My Cambodian Crib

   Soon after arriving in Cambodia, our whole squad was mixed up and put into different teams. I am now on Team Undignified. We are a team of 6 girls…4 of us remained together, but we now have two more beautiful faces…Katie and Erin. (Scroll down to see their faces and links to the left) I actually stayed with both of them in a cabin at training camp, and while I will certainly miss Sarah and Brian, the transition has gone quite smoothly. Having no internet or much else to distract us, we have had a lot of time to bond with one another.

 

 

   After a few days in Siem Reap, we took a bus to Phnom Penh and had a cultural debriefing about the history of Cambodia. I felt so ignorant learning about the genocide that occurred here under the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. About 2 million people including foreigners were killed and murdered during this time. It was strange to think about this happening right before I was born, and never recalling learning about it in school. We went to two different sites set up as a memorial to honor those killed. I can’t really explain the heaviness in the air and the feelings these images evoked. While difficult to see the pictures of all those tortured and killed, I feel it gave me a better understanding of the culture and people here.

 

 

   The past three weeks we have been living in Kampong Cham. We are basically sleeping in a large tree house, and attempting to teach English to children ranging in age from 6 to 20. I have been teaching the younger ones, which I love! Our classrooms are outdoors, and I often have little chicks or roosters running around in the midst of class. It is interesting teaching without any curriculum, and feeling clueless about their language. Thankfully, I at least have a translator and white board. The difficulty is that many of the students don’t have a place to sit, and about half-way through the class, the sun sets making it completely dark outside. My class also seems to grow everyday…the first day I counted about 40 students and now I have around 60. So different than my days at Cypress.

 

 

   Our contacts are three brothers, Uee, Umong, and Youtry. They are the sweetest and are definitely doing a great job of taking care of us. We spend our mornings walking around to different villages, meeting children, playing games, and visiting with some of the villagers. We teach our first class at 5 and then at 6, we teach the young adults all together.  Dinner is at 7, and then usually we are in bed by 9 or soon after the electricity is shut off. I have no problem going to bed so early as I am awakened every morning around 4am either by loud roosters, ducks, or monks chanting over a loudspeaker. I have taken to using my earplugs, but they can only block out so much.

 

   Here is a video my teammate Katie made giving you a glimpse into our life here. You’ll see me make a quick cameo-laying down and resting up before class. It was very difficult to not be able to communicate with any of you this month, but I have a feeling it is good preparation for what life will be like in Africa. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. With the temps as high as they’ve been, we had to wear red and green, and listen to Christmas music in order to invoke any feelings of the holiday. You’ll see Erin’s festive getup featured in the video. Much love to you all!