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!