So I know I've made mention of how I spend a night in a village in Kampong Speu once a week, but I don't think I've really described much about it.
Every Wednesday morning, Tigor and I take off for the province, never having any idea of when we'll arrive as each leg of the journey---from the tuk tuk ride, to finding a taxi, waiting for often over an hour for it to leave, picking up the seemingly endless passengers along the way, and lastly the motodop ride---are all beyond our control.
In the village I've been asked to teach a total of 11 classes, with students ranging from 4-64, each at very different levels, in 3 separate schools. As initially suspected, upon arrival I was placed in front of a class with no further instruction, and told, "OK nea-crew (female teacher), TEACH." Though at first intimidating, the experience has definitely forced me to think on my feet and get creative... You learn quickly by trial and error and if one thing doesn't work, you make up something new on the spot. The limited resources and language barrier do complicate things, but as can be imagined, the kids are so receptive to song and games. So I'm OK with making a fool of myself trying to get them to imitate me as I over-enunciate Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and do the "Hokey Pokey" if its effective in teaching body parts and left and right...
Even so, there have been numerous funny experiences and miscommunications. None of the teachers' English is very strong so it was interesting trying to explain that there is simply no Khmer word for hokey pokey and so, like the students, they were just going to have to stumble through some pronunciation and roll with it. Then when I was teaching Left and Right to one class, every time I would use the word "saddam," which is Khmer for "right" the students, expecting English, would fold their hands, say "thank you teacher," and SIT DOWN.
We teach at one school all day Wednesday and then spend the evenings with people and families in the village, just cooking/eating together, practicing English and Khmer, buzzing around on motodops, and playing games. With much gesticulation and knowing at least my numbers and colors in Khmer, I was able to introduce UNO and neither the kids nor adults seem to be able to get enough of it. Then they taught me three completely different games you play with only elastic bands. I've loved seeing how creative and resourceful, especially the children, can be as they use next to nothing to play games that will entertain them for hours. In the village you typically go to bed early as because when the sun goes down and you have no electricity, there isn't a whole lot to do after dark. Besides, the roosters are guaranteed to wake you up, literally at the crack of dawn and we start teaching at 7:00 anyways. However, last week when I stayed at the pastor and his wife's house, I was floored to see the way so many neighbors, who are living in conditions that most Americans cannot even fathom, gathered together late at night, on a mat around a battery operated light, in the midst of flies and mosquitoes, to pray, worship, and thank God.
This past week though, because of the funeral and the rain, I did not stay with them and instead spent the night at the house of the woman who cooks for one of the schools. I'm just so frustrated that I CANNOT SPEAK KHMER!!! And since I don't, her adorable daughter and I pretty much just sat in the area we were supposed to sleep, staring at each other, until she decided she was tired and through motions we were able to figure out who was sleeping where. She did however place a bucket near me and at least I knew what that was for---so that I didn't have to venture out into the rain to find a nice grassy spot should nature beckon in he middle of the night... Thankfully I did not need it because once I pulled the mosquito net over me I did not awake until the roosters did.
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Here are some pictures from the village (though I apologize for the quality of some of them as they were taken via motodop; don't worry I wasn't driving this time):
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