This has been a very busy 2 weeks! We finished the language course with Nim on Saturday, so I now have 320 cards (yes, I counted!) of Khmer vocabularly that I supposedly know! We ended the course with a Cambodian BBQ with Nim, her sister and her friend, and Bernie, PT's Cambodian Country Rep. It was in a big Cambodian restaurant, so we were the only '''barang''s there, and they didn't speak any english so we had to practice our Khmer. The food was totally delicious; beef (sai-koh), pork (sai-ch'rook), prawns (bong-kia), mango salad (nuom s'wai), fried rice (bai) and vegetables (bon-lae) to eat, as well as a corn dish that we don't have a word for in English, it's was a bit like sweetcorn (but looked nothing like it!) and very yummy! Nim showed us how to make a dip for the meat, it's pepper (marik), sugar (s'kor) and lime juice (I have no idea what that is in Khmer!) and mixed up- I was a bit nervous at first but it's delicious!!
On Sunday morning the other PT girls left for their projects- Eiben and Jess to Sianoukville and Katie and Gabby back to Siem Reap- and we had the day in Phnom Penh before we were picked up on Monday morning. We went to ICF (International Christian Fellowship) in Phnom Penh on Sunday morning, which I really enjoyed, all of the songs but one were ones we do at St Mungo's and it was nice to do something I was familiar with! Most of the people at the church are charity workers in Cambodia and everyone spoke English, so we got to chat to a few people about what it was like living as a foreigner in Cambodia. In the middle of the service we had to introduce ourselves as the newcomers- scary!
At 8.30am on Monday morning (a time I have now come to think of as mid-morning!) we were picked up by Sorn and the Magna guard from Okay Guesthouse. I was excited to meet the kids and a little bit nervous as well, but looking forward to being rid of the bed bugs that had plagued us in Okay. Unfortunately it was not to be so. On the journey to Takh Mao Sorn told us that we wouldn't be staying at Group Home 2 immediately as was planned, but instead we would be staying at Group Home 1 for a few weeks because Group Home 2 has a bed bug infestation! We went to Group Home 1 first to put our suitcases there (whilst they moved the books out of the schoolroom and put our mattress in) and met 2 of the kids, one of whom is deaf and partially blind, but very lovely.
After that, we went to GH2, which has just moved to a brand new house! It's lovely, there is a big yard out the front where the kids can play football and a row of swing seats, there is plenty of space for the kids to run around and play, and the school that some of them go to is right next door. Basically, it would be perfect if not for the bugs!
We met all the kids and most of the staff on Monday, and had LOTS of cuddles and played with them (the kids, not the staff!). They are all so lovely, friendly and sweet, it feels like a family. This week has been mostly playing with the kids, meeting people and having a few meetings about what the role of Magna is and what we will be doing this year- Magna staff who will be in contact with the kids have a bit of time when they start working where they don't have many jobs to do, but just play with the kids and get to know them, which is helpful.
Our typical daily routine is interesting, a bit different from what I would do in Scotland! The kids at Group Home 1 get up at 5am (give or take a few minutes) and as there is only floorboards between their room and our room, it's a bit like they're walking on the skin of a drum and we're trying to sleep inside it. Suffice to say, you don't need an alarm clock! So we get up just after them, usually at about 5.30 and head to the bathroom (wetroom- they don't have shower cubicles here) for a nice cold shower, which is much nicer when the weather is really hot than in the morning, when it's still a bit chilly (maybe 25 degrees). Then we have breakfast on the patio with the kids, always rice with some meat or fish and sometimes some egg (mmm!), it's more or less the most inocuous meal of the day- you're never quite sure what the meat is but it's always delicious and easy to eat, not too many bones. The older children go to school for about 7 and then the younger kids leave from GH1 to go to GH2 for the morning. We go with them, in one of the Magna tuk-tuks, probably between 10 and 15 of us in one, so there isn't much chance of you falling out, especially if you are wedged in the middle!
The morning is then spent playing with the kids, doing games and reading books to them- there are 2 teachers that Magna employ so there are sometimes activities for them to do with them, and when we start our actual job we will be helping to organise things for them to do. Lunch is at 11.30, back at GH1 usually and can be anything. Lunch and dinner are usually pretty similar and we've had frogs, eels, chicken, vegetables and lots of rice. A meal like this tends to be a bowl of rice with a bowl of soup of some description with chunks of things in it- you put the soup into the rice bowl and eat it, and usually it's tasty.
Following lunch everyone sleeps for an hour and so do we- by that time you really need a break! The afternoon is then pretty similar to the morning, only much shorter, sometimes we stay at the GH1, sometimes GH2, either way we play with the kids. Dinner is anytime between 4 and 6 and then all the kids have showers. The little ones just eat their dinner then strip off and get hosed down outside (a system that works very well!) and we help with this- drying them off, brushing their hair, helping them get dressed afterwards.
Some of the older ones go to extra English in the evening, and tend to get back when all the showering is done, so we chat to them in Khmer-English for a bit, then crash into bed at 8pm (if we're lucky!).
On Friday we had a meeting with Denisa about what we will be doing from now on, so from Monday we started our proper job and all of this will change (apart from the food and waking up times). I'm really enjoying the project so far, even if ít's hard work, and it's fun doing all these new things! We've started riding motos, which is lots of fun (especially riding motos in a thunderstorm!) and the other night we were each given a coconut to drink/eat. The people are so lovely, and I'm looking forward to this week and the rest fo the year, I can't believe 3 weeks have gone by already! I've had my first post, which was lovely, and thank you to everyone who's sent me messages! :)
Jum-reap-lei! (Goodbye in Khmer) I'm off to Central Market now, and then to a French party this evening, it's looking like a fun day!
