Happy Families

Happy families

Month 5 has been a very HAPPY month. It started off with the three polish and I venturing off to Phnom Penh for 10 days. As I have said many times, my job is to ensure 800 registered students, that we have sponsors for, stay in school. However, due to neglect of the admin files it is unsure how many students are actually in school. This is obviously a huge issue. So the polish and I, for the last two weeks of April worked relentlessly to figure out a way to find out this information. It seems easy but TRUST ME it is one of the most frustrating and difficult things I have ever had to do. Being and admin in a third world country is like a farmer trying to be a stock broker. The way the information about the students was gathered previously was that the admin’s would simply call volunteer teachers in the school to get information and pictures of the students. However, as they haven’t been contacted for over a year some have quit and some have changed their number. For these we have no choice but to go and visit the school.

Our task

1. Go to Phnom Penh

2. Travel to the provinces where the schools are

3. Explain to the volunteer teachers what we need from them now and in the future

4. Take photos of the students in the school and make note of which ones are in the school

5. Take a note of why some students have stopped going to school

Our challenge

1. None of us speak Khmer

Right so clearly, our task was going to be almost impossible as we can not speak Khmer. The volunteer teachers that I met before when I visited some schools definitely didn’t speak English so, it was up to us to figure out a way to solve this problem. Then I had an idea, we don’t actually have to speak a word of Khmer to the teacher except probably, “Chom Reap Sour” which means, “Glad to meet you”. As long as they can read, all we have to do is write what we need from them in Khmer. So with the help of my beloved Sokkheng we managed to make sheets of instructions of explanations for the teachers in Khmer. Then we were off.

On the whole it went pretty smoothly, I slept a lot in the car during the long journeys into the rural areas, enjoyed traditional khmer meals and was blessed by the warm hearts of all the children and teachers we visited. This is my faviourte part of the job, actually seeing the children I spend hours on the computer for, in real life. I also got to enjoy the company of the Phnom Penh community who are always so sweet and funny. HAPPY.

The three polish and I also gave in to a few cheeky luxuries, for example during the weekend we ventured out into Phnom Penh city. Ola and Lucash went shopping for their wedding me so Wiktor and I enjoyed a bit of site seeing. Then Lucash met us later and we indulged ourselves in mountains of Khmer food and beer while sat next to the huge statue of the King. Lucash also brought the topic of politics up seeing as it was Karl Marx’s 200th birthday. HAPPY. We also bonded on the fact that we are both dyslexic. The next day Lucash Ola and I went to the cinema. WHAT! I know, the idea of going to the cinema was almost too much for me that when the credits came up I genuinely felt a little emotional. On Wednesday Lucash also got his results on whether he had passed his law exam. Turns out he got 100% on two of his papers, so this resulted in snacks, music and shots with their portable shot glass all night. Ola also told me her very funny fat story. HAPPY!

On the 12th of May I was asked to travel to Kep to visit Martin my country representative and the rest of the volunteers for a BBQ. It was a long journey seeing as I had to return to Phnom Penh the next day but honestly it was so worth it. Swimming in his swimming pool, pretending to be an Olympic water polo champion with Maryam, admiring Joe’s new back tattoo, working in a team with Tom to convince everyone that it is easy to be HAPPIER than sad and stuffing my face with the best BBQ food I have ever had. Thank you Martin.

The next day I travelled back to Phnom Penh because I was about to meet my big sister and my mum who had flown all the way out to see me. How lucky am I that I have family that are willing to travel across the whole world just to see me. My plan was to go up early, get in the taxi pick up that the hotel had arranged for them and surprise them in the car… but Cambodia being Cambodia the bus journey took 7hrs instead of 4 and I still needed to pick my bag up from Don Bosco Phnom Penh so in the end I just went straight to the hotel, had a glass of wine and chit chatted with the English bar tender trying to calm my nerves. Then at 10pm my sister and my mum arrived and I tell you now it was a HAPPY moment. Lots of hugs and, “oh my gosh you look so grown up” from my mum and few back handed insults from my sister… it felt good to be the youngest again. We enjoyed some pringles and more wine by the pool side before heading up to see all the luxuries they had brought me, one being Cadbury’s Chocolate and lots of it. HAPPY HAPPY!

The next day we headed out early as I needed to do a little work at Don Bosco Phnom Penh and they wanted to see the school and meet the community there. I felt so weirdly proud even though it wasn’t my actual project. Then we went back to the hotel. The next day we did some site seeing in Phnom Penh before travelling up to Siem Reap my favourite city here. I was excited because going back to siem reap meant going back to that amazing restaurant oh and it meant I was able to do Angkor Wat of course. I was ready to finally rid myself of the bullying from the community for not having made it to Angkor Wat the first time. When we arrived a tuk tuk was waiting for us it was the taxi man from the hotel’s cousin one smile and we all fell in love with him. His name is Sambath. Little did we know he would shape our entire holiday in Siem Reap. He took us to our hotel and explained which temples we would see for the next three days. We signed up for seeing Angkor Wat at sunrise which meant a 4 am start Ouch!

That evening I showed Romina and mum to my favrioute restaurant which was right round the corner from our hotel… yes I booked the hotel.. and yes I made sure that it was near the restaurant. With a skip in my step we entered and with a grin I said hello to my favourite people in Siem Reap the owner recognised me at once and I greeted him with a, “see I told you I would come back”. It was magical. Then we ordered and my family as I knew they would, fell in love with this restaurant too. We ended up going there at least once a day for the next 8 days. HAPPY.

So ANGKOR WAT. We were picked up at 4:30am, ate our pastries that I bought the day before on the tuk tuk and had a little nap before reaching the long awaited temple. The sky was already starting to brighten and I pointed it out to Romina who was worried that the clouds would cover the sun meaning no sun rise. (She came to Cambodia last year, did the same 4 am start and the clouds covered the sun – gutting). We joined the rest of the tourists sitting outside the temple across the lake and waited patiently for the sun. I thought it would be a peaceful calming wait but one should not be so naive as to hope for that when surrounded by hundreds of tourist, so instead I listened to the conversations of people next to me and swatted away mosquitos. The sky was cloudy and Romina was getting annoyed we were just about to give up and go inside when suddenly the sun came out! It was amazing. Patience really is a virtue. Then we went inside and explored its wonders. By 7:30 we were shattered and dripping with sweat so sat on some red chairs and drank a cool drink trying to still take it all in. One last look and then we decided to head out. Thank you Angkor Wat it was nice. HAPPY.

After that we explored two more temples one of which had massive Buddha heads literally covering it and the other had a long bridge leading up to it surrounded by plush vegetation. So cool, it felt like constantly being in a studio glibly film where ancient statues have rubbled with age within the undergrowth but will soon lead you to a world full of spirits. If you don’t understand what I’m getting at, watch the first 20 minutes of Spirited Away.

Unfortunately due to the 4 am start we were too tired to do anymore temples that day and my stomach was rumbling as the pastry didn’t quite cut my ever growing appetite out here. So, we had lunch before heading back.

The next day we had more of an appropriate start. 9 am so breakfast round the corner consisting of pancakes, ice coffee, ice tea and fruit before heading out to do more temples. This day we managed a mighty 5 temples ranging from tiny little ones to the large famous ones. I basically lived Mr Morrice’s dream of seeing Tomb Raider which made me feel pretty HAPPY.

The next day we did another number of temples and made a trek through the jungle to a water fall and were just about to head back to our hotel when I noticed that Sambath our tuk tuk driver had a little poster next to his motor bike which said, “wayfaring school” curious I asked him whether we could visit the school, I have never seen a mans face light up in such a way. With a rush he blurted out all about this school telling me he and his wife were volunteer teachers there and that he was so honored I wanted to visit the school. When mum came over and agreed that we could visit the school he literally hugged her full on two arms around with a big squeeze. There was no holding back with that hug and my heart melted to see him so HAPPY. So with that he trundled off to see his school which was a way out into the rural parts of Siem reap. When we arrived my mum explained that I was a teacher in Siem Reap and Romina had worked in a nursery for two years and with that we were signed up for teaching this school. So we spent the rest of the day teacher head shoulders knees and toes.

By this time it was late and dark so Sambath offered us to stay with the family who lived next to the school. Of course we agreed so we helped make a traditional Khmer meal with a family we had just met and no language to be shared only smiles and giggles as we caught each other’s eyes. I must say that night’s sleep wasn’t the best. Three on one mattress and as many bugs as you could imagine in one place lead to a rather cranky Romina and I myself let a few swear words out. The next day we explored the little village we had landed ourselves in and I fell asleep on a wooden hut overlooking a lily pond lake. We said hello to the children again before heading back to our hotel room and essentially falling asleep.

The next morning we lounged by the pool before meeting Sambath. We wanted to go to the market with him and get some school books for the students at his school, so we did and then he told us that the owner of the school, “G” from Australia who we had met before wanted us to come and visit his temple. G had previously been a monk for 30 years in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia yet he is the most normal funny down to earth westerner I have ever met. He took us round his temple and we were blessed by baby monks. Then we spoke about material possessions and how attachment to things leads to misery. If you continue to let the bad thoughts and angry thoughts into your head you won’t have room for the good and HAPPY thoughts. So we need to work on the things that truly make us happy and reduce the negativity. Let us aim for 0 suffering.

The next day we went to watch a circus performance which was the most nerve wrecking but amazing performance I have ever watched.

Then it was time to leave Siem Reap we said our sad goodbyes to our favourite restaurant family and headed to the airport to go to Sihanoukville. I didn’t have my passport because its been sent off for Visa renewal my mum and Romina had to get a separate plane from me which was quite strange. When we arrived we headed to Don Bosco as I had asked if my family could have a meal with the community.

The next day I was back at work and this is roughly how the next week went. I was go to work in the day and then as soon as I had finished I would make my way down to my mum and Romina’s hotel and we would go out somewhere in Sihanoukville for a meal. It basically consisted of my sister and I messing around, laughing till our bellies were sore and my mum being embarrassed. I had two weekends with them before they left. The first we went to Koh Rong Sanloem island which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We climbed through the jungle to find paradise beaches with ocean swings and swam in the clearest of waters. It was… I just can’t possibly describe how lush it was. HAPPY.

The next weekend we went to Ream National park the weather was not so good which meant we couldn’t go out much but we were still within the jungle in a little tree house so we played cards listened to music and watched the rain. Then with a flash they got on a plane and went back to England.

See you at the end of June.

Work. So my time here is coming to an end and so much work still needs to be done. While my mum was here being the wonderful woman she is, she helped me get the Kindergarten admin basically sorted but the rest is piling up. Little stressful.

Anyway. That is May. With my Happy Family.