Week 17: ups and downs

After our first whole week back in Chamcar Bei it feels like we never left. It's been quite a busy week and has been full of ups and downs.

We went back to the village from Kep a bit earlier than we usually do last weekend so that we could enjoy having a few days of chilling out at the Red House before a full week of teaching. On Sunday we were reading in our hammocks when we got 2 unexpected visitors who didn't seem to be expecting us to be there either. Apparently, while Tom and I had been in Singapore, some one had broken into the kitchen twice over the weekends (while everyone was inKep) and stolen some food and knives. We still don't know who he/she/they were but by the way the two men sneakily crept up the stairs and their awkward reactions when they saw us, we have a hunch that it may have been them. After a while the guard showed up and chatted to them for a bit but when Paa came out of the kitchen, where she'd been resting, they set off pretty quickly.

The house is also being taken over by a plague of biting ants, especially in the kitchen where a strange dance or jig has developed to prevent them from biting our feet. We've also seen a couple of little snakes around the house and by the wier so now we're doubly careful of where we put our feet down.

Last September we heard that there were plans to move the BAB office in Kep to Chamcar Bei in March or April this year. Having been in Cambodia for 3 months already we were pretty cynical as to whether that would ever happen, let alone in March. However, as of a couple of weeks ago, the BAB office in Kep now has a new project manager called Sara, from Holland, who has promised us that it will be moved on 9th February. Everyone agrees that we think decisions and plans will be made a lot faster from now on! I'm really glad that the office is moving to the village, mainly because it will mean that we won't have to drive the moto to Kep every weekend. I don't really mind driving there and have got quite used to driving the moto but neither of us trust the other people on the road very much. The number of road accidents we've heard about in Cambodia so far is incredible. This week there were two funerals in the village - both due to moto accidents and the victims were only 20 and 29 years old. It's not a very comforting thought...

It's definitely the time of year for weddings and parties at the moment and in Chamcar Bei everyone loves a party. The only problem is that they last for 2 to 3 days and they like to build great big walls of speakers and blast music from them until 2 in the morning and then again from 5am until daybreak. Unfortunately sound travels extremely well in the area and a party 3km away can sound like it's just down the road.

Despite a slight lack of sleep, teaching has gone pretty well this week. Our afternoon schedules have changed a little. In the morning we still teach the kids at CLC, the teachers and the youth team. However, in the afternoon I'm now teaching one hour of CLC kids and then I go back to the CVTC to teach all the ladies who work there - the weaving, sewing and Funky Junk ladies as well as Coconut Project ladies. There are 35 of them so I teach half of them on Monday and Tuesday and half on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm starting right from ABC again because they can't speak any English at all. I think I'm really going to enjoy teaching them at the end of the day.

The topic this week has been a recap of time as well as dates, seasons and birthdays. Unfortunately my class of intermediate CLC students on Wednesday morning was extremely hectic - it was just one of those days where all the kids had waaaay too much energy and decided it was more fun to climb up the window grills and have a ride on the new mobile white-board than learn to tell the time. However, the beginner students are really enjoying the "letter of the week" activities. We've found worksheets which have traceable letters and pictures of words that begin with that letter. I'm also trying to teach them some new games which will help them to practice new vocab.

We worked very hard with the Youth Team this week to help them fill out their scholarship application forms. We managed to get them sent off on time and now we have about a month until the selection process starts when they will have to go Phnom Penh for exams and interviews.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Week 16: Back to Chamcar Bei

Hello!! I hope you are all having a happy New Year!

This week Joss and I arrived back in Chamcar Bei late on Tuesday afternoon. Coming back was an interesting experience as both Joss and I felt like our time in Cambodia was more like a vivid dream than three months of our lives. Also, even although everything in Chamcar Bei is in exactly the same place as it was when we left, the whole village and the area surrounding it has now become a large dustbowl. All the vibrant shades of green that we wrote about in our first weeks here have faded into browns and yellows. I'd like to make it clear that this does not make the beautiful Chamcar Bei any less stunning and majestic, merely different. I think what makes this contrast even starker is the fact that we were not here to see the transformation occur. Oddly enough, although it's baking hot during the afternoons at the moment, the nights and mornings are far colder then they were last year. I think this is because the winds have gotten stronger and the sky is now cloudless. Another cosmetic change has occured at the CVTC as the wild grass around the Red House has been trimmed. This is apparently because Paa caught and killed a snake in the long grass there. This change is quite welcome though as it makes the Red House and the "banana plantation" we have cultivated seem even more homely.

When we arrived back in the village we went straight to school to drop off the costumes and toothbrushes donnated by various people affiliated with UWCSEA. As soon as we passed through the gates there was what literally sounded like the beginings of a riot from the main building. Before we were halfway down the drive we were being greeted with "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TEACHERRRRR!" by any kids who happened to be outside. Just as I got to the door of the classroom I usually teach in the doors burst open and all of our kids poured out. The funny thing is that after the hugs and hellos all my kids started measuring themselves against me like they did when I first arrived in September. I think I'm the measuring stick for the class :) When we left CLC we had an entourage of 30 or so kids chasing our tuk-tuk down the road. Some of the more adventurous kids even climbed onto the skirtingboards of the tuk-tuk and got a ride to the market. Although this was fun, I was also quite scared one of them was going to get caught under the wheel. Thankfully, Bun Tien, our most reliable tuk-tuk driver, had the sense to drive very slowly until the kids stopped hanging on.

Over the next few days it was really nice to catch up with Biff, Erin and Paa at the Red House and get two days of teaching in before coming back to Kep for internet access. Teaching has so far been pretty similar to where we left off last year, although I think the kids are so pleased to see us again that they are being even more well behaved than usual. We have also introduced a "letter of the week" system for the younger students which they seem to be enjoying. Joss will also be taking on a new class next week. The CVTC classes she will be teaching are women who are involved with Funky Junk, weaving, sewing and Econut, as opposed to the "coconut project" class which has been renamed the "village" class since hardly any of the students were actually involved with the CVTC projects.

When we were in Kep we caught up with some friends there like Marcel (from the Riel bar) and Stephan (from Botanica guest house). Stephan is going to Kampong Trach with his wife some time next week to finalize arrangements for the construction of the Chamcar Bie basketball court. At this point I would like to say a thanks to all of the people who donated money or equipment and a special thanks to our parents for putting together such a great fundraiser at UWC (especially Hilary and Gwen for putting in all those hours slaving over a hot oven!)

Until next week!

Tom

Week 15: Back in Kampuchea once again!

After being back in Singapore for a month, our time in Cambodia had begun to feel like a dream to me. My photos became the family computer’s screensaver and every time I walked past the computer and saw images of our life in Chamcar Bei I couldn’t believe it was really us who’d been there. It was almost like I was looking into someone else’s life or like having been really engrossed in a good book.

I have to admit that I was a bit shell-shocked during the first week back in Singapore. In my week 13 blog I was reflecting on how peaceful it is when the working day is coming to an end at about 5pm throughout the village in Chamcar Bei. When I was back in Singapore I got on the bus to go to my yoga class. It was about 7pm so there were quite a lot of people on their way home from work. Or were they? Behind me there was a group of people still looking through their day’s paperwork and a lady next to me was still wired up to her mobile phone discussing a meeting for the next day. Even after my yoga class, when I was in the changing rooms, there was a lady from my class sitting on the bench, talking down her phone about a business deal. I have nothing against people working hard but there needs to be a time when you stop thinking about it!

Anyway, Tom and I have been back in Cambodia for one week now and have slipped back into our Cambodian life as if we hadn’t left (although we’re still rebuilding our confidence with speaking Khmer). We decided to fly into Siem Reap first to spend 3 days looking around Angkor Wat which we both thought was just incredible. I really don’t know how to put the immensity and unbelievable amount of detail into words. Perhaps that’s why I took so many photos… I’m really glad we made the decision to spend some time at Angkor Wat because you can’t really think of Cambodia without thinking about Angkor Wat. It’s no surprise that it’s their national emblem and an icon which Cambodians are especially proud of.

On Friday we took a 6 hour bus ride from Siem Reap down to Phnom Penh where we spent the weekend in the unusually quiet BAB office. Tom and I are the only UWC volunteers to come back to Cambodia again so it was a bit strange arriving at the office without the rest of our “family” there. We were planning to stay for the week to help out with the 5-year UWC scholarship selection process but that’s been postponed for a few weeks because there were only 11 applicants – fewer than were expected. So instead we decided to take the 5 hour bus ride to Kep on Monday afternoon and that’s where we are now! And as soon as I’ve uploaded this blog we’ll be off in a tuk tuk to the Red House in Chamcar Bei – home sweet home!