was back from Cambodia yesterday
it was really an awesome and meaningful trip
we started the trip with an R&R
siem reap was really very warm
we stayed in a hotel that cost 10USD per night
the good thing about the hotel was that it was within walking distance to the night markets and restaurants and pubs
so for the first 3 nights we went to the night market and pubs
the drinks there are cheap
drank jaggerbomb on the first night and couldn't sleep!=x
even went for a full body massage that cost only 5USD!
we went to angkor wat on the second day
it was really magnificient
but the steps were super steep and climbing down was really scary
on the third day we went to a very poor village to give out porridge to the children
the living condition was really very bad
worse than the dharavi slum in india cos the houses were not even concretised
then some children don't even have clothes
the children even take away porridge for their parents or for them to eat during the rest of the week because porridge is given out only once a week
however these children are really caring, especially the older children towards their younger siblings
they feed them first and transfer all the good food to their sibling's plate
initially i didn't know what to do. like how to communicate with the children etc.
after a while, can't remember why but somehow just started interacting with the kids such as through gestures and posing for photos and high 5.
on the 4th day, we took a 6hour bus ride to phnom penh
slept during the journey
we reached unacas at night
had a really nice dinner cooked by the maks
then we interacted with the kids
it was really dark so couldn't even really make out the faces of the people i was talking to
then we walked back to the church in the dark
while the girls were unpacking our stuff in the girls' room, a cat ran in and alot of people screamed
but hui san calmly picked up the cat and brought it outside
haha it was super cool
the toilet was scary
full of beetles, flies, frogs and other icky stuff
then the place was super warm and we slept outside the sleeping bag
after that i couldn't remember what happened on which day
i remembered though that all of us grew used to the cats
we no longer scream and avoid the cats and we even carry it
then i was no longer scared of beetles and i can now just calmly flick them away from my shirt
some of the touching things i remembered from the orphanage are
1) Pheakdey said he love me, one night when we said goodbye.
2) David asked me to be his sister.
3) Sokkeng helped me clean my arm with a piece of wet tissue
4) Tola sat behind me on the bicycle and sang ABC for me
5) Narith and Narioth and Pheakdey gave me lotus flowers which they plucked from the lotus pond. and the girls helped me fold them into roses
6) Narioth drew a (too) beautiful potrait of me
7) The village kids made rings for all of us (using leaf)
8) Malysa gave me a friendship band and plucked flower to put in my hair and also helped me tie plaits
9) Pheakdey showered me with lots of stuff and a folded heart with I love you=)
10) David and i got our matching sun Henna
11) Kia gave me a head wreath made of leaves and branches
12) Tikco learnt how to spell butterfly and did well in his spelling
13) Pheakdey emo on the day i left and tried to cry secretly (but i discovered)
many many more things too
i really will miss all the kids
and the food there ( yummy home cooked meals)
other memorable things are
1) pushing the truck for 3km under the sweltering sun when it broke down on our way to village. it was real tiring as we had only 10 people and the weather was really warm. but we made it there with the help of the villagers and the village children. friendly and sweet people=)
2) the first time i carried logs, dug holes and laid bricks for building fences
3) blew "leaf trumpet" with the village kids
4) conducting an english lesson with beetles and flies flying all around and landing on me. a fly(or beetle?) even flew into my mouth!!! grossss
5) eating red flowers that the kids plucked for me and playing with the filaments haha real childish though and i got stomachache that night
6) eating ice cream that is placed in a coconut and a super yummy stewed beef
7) visiting the killing field and S21
teaching the small children (classified as level 0) english was really tough because of the wide disparity in learning abilities and also due to their young age, hence lack of focus at times
but still, these kids are adorable
really love them
i learnt to be more loving towards others
i remembered being too emotional during one of the debrief session
because a kid asked me whether i will go back to unacas again
then i also got a little too emotional on the last day
when my kid cried and ignore me
i made a pinky promise that i would be back next year
and i will keep this promise
i miss them already!
