In community
This morning we woke and went to our breakfast restaurant for the last time.
I had two ice teas because this is probably the last time it'll be definitely safe to drink ice. When we walked back we chilled by the pool for the last time, and then we checked out of the hotel. It felt like I'd been there for ages, even though it had been just less than a week. A lot has happened.
Then we all got on the bus and (about 30 mins late) we set off for community.
Cambodians don't seem to like going far - when we walked around Kampong Cham this week I got the impression that a 20 minute walk for them was long. They would much rather take a tuk tuk or a bike or a motorbike.
When they make bus journeys, they stop a lot. Coming from a family who will stop maybe 3 times on an 11 hour journey, stopping five times in 3 hours really seemed like a lot.
But we got here! We got to the office, unloaded, made sure our luggage was labelled and picked out a bike, and then we waited for our host families to arrive.
Not long after, Channa and I were introduced to our host mum and her little son, and we cycled back to our home for the next 10 weeks!
The afternoon has been fairly uneventful since then. Channa and the family mostly spoke Khmer, and I have learned enough to pick out maybe 1 word in 50.
But the little boy, Sa, is 4 and very cute. He has given me various things, including a small piece of plastic and one or other of his toys to hold. The baby also is adorable - 3 months old - and the parents are very smiley and friendly people. In the course of the evening I have also met a couple of cousins, and aunt and a grandmother.
They also have a cute dog.
This is the house:
The blue shutters that can be seen are the windows to Channa and I's bedroom. The red hut is a cooking hut and the white one with high windows is the bathroom/toilet:
This is a bad photo of our host mum washing the veg that we peeled for dinner:
Just out of sight on the right of the photo is a coal fire stove where she cooks the vegetable and meat broths and rice in pots.
The time passed and we had dinner at about 6.30, in the dark, and the power turned off a couple times so sometimes we needed torches. I'm definitely going to start carrying my headtorch more often now.
Then I had my first bucket shower. At some point I'll do a tour of the house with pictures of things, but for now I won't describe the bathroom. There was a huge toad in the tank of water though... When I first saw him I had a bit of a shock. Channa said she would catch him to be eaten if she saw him!
And now I'm inside my mosquito net, safe from all the bugs. There are so many bugs! Beetles, ants, mosquitos, flies, dragonflies, lady bird things. I think I'm actually going to just get used to things landing on me. I don't think I've been bitten by a mosquito yet, but I got stung by an ant about 5 or 6 different times.
Anyway. Even though it's about 27 degrees and it's my first night away from air con, I don't feel too hot. So I'm getting up at 6 am, breakfast is at 7 and then we have to be at the office for 8 tomorrow morning.
Retrei susdei!
I had two ice teas because this is probably the last time it'll be definitely safe to drink ice. When we walked back we chilled by the pool for the last time, and then we checked out of the hotel. It felt like I'd been there for ages, even though it had been just less than a week. A lot has happened.
Then we all got on the bus and (about 30 mins late) we set off for community.
Cambodians don't seem to like going far - when we walked around Kampong Cham this week I got the impression that a 20 minute walk for them was long. They would much rather take a tuk tuk or a bike or a motorbike.
When they make bus journeys, they stop a lot. Coming from a family who will stop maybe 3 times on an 11 hour journey, stopping five times in 3 hours really seemed like a lot.
But we got here! We got to the office, unloaded, made sure our luggage was labelled and picked out a bike, and then we waited for our host families to arrive.
Not long after, Channa and I were introduced to our host mum and her little son, and we cycled back to our home for the next 10 weeks!
The afternoon has been fairly uneventful since then. Channa and the family mostly spoke Khmer, and I have learned enough to pick out maybe 1 word in 50.
But the little boy, Sa, is 4 and very cute. He has given me various things, including a small piece of plastic and one or other of his toys to hold. The baby also is adorable - 3 months old - and the parents are very smiley and friendly people. In the course of the evening I have also met a couple of cousins, and aunt and a grandmother.
They also have a cute dog.
This is the house:
This is a bad photo of our host mum washing the veg that we peeled for dinner:
The time passed and we had dinner at about 6.30, in the dark, and the power turned off a couple times so sometimes we needed torches. I'm definitely going to start carrying my headtorch more often now.
Then I had my first bucket shower. At some point I'll do a tour of the house with pictures of things, but for now I won't describe the bathroom. There was a huge toad in the tank of water though... When I first saw him I had a bit of a shock. Channa said she would catch him to be eaten if she saw him!
And now I'm inside my mosquito net, safe from all the bugs. There are so many bugs! Beetles, ants, mosquitos, flies, dragonflies, lady bird things. I think I'm actually going to just get used to things landing on me. I don't think I've been bitten by a mosquito yet, but I got stung by an ant about 5 or 6 different times.
Anyway. Even though it's about 27 degrees and it's my first night away from air con, I don't feel too hot. So I'm getting up at 6 am, breakfast is at 7 and then we have to be at the office for 8 tomorrow morning.
Retrei susdei!
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