Cambodia_BPF

Cambodia is so cool. Phnom Penh is actually different than I expected, it kind of reminds me of Mexico City. With more mopeds. So far, the food has been pretty awesome (as Sam would say.) At the buffet a few days ago, we even found a whole little duck head cooked just in the pile with the rest of the food. It was a little smaller than the ones at Shy Pond though. We also learned at that buffet (and at breakfast every morning) that Cambodians don't really like to wait in line. They kind of just go. Which is bad for me, because we eat breakfast at like 6:10 am and I'm not really awake.

But my favorite is the village. Riding the ferry and the mopeds there is really fun, and it's so cool to see how everything works at the orphanage/school/church. Seeing and playing with all the kids, knowing that this is probably their favorite time of the year, is really amazing. Just like in Kenya, it's especially cool to see the orphans meet their sponsors. The kids love it, but also seeing the way the members of our team who are getting to meet or see again the kids they sponsor is really beautiful.

We've been doing teacher training in the afternoons. Yesterday we kind of just asked them questions, trying to figure out what their school is like. Today we focused on multiple intelligences and classroom management. It was harder than I thought it would be, even though we tried to think around everything and change things to explain them better through the language barrier. Luckily, our translator is really great. He sometimes goes off talking for a long time, but I'm pretty sure the teachers are getting it so that's good. It's definitely putting my complaining about school in perspective.

Tonight and last night we ate dinner at the Cambodian Galleria. The pizza was really good, and the gelato was even better. We're going to try to stay up until midnight for New Year's, but I'm doubting anything will make it (except Tamara who never sleeps. I'm pretty sure she's a vampire.) Good night!!

Amy

PS I'm putting up some pictures from the ferry from my iphone. It's pretty awesome to have wireless in the hotel lobby, but it makes me feel pretty spoiled. The picture at the top is me and Haleigh, and the next one is Sam doing a news report from the ferry.