Feb. 9, 2010
Been away for a while. Michael is well again and we went to the coast for a long weekend. Michael needed a thinking break! His teaching schedule is intense this year and half of it is in French, so he had a tired brain. We took the Mekong Express, which is a pretty nice bus with a/c and nice seats, no chickens on top. The traffic is always interesting, whether in town or not. Size definitely matters! Bicycle trumps pedestrian, moto trumps bike, tuk-tuk trumps moto, cars trumps tuk-tuk, van and small truck trump car, bus trumps car, and semi trumps bus. Yield or get off the road to give way the bigger vehicle, in town or out.
It never ceases to amaze me what they can transport on or with one of these motos- I saw two heavy wooden beds on a small trailer, a people moving trailer with 15 or so people standing, HUGE piles of straw, a mattress, dead pigs, 6 or 8 cages of chickens,. a soup restaurant- you name it, they can move it on a moto! I am never fast enough to get a good picture.
The pictures are of a gas station- the more common gas station is a rack of large glass Coke and Pepsi bottles. The other picture is from the orphanage- a couple of sweet little girls posed in front of their garden that Michael helped plant last year. The banana trees are already producing bananas- Michael was amazed at the growth. I went out there with another American volunteer from the hospital and we played with them for a couple of hours. The little ones love to hold your hand or crawl in your lap; the big ones want to use their English skills to talk to us. I wish I had brought flash cards of animals or something- may try to find some before I go again so the little ones will get to try out their English skills as well.
Today I am being pulled over to the English Department here at the hospital to evaluate one minute speeches from the beginner English class here. All employees are encouraged to improve their English skills, so they offer classes for free. I am trying to learn a little Khmer, but they make sounds my tongue has never tried to wrap itself around! I have mastered hello, how are you, and thank you.
Later on Wednesday…
Listening to the English students’ speeches was great. For the most part, the people are very friendly and happy to learn. Most of them were very nervous and I saw bits of their faces quivering. One guy (who had obviously not prepared) shredded a tissue into bits while he was speaking. Then I had a cheater who must have gotten hold of a cassette of a tour operator for the temple area, for he said “this morning we will see the temple at Angkor Wat, then we will go for some lunch, then …..” They are all really great; to them I am “teecha.” What a hoot!