My Learning Jungle!

Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Day off

As I mentioned in the last post I luckily got Wednesday off as it was a Holiday. So Tuesday night after work Becky, a teacher from the Kindergarten invited me out with her and some of the other ladies from their school. It was so nice to get out and about and meet some more people. We went to a place called showbox which serves free beer for not even a cover charge...when does that ever happen back home!! This was a popular hang out for many other foreigners so we met some of them. After some casual drinks we headed to dinner and then back home. I get on really well with all the girls and already we mentioned some minor travel plans which I am so excited about!
The next day the ladies from the front office took me out to do some sight seeing. They picked me up in a tuk tuk and catered to me all day which I couldn't be more appreciative of!! On the drive from my house to lunch I experienced eating a lotus fruit which is this crazy green bulb on a stick and you have to dig into it and pull out these round seeds which you then skin in order to eat the pod inside. It was fairly tasteless but still good, kind of like a pod of peas that are not quite ready yet. Next they took me to lunch, such a nice gesture but after my food came out with a hair in it I couldn't stomach eating much. It was just so nice getting to sit with them and have time learning about their busy lives, I don't know how they do it, they put me to shame!! As we were all tired we skipped the Royal Palace and instead took a quite tour of the museum. I was unable to snap any pictures inside (one of the rules) but we did manage a selfie out front of the building!

Sophea's daughter Julie holding the Lotus fruit

the pods you dig out then peel to eat

selfie of course

front doors to museum

panoramic shot of museum

First Week Teaching

Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the long overdue post, last week was incredibly hectic being the first week of school. I originally started out with 16 students but that has now changed to 19 and I am sure as time continues I will get more. The entire week of teaching was incredibly challenging as I was learning the levels of the students and the cultural differences within the school system. Since then I have grown accustomed to those changes and am finding teaching to be a lot less stressful (although still mildly chaotic!). The greatest challenge of all is the range of my students, those who came from the Learning Jungle Kindergarten are very fluent in oral English however there are some that know little to none. I am practically teaching three separate classes in order to accommodate each level of needs, those who speak not a word of english, those who speak it but are not able to work without constant assistance, and those who sore through every possible task. Also as per Cambodian culture parents start their children in school a lot sooner so many of my students are four or five years old with very little attention spans, so lots of brain breaks and songs have come in handy. To spare you most of the boring details here is a quick recap of week one teaching....
Day one: Somewhat chaotic but seems to be going well until a child projectile vomits in the classroom leaving the others screaming bloody mary.....
Day two: a new student arrives, speaks no English and he is a runner and likes to take off out the door whenever he sees fit....
Day three: a Holiday (part the clouds and key the rays of sun as my saving grace!)
Day four: in comes the behaviour chart and things begin to calm down as students realize I mean business. The runner obviously does not understand this and continues to disappear.
Day five: the filming of our school commercial..... I'll go into detail on this one

Well the whole idea of filming was interesting for the kids for all of ten minutes and then the majority of students lost interest. I had pulled out every tactic I had to keep their attention but that just wasn't enough. So instead they resorted to only selecting some of the kids for each scene while the other kids had to be corralled elsewhere so as not to disrupt production. We filmed in the classroom, and on the field, the computer room, and music room, AND then the dreaded pool where I had to then pretend to teach students to swim..... considering I almost drowned at a young age while in a swimming class I was in no shape to teach these kids how to swim! The minute the kids got in the poor I regretted agreeing to this deed as the kids whipped water in my face temporarily blinding me as I searched for my contact, then as i bent over to check my eye they decided I would be the perfect jungle gym. It should be interesting to see the film footage thats for sure.

Day one I had prepared a bunch of homemade play dough for the kids. I had added food colouring to the centre and before playing with it we read... Magic Play Dough oh so white, I make this wish with all my might, that if another colour does appear, we are sure to have a great school year!

The kids then used the play dough to spell their names and practice the alphabet

Dawin

Casey

Brian didn't like the feel of the dough

Julie is Sophea's daughter, Sophea works in the front office

Veda

Virak, his mom works at the kindergarten school

Sawa, she is from Japan and does not speak Khmer

Our new behaviour chart...saved my life

our beautiful calendar area

kids swimming....thankfully not with me

Angerla, what a sweetie

Sawa's turn

Look at her go

Having fun

Friday, 2 January 2015

Third Time's the Charm

So Sunday when Alex and I were exploring I was battling a bit of a sore throat. When we got back to my apartment I had some chills so thought it was a combination of my soar throat and being out in the sun. I went to bed nice and early hoping to nip it in the butt while Alex met up with some friends in town for a drink. In the middle of the night I woke up really not feeling well. I had to work Monday so I managed to get ready and make it to the school only for things to get worse and I had to be brought home around noon. Poor Alex had to deal with me running to the bathroom every twenty minutes or so and by the end of the day I had even thrown up the little I had to eat. Being optimistic I thought maybe it was a 24 hour thing and so I let it take its course. Tuesday Alex left to go meet back up with Sam and Evan in Siem Reap, something I had hoped to accompany them for but was still not able to manage a bus ride with no toilet, although I was feeling better than the day before. All day Tuesday I laid low and by Wednesday I wasn't 100% but I felt significantly better and tried eating some soup. It was also New Years Eve but I decided to stay put and get some more rest if I wanted to be ready for school on the 5th. Well again that night I became violently ill and so by Thursday I had been convinced by my parents, my cleaning lady, and my employer that it was about time I saw a doctor. I called Simon up, my trustee tuk tuk driver, and he took me to the hospital. I was expecting a chaotic mess of a hospital and instead I got a five star hotel with comfy lobby chairs and pleasant uniformed nurses. I saw a doctor shortly after arriving and was told that he feared I had caught Ecoli (should have known better since I've had it more times than necessary!). They hooked me up to an IV, took my blood (among other samples I will not mention), and gave me antibiotics. Sure enough results came back and its Ecoli. Five hours later...with my tuk tuk driver still waiting outside for me (he's so nice) I was released with a baggy of medication, a strict five day regiment, and a hole in my wallet. Today is Friday and I have finally been able to eat solid food since last eating on Sunday and I am feeling much better although anxious because school starts in two days and I am NOT prepared.

So slightly overdue Happy New Year everyone, and here's wishing good health for the rest of the year!

Hospital lobby

Check in desk

Hospital lobby waiting area (like a hotel!)

A Visitor!

So Saturday night after the staff party a visitor showed up!! Alex Brocklebeaner!! aka my friend Alex Brocklebank. We went to Uvic together and met while living in the same dorms first year and have remained close ever since. He began travelling South East Asia at the beginning of November with some of our other friends Sam and Evan and so when I found out I was going to be teaching here in Cambodia I had told him he better come and visit and he did! He was taking a bus down from Laos while Sam and Evan were planning on hitting the 4000 islands which he decided to skip. The bus was scheduled to be in town at around 7-8pm which was perfect because my staff party ended at 8. So I got home all excited for his arrival and I waited....and waited...and waited. Finally I went to bed. At around 11:30pm there was a knock at the door and he was here! Apparently his bus broke down 4 times! Finally they had to call in a new bus to get them here. As it was late we didn't get time to visit and went to bed instead. In the morning I got to hear all about his travels. They started in Thailand then went south before heading up to Northern Laos to make there way back down and into Cambodia. It sounded amazing from their hikes to swimming with sharks (the little none threatening kind) and made me even more excited to be here too! So we started our day by checking out the cafes close to my house since I really haven't even had a chance to do that yet (only been here a week at this point). We found a westernized cafe with some yummy food and some not so yummy westernized prices but it was worth it. Next we went back to my place and had my security guard outside my building call us a tuk tuk. Simon our tuk tuk driver (someone I've met before because he's Jamrods, the security guards, friend) drove us to the Central Market. As it states in wikipedia, this huge twelve story building was built in 1935 in the shape of a dome with four arms branching out into vast hallways with countless stalls of goods. Initial design and layouts are from French architect Louis Chauchon. When it first opened in 1937, it was said to be the biggest market in Asia; today it still operates as a market. From 2009 to 2011, it underwent a US$4.2 million renovation funded by the French Development Agency. Before 1935, the area was a lake that received runoff during the rainy season. The lake was drained and construction began in 1935. Since its completion in 1937, wet season flooding around the market has remained a problem and is vestigial evidence of the old lake. The entrance to the market is lined with souvenir merchants hawking everything from T-shirts and postcards to silver curios and kramas. Inside is a dazzling display of jewels and gold. Electronic goods, stationery, secondhand clothes and flowers are also sold.
We did not spend much time inside as the vendors all sell very similar things none of which we were really interested in buying so we walked around, Alex bought a new portable speaker for when he's traveling and then we decided to head to our next destination, the river front. We had to find another tuk tuk driver which was fairly easy as there were tons milling about outside and then we were off to the races. The River front is very modernized and touristy with plenty of little cafes and restaurants to sit and relax. We had our tuk tuk driver pull over in front of this really cool building that we wanted to explore. Turned out it was the Wat Ounalom, a Monastery Temple. As the seat of Cambodia's Mohanikay order, it is the most important way of Phnom Penh, and the centre of Cambodian Buddhism. It was established in 1443 and consists of 44 structures. It was damaged during Khmer Rouge but has since been restored. The main complex houses a stupa that contains what is believed to be an eyebrow hair of Buddha. It was absolutely gorgeous with all its gold trimmings and peeked food tops. Definitely the type of architectural uniqueness you'd expect in Asia. Walking around the Temple didn't take long but the heat was excruciating so we took cover in a cafe so Alex could have his first Cambodian beer (I had my first last night at the staff party...and my second and third). After an energizing break in the air-conditioned cafe we made our way down the river front boardwalk to the Royal Palace, only to find out it didn't open until 2pm, so we took solace in a Dairy Queen where we got some nice cold smoothies and waited out our time, away from the heat. At 2pm we joined the crowd making its way into the palace gates only to be turned away because we were not dressed properly in shorts and t-shirts (should have expected this as I knew shoulders and knees needed to be covered...wasnt thinking clearly I guess). So instead we tuk tuk-ed home for a relaxing evening resting after our busy day exploring.

Alex and I in the tuk tuk (Alex has not shaven since traveling...its why he looks homeless)

Simon our driver!

Inside the Central Market

Some of the vendors (sorry must have moved the camera)

As my sister would say...but first let me take a selfie!

Outside the Central Market

A prayer spot (I think)

Wat Ounalom (Monastery Temple) in all its glory from outside the gates

One of the many structures inside the gates

Elephant in the garden

Another structure (I think this one is the one presumed to hold Buddha's eyebrow hair since there was a crazy statues inside...picture to come further down)