Well, things have finally started to become more normal. I am finally living in Phnom Penh and not rhough my immagination back in NYC. It took a while for me to start teaching, but now I am teaching two classes a day, and I am currently filling in fo ra teacher later tonight. This is why I am writing this blog right now. I have class in the mornign that is in the Global Children house. It usually lasts about 2 hours and we talk about many different topics, read some stories and I sometiems attempt to teach grammer even though I am not great at it. It is great because the class has only 6 students. The other class I teach is at the CVCD. It is an organization that helps teach poor andunderpriveledged people english, japanese, and compter technology. I teach an english communication class and it has been going well this week. It is very funny for me because I teach a lot of monks and I am not used to seeing students in the full garb. I am even somewhat intimidated by the monks, go figure. So things are going well from a teachign standpoint.
I also learned that I was being very rude in a number of ways. I used to point at the students which is considered a no no and is very rude. Instead you have to point with a full palm facing the sky. I also learned monks cannot eat after 12 so dont offer them food. Monks are not even allowed to touch women or even sit next to them. The head is the highest part of your body and most holy, so hats must be put on desks, not the floor. And the feet, which I sprawl out all teh time are the least holy and should be tucked nicely under your seat out of ones sight.
I am takign motos to and from class but the $1 a day fee fr taxis is goign to be avoided when I get my bike and try and survive teh crazy traffic everyday. I thinka bike will be good, it will give me some more freedom and some much needed exercise after all the rice that I eat. That is all for now. Within the next couple weeks I am going to take a boat to Siem Reap and visit Angkor Wat. I hope to try and get out to do one trip per month. Take care ad post some questions if you feel like it. Ciao
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2 comments:
great. monks seem to imtimidate me as well. mostly i am so scared of brushing up against one of them by accident. we are coming to cambodia around jan 15 or so. my 2 cents on the boat ride to siem reap. first, it is a long and hot ride so make sure of a few things. 1) lots of sun lotion, 2) a krama, hat, some sort of covering, 3) bottled water 4) pee before you leave 5) food of some sorts. It can be a beautiful but challenging trip up the river. did spence take you to any projects outside of phnom penh yet? if not i'll email him and have him do that. i want to get you working on those as well.
Laura
i said "spence" obviously i meant "ponlok"
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