Learning

Today has been a day of learning new things.

Channa is a star and she has taught me a lot of Khmer words.
One very important one for me is shkai, which is the word for dog! There are lots of dogs here, but we must not go near them because they all have rabies. In fact most animals here have rabies.
They aren't really pets here, they're guards. But still cute!


We also began our In Country Orientation today, which included the National anthem of Cambodia, a welcome talk from some government officials, the classic Iceberg Model of culture, the differences between our cultures, and volunteering v voluntourism.

To give examples of the differences in cultures, for the Khmer, standing with your hands on your hips is an inappropriate thing, crossing your fingers is incredibly offensive, and beckoning someone is likening them to a dog! We have all become very self conscious of the way we stand and point. Pointing with one finger is rude here - you have to use your whole hand.

In our discussion about voluntourism, the leader told us that 80% of children in Cambodian orphanages have at least one parent, and their lives are not better for being there, though their parents may have put them there due to poverty. They are often abused, and western people pay a lot of money to come and 'help' for two weeks, keeping the orphanage business going. The two weeks do not really give these volunteers time to understand the culture, and they have no training, or language skills. This kind of work is more harmful than anything else, and is only designed to make the volunteer feel benefitted. VSO is trying to promote sustainable, helpful volunteering.

This is the room where we had these talks:



I also finally learned to use chopsticks properly! The Khmer are very patient and they will say words again and again so that you learn to pronounce them correctly, and 7 of them will happily teach one Welsh girl how to use chopsticks.
This was breakfast:
 And this is where we eat (Channa is in the foreground):
 And this is one of the snacks we had at coffee break:
It's a kind of rice sweet with pumpkin, wrapped in banana leaf. Pretty good. Rice is bai. 
This is the coffee we had - made with condensed milk. Very nice and very sweet.


I also finally learned the names of all of the Srae Thmei team (krom). 

The Khmer:
Channa
Sokmeng
Boray
Chealy
Heng (male)
Votey
Socheat (male)
Moch (Our Khmer team leader)

The UK:
Evie (Our UK team leader)
Connor
Alex
Zaynab
Cheyenne
Olivia
Tim
(And me)
This is Alex, Olivia, Tim, Connor and I, not long before dinner.
We went for dinner together as just our team, which was really nice. We went to the night market, and I had pizza! 
Markets here are quite something. Some of the women just sit and fan the flies away. It has been 34 degrees today so I dread to think how the meat copes.
Here are some more pictures:


The second photo is Alex getting fresh Coconut juice for I think about 5000 Cambodian riel. 
All in all, a very nice day. And now time for a nice sleep, while we still have air conditioned rooms!

Retrei susdei 


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