Sunday, August 28, 2011

Practicum Week







Practicum Week

 Practicum week has come and gone. And the verdict is… I love teaching in a Cambodian classroom. It was an incredibly busy week. If we weren’t teaching or at class, we were lesson planning and prepping materials. I don’t know about everyone else, but at least for me, there was no down time.

The purpose of Practicum week is to give us some experience 1) teaching cambodian children English, 2) working with a cambodian co-teacher and 3) working out of the English for Cambodia book that every English student in Cambodia uses. Mission accomplished, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on all of that.

Monday started off kind of scary. We were told we would have 26 students. My teaching team (consisting of myself, Erik and Christine) walked into a class with 5 students in it. We had lesson planned for 26. But we managed to steal a few more students before we really got started, so soon we had 11 kids. Then, by the end of Saturday, we had 21 kids. Awesome! Monday our theme was How We Got Here. Erik taught about job applications, Christine did Interviews, and then I did Traveling by plane. I had each student pretend they were booking a flight in English.

Tuesday we didn’t really have a theme. I loosely based my lesson on a chapter from the English for Cambodia (EFC) book. There tends to be many problems with the EFC book. There are grammar and spelling errors, phrases that English speakers never use, and plenty of stuff that is either totally irrelevant or just too darn hard. Anyway, the Chapter was called A Letter From England. Instead I made it A Letter From Home. I had my brother Dan write me a real letter from home using certain vocab words (thanks Dan). I simplified it, then brought it to class. We read it, answered questions I made, then each student got a chance to write a sentence in reply to his letter.

Wednesday was health day. We taught health vocabulary, and then some health volunteers got to try their hand at teaching. They taught about eating healthy and proper hand-washing.

Thursday was our first day working with the Cambodian co-teacher. Ours was super sweet. Only problem was… she didn’t speak any English. Actually, let me rephrase that. She could speak a tiny bit of English. She could not understand a word we said. So it was very difficult to include her. So here and there we would try to give her easy jobs like writing Khmer translations on the board, or reading a dialogue out loud for the class. Anyway, on Thursday our theme was sports. I did a reading lesson on Khmer boxing (because I’m such an expert, right?)

Friday our theme was Illness. My chapter was called “What Did the Doctor Say”. I taught some vocabulary and I taught the “He/She said that….” form. I made cards where each kid got a piece of a sentence and they had to find partners that they could make a complete sentence with. The students’ favorite one was “The King – said – that – my pants are on fire. The student I asked to read it couldn’t even get through it he was laughing so hard. That made me feel good. Oh by the way, I saw the King! It was somewhat of a big production. He was driving by on his way to Phnom Penh so all the teachers and all the students stood on the side of the road waving flags and cardboard pictures of his face lol. Sure enough, the procession saw us and he slowed down to wave to us. Rumor has it that we were on Cambodian television waving flags and looking excited.

Saturday was a blast. We taught ghosts and Halloween! Christine told a ghost story. We even shut the door and the blinds to try to give her the right atmosphere. We taught the students how to trick-or-treat. We gave out candy. We did some real learning too. We taught vocab, reading passages, listening passages, and the “When________ I used to _______ sentence form. I taught vocabulary from the childrens song Looking For Dracula hahaha. They loved it! First we listened to it and I gave them pictures to follow along in the story. Then we listened again and I gave them the lyrics. I was so happy it went over so well! I have to get my hands on more songs like that. I never thought of those types of songs as good tools for teaching English before, but they really are! Then after the last lesson we gave out certificates. Because I happened to have my computer on me that day I played pomp and circumstance as we did so lol. Then we took pictures and said our goodbyes. I will miss our students. They were funny and really very sweet.

One thing I love about Cambodian students is that they must stand up to answer a question! Oh the power I have! You must stand when you are called on!
Classroom management is rarely an issue. It’s amazing.

Somehow my students found out that I could sing. So they very shyly asked me to. I promised them if they came to school again tomorrow, I would sing. Yes, I followed through on this.

On Thursday it dawned on me that my brother will be in 10th grade next year and we were teaching 10th and 11th graders. So I invited him to come Friday and Saturday. He was so happy I invited him! It was super sweet. I think he had a good time. I hope. He seems to be much more comfortable trying to speak English with me now. Maybe it gave him some confidence.

Students call teachers “Teacher” instead if Mr. or Mrs. so and so.

The students split themselves up by gender. All the girls sat on one side of the room and the boys sat on the other lol.

Our last activity on Saturday was a game of charades with Halloween vocabulary. We let the boys team and the girls team make up names.
Diana: Okay, what is your team name?
One really smart kid: Super Cute Boys
Diana: HAHAHA oh okay then. *writes on board* Girls. What is your name?
Shy Girls: …..
Diana: Come on, it needs to be better than Super Cute Boys. Hmmm. Do you know dangerous?
Least Shy Girl: *translates dangerous into Khmer*
Shy Girls: polite cheering and clapping
Diana: YEAH! DANGEROUS! *writes on board* *Turns around to see a boy raising his hand*
Other Smart Boy: *stands up* Teacher, we want to change our name.
Diana: HAHA Oh no! You wanted to be super cute boys! You will keep it! Mwahaha!

The Dangerous Girls were indeed victorious when they spectacularly broke the tie on the word “submarine”.

Good times.



Pitchaaaas!
1.      Titi, 12, and Leeny, 9.
2.      The sunset. I can’t believe I don’t have a better picture of the sunset. It is so gorgeous over the rice fields. This is just out my front door. You can see the big heavy gate that is locked every night. Don’t worry, I’ve only been locked out of it once.
3.      Me and my host mom. I think she is so beautiful! And my sister is peeking out from behind.
4.      Ehhh… host dad. No comment.
5.      Jimmy-15. Cooler than cool.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Critters, Part II






I forgot to mention a few essential insects in my last post. I will do that before I carry on to animals.

1.      Millipedes. Crazy big ones too. Longer and fatter than my fingers. I actually have a dead one in my room right now. It’s been there for a few days. It’s just proof that I need to sweep.
2.      Bees. There is actually a dead bee in my room too. I need to sweep.
3.      Fleas. Dogs have fleas. Just about every dog has fleas. Even my puppies that are like 3 weeks old have fleas. Poor things. Some volunteers actually have a problem with fleas in their bed. Luckily, I do not.
4.      Praying Mantis. My little brother was playing with one a few days ago. I told him I don’t like it, so of course he pretended to throw it at me.
There was also some kind of mystery crazy looking bug in the bathroom today. I don’t even know how to begin to describe it. It was scary, not gonna lie.

Okay, now on to animal critters. Which is really fitting because… there is something in my room. Right now. I can hear it scuffling, and then every time I shine a flashlight it stops moving and I can’t find it. So I tucked my mosquito net in extra tight, and I thought I could play a fun game of… What could be in my room??

Cambodia has:
1.      Cows. They are everywhere, and they are gentle and sweet. I don’t think there is a cow in my room.
2.      Goats. They are actually adorable, but skiddish. Petting a goat is hard lol. There is not a goat in my room.
3.      Monkeys. I have only seen one monkey so far. It was tied up at someones house in Kirivong. It was holding a puppy. I wish there was a monkey in my room.
4.      Elephants. I missed out on seeing the Elephant in Phnom Penh unfortunately, but I’m sure I will see another one at some point. Again, I wish there was an elephant in my room.
5.      Dogs. Most are psychotic. Dogs here are owned only for protection. They are not loved at all. So dogs will attack you just for walking past their territory. But it’s okay, I’m vaccinated for rabies. Some dogs, like my dog, WISH they could be like American dogs. He just wants to be loved, but he’s so dirty and full of fleas! And every time my mom catches the dog coming near me she scares it away. My mother would never allow there to be a dog in my room.
6.      Cats. So cute! Once I was in class at the Wat and a kitten came over to me, so I picked it up and put it on my lap. It slept on my lap for like 2 hours. I wish a cat was in my room.
7.      Lizards. There are two kinds of lizards here, but in general, lizards are harmless and they are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Whether or not a lizard is what is making noise, I do not know, but I’m sure there is at least one lizard in my room.
8.      Frogs. Tree frogs and regular frogs. The regular frogs are the ones they eat. A regular frog is the kind of frog that jumped into my naked lap last night while I was getting ready to relieve myself over the squat toilet. Not happy about that. I hope it’s not a frog in my room.
9.      Mice/Rats. I have only seen one rat. It was quite large! But I know they are around. It could very possibly be a mouse in my room.
10.  Snakes. I’ve seen one snake so far. I was at language class and all of a sudden my teacher’s family starts going crazy and beating the ground with sticks. Then they picked up the snake. It wasn’t a big one, but I’m sure there out there. And not in my room.
11.  Chickens/Roosters. I’m sure you can imagine how I feel about roosters in particular. If there is a rooster in my room, its gonna be dead in the morning.
12.  Ducks. There was a duck in my moms outdoor kitchen. Now there is not a duck. Where did the duck go? I do not know. But not in my room.
13.  Pigs. Yeah.
14.  Geese.
I’m done. If I forgot some I’ll write it in my next blog.

Today was the first day of practicum and my first time teaching a class of Cambodians. I think it went very well. Today I taught airport vocabulary. They did a listening activity with a dialogue I wrote. They answered questions in English. Then they did an activity where everyone could practice booking a flight, picking up their boarding pass, and them flying to a country they want to go to. They enjoyed it and I felt pretty comfortable in front of the class.

Picture descriptions:
First, a picture of my teacher, Siphen, beating tarantulas off her roof with a broom. Yeah she’s hardcore.
Second, a picture of my little sister, Titi, playing my ukulele. She does very well with it!
Third, a building at the Wat (pagoda). This is the building that we have ETTT (English Teaching and Teacher Training) classes every day.
Fourth… I don’t know what to call it. Buddha. This is inside another building at the Wat
Finally, another picture of the walls inside the wat. Similar to Italy, the walls are all painted and they are really quite beautiful!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Cambodian Critters, Part I






I forgot to mention a few more crucial details about my house.
1.      I have electricity that is pretty darn stable. And I am very happy about that.
2.      There is this awesome outdoor area with hammocks set up. On really hot days I like to go out there and study, although it’s very hard to not fall asleep.

Now on to the next topic of discussion. I talked a bit about my family. Then food. Then my house. How about critters in Cambodia? That’s an exciting topic.

We’ll start with bugs
1.      Mosquitoes. Hate em. Here there are daytime mosquitoes and night time ones. And both are bad. Daytime ones can carry dengue fever. Nighttime ones can carry Malaria. I do wear deet every day, but I still have bites especially all over my legs. I actually have an issue bathing. I can deal with bugs normally, but when I’m taking a bath, I get freaked out X 4636385. There’s something about being naked and vulnerable with a bug. I have the bites on my butt to prove it.
2.      Spiders. A lot of your normal every day spiders that you would see in your America. But then there are the giant spiders that I am not too fond of. They are about the size of my hand all stretched out. I like to tell people in Khmer that I am afraid of spiders because they just about drop to the floor laughing. No one is scared of spiders here.
3.      Ants. I think I might hate them as much as I hate mosquitoes. The ants here are magical. You can be sitting at the table eating, look to the left for 3 seconds, and then look back and all of sudden there are 30 ants eating your food. Where did they come from?? They also just crawl all over you. It’s amazing how ordinary it is to me now that a few times a day I feel that tickle on my arm which means that somehow an ant got on me and is now trying to battle through my arm hair.
4.      Fire ants get their own category. Fire ants SUCK! Probably about 3 or 4 times a week I find myself being attacked by fire ants. Just today I happened to park my bike near an army of some, and when I went back to get it, all of a sudden there were ants climbing into my sandals. Its kinda painful!
5.      Beetles. The size of my thumb and bigger. I don’t really like them, but I guess they cant hurt me.
6.      Stupid miniature green bugs. Also completely harmless, but just ANNOYING. These can get through my mosquito net and they just kind of bounce around everywhere. My notebooks are full of tiny green bug carcasses.
7.      Scorpions. I missed the scorpion because I was unfortunately late for class the day that it was sitting in our classroom. Supposedly my teacher stabbed it with her pen. She’s hardcore like that. I’m sure I will get to meet another scorpion soon enough.

Wow, that’s a lot of exciting bugs. I wanted to write about animals too, but I think I’ll save that for the next post. Critters part two.

Picture descriptions:
First is a picture of two friends riding with me on our way to language class.
Second is a picture of farmers working in the rice fields
Third is the classroom that I have language class in. This little grass room is at my teachers house.
Finally is a picture of a spider on the roof of that classroom. Before teacher Siphen attacked it with a broom.

Tomorrow is my day off, thank goodness! I'm going to get my laundry done and do some lesson planning! I think I mentioned before that next week I will be teaching in an 11th Cambodian classroom for 6 days. I met my co-teacher today. She is sweet but... She was trained to teach Khmer and not english, She teaches 8th grade english, not 11th, and... she doesn't speak English. So this should be challenging. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Shabba Ranks




First Picture: My beautiful room. Seriously, it’s beautiful. Nicer than my room back in America. Well, bigger, at least. Compared to other Trainees, I am lucky because: My walls are concrete (which I think means fewer critters), I have a LARGE bed, I have a real mattress!, I have open space, I have a full-length mirror, AND I have tiled floors. This is not normal, but I dig it!

Second picture:  The side road to get to my Khmer teachers house. A beautiful trek through the middle of rice paddies.

Third picture: My house. JK. But isn’t it beautiful?

I’ll use this blog to explain more about where I live. So I am in Tramkak District, as part of Takeo Province. It is a pretty busy place, and is located right on a main road, where the traffic is always CRAZY!
On this main road is a gem, known as the Tela. It’s a gas station with a store attached, similar to what you would find in America. There is AIR CONDITIONING in the Tela! You can also buy soda, asian cookies and candy, ICE CREAM, and toiletries. No, we don’t need this, but it’s awesome to have it! I actually have only bought a handful of things from the Tela, because I don’t want to get used to such luxury. Today I actually bought some corn ice cream. And it was exactly what it sounds like. Ice cream that tasted like corn and even had chunks of corn all up in it. The Tela is right in the middle of Tramkak, and about 1 mile from my house. The market is also near the Tela. The market is a big, busy, sometimes frightening place where you can get everything from fruits and vegetables, to half dead chickens and fish, to cell phones, to plastic hampers and buckets, to handmade clothes, to toiletries, to toys, to jewelry, etc.
Yeah, now my house. My family is not a farming family. My dad works in the office of a police station in Takeo and my mom is a hardworking housewife. So my property is gated in (and locked up every night). But my neighbors are farmers, so I’m still surrounded by rice paddies. My house is concrete, as I mentioned earlier. It is one story, and well taken care of. There is a main living room area where I do a lot of studying. There are two main bedrooms. The bigger one is mine, and the smaller one my 4, and sometimes 5 siblings sleep in (yes I feel awful about this). Then there is a tiny kitchen-like area, which is connected to a bathroom as well as a dining-type area. The dining room is also where my mom and dad sleep behind a curtain. We also have an outside bathroom. There is no running water, so flushing is done by dumping buckets of water. The inside bathroom has a western style toilet, which probably makes life easier for males, but I actually prefer the squat toilet in the outside bathroom. I also like the increased privacy that comes with the outside bathroom. Both bathrooms have a tub of water that is constantly filled, and a bucket next to it used to flush the toilet and to shower.
That’s pretty much it. Except for the open garage type area. My dad has a car, so he parks it here. I also park my bike there, but my mother takes my bike inside every night because she doesn’t want to risk it getting stolen. This is also where the 2 week old puppies are.

And before I wrap it up, I’ll give you two short stories.

I was straightening up my room and trying to organize my room, so of course my little brother and sister want to come in and watch. In my trunk was a stack of blank letters and envelopes that my friends at home gave to me to write letters. My brother asked what it was, so I told him (luckily I had already learned Post Office vocabulary!). So he picked one up and pretended to write the following letter:
Ma,
My name is Leeny. This is an apple.
Hahahah maybe you had to be there? But I thought it was hilarious. I really think those are the only two sentences he can say in English.

Ever heard of Engrish fashion? Engrish fashion exists all over Cambodia. An article of clothing is Engirsh when it says words with the English alphabet that don’t make sense together. Or sometimes, it can be a shirt that DOES make sense, but says something awfully offensive. The wearer often has no idea what their shirt is saying. One day a few friends and I went to the market to buy some Engrish shirts. We found some cute ones. For example, we found “you want to smiling” and “you will like me, have a nice day”. We found one that was like “true love.. something something… rabbit?” and we found mine. My shirt says “Someone Perfect love. Bob Sinclair love you. Private property keep. Out unless you have really big boobs. Shabba Ranks.”
HAHAHAH what? I wore this shirt last Sunday on our trip to Kirivong. It’s a good shirt.

Overall things are good. We're approaching one complete month here in Cambodia. Still have a cold, but I’m optimistic is will be over soon.

Over and out. Shabba ranks.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Stuffy Nose and Stuffed Frog



Yes, it really does take 15 minutes to upload one photo. So I am uploading a photo while I write a short post in Word.

Today was our day off and we actually went somewhere. Well, we went to Kirivong, which is another training village, to see the other trainees and to see this mountain they were all bragging about.
Well the mountain was pretty cool. It was hard-core, scorching hot, steep, and through the jungle. Then at the top there was the remains of an ancient temple, a beautiful view of the green rice fields, and a glimpse at the Vietnam border.
And on the way down, the sky had a gift for us—rain! This felt great but made the trail realllly slippery. But we made it alive and mostly all in one piece.
As exciting as the trip to Kirivong was, I didn’t get a chance to do my laundry or to study Khmer. Bad bad bad.
And I probably made my cold that much worse. I hate having a cold here.

My favorite thing about my family is how close they all are and how hard they are always laughing with each other. Except when theres drama lol. I don’t really know whats going on. According to my younger siblings, my older sister is angry at my older brother. According to my mom, my sister is sick. According to my mom, I’m sick (lol). I also think I might have offended my mom because she didn’t want me to help with the dishes tonight but I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ah well.

I found a large dead millipede in my room today.
I have had frog for almost every meal in the last week. Enough is enough.
I denied my first Khmer food today. My mom tried to feed my duck fetus. No thank you.
My family loves peanut butter. As do I.
Khmer people make the best Iced Coffee ever.
Khmer people love American wrestling. I’m not sure if they know it is fake.
My youngest brother dropped my camera today. He felt so bad that he wanted me to hit him with a comb ten times. What? No way.

Picture descriptions:
First is the view from the Guest House we stayed in for a few days before we moved in with our host family. I’d say it’s a typical provincial street. Across the street is the place I had breakfast a few times.
Second is a great picture of me and my host family! Just kidding. My and some cows/water buffalo. I don’t know what exactly they are. But they rock.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

3 weeks down. about 112 to go! haha


I bought a USB internet modem, so I have internet at my site now. It works just fine for internet, but I haven’t quite figured out skype yet. I’m usually on every morning around 6, 7, 9, or 10, and every evening around 8. I’m certainly not going to use internet that often, so don’t get used to that. I just wanna get this darn thing figured out. So hop online at those times (those are the American times) if you wanna help me.

Okay, so Peace Corps… Cambodia… we are just completing week three. Which also means that this is the longest I’ve ever been away from home. I’m feeling okay about it. But I just always wanna call or be called or just somehow be in touch with people back home.

Host family is good. Great even. There is never a dull moment at my house.

Like the time when my family was teasing Leeny and saying he wasn’t their son, and they told him to pack his clothes in a bag and go (sounds awful, but it was hilarious).

Or the time where I took out my laptop and had a dance party with my younger siblings. Turns out they love Aretha Franklin, but hate Wagner.

The food is good still. Though I am finally kinda starting to get sick of it. I just want some variety! But there really is none.

I’ve eaten frog 3 times for dinner now.

2 days ago, my dad made French fries for me. Amazing. Then yesterday he brought home a can of Heineken from Vietnam for us to share. If I could speak Khmer, I would know WHY he went to Vietnam for one day.

A typical Khmer meal at my house usually consists of
1.      4 or 5 heaping scoops of rice.
2.      Fried vegetables with chicken, pork, beef, frog, crab, fish, or squid
3.      Soup with vegetables and any of the meats listed above (except frog… I think).
Parts 2 and 3 of the meal are in bowls in the center of the table. You take one or two spoon-fulls of each and you put it on your rice. Bon apetit.

Training is going fairly well. The language is tough because the sounds are so foreign and the grammar is so hard to figure out. But I am improving slowly. It’s hard to imagine a time where I’ll be able to listen to a native speaker and know what they are saying, but I hope that day comes soon.

My friends from college will find it hilarious that not only am I writing lesson plans, but I also have to make a portfolio during Pre Service Training. I am so happy about it…

We had our first “peer teaching” assignment this week on a topic of our choice. So I chose to teach the basics of harmony and chords, and have my “students” sing a I IV I V I IV V I chord progression lol.

Our next peer teaching assignment is on Monday. I have to teach about adjectives and adjective clauses, so I am in the process of writing a lesson plan for that.

In a lot of ways I am assimilating into the culture.
I actually prefer squat toilets over most of the western toilets they have here.
I thoroughly enjoy my bucket bath every day.
I can go to the market on my own and buy things without getting TOO overwhelmed.
My skin is tanning, as pointed out by my older sister lol. She just looked at me and said “you are black. You are more black than yesterday).
I showered with a frog. Whatever.
I can watch awful korean TV shows with Khmer voice-overs without being rude and lol-ing.
I pray for rain.

In other ways I am not at all.
Almost every night I dream about America. And I am so confused when I wake up.
I want chocolate. and candy. and junk food. and pizza. and cereal!
speaking of cereal, i just dont think i will ever get used to having fish soup for breakfast.
i am still culture shocked about coining.
i want to love on the dogs so much and it kills me that they are covered in fleas

Of course I could go on and on forever. It’s only been 3 weeks, but I have a million stories already and a million and one things I have learned. But I’ll just give you this for now. And how about a few more pictures?



omg this dumb picture took 20 minutes to upload. so you only get one picture this time. Its just a street full of motos, as usual, taken from my bus seat from Phnom Penh to Takeo 2 weeks ago. Notice the long sleeve dress shirts on everyone. too hot!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Character Descriptions- My Host Family

I am paying 1,500 riel at an internet cafe right now. I knew how to ask how much, but I don't know how to ask for how long in Khmer. So I am just going to assume I have an hour.
1,500 riel may sound like a lot but in reality that is about 38 cents. But on a volunteers "salary" this stuff adds up fast.

Ok, so TRAINING IN CAMBODIA! I can't believe I've only been living with my family for 5 days. It feels like so much longer. In a good way. I LOVE my host family very much. They are all such interesting people and are such characters in their own unique ways. I will give you the brief rundown.

There is my father. I think his name is Samsan? For those of you who went to Italy with me, the best way I can describe him is like a Khmer Roberto. He is creepy, but in a harmless way. He even does the derpo walk. He works as a police officer in the province of Tramkak. He makes a good living and provides very well for his family. They even have a car and television! and electriciy! But no running water. But no one really has running water here.

My mother is like the most amazing person in the world. She somewhat reminds me of my own mother just with her work ethic, but her work is very different. My host mom is a housewife caring for 5 children (though one lives in Phnom Penh).  Her cooking is phenomenal. I haven't had a meal that I didnt like yet! She thinks I am lying that I say everything is delicious, but I'm really not! She is up at like 5:30 every morning cleaning and just continues to do so all day. She helped me do my laundry for the first time yesterday. And when I say "helped" I mean that she really did most of it. Then, sneaky sneaky, when I was at class, she took down my clothes from the line and folded them for me. I have to try to tell her not to do that anymore. She does too much for me.

I have an older sister, Marady, who is 24 and went to college. She studied some english so I am able to talk to her a little bit. She works in the market for a cell phone company, but she is home most every night. We get along great and I know we are going to be great friends. Every night she helps me study Khmer, and she helps me communicate with my mom and dad. I joke around with her a lot and she always asks me "are you crazy???" haha.

As I said before I have an older brother who lives in Phnom Penh, but I haven't met him yet.

I have a younger brother named Jimmy who is 15. It is taking some time for him to warm up to me. I couldnt tell if he wasnt talking to me because hes a teenager and hes too cool or because of the different gender norms in cambodia. i think it is a little bit of both. But now he at least sits with us when I play/study with my other brothers and sisters. How could he not? I am a very entertaining foreigner.

I have a younger sister named Teetee who is 12. She is so cute and so funny. I cannot really talk to her much because of the language barrier, but we make faces at each other a lot. And I can always tell when she is making fun of me. Like when she felt my stubbly legs and then started laughing and speaking in rapid Khmer.

I have a younger brother, Leeny, who is 9 and.. well quite the character. I think he is the pudgiest (sp?) little boy in all Cambodia (a fact that his family is very proud of). But he LOVES spending time with me. He is always following me around and helping me out. He likes playing with my bicycle lock so he never lets me do that. He also likes to practice my Khmer pronunciation with me, and he likes to pretend he is a big spider because I told him I am scared of them.

And thats it. except the dog. who is really cute, but covered in fleas.

Training is going very well. I have the best teacher in all of Tramkak. She actually lives in this district so we go to her beautiful house to have our Khmer lessons. Just the ride to her house through the rice fields is the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen. She does a homestay. If you're interested in seeing some pictures of her compound, go to her website: http://www.cambodianhomestay.com/

Okay, I should really stop writing now, though i have so much to tell. Maybe I will stop by the internet cafe next week again.

Goodbye, call me, text me <3