Celebrating Australia Day!

First week of teaching is now complete. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at school and am really looking forward to the week ahead. My teacher Sopheap is amazing to work with - he is really supportive of me and is helping me out a lot. In return I am helping him with his English and Uni assignments which I know he really appreciates. So we seem to be a good team :)

The kids are just adorable and are now calling me Teacher Nicole! They still stare a lot but I just smile back and they giggle. They have all started to high five me at the end of class as they leave, which is sweet!

The first few days were definitely a challenge as I struggled to see how I could make any kind of difference in just 2 months. But by the end of the week I began to realise that I'm not going to make a big difference. One person can't change someones life that quickly, but if you add the time and effort of all the volunteers that come to Cambodia, then you can see that we can make a difference together.

Thursday and Friday were quiet days at school, as most of the village was at a funeral. A couple of classes were cancelled, so Sopheap took the opportunity to show me around the village of Prasat Char. His parents currently live there and this was also where he was raised.

We actually ended up attending the funeral, which is a 3 day event here. It has a very carnival-like atmosphere as people ate and celebrated the life of the person lost. To my suprise, part of this celebration was to watch the body being cremated. This is done by lighting fireworks off under the body and then placing fireballs on it. Certainly not an experience I had on my bucket list and it did take a vodka or two to calm me down that day :p However, watching this ceremony was a once in a life time experience and it was so interesting to be a part of!

It's Sunday night here now and I have had an awesome weekend. Saturday was spent celebrating a belated Australia Day for my roommate Ashleigh. She had a lot of fun painting kangaroos on everyone and making us eat vegemite sandwiches (oh the small things!) We ended up going to the pool down the road and enjoyed some cocktails and frisbee in the sun :)

Sunday was spent at the landmine museum, where we learnt more about the history of Cambodia and the millions of active landmines still present here. We also had the opportunity to watch a documentary premiere about the founder of the museum, Aka Ra, and his role in deactivating these mines, which he is still currently doing today.

This was the most touching movie I have ever seen, as this amazing man described his dedication to spending the rest of his life making Cambodia a safer place for his people. For anyone familiar in Cambodian history, Aka Ra was originally part of the Khmer Rouge, which killed millions of Cambodians in the 70's, by bombing large groups of civilians. Cambodians had no choice but to join the Khmer Rouge, or they would be killed. Aka Ra's family were all killed in those attacks and his wife recently past away due to miscarriage complications. In post traumatic stress, Aka Ra now feels the need to repay his country by finding and deactiving the bombs that still exist. I was truly inspired by his story!

To end the weekend all the volunteers headed out for a group dinner. The past two days have gone very fast and I think my bum has enjoyed a break from a motorcycle. Most of you know that if you poke me I will probably bruise within a minute, so it will come as no suprise that my bum looked like a bluberry from spending 10 hours on the back of a bike this week :p haha

Off to bed now, hope everyone had a good weekend xx

School pictures

Inside the classroom

Water containers

Entrance to the school

Vege garden, toilet and kitchen

My ride to and from school

My $12 helmet that protects me from dirt and bugs... and hopefully thats all!

First day at school yesterday :)

My day starts at 1pm at the office in town where I teach the permanent teachers new computer skills and practice their own English. Then I leave with the afternoon teacher Sopheap, to head to the school which is 50 minutes away on a motorbike. Its a beautiful ride out past the temples, but the further into the country we get the worse the roads are and it ends up being dirt tracks and very bumpy!

I have three classes each day: 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, so I don't get home till 8pm and its very dark. A scary trip on a moto!

The poverty is really bad out of town so the kids are really dirty, but they are the most beautiful children, always smiling and always happy. They have no idea how bad their conditions are and most of them have never left their homes, so I have to be really sensitive about how much I tell them about where I come from.

Its a bit of a challenge as they are always asking me questions and staring. Cambodians think white people are beautiful and even have whitening creams that they apply to make their skin whiter - one of my biggest suprises!

Its such an amazing project to be working with though, even if it is a mission to get to - it is definitely going to be a rewarding experience :)

On the weekends all the volunteers I'm staying with get together and go on day trips around the country. Last week we went to Tonle Sap lake (photos below) and next weekend we are going to the sunken mountains and waterfalls for a bqq and swim - should be fun!

I got invited to a Cambodian wedding yesterday. Its on my second to last day before I head home in March, so that will be an awesome way to end my trip!

Well better head off to school now. Hope everyones well xx

On the way to  Tonlé Sap lake

With my roomies Ashleigh and Katie - about to get on the boat

Out on the lake as the sun was going down - the boys jumped off the roof of our boat into the snake infested water!

Floating houses - extreme poverty

The amazing sunset heading home!

So on Thursday we had orientation in the morning and then a tour of Siem Reap on Tuk Tuks. For dinner we went to a buffet which was all paid for - never seen so much food in my life! And the only soft drink there was green fanta - gross :p

Friday we got up early and spent the day at Angkor Wat. The temples are absolutely beautiful. There is so much to see 1 day just wasn't enough. We only had time to see Angkor Wat and the temples in and around Angkor Thom, so a group of us are planning to go back in about a month at sunrise to see the rest :) The pictures dont do it justice!

Other fun things to share are the bugs and animals here. Yesterday I got up and went to the toilet at about 7am and shared that experience with a few frogs. Then on the way to town we nearly stood on a white and orange snake - apparently very deadly - awesome!

The mosquitoes are in abundance and the ants are 4 times the size as NZ ants. If you leave clothes on the floor then you will get scorpions in your room! And yesterday at lunch, there were rats above our heads on the beams! For someone who doesn't like bugs I'm handling it pretty well :)

Riding around on our bikes is so much fun - the roads are seriously bumpy and tuk tuks and motorbikes come far to close to you, but it gets your heart racing and is a great way to see all the shops and markets.
The poverty is hard to deal with as all the children are so beautiful and cute, you just want to help them out. But unfortunately they are only on the street to support their parents alcohol and drug addictions. So far I havn't seen anyone with no limbs or anything, so it hasn't been too bad.

We have a child protection day on Monday, which may teach us how to deal with the situations we are not so comfortable with. Otherwise, it hasn't been as scary as I thought it may have been. However that may be from the fact the I have been to Bangkok previously and now that I am older, knew what to expect.

Anyway on a lighter note: 42 below feijoa vodka (normally $50 or something in NZ) - only $5!!!! YUMMM

A couple of photos!

I share a room with Ashleigh (Australia) and Katie (UK) - my bed is the one in the middle!

This is our house - our room is on the top floor

This is the dining room - most of the lounges and eating areas are all outside

And this is the bike shed - Ashleigh was given two streamers from a friend and gave one to me, so we decorated our baskets and made them look pretty :p

Hello from Siem Reap!!

Made it through customs alive - the officers there were rather grumpy. But the lovely Cambodian woman that picked me from the airport who works for Interweave made up for that :)

We rode back to the guest house togther on the back of a bike - rather bumpy and dusty but super fun! She then showed me round my accommodation.

I am sleeping in a "hut" with 2 other girls. We have an outside shower and toilet and have to wear barefeet in every room - everything is so tropical. 

All the other volunteers are so friendly. I was the last to arrive so they were all waiting for me outside and ran over and gave me a big hug when I got here. Was such a nice welcome.

We are having a big dinner together tonight before the 4 day orientation starts tomorrow! A big package was waiting on my bed with all the details and so much exciting stuff to read.

The guest house is awesome - its made up of big huts that are joined together with hammocks and lounges inbetween. It has two kitchens, a library, a tv room and big outdoor area. It feels like I'm on school camp!

Well I better go and be socialable now - so many new names to learn :)

Everything is so foreign and little overwhelming, but I think I am going to have a blast!

I have the day off on Sunday, so will take some photos and post a big update then. Enjoy the rest of your week xx

Its just clocked over to 12am on Wednesday and I'm sitting in Auckland Airport barely awake. Just finished researching some more games and activites I can teach to my kids, but it's been a long day, really tired and looking forward to a sleep on the plane. Only got 2 mins left on the internet access I bought so gotta go! Next post will be coming from Cambodia! Goodnight everyone xx

Hey everyone!

I am off to Cambodia tomorrow and on behalf of James, thought this might be a nice way to keep in contact with you all. Not sure how much time I will get to update this, but will give it a try!

Thanks to everyone who has supported my decision to travel and volunteer overseas. No doubt this will be an amazing adventure and I can't wait to come back and share it with you all!