I've had so many things happening since my last blog that I was worried that I'd left it 3 weeks by mistake! I did check, and it really is only 2 weeks it's just been very busy.
On the Sunday after I did my blog I went to an Indian Bazaar with some people from church- Cambodia and especially Phnom Penh has lots of Indian influences as it's so close by and this Bazaar was the annual event of the Indian Association of Cambodia. I had a really nice afternoon; it was lovely to have some time to chat to people from church plus the food was amazing! Very delicious and lots of flavour, especially in comparison to the watery soup we often get at the home. One of the women did henna on my hand (see fb for pics!) which was cool, although now 2 weeks later there are still some smudges on my hand, so I look a little bit like I've got something wrong with me! Not that that would be anything unusual here...
That week was fairly normal, we had our usual programme of teaching, hospital and office. On Thursday I organised a Christmas craft, making and decorating Christmas baubles which went really well. Glitter went EVERYWHERE though, including all up my arms and legs, in my hair and all over my face... This was partly (completely) my own fault for getting the glitter out in the first place and then we were tidying up the big pile that had got spilt on the floor i picked up some and gave Srun Chu a very glittery face! The baubles all looked great though, they'll be going on the Christmas tree when we get it out.
In typical Cambodian style Friday morning was a spontaneous whole-orphanage trip to have their ears cleaned, and we weren't told about it until we were about to go to the other group home for our morning classes! So all of my class planning is a bit changeable. Every week when I plan there is the possibility that I might not actually have any of those classes, or that I might suddenly be given some more! This week we've taught 1 out of 4 pre-school classes as they keep on being called off for different things. It's all good experience though- teaching a class in Britain where I knew that I was definitely going to have a class when I was scheduled to have one, and where they could all understand (any!) English would be a doddle after this.
We had a long weekend so we decided to go to Sihanoukville to catch up with Eiben and Jess, 2 other project trust volunteers. Sihanoukville is Cambodia's main seaside town, so it was very touristy but the sand and sea were gorgeous, and it was a very chilled weekend. I did get slightly burnt on the Saturday though, despite wearing suncream and sitting under an umbrella, so I was confined to trousers for the rest of the weekend. It was really good to see another area of Cambodia, and it felt like a proper holiday being there, it was very relaxing being on the beach.
While we were in Sihanoukville we went to church with Eiben and Jess to see a special christmas service that some of their students were helping to run. When we arrived we were taken straight to the front of the church and placed in the front row which was a bit embarrassing and made it much harder to pick up on cues from the Cambodians such as when to stand and sit! It was amazing to see a church in such a different culture and place, that included lots of people who lived in the supported home attached, and how similar it was in some ways to St Mungo's- despite the fact that the songs were different and all of it was in Khmer! The nativity was hilarious, especially the angel gabriel and the shepherds herding their flocks by hitting them with sticks (very gently!) as well as the very convincing King Herod.
Monday meant back to Phnom Penh with the feeling of going home after a holiday, and it was lovely to see all the kids again- I'm going to miss them so much when I leave at the end of the year! We were supposed to be back to work on Tuesday but then they all went to the dentist in the morning so we didn't have any classes to teach and went along with them. They were all so brave about going to the dentist- a good few of them had to have teeth pulled out or work done, and none of them made any fuss about it at all, even the tiny 4 year olds. Whilst there we met an Australian dentist who helped run it (they go to a dental charity to be seen) and he invited me and Flo to a party on Christmas Eve with "10 or 12 young australian volunteer dentists"- should be fun! Not exactly what you expect to get out of a trip to the dentist.
The rest of the week has been fairly normal with a few minor disruptions (like classes being randomly cancelled at the last minute! On Friday afternoon we had a meeting with Denisa to get some information and talk to her about what we were doing in Magna- there are lots of communication problems in Magna but as the director everything goes through her so she could give us answers to our questions. We found out that in 2012 some Magna staff will be going, including the pre school teacher we work with and one of the "counsellors" at the hospital. It's called "counselling" but in reality the only bit that is actually that is the one morning a week adolescent group counselling- the rest is just colouring in, jigsaws and DVDs to keep the children occupied while they're waiting to be seen. I don't think it will make too much of a difference her going, but the pre school teacher is another story. It means that now Flo and I will be solely responsible for the education of the little kids when they're at the group home (they go to pre school for half the morning) which will definitely be a challenge! I'm looking forward to it though, challenge is what it's all about, right?
I've been a bit ill this week with some problems with my lungs that has developed into a cough. Not very pleasant but it's got better since I started doing all the things my Mum told me to (taking the right inhaler/medicines and doing a steam bath). Unfortunately yesterday (Sunday) I fell out of bed in the morning and broke my toe! I was trying to get out of the gap where the mosquito net wasn't tucked in and ended up getting tangled up in and and falling onto the floor, breaking the mosquito net and my toe in the process! I've been doing sensible things since then though; putting it up when I can and taking regular paracetamol and ibuprofen. It feels like I've not been completely well and un injured for a long time!
We're looking forward to Christmas here, with a party planned for Thursday for all the kids, and then probably going out for dinner with some people from church on Christmas Day! Not quite a White Christmas, but maybe a little bit closer to the weather of the first christmas? Hope you're all enjoying the season, and thank you so much to anyone who's sent things, it's so fun going to post office to get parcels!
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