Hello from Cambodia 3

We have been here 2 weeks, it seems like so much longer. Already so much which we originally found strange we take for granted. Pigs on motor bikes, torrential rain, lizards on the bed room wall, flooded streets…. All these things now seem normal and not worthy of comment. We are almost becoming used to the heat and humidity, almost.

We have fallen into a gentle daily routine. Up at 6.30 am, cycle to the market, buy bread, fruit and Laughing Cow (the only form of cheese that is edible) then cycle across the town to the VSO house, braving the terrors of the round about on the way. I will not describe the mayhem that occurs when Cambodians in every form of transport imaginable (and some that are not imaginable) meet at a 5 road intersection. It’s a case of close your eyes and pray. After eating breakfast we cycle to the “university” for our Khmer lesson until noon. More comments on that later. After lunch, more bread, salad and Laughing Cow (it is a staple food with VSOs here) we do our home work on the terrace or more usually fall asleep in the comfy chairs. Then depending on what time the afternoon deluge arrives we either spend an hour or so in the Internet shop battling with computers which compete with Parmiter’s school for being the slowest in the world, or exploring the local area by bike before going back to sleep. At 6pm we eat in a local restaurant very, very cheaply, about 75p each for a beef and veggie dish with rice and then retire to one of the 2 bars which are run by ex pats for a beer or 2. Unfortunately, the beer is relatively expensive, about 2 dollars a bottle, which makes a hefty dent in our VSO allowance, so we have been forced cut our alcohol consumption (pause for gasps of amazement). By 9pm we are dropping asleep again so we are usually in bed by 10pm.

A view of the Mekong

This delightful life style is about to change next Tuesday when we are all going to visit or placements for a week. The more we hear about Phnom Preuk (which means Morning Mountain) the more excited / intrigued / terrified we get. When the serving VSOs learn where we are going there is a lot of sniggering, eye rolling and “that will be interesting” going on. But we will reserve our judgement until we have been there to see for ourselves.

Chris after she fell into the Mekong!

Learning Khmer is proving an interesting experience. It is the first time in over 30 years that we have had to study in a class room situation, and it isn’t much fun the other side of the desk. If we ever go back into teaching in England we will have far more sympathy for our pupils. Being the only kid in the class who has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on is a very frustrating experience. (Chris) We are struggling to master the structure of the sentences without much luck and end up speaking like Yoda, “the language of Khmer learning we have been”. The worst thing about it is that after 7 days of slogging away for 4 hours a day plus homework, no Cambodian understands what we say. They just giggle.

We had to go to back to Phnom Phen yesterday to get our second Rabies jab. Up at 6am to catch the 7pm bus, 3 hours drive to PP, 5 minutes injections, then back on the bus for the 3 hour return journey, home at 5 pm. It takes along time to get anything done in this country!!!! While we were in PP we got spectacularly lost and a friendly chap offered to show us the way. He greeted us in English, “hello Grandfather, hello Grandmother, can I help you”, this has made Chris think its about time she got her hair re dyed!

A few more impressions of Cambodia.
Smiling children shouting “hello, how are you” as you cycle pass them, ladies wearing pyjamas as day wear, printed with bunnies and kittens, big white cows wondering along in the middle of the road, big black Lexus 4 by 4s with tinted windows speeding down the middle of the road oblivious to any other road user, amazing thunder storms and wet feet.

We are still happy here. Miss you all.