Graduation, Cake Fight and The Fair

What a wonderful day packed with so much fun!!  We stayed up last night prepping everything for graduation today.  We wanted to make sure that the girls felt as special as they truly are.  We got decorations ready, dressed up the "diplomas",  made gift bags, and wrote a little speech for each student.  That part was the easiest part of all, saying something wonderful about each of them came flowing out of us.  The hard part was limiting them so they weren't all an hour each!

We spent the morning reviewing and then giving the final exam...they all passed with flying colors of course!  We played a few rounds of their favorite games to celebrate and got laughing so hard.  That will be one of my fondest memories, how wonderful their laughter is.  They just let it go and get hysterical, and it is contagious!  After lunch we sent the girls upstairs and we started decorating.  Let me tell you, that room looked sooooo good.  It was truly the setting that they deserved!  Clay's brother took photos and although we cannot have any that show the girls' faces I am hoping he will be sending us some safe ones that I can share.  We did the whole pomp and circumstance with diplomas, hand shakes, flowers and photos.  After that was done we handed out the gift bags and then the whole audience covered them in silly string!

Next we were told to go upstairs and a little later they led us down with our eyes closed (let me tell you, going down 3 flights of stairs led by a girl that can't even speak English is a test of trust!).  They surprised us with a beautiful cake that was delicious but in true Khmer style they started a CAKE FIGHT that left us all covered in pink and white frosting.  In our hair, up our noses, and completely covering our faces...but believe me, we got them pretty well too.  It was so much crazy fun!

The day was finished with a trip to their fair.  It is a combination of a swap meet and a fair actually.  It was incredible to step into their culture and see what they do to have fun.  We walked through the swap meet part first, the people sell new and used clothes, toiletries, and even school supplies right along the roadside.  Then we rented a mat to sit on by the river and ordered from the stands that serve food.  There are photos below and yes, I did eat it!  That was followed by a wild time on some bumper cars, throwing darts at balloons and lastly jumping on a trampoline.  Of course that little voice inside my head said, "Beth, you are 54 years old and you should NOT be jumping on a trampoline let alone with 6 other people inside with you" and my little voice was right again!  I heard something pop/tear inside of my left knee and I am sitting here on 800 milligrams of ibuprofen with my knee elevated and an ice pack (thanks to my very kind and sweet roommate Heidi!).  I am asking for prayers that it is better in the morning since we have big plans tomorrow...you will have to come back to see what it is!

In the mean time, here are some photos from our day...

Here we are getting everything prepared for the girls' big day tomorrow.
So wonderful to have these two to share in this special moment!
We pulled it all together with happy hearts because we love these girls so
much!

The fish and chickens are squeezed between bamboo sticks and grilled.
I think the chickens look more like roadkill!

Some of the swap meet area to the left and above.

Our wrists decked out in some of the beautiful things the girls gifted us with.
We got so many necklaces today that it was hard to hold our heads up, lol.
These girls have such generous hearts!

This was dinner.  I tried the fish and chicken from above and
actually loved the fish.  It came with rice and they sit and use
their fingers to scoop the rice into their mouths.  One of the girls
gave me a lesson and it was fun eating with my hands (thank
goodness for handiwipes in my purse).  I drew the line on the little
bird.  As you can see, Kali gave it a try though...
brave and adventurous girl!

Bella and Peter were our tour guides for tonight.  They sure know how to show 3 American women a good time. Love these two!

New Roomies!!

It has been a crazy week and too hard to find the time to post.  Between dealing with the flood waters and having our last week of instruction we have been pouring ourselves into bed at night completely exhausted.

Our quiet little home here has been filled with so many new sights, sounds and smells!  The 12 girls from Rehabs house (4 of them are our students) became our roommates on Tuesday (including the house mom and cook).  It is like a cross between living in a sorority house and girls boarding school and all of us here have embraced it and love it.  It was a cool way to spend our last week and see their lives a little more up close and personal.  The joyful sounds from their rooms and in our halls has been so refreshing and fun.  They are such wonderful, sweet young ladies of God and AIM is doing a great job with them.

The only part I personally have not gotten used to is the smell from the kitchen.  It permeates the house, halls, bathrooms...I think the smell will be in my nostrils for weeks after I return.  :)  Everyone here has such a servants heart and just go about their duties with grace.  The cook gets up and starts cooking in the wee hours of the morning for the girls' breakfast.  It usually consists of some type of soup that is put over rice.  I tried it yesterday (to the delight of the girls and the cook) and really enjoyed it.  I believe it was some kind of lemongrass soup and was quite tasty.  As far as lunch goes, we share that meal with our students.  It serves as a bonding time and it is wonderful to sit and visit with them.  They love to watch us try the different things and are always piling them onto our bowls.  Now that we all live at our place we sit on a mat on the floor of the downstairs.  I can get down okay but the getting back up part is hard!  They may be watching me eat but let me tell you, I love to watch them.  They love their food and eat it with great passion.  They make this dip that is some sort of fish paste and use all kinds of strange veggies to scoop it up with.  Different types of leaves, long green beans, types of cucumber and cabbage...they love it, me...not so much!  I had no idea it was fish and the first time I popped it in my mouth I wanted to spit it out so fast but wouldn't dare since all eyes were on me.  I smiled politely and made the "yum" sound which pleased them greatly.  Got that bite down and hid the rest they had put in my bowl with a leaf of some sort.  I have avoided that dish since!!  Most of it is quite good though and always accompanied by rice (thank goodness).  Some other tastes I have tried (or passed on) is pork gut (I am afraid I got that on into my mouth before I knew what it was again...when will I learn!?!?), chicken organs, fish soup, chicken feet, and somethings I was afraid to ask about.  All in all it has been incredible to witness and taste some of the things they consider a normal daily meal.  I give thanks and praise when given it for I know there are plenty of people here not as lucky.

Little red hot chilis are in EVERYTHING!!!  They are great in small portions but if one sneaks up on you in some food you certainly know it.  They slice it up in their soy sauce, and put it in just about every dish, even their morning soup.  My favorite thing they use it in is this stuff they make to put on green mangos.  It is made with sugar, coarse salt and the chili peppers.  They dip the sliced mango into it and it is delicious...hotter than heck but delicious.  The trick is to get it past your lips without touching them and straight into your mouth.  Once it is there it is great!

Okay, we have graduation today so I had better go get ready.  I will certainly post again tonight or tomorrow to fill you in on how it goes.  They girls are taking us somewhere afterwards as a surprise...can't wait for their big day.  I am soooooo proud of them all and can't wait to honor them for their hard work and commitment.

Sorry I do not have time to include pics on this post but I have plenty that I want to share with you to give you a little taste of the sights of Cambodia...stay tuned!

Good News & Bad News...

The good news was that our team went back to school today to do more of what brought us here, TEACH.  We have missed the girls so much and it was so wonderful to see them and work with them again.  We went into men's haircutting again and the girls all got their hands into the hair cut and did such a great job.  They are all so smart, so talented and such quick learners.  They're all so anxious to get in there that we practically need to pry the shears out of their hands to give someone else a turn.  One of the highlights for us is doing a fun game to warm them up.  The room echoes with laughter from us all.  They are such joy-filled people and find everything so funny that it is infectious.  They play a game with us called "Zoo" and we have been practicing the last few days during our break while riding around in our tuk tuk and it payed off.  They were quite impressed with our skill level...so were we!

The bad news was that we woke up to our whole street and entire neighborhood being completely under water.  The area we are in is called Top Town and it obviously is not at the top since we are where all the water ran off to.  I guess the "powers that be" decided to open up the dam to relieve some of the build up.  We were told that houses up by the dam were getting flooded so this was the solution.  That damn dam made total mess of things!!!  It made for a VERY wet walk to school.  Kati, Kali and Heidi all brought rain boots but I did not so I got to wade in the poop water...yum! Maybe I should get one of those pedicures that the fish eat the crud off your feet after all?!?!  As I was walking with Kali, Peter (our translator fiancé) came by on his "moto" and gave me a lift.  I decided to ride Cambodia style and sit side saddle, I think he has my nails still embedded in his skin!

After a day of teaching we ended up coming home to find that we needed to fill sandbags to protect our home.  The waters were rising and we are inches away from it coming inside...good thing our bedroom is on the 3rd floor!  At least we ended our day nicely.  We took Bella (our translator) with her fiancé and our driver out to a very nice restaurant.  It was Cambodian/French and the outside patio was so beautiful.  I took a bunch of pictures for Joe since they had a koi pond and these beautiful orchids that were just hanging in the air.

Of course as I type this before heading to bed I am being serenaded by yet another monsoon storm.  Can't wait to see what we wake up to tomorrow...to be continued...

Kali showing off her rain boots

Yummy, poop water!

My moto ride with Peter

The street our school is on

Mao (or tuk tuk driver) even helped!

Sandbag Time

Mao and Kali at dinner

This is for you Joe and NO I can't bring it home!

Our little love birds, Peter and Bella

Silk Farm & Gardens

Such an interesting day.  We had good ol' Mao drive us out to the Silk Farm today.  It was about a 30 minute ride and not nearly as bumpy as yesterday!  I have a new appreciation of silk now...and a little grossed out at the same time.  We are all really just paying a lot of money to wear a bunch of woven worm spit to put it mildly! How can something so disgusting be so beautiful at the same time?  It ends up that at this farm 80% of the worms are sacrificed and 20% are used to reproduce.  If they cut the worms out to save them it cuts the thread and it cannot be woven into the long threads they need.  Poor little wormies!  Well here are some pictures to tantalize your eyes...we are off to Anghor Wat again for a second trip, sure hope it is drier than today.  Monsoon season is in full force here!

 These are the little baby worms...almost cute!

 Okay, now they are fat and gross worms!

These are the cocoons that are in the 80% that will be sacrificed to make the silk.  They have been boiled and are hard little balls inside the cocoons...super gross!

Second step is to pull the "Fine Silk" threads
from the inner part of the cocoon.

First step in pulling the string from the outer layer
of the cocoon.  This is the regular silk thread.

l

The thread goes through many stages before it is woven
on the looms.  The looms are just like they used in ancient
days and the women train for 9 months weaving cotton.
They work 8 hour days and make about $125 a month!

Floating Village of Kampong Phluk

I never dreamt that I would see the sights I saw today, I thought I would only read about them or see them on TV.  It is so hard to even find the words to describe what it was like being there.  My senses are so stimulated that i think that the connect to my brain to find words could not do them justice but I will try since I want to share today with you!

It all started when our faithful tuk tuk driver Mao took us on a long journey to somewhere he had not even gone before.  We did some research and decided we wanted to go to the floating village of Kampong Phluk. There are other floating villages and markets but we had read that this was the least commercialize and decided that was the one for us.  The weather was beautiful, probably the best since we have gotten here.  We traveled (or should I say bounced, because tuk tuks DO NOT have shock absorbers!) through country roads passing motorbikes with huge dead pigs draped across the back, open market places, and so many things that I didn't know which way to point my camera!  Mao had to stop a couple of times to get directions.

We finally came to a fishermen's village where we hired a boat and driver to take us on our adventure (as if the ride there wasn't enough!).  Since Mao has never been out to see the villages either, we decided to treat him to join us.  It was great having him there since we feel like he is our driver/body guard anyway.  Our journey began with a long ride up a river, it was very wide with no land in site.  The boat was rickety and something you'd see right off of the discovery channel.  At first I was amazed over all of the bushes all over when I realized that they are actually the top of trees and that this place spends half of the year dried up!  We saw men wading in the water by their boats trying to catch large snakes in the "bushes." They even held one of them up for us to snap a picture!

After about 45 minutes traveling up the river we reached the village of Kampong Phluk.  What makes this village so unusual is that there are no roads, no motorbikes, no tuk tuks, no cars.  The homes are all on stilts just sitting there in the water.  Everything they own needs to be on something floating, even cages with pigs and chickens...there is absolutely NO land!  They visit their neighbors by taking their canoes and small boats and the children run around mostly naked since they are in and out of the water most of the day.  We saw people in canoes that travel house to house selling meats, vegetables, and even items found in grocery stores.  It is like the market comes to them and they just come out of their homes and shop.  

Once again I observed a calmness and contentment flowing from these people, it seems to be the way here in Cambodia.  They seem satisfied with what they have and how they live.  They are relaxed and happy.  It is amazing how they have adapted to make it all work for them.  They had flowers and plants and even some hot houses growing vegetables.  Their tools and the way they built their homes looked like they were straight out of the Swiss Family Robinson movie!  So resourceful and so inventive.  We made a stop at a floating bar/restaurant where Heidi and Kali decided to try a Angkor beer and then off we went to head back to our tuk tuk. 

No sooner were we headed back than a huge storm started.  We had to lower the fabric on the sides of the boat but the poor driver was pelted with rain!  The tuk tuk ride home was a wet and muddy one but thanks to Mao, we made it safe and sound.  We are now back at our home listening the thunder and watching flashes from the lightening.  Monsoon season is definitely still upon us here!  

This little piggy went to market!

The countryside ride

The village before getting to the docks

Feels like the Jungle Cruise

The co-pilot

Our driver

Snake anyone?

Riding the bow

Our .25 raincoats!

Pchum Ben

Our team had 2 great days with the girls this week.  We have an unexpected short week this week due to a holiday called Pchum Ben.  It is also know as Ancestors Day and is somewhat like our Thanksgiving.  They travel home to family and celebrate their dead ancestors.  We thought we were going to have Monday and Tuesday off but it ends up that we do not teach Wed - Fri.  With that in mind we packed enough into the last 2 days that we made up for it.  I love how our team plans out the day together and then reassess it at the end of the day so we can make changes to improve and fine tune.  

During the last 2 days we did a great art project that taught and reinforced the color wheel. The girls really enjoyed painting and got a pretty good grasp on the whole thing.  There were plenty of demo cuts, hands on work, playing their favorite game called "zoo" and best of all, lots of bonding.  We even were requested to do the Electric Slide again!

I am amazed over how quickly I have become attached to the girls and I know the others on my team feel the same way.  The girls love to sit and put their head on your shoulders, hold your hand, play with your hair and have constant contact with us.  I feel like they are all my daughters and I just want to put them in my suitcase and take them home, especially the youngest one.  Today I was observing them and got all teary eyed.  They asked what was wrong and I told them I was picturing saying good bye to them and I could't stand it!  Tears make them uncomfortable and they do not show them very often.  I think they understood though, they know how much we all love them.  

Tonight we actually ate at a Mexican restaurant and had some margaritas.  Afterwards we wandered over to Pub Street and then into Night Market.  They both have a pretty crazy night life but lots of fun.  We mainly played looky-loos but did manage to take on a food challenge (at least 2 of us did).  There was a cart that had fried crickets, snakes on a stick and fried frogs.  Kali and I tried the snake and I must say it tasted like chicken jerky.  I only managed to get one bite down but Kali ate the whole thing!!  We have some adventures planned the next few days and I will keep you posted.  We are all really embracing this wonderful place and just thinking about leaving makes my heart feel so heavy!!

Please realize that there will be no photos of the students.  At the most you may see their hands in the photos of them doing their work.  This is to protect them and is out of respect to both their safety and the work AIM is doing.  

Team Gen off to their first day!

Hands at work!

Finally figured out where all the tourists are!

Kali and her "snake on a stick!"

Where else can you get a foot massage and watch a drag queen show
at the same time?

This is for you Cameron...mom tried something gross to eat!