Or Kun Bong Tom Tom/ Thank You Big Big Friend

Yes Yes I am know as Big Big Friend. I’m not that offended, because its true they are just so small compared to me. but still when your in the middle of an English lesson and they call you Bong Tom Tom its a little off putting.

The English lessons are going well. At first it was really difficult as I didn’t know any Khmer and they didn’t know any English. One of my girls also doesn’t know how to read and wright in Khmer,  so using an English/Khmer dictionary wasn’t that helpful either. But after I had a  few Khmer lessons it was a lot easier.

My class has three young women in, and I have taught them easy greetings, ie hello and how are you as well as name of animals, body parts and clothing. I have also been teaching them the sounds that the letters make. With the hope it will help them with the pronunciation and eventually help them reading English.

I teach  them through drawing pictures and playing games. In Cambodia they are not taught in this was, they are taught through repetition, repeating words over and over again, so there hand eye coordination is really bad. They draw like 6 year olds, so they canst really recognize there illustrations so I get them to write the English and the Khmer.

I didn’t think I would like teaching but I really do, its good fun. Its a great feel to know that I am helping them become more employable when they leave the CHA project because even knowing the small bit of English will go a long way.

Lunch Times At Work

At work they provide food for all of the women and of course me.  We gather on the work room floor and await the daunting prospect of what could be on the menu.  I have been here for over 6 weeks now, so I have eaten a range of different things from stuffed frogs to unripe papaya.

I actually am growing to love the Khmer food. If you came for lunch you would most likely be served a soup type dish, with large chunky vegetables and fish (you must be very careful with the fish because they leave all the bones in, so you spend half the meal fishing them out of your mouth, haha sorry for the pun) The meal is always accompanied with  rice. I  think that they eat rice for breakfast, dinner and tea, no joke, they can’t get enough of it.

The food they serve isn’t that spicy but some dishes have a little kick. I think the women enjoy getting me to try the spicy side dishes as they like to see my reaction, they all find it very amusing.

Toul Sleng and The Killing Fields

This was a very sad and thought provoking experience. It was only 30 – 40 years ago that these terrible killings happened, people my parents age are still having to deal with the effects that the Khmer Rouge had on them and their family’s, whether it be loss of family members or the memories of torture.

In the Toul Sleng museum you saw the conditions that the prisoners were kept in, the make shift cells were half the size of a single bed. The torturer room almost complete empty, apart from a rusting bed and a photograph hung on the wall. The photographs were black and white, you could barely make out the details, but it was quite obvious that it was one of the Khmer Rouge victims that had been kill it the very same room you were standing, it was enough to send a shiver down your spine.

The Killing fields, were situated out of the city, the area was green with a shrine built in the middle to remember all who had died.  As you walked around the grounds you came across mass graves which were big craters left in the earth, for me this represented the massive hole left in the Cambodian society and the thousands of people that died.

The Green Cross Code- How To Cross The Road

Sorry there are no hedgehogs to help you cross the road here, there’s not many green men and you really do have to look both ways.

I’m not sure if I will ever get used to the roads here. There seems to be no rules, nobody seems to have right of way or is it everyone’s right of way? I’m not to sure.

And when it comes to crossing the road you can find yourself faced with a difficult task ahead. I have been told that you must cross the road at a steady pace, letting the bikes and motos swerve around you. No sudden movements or you will be the next thing to go in the Khmer stew.

There is no end to the possibility of what can be carried on the back of a moto,  from whole family’s to the kitchen sink, I will have to see if I can get a couple of photo, so you can see what I mean, its crazy!!!!! Keeps me amused.

Here comes the Bride

Last week I went to a Cambodian wedding, the wedding was in Takeo (in the country) so we had to travel 3 hours to get there. We arrived at a small village, where they lived in wooden houses, they appeared to be quite poor. Three generations would live in a house, which was just a large room with dividers separating the area in to bedrooms.

I don’t think  that many of the young children  had ever seen a white person before,  so I got stared at a lot. I hope I didn’t steal the brides thunder. Well she did get to wear 6 dresses/outfits. I’m just glad that in England we only have one dress, other wise I would have been making 6 when my sister got married, I may have said no if that was the case.  Sorry Catherine, you know I love you. xx

What amused me most about the wedding was the fact that the marque was place across a road… so half way through the wedding I had to move out of the way of a moto and trailer coming through the center of the party. Don’t remember that happening at the Jennies wedding any one else?

Bringing you up to date…

I’m sure you would all like to see where I work, well here it is. This is the shop section and around the back is where all the sewing machines are and there is also a classroom at the back where I help to teach English. Well in fact I take my own lessons, I am teaching the real basics, ABC, 123 and so on. It seams to be getting across, through a series of  pictures and signs.

So Rebecca is now in Cambodia.

Its all very different here, for one the weather is a lot better than England, although it did rain the other day and my boss thought I had bought the rain with me, as it hardly ever rains in the dry season.  Now my weather report is over I can now tell you the rest. (How very British of me.)

I  don’t really know where to start!

I have completed a week at work now, every day holds a new experience. I travel to work via moto (motor bike taxi), some journeys are a bit hair scary as you often find yourself in the middle of a T-junction dodging other vehicles who are going a completely different direction, but its all ok, as I do where a helmet.

I am working in a shop/studio which I’m enjoying but am finding it a little tough as the language barrier is difficult, as you all know I do like to talk, but there are not many people for me to talk to, as there English is poor and my khmer is non existant. We are managing to get by and at the moment I am helping to design new projects which is great.

On another note my new favorite new dishes is hair leg tarantula and I am enjoying the smoothies. oh and I did go to an elephants birthday party. The photos are to follow……

Getting Ready to Leave

I’ve left work and moved back to Hereford, not the most exciting thing I have ever done but I’ve just got to keep reminding myself I’m off to Cambodia soon.

Well…. Thats if it stops snowing. I have nearly got every thing sorted, insurance, money, I’ve started packing and all I need now is my Malaria tablets, did try to sort it yesterday but my appointment was canceled because of the snow. I have a feeling snow is not going to be a problem in Cambodia.

I’m flying out on the 15th of January…..

But until then I will be frantically sorting out what I need to take. I still have a few vaccinations to have and insurance to sort out.

With only 10 more days at work I am counting the day till I finish, getting excited as well as a little nervous.
I can,t believe I’m actual going.