Sou suduhee! (Hello in Khmer)
Well, I’m writing this on Wednesday evening pretty much waiting to get sick later on. I violated one of my basic travel rules for underdeveloped countries and ate a whole cupful of crushed ice from a street food place. But what do you do when your students want to take you out for a “sweet” after class!? It was a very yummy iced treat, kind of like a snow cone with some jelly gumdrops in it. I asked about the ice and they said it was fine, but I’m skeptical. So keep your fingers crossed that I avoid a bout of “block island fever” later on.
I figured I’d better do an update while I can since the days have been so busy! I arrived Saturday night after four flights and a long travel day from Borneo. But I really have to say kudos to the folks at Bangkok Air! My flight from Kuala Lampur to Bangkok was almost two hours late and I figured there was almost no chance to make my connection leaving in less than 30 minutes with a whole airport to cross. I was mentally thinking about how to find a hotel in Bangkok and notify my program coordinator in Cambodia that I wouldn’t be on the flight in.
But when I came out of the jet way at a run, there was a sign with my name on it. I was plopped in one of those airport cars which zipped me across the airport. Then I was handed off about six times to people running with me down various corridors (in heels!), rushed through check in and security and taken to a private van with the engine running to zoom me to a distant runway where I was the last to board! The entire process took only 11 minutes! Six sigma could learn from Bangkok Air.
Of course, no chance for the luggage so that had to wait until the following morning.
Since I’d come in a day early, I wasn’t sure how busy Sunday would be, but it turned out to be packed full! I had my orientation with my coordinator, Meng, was taken to temple to be blessed by a monk (thank goodness fellow volunteer Jen told me the right way to sit in advance!), bought a bicycle (so much for all those skirts I bought to teach in!), visited the orphanage and did coloring and games, visited both schools where I’ll be teaching and had a welcome dinner where I got to try local loc lac and lemongrass soup. And you know – it’s pretty much like the Elephant Walk! Awesome – especially with a local Angkor beer!
I’ve definitely benefited a ton from having Jennifer Hicks also here as a volunteer. Jen has got to be one of the most impressive 18 year olds I’ve ever met! She’s doing a gap year before college and volunteering here for three months and then in Tanzania after Christmas. Jen got here a month ago and has learned the ropes, from figuring out the way the teaching goes (meaning they look at us and ask what we are going to teach that day!) to knowing the routes by bicycle and learning a really impressive amount of Khmer.
Having Jen around makes a huge difference, just to have someone to ask questions of or bounce ideas off of. Plus it’s just more fun!
The schools are both open air partial rooms with dirt floors and a single board to write on. Well, the second school actually has water for a floor right now as flooding from the rains has been really severe. So Jen and I have been teaching in six inches of water, or balancing on boards if we’re lucky. And as we bike through town, you can see all the houses and shacks filled with water up to knees or higher.
In the mornings, I’ve had Khmer lessons though I know I won’t come close to where Jen already is with the language! The mornings are spent preparing lessons for class and what we want to teach. Jen and I share a class at the first school, but at the second there are 2000 students so we’re spread as thin as possible to maximize the English speakers. I had thought there were existing lesson plans that we would just be incorporated into, but for the most part, we are the teachers and the local teachers may help translate. So I’m making it up as I go!
Of course, makes me realize how much I rely on spell-check as now I’m trying to write words up on the boards. And after years of business facilitation, I’m used to writing on whiteboards in all capital letters, which is confusing to the kids! So I’m relearning some of the basics. And also some of the basic grammar terms! Since when do I think of words in Past Simple tense! We’ve been doing body parts this week, which is fun and interactive.
We bike to the schools, which is great to get a bit of exercise and also see the land and people a bit better. Everyone is very friendly, waving to us and trying out their English. The streets can be a bit hazardous, both from the flooding as well as the Siem Reap traffic. Helmets and vehicle safety do not exist – yesterday I saw a man on a motor scooter with a small baby on the seat in front of him held by one hand while he drove the scooter with the other! And people carry everything on the back of bicycles and scooters: three or four people, massive piles of wood, three dead pigs at a time…etc.
The kids are great. Wide range of English so it’s challenging to balance. And especially at the second school, kids are all ages and in and out so you have to be flexible and creative. But they are thrilled to be able to work on their English as it can really open up job possibilities for them. We finish around 7:00 pm (though tonight, my Khmer teacher asked if I could start staying until 9:30! I told him that was a bit late to be biking home by myself in the dark! So we’ll see how it goes.
But overall, things are good. The volunteering is challenging but rewarding. The hotel is nice, though a bit far from the town center. We’re the only guests so they take excellent care of us and love to help us practice Khmer. It’s nice to have regular internet connection to stay in touch better! I’ll be visiting Angkor Wat this weekend, which I’m really looking forward to!
Hope all’s well in the states. And of course…go Red Sox!!!
Val
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