in all, not too bad!
The downside is, it's kindergarten. I haven't really had too much experience with little kids, outside of being around my friend's children. Hopefully I can handle it, not going to lie, a bit scared. But being here is all about new things, so I am going to try it out, and see how it goes. If it is like everything else here, it will be great!
Tomorrow is my first day volunteering, will go over to meet the staff and the girls, will also have my first moto ride. If the babies here can handle riding on one, I should be able to as well, right?
And on that note, I am signing off, but I will leave you with a picture from Sihanoukville:
The downside is, it's kindergarten. I haven't really had too much experience with little kids, outside of being around my friend's children. Hopefully I can handle it, not going to lie, a bit scared. But being here is all about new things, so I am going to try it out, and see how it goes. If it is like everything else here, it will be great!
Tomorrow is my first day volunteering, will go over to meet the staff and the girls, will also have my first moto ride. If the babies here can handle riding on one, I should be able to as well, right?
And on that note, I am signing off, but I will leave you with a picture from Sihanoukville:
Beach puppies! They tried to sell me this little lover for only $40. It was pretty hard to say no, but one of the other girls on the trip put it this way:
Imagine if someone took you away from this life: living on the beach, gorgeous scenery all around you; and took you to Phnom Penh, a loud city with not much to look at from the puppies viewpoint. How pissed would you be?? I will just visit him next time I go to the beach!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Back in Phnom Penh
It's Monday afternoon here in Phnom Penh, and my new schedule is very different from the last two weeks. For the first 2 weeks of school, it was class from 9-5:30, with a few breaks and a long lunch. Now I student teach from 8-9, and then I am free until 1pm. I almost don't know what to do with myself! It is nice in the morning to have a tuk tuk all to myself, instead of cramming 5 people in one, but I also feel a bit wrong about it, when I pass motos with 3 adults and 2 kids on them. I'll work on that guilt!
Yesterday was nice. Good morning in Sihanoukville, fairly quick bus ride back. It was when we got back to the city that is got a bit weird. First off, the traffic was the worst I've ever seen. Busier than rush hour, and it was a Sunday, although I guess since almost everyone is a Buddhist here that doesn't mean a whole lot... The second strange thing were the women walking around in what were clearly pajamas. Matching tops and pants, kinda like the ones men in the 50's would wear. But they were super colorful and patterned. I guess orange, red, and pink are the big colors this year. We asked Billy, our teacher, about it, and he let us know that it is perfectly acceptable to wear them around as casual wear. I mean, at least every third woman was wearing pajamas, out on the street. You really have to see it to believe it.
Sunday's are also really the only day that most Cambodians have off, so everyone was out visiting friends, getting their shopping done, just out and about. I think I might lock myself in on Sundays, it was that crazy. A few of us made the mistake of heading to the mall to get some food, never again! We split off, because the boys wanted KFC, and I'm just not that homesick for American food yet. Margaret and I decided to go to a local place for some soup, the Khmer equivalent to pho. Another strange thing, apparently most local restaurants will only serve family style soup on Sundays, so we decided to give it a try. That's when hilarity ensued!
First off, everyone in the restaurant stared at us as we sat down. Two white girls, local restaurant, totally get that. But two white girls, who have no idea what to do with all the stuff they gave us, now that is totally hilarious to them! There is a burner on the table, which how that made it through the fire codes I'll never, oh wait. I'm in Cambodia, never mind. So they bring this big pot of broth, with lots of stuff in it already, then four different plates of more stuff. That was where we got in trouble. There was a plate of the basil, bitter leaf stuff, what I think was morning glory (stems, really good), and two big pieces of fried chicken skin. So we started putting stuff in, but wrong, since the waitress was right there to tell us that (and the table behind us was nearly peeing themselves. I couldn't see that, but I'll take Margaret's word for it.) Then we added the egg noodles, all good on that one. Next plate had pieces of beef(?) and an egg. We dumped the beef in, then cracked the egg in. Next plate had some weird mushrooms on it, in they went. We put some of the fried garlic in, and then let it boil until the noodles were done. Now to the hard part. We had a ladle and chopsticks. No fork, or spoons, ladle and chopsticks to get this stuff into our bowls. The noodles were the worst, again, table behind us laughed their asses off. Rest was pretty doable, but how to get the soup from the bowl to our moths, with only a ladle and chopsticks. Again, the waitress stepped in and helped out, showing us the spoons we totally missed, hiding at the bottom of the chopstick thing. Rest was pretty easy, the soup was amazing, and it was actually really fun. We are totally going again next Sunday, in our matching Hello Kitty PJs....
I knew there was a reason I loved it here!
Yesterday was nice. Good morning in Sihanoukville, fairly quick bus ride back. It was when we got back to the city that is got a bit weird. First off, the traffic was the worst I've ever seen. Busier than rush hour, and it was a Sunday, although I guess since almost everyone is a Buddhist here that doesn't mean a whole lot... The second strange thing were the women walking around in what were clearly pajamas. Matching tops and pants, kinda like the ones men in the 50's would wear. But they were super colorful and patterned. I guess orange, red, and pink are the big colors this year. We asked Billy, our teacher, about it, and he let us know that it is perfectly acceptable to wear them around as casual wear. I mean, at least every third woman was wearing pajamas, out on the street. You really have to see it to believe it.
Sunday's are also really the only day that most Cambodians have off, so everyone was out visiting friends, getting their shopping done, just out and about. I think I might lock myself in on Sundays, it was that crazy. A few of us made the mistake of heading to the mall to get some food, never again! We split off, because the boys wanted KFC, and I'm just not that homesick for American food yet. Margaret and I decided to go to a local place for some soup, the Khmer equivalent to pho. Another strange thing, apparently most local restaurants will only serve family style soup on Sundays, so we decided to give it a try. That's when hilarity ensued!
First off, everyone in the restaurant stared at us as we sat down. Two white girls, local restaurant, totally get that. But two white girls, who have no idea what to do with all the stuff they gave us, now that is totally hilarious to them! There is a burner on the table, which how that made it through the fire codes I'll never, oh wait. I'm in Cambodia, never mind. So they bring this big pot of broth, with lots of stuff in it already, then four different plates of more stuff. That was where we got in trouble. There was a plate of the basil, bitter leaf stuff, what I think was morning glory (stems, really good), and two big pieces of fried chicken skin. So we started putting stuff in, but wrong, since the waitress was right there to tell us that (and the table behind us was nearly peeing themselves. I couldn't see that, but I'll take Margaret's word for it.) Then we added the egg noodles, all good on that one. Next plate had pieces of beef(?) and an egg. We dumped the beef in, then cracked the egg in. Next plate had some weird mushrooms on it, in they went. We put some of the fried garlic in, and then let it boil until the noodles were done. Now to the hard part. We had a ladle and chopsticks. No fork, or spoons, ladle and chopsticks to get this stuff into our bowls. The noodles were the worst, again, table behind us laughed their asses off. Rest was pretty doable, but how to get the soup from the bowl to our moths, with only a ladle and chopsticks. Again, the waitress stepped in and helped out, showing us the spoons we totally missed, hiding at the bottom of the chopstick thing. Rest was pretty easy, the soup was amazing, and it was actually really fun. We are totally going again next Sunday, in our matching Hello Kitty PJs....
I knew there was a reason I loved it here!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville is deceptive. On the surface it is this amazing beach paradise. As I write this in my journal, I am sitting in a papasan, drinking a fresh pineapple shake, with an adorable puppy playing at my feet, my toes are in the sand. I am 20 feet from the Gulf of Thailand, gentle waves are crashing, an amazing mix is playing on my iPod, and life is really good. On the surface. But then you look a little closer, and it is not as pretty.
You notice the older white men with significantly younger Khmer women. You notice the kids hawking fireworks and bracelets descend on tourists like locusts. And it's a little less spectacular.
Today I woke up early to say goodbye to everyone heading to Vietnam. I still had two hours and 3/4's of a tank of gas left on my moto rental, so I set out to explore. I drove past shacks built along the fence of a five star resort. I stopped at a hundred foot stretch of public beach, that after that hundred feet belonged to the private resort, with a security guard there to enforce the boarder. And there along the public part, playing on the rocks and in the water, were around 15 Buddhist monks. I sat there and just watched, just watched them playing on the rocks and in the water, and thought how amazing. It was truly beautiful, and I felt like I was spying, seeing something I wasn't allowed to, but it was just mesmerizing, and untainted. There was nothing seedy or suspicious, which was a nice change.
Maybe I'm more sensitive to it, but as much fun as this weekend was, and as beautiful as the setting was, at the core of this place, it just feels wrong. And I feel powerless to really do anything about it. When I first looking into coming to Cambodia to volunteer and focus on human trafficking, I had so many ideas. I was going to take pictures of these men, and post them on Facebook. Maybe someone would recognize their dentist, or neighbor, and there would be some sort of justice. I would go into the brothels and physically rescue these girls, and then help at a shelter and teach them English, to give them more options for a different life than they are currently living. Unfortunately, that's just too unrealistic. It'd be the equivalent of the informant joining the DEA to bust the dealers, then going into the crack dens to take the addicts to the rehab center that he runs and is the sole counselor for. The problem is just too big, so you have to choose. Where do I fit in, what part to I want to play? Do I want to go and find the brothels and help coordinate busts of the pimps and johns? Do I want to go in and actually extract the women from that hell? Or do I want to help prosecute the johns, since many countries will prosecute pedophiles in their home countries for crimes committed abroad? Or maybe I want to focus on restoring these women to a place where they can see a brighter future? Where do I fit in?
I thought long and hard about it, and ended up at the decision to help with aftercare. I looked into several organizations, and found one who's model of restoration I believed in, Then I worked on getting myself over here to Cambodia. But now that I am here, and faced with they reality of it, I'm back in the I want to do everything mindset. I want to confront these men, call them perverts in public, post their pictures for the world to see. I want to take these women away from them and get them to a shelter. But I didn't do any of those things. I felt helpless. I'm outnumbered by them, and there are still a lot of people who, unless it's obviously a child, still don't see if as a problem. "That's just how it is here. It's part of their culture." I hear that a lot. Occasionally I'll talk to that person, and point out how slavery used to be a part of ours, our country was formed by a bunch of rich white male slave owners. So does that mean if I want to go back to owning another human being that I can, since it used to be a part of my culture and history? And at least that will get most people thinking, which is a great start. I realize that there are some people who like the surface of Cambodia: the beauty, the cheap fruit shakes, the puppies playing at their feet. And that's all that they really want to see, which is totally fine. (As long as they aren't using the women themselves.) But that just doesn't work for me, which makes this weekend bittersweet.
I had my first cry in Cambodia on the way to Sihanoukville. I was looking out the window, taking in the trees, the hills, people, rice fields, everything. Then we started passing lily ponds. They were everywhere. Beautiful pink and white blossoms, the leaves so perfect they almost looked fake. And it reminded me of the Lily Pond Festival I went to with my aunt and uncle. I was maybe 12, for sure in my awkward phase, and at a time in life when I preferred the company of adults to people my own age. Probably because adults weren't nearly as mean as my classmates and peers.
So we were at this festival, and it was acre and acre of lily ponds. And they were beautiful and amazing (but I'm sure that I complained the whole time, "Why are we here, I'm bored, I want that shirt, etc etc.") but looking back, it was a happy time, and a good memory. Outside of the normal meanness of middle school kids, life was pretty good. I was with my aunt and uncle, who I love, my mom wasn't sick yet, and I had a step-father who, even though we didn't get along at that point, stepped up when biodad disappeared. Life didn't suck too bad back then.
So I cried looking at all those lilies. But it wasn't an entirely sad cry, it was more of a remembering a happier time, and realizing that that happy time is gone cry. Which is ok. I'm making new happier time memories here, and genuinely happy for the first time in a very long time.
My aunt introduced me to the full moon ritual of writing things you want out of your life down on pieces of papaer and then burning them to help remove those things from your life. I would do it from time to time, mostly when things weren't particually great in my life, maybe twice a year when I remembered to and the moon was full. I would have handfulls of these little scraps of paper, of all the things I wanted out of my life. I didn't want to think about a relationship that had ended, or a person that I wanted out of my life. I didn't want to be so angry and mean and bitter anymore. And on and on and on. Things that I felt fairly helpless to get out of my life on my own, I needed the moon to help. I KNEW they were beyond my control. So I would burn these little pieces of paper, and wait for the moon to fix my life. The moon either sucked at fixing my life, or took its sweet time, I haven't decided which is true.
Fast forward to a few nights ago, when I notice the moon is full. I sat there and though about what I wanted out of my life now. I couldn't come up with anything. So I thought harder, and for few minutes, just looking at the moon, and still couldn't come up with anything. I realized I was content. There are a couple of things I want in my life (an apartment with a huge balcony and AC in the bedroom, and a job) but there isn't anything I can think of that I want out of my life. And that made me smile again. (Like I said, I smile a lot more here.) I still get angry over some of the things that I see, but I've accepted that I can't fix it all on my own, and that I am doing what I can to help. And that's enough for now. I decided to take a few minuted to enjoy the ocean, enjoy the feel of sand between my toes, enjoy the puppy playing at my feet, and enjoy that the beach was empty of the old white guy, young Khmer woman couples, and just enjoy my last hour in Sihanoukville.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I forgot to charge my camera battery, I'm holding on to the beauty of the beach, and will focus on the problems I saw there another time.
You notice the older white men with significantly younger Khmer women. You notice the kids hawking fireworks and bracelets descend on tourists like locusts. And it's a little less spectacular.
Today I woke up early to say goodbye to everyone heading to Vietnam. I still had two hours and 3/4's of a tank of gas left on my moto rental, so I set out to explore. I drove past shacks built along the fence of a five star resort. I stopped at a hundred foot stretch of public beach, that after that hundred feet belonged to the private resort, with a security guard there to enforce the boarder. And there along the public part, playing on the rocks and in the water, were around 15 Buddhist monks. I sat there and just watched, just watched them playing on the rocks and in the water, and thought how amazing. It was truly beautiful, and I felt like I was spying, seeing something I wasn't allowed to, but it was just mesmerizing, and untainted. There was nothing seedy or suspicious, which was a nice change.
Maybe I'm more sensitive to it, but as much fun as this weekend was, and as beautiful as the setting was, at the core of this place, it just feels wrong. And I feel powerless to really do anything about it. When I first looking into coming to Cambodia to volunteer and focus on human trafficking, I had so many ideas. I was going to take pictures of these men, and post them on Facebook. Maybe someone would recognize their dentist, or neighbor, and there would be some sort of justice. I would go into the brothels and physically rescue these girls, and then help at a shelter and teach them English, to give them more options for a different life than they are currently living. Unfortunately, that's just too unrealistic. It'd be the equivalent of the informant joining the DEA to bust the dealers, then going into the crack dens to take the addicts to the rehab center that he runs and is the sole counselor for. The problem is just too big, so you have to choose. Where do I fit in, what part to I want to play? Do I want to go and find the brothels and help coordinate busts of the pimps and johns? Do I want to go in and actually extract the women from that hell? Or do I want to help prosecute the johns, since many countries will prosecute pedophiles in their home countries for crimes committed abroad? Or maybe I want to focus on restoring these women to a place where they can see a brighter future? Where do I fit in?
I thought long and hard about it, and ended up at the decision to help with aftercare. I looked into several organizations, and found one who's model of restoration I believed in, Then I worked on getting myself over here to Cambodia. But now that I am here, and faced with they reality of it, I'm back in the I want to do everything mindset. I want to confront these men, call them perverts in public, post their pictures for the world to see. I want to take these women away from them and get them to a shelter. But I didn't do any of those things. I felt helpless. I'm outnumbered by them, and there are still a lot of people who, unless it's obviously a child, still don't see if as a problem. "That's just how it is here. It's part of their culture." I hear that a lot. Occasionally I'll talk to that person, and point out how slavery used to be a part of ours, our country was formed by a bunch of rich white male slave owners. So does that mean if I want to go back to owning another human being that I can, since it used to be a part of my culture and history? And at least that will get most people thinking, which is a great start. I realize that there are some people who like the surface of Cambodia: the beauty, the cheap fruit shakes, the puppies playing at their feet. And that's all that they really want to see, which is totally fine. (As long as they aren't using the women themselves.) But that just doesn't work for me, which makes this weekend bittersweet.
I had my first cry in Cambodia on the way to Sihanoukville. I was looking out the window, taking in the trees, the hills, people, rice fields, everything. Then we started passing lily ponds. They were everywhere. Beautiful pink and white blossoms, the leaves so perfect they almost looked fake. And it reminded me of the Lily Pond Festival I went to with my aunt and uncle. I was maybe 12, for sure in my awkward phase, and at a time in life when I preferred the company of adults to people my own age. Probably because adults weren't nearly as mean as my classmates and peers.
So we were at this festival, and it was acre and acre of lily ponds. And they were beautiful and amazing (but I'm sure that I complained the whole time, "Why are we here, I'm bored, I want that shirt, etc etc.") but looking back, it was a happy time, and a good memory. Outside of the normal meanness of middle school kids, life was pretty good. I was with my aunt and uncle, who I love, my mom wasn't sick yet, and I had a step-father who, even though we didn't get along at that point, stepped up when biodad disappeared. Life didn't suck too bad back then.
So I cried looking at all those lilies. But it wasn't an entirely sad cry, it was more of a remembering a happier time, and realizing that that happy time is gone cry. Which is ok. I'm making new happier time memories here, and genuinely happy for the first time in a very long time.
My aunt introduced me to the full moon ritual of writing things you want out of your life down on pieces of papaer and then burning them to help remove those things from your life. I would do it from time to time, mostly when things weren't particually great in my life, maybe twice a year when I remembered to and the moon was full. I would have handfulls of these little scraps of paper, of all the things I wanted out of my life. I didn't want to think about a relationship that had ended, or a person that I wanted out of my life. I didn't want to be so angry and mean and bitter anymore. And on and on and on. Things that I felt fairly helpless to get out of my life on my own, I needed the moon to help. I KNEW they were beyond my control. So I would burn these little pieces of paper, and wait for the moon to fix my life. The moon either sucked at fixing my life, or took its sweet time, I haven't decided which is true.
Fast forward to a few nights ago, when I notice the moon is full. I sat there and though about what I wanted out of my life now. I couldn't come up with anything. So I thought harder, and for few minutes, just looking at the moon, and still couldn't come up with anything. I realized I was content. There are a couple of things I want in my life (an apartment with a huge balcony and AC in the bedroom, and a job) but there isn't anything I can think of that I want out of my life. And that made me smile again. (Like I said, I smile a lot more here.) I still get angry over some of the things that I see, but I've accepted that I can't fix it all on my own, and that I am doing what I can to help. And that's enough for now. I decided to take a few minuted to enjoy the ocean, enjoy the feel of sand between my toes, enjoy the puppy playing at my feet, and enjoy that the beach was empty of the old white guy, young Khmer woman couples, and just enjoy my last hour in Sihanoukville.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I forgot to charge my camera battery, I'm holding on to the beauty of the beach, and will focus on the problems I saw there another time.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Angkor Wat
This past weekend I went to Siem Reap, and spent Saturday at Angkor Wat. It was truly spectacular, but the visit was too short. Towards the end of the day I was on temple overload, and exhausted. Next time I go, I will spend more time there, and go without a guide. There wasn't nearly enough time to just wander around and take everything in.
Not the best picture, but I had to show that I was showing my Colorado love!
I loved this Buddha statue. I think this might be my favorite picture!
I am still processing the visit, and have been going non-stop since getting back. I am in school full time, getting my volunteer situation settled, and trying to spend time with all the new people I have met here. It's overwhelming at times, and I am glad I took tonight off!
I finished my homework early, and am currently listening to the rain outside of my window, and looking at all the different apartments available. I have two requirements, a huge balcony, and AC in the bedroom. I'd prefer to live in the BKK part of town, but that is third on the list. It also looks like Mr. T might be joining me sooner than I had thought, and I am excited about that. But at the end of the day, I am ready to start teaching, and start living here, instead of getting ready to. I am excited for this weekend, we are headed to the beach. I want a hammock, my nook, and someone to bring me a beer every so often.
Hope you all are well, miss you guys!
I finished my homework early, and am currently listening to the rain outside of my window, and looking at all the different apartments available. I have two requirements, a huge balcony, and AC in the bedroom. I'd prefer to live in the BKK part of town, but that is third on the list. It also looks like Mr. T might be joining me sooner than I had thought, and I am excited about that. But at the end of the day, I am ready to start teaching, and start living here, instead of getting ready to. I am excited for this weekend, we are headed to the beach. I want a hammock, my nook, and someone to bring me a beer every so often.
Hope you all are well, miss you guys!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Back In School
I really do believe in general, teachers make horrible students. I know I am very guilty of this. But this time around, I am making a much more concerted effort to be a better student. And the subject matter is actually very interesting. How people learn and acquire language is not by memorizing conjugation tables and what part of speech a word is, yet that is how I was taught German and Spanish. It is also how I tried to teach all my Burmese ladies this summer.
Every time they point out a bad teaching practice, I realize that is exactly how I tried to teach these poor women English. At some point, when I am back in Denver visiting, I will go and apologize to them! To be fair, I did make them CDs with some great Beatles songs on them to help their pronunciation, but I don't think that makes up for what a horrible teacher I was. Not that I was a bad teacher on purpose, I just had never been taught how to teach a foreign language effectively.
This weekend we will head up to Angkor Wat, one of the Wonders of the World. For all you Angelina Jolie fans, Tomb Raider was filmed there. (On a side note, one of the tuk tuk drivers for the school loves her so much, he tells everyone his name is Mr. Smith. It's kind of adorable.) I am excited to head up there, and just wander around. The majority of the people in school with me are recent college graduates and they are all headed to Thailand to live on the beach. They are looking forward to the fact that our hotel will have a pool. I am sensing that I will spend a fair amount of time on my own, unless I want to be part of Angkor Wat Fall Break 2011...
I have been bad about taking pictures recently, so no new ones to post. But I leave you with this. The monks who used to wake me up and annoy me with their chanting have become my new alarm clock, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Every time they point out a bad teaching practice, I realize that is exactly how I tried to teach these poor women English. At some point, when I am back in Denver visiting, I will go and apologize to them! To be fair, I did make them CDs with some great Beatles songs on them to help their pronunciation, but I don't think that makes up for what a horrible teacher I was. Not that I was a bad teacher on purpose, I just had never been taught how to teach a foreign language effectively.
This weekend we will head up to Angkor Wat, one of the Wonders of the World. For all you Angelina Jolie fans, Tomb Raider was filmed there. (On a side note, one of the tuk tuk drivers for the school loves her so much, he tells everyone his name is Mr. Smith. It's kind of adorable.) I am excited to head up there, and just wander around. The majority of the people in school with me are recent college graduates and they are all headed to Thailand to live on the beach. They are looking forward to the fact that our hotel will have a pool. I am sensing that I will spend a fair amount of time on my own, unless I want to be part of Angkor Wat Fall Break 2011...
I have been bad about taking pictures recently, so no new ones to post. But I leave you with this. The monks who used to wake me up and annoy me with their chanting have become my new alarm clock, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Happy
I smile a lot more here. At the end of the day, I'm happier. And it's the little things, nothing specific. From the monks in their varied orange robes, to the family of four on a moto, I'm in awe everywhere I look. I know that soon I will deal with the darker side of this country, but for now I just enjoy each day. I'm sure they think I am a crazy white woman, who smiles at everyone, but they smile back, and each time I feel the bitterness and meanness that had been growing in me getting smaller and smaller. Yesterday on our tour of the city we ran into some of the orphans I will eventually practice teaching. One ran up, grabbed my leg in a huge hug, and gave me this smile that melted my heart. I know initially I was scared, but for now, I am simply happy. And it feels really good.
The problem I am facing is how much to tell other people about why I am really here. I am excited about teaching, and know I will enjoy it, but it is a means to an end. I came here to specifically work with human trafficking victims, and I am keeping that to myself for now. It almost makes me feel like I am lying, but I also don't want to explain it to other people. So when asked why I am here, I just give the standard answer, I wanted to travel, I wanted something different. And everyone accepts it. At the end of the day, it's just not a conversation I want to have with virtual strangers.
I hope you all are well, and even though I love it here, I do miss you guys!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
sightseeing for the day!
for those of you who are not on facebook, here is a link to some pictures i took today around Phnom Penh.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2245595694001.118481.1071410722&l=14c67befeb&type=1
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2245595694001.118481.1071410722&l=14c67befeb&type=1
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Moral Dilemmas.
So since I have been here, I have been out twice by myself. Once to the Killing Fields, and once to the Central Market. Each time my tuk tuk was about $15, which for 4 hours doesn't seem that bad to me. The times that I have gone out with other people in the hotel, it has been significantly less, but also for shorter trips. Here is my dilemma.. On one occasion, one of the guys in our group argued over a fare difference of $.25. A quarter. And other times, there have been disagreements over the fare, normally around a dollar. They want four dollars, the people in the group want to pay three.
From my point of view, when you are dealing with a country with such overwhelming poverty,where the average Cambodian makes $45 a month, is it right to pretty much force them to work for a dollar less? Especially when it is a dollar split among four people, so a quarter difference for everyone. I understand that bargaining is expected, but that just seems over the top, and wrong. I don't know. Maybe it is my western guilt, but I don't like it, but don't know how to say something.
Other than that, today was pretty amazing. We went to this beautiful Vietnamese restaurant, I had the best pho I've ever had! And the good news is that it is right by school, so I will be there everyday for lunch! Then it was over to the waterfront, and some beers at a relaxing bar, where we met up with some other expats.
The coolest thing i did today was get a fish pedicure. You pay $3, put your feet in a tank, and the fish eat off all the dead skin. At first it tickles a lot, but after a while, it is somewhat relaxing.
Tonight we are going out for dinner and possibly some dancing, it should be interesting....
Tomorrow is the start of all my school activities. We have a tour of the city, and then a welcome dinner, and then bright and early Monday, it's back to school for me!
Hope everyone is well, I do miss you guys!
From my point of view, when you are dealing with a country with such overwhelming poverty,where the average Cambodian makes $45 a month, is it right to pretty much force them to work for a dollar less? Especially when it is a dollar split among four people, so a quarter difference for everyone. I understand that bargaining is expected, but that just seems over the top, and wrong. I don't know. Maybe it is my western guilt, but I don't like it, but don't know how to say something.
Other than that, today was pretty amazing. We went to this beautiful Vietnamese restaurant, I had the best pho I've ever had! And the good news is that it is right by school, so I will be there everyday for lunch! Then it was over to the waterfront, and some beers at a relaxing bar, where we met up with some other expats.
The coolest thing i did today was get a fish pedicure. You pay $3, put your feet in a tank, and the fish eat off all the dead skin. At first it tickles a lot, but after a while, it is somewhat relaxing.
Tonight we are going out for dinner and possibly some dancing, it should be interesting....
Tomorrow is the start of all my school activities. We have a tour of the city, and then a welcome dinner, and then bright and early Monday, it's back to school for me!
Hope everyone is well, I do miss you guys!
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