Jungle bells, jungle bells... (yep, i know is cringeworthy!)
on Meg's Cambodian Adventures (Cambodia), 24/Dec/2008 00:33, 34 days ago
So its very nearly Christmas and it feels like time is just flying by at the moment! Its all very busy here at work since it is the dry season, so we’re going full steam ahead to make sure we have maximum productivity since during the wet season a lot of the schools we work in are totally unreachable- and even the closer ones are extremely difficult to get to…So this month has been lots of fun- started off by going to Phnom Penh and partying hard with Hollie and Claire- which was totally guilt free as partying hard only happens once a month now! We did lots of getting tipsy :o), lots of feeling hungover :o(, swimming, pedicures (which is not so extravagant at $1) shopping in supermarkets as opposed to markets and most importantly… eating lots of yummy cheese!Back in the sticks, I’ve also been sightseeing and went to Bou Sra waterfall which is about an hour away on the bikes with Jan and Keith (my adoptive Cambodian parents). We took a picnic and watched the swimming Cambodian stylee (whole families together, fully clothed for modesty). The waterfalls were amazing… two tiers and absolutely beautiful. It was nice to do some sightseeing since there’s barely been time! In the last few days we’ve had two Christmasparties…. Which seems ludicrous as it does not feel like Christmas all! Nonetheless we had loads of fun- pressies from Santa, pin the nose on the Rudolph, charades, mince pies (!), mulled wine and pass the parcel- we even managed to find some fake snow! Keith got Jan the best present in the world- the only bath in the province! He had it made by the local ironmonger especially for her. It really was the sweetest present~ will take a super long time to boil enough kettles to fill it though!On the work front, like I said we’re all very busy and its really starting to come together! I’vebeen working with Pu Loung school (which has such an inspirational school director) to put together‘learning corners’ which are tables in each corner of the room with learning activities that can help children to learn- it might sound like a simple idea- but it is so difficult to implement as teaching methods here are all very much ‘chalk and talk.’ Its very hard trying to encourage teachers to be creative and try new things- as this is not in the culture at all. But it is all going in the right direction and this particular school is so keen to get new ideas which makes it so lovely to work with them.Last week I went to Koh Nheak, which is the district that Sandra is working in. It is the furthest district in the province and we had to travel for 4 hours on a path through the jungle to get there. Our translator called in sick on the day which meant a) we had to drive ourselves and b) communication would be severely compromised! The drive was so difficult- it was an extremely dusty track, with potholes, gravel and very steep hills- but four and a half hours, one fall (me :o( ) we arrived- covered in thick red dust and very tired! Sandra has done great work in the schools there- and they are so difficult to reach! We had to wade across a river to get to one, and so our trousers were soaked when we got there! One school in particular had an excellent teacher who had started a girls football team- Sandra and I somehow found ourselves playing a football match with them, they were very good and didn’t go easy on us! Our lack of translator meant we didn’t know whose team we were on till halfway through but I think we played superbly ;o) It was great seeing the girls playing confidently and strongly since many of the women here tack a backseat and there are huge disparities in gender equality.So that about it for now, but yes, feeling a lot more settled into life and work here, which is great! I’m looking forward to Christmas at Jan and Keiths with Claire, Dr Saresh (who is Hindu from India), our Khmer assistants Veasna and Vorthera (one Buddhist and one atheist) So we are going to have a multi-cultural, multi- religious mixture of a Christmas! Fab! And then on Saturday I am off to the beach for a holiday over new year- and I expect a lot of jealousy for that since England must be pretty freezing right now ;o)If you’re still reading this loooooong blog…. Well done! And I hope you have a ~VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!