Sorry!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry this has been so long! The problem is that in Svay Rieng there is little or no internet and if I do find some it works at half the speed of regular dial up! Loading photos is completely impossible so I have to wait until I come back to PP.

Well Svay Rieng has been a mix of swings and round-a-bouts! I love it in general, there are some things that are hard to handle however. Being one of only a few ex-pats that live in SR has given me a celebrity status, everyone loves to talk and touch me! This is generally fine, but after the 50th person has said "hello" and thats the only word they know it can get a little wearing!

However on a more positive note my khmer is coming along in leaps and bounds, I can communicate well with almost everyone, and am throwing myslef right into all aspects of Cambodian culture, went to a wedding (see photo later), going to lots and lots of pagoda's, learning traditional khmer dancing, and eating so much Khmer food such as, red ant sauce, cow intestine, fish everything and lots of others.

However this may have been a potential reason that I have just had to spend some time in Phnom Penh in the hospital here as I got a terribly nasty stomach bug, and ended up in so much pain I had to be on a drip and taking some serious drugs! All better now though (fingers crossed!)

Below are photo's of my work place, the first one is at the entrance, with Mr Kalyan (director) and Mr Saroeun (Teacher).

Work has been going so well, everyone looks after me and is amazingly nice to me and I don't feel like so much of an outsider anymore, I'm helping to run some programmes called "Happy happy Programmes" they are going really well, teaching children who are affected by HIV AIDS about anti discrimination, healthcare, hygeine, importance of education and friends.

One of REDA's programmes is a fish and frog farm, Anna and Helen came to visit me in SR for Khmer new year, had an absolute blast at the pagoda's playing traditional games and just having a holiday. Here is Anna at my work this is the frog farm!

There can be up to 200-300 frogs in any one small pen, it's a crazy sight! Recently it's been a little rainy in SR as well, which has been nice and I've see some spectacular thunder and lightening storms, it has also dropped the temperatures slightly and brought about heaps of frogs onto my outside area of my house!

This is Mr Kalyan's wife and daughter, at one of the frog farms at work. Mr Kalyan's wife works as a seemstress and would love to make me clothes however, people constant call me fat and pretty here a huge complement even though it doesnt sound like it! So I dont think Im ready to let them discover just how fat I am! Although have lost 6 kgs since being here, so am slowly getting into better shape, really need to start excercising in the mornings when its not so hot!

This little round house was the original place I was going to be living at work. It is just one little room with a square bed inside and a traditional style toilet and bucket shower inside. Really nice but I think it would have driven me insane for the year! Also living in Svay Rieng has meant I have been able to make a lot of friends.

I have 2 really great cambodian friends who tell me jokes and drive me to far away places so i can explore it's been really really nice and their english is really clear, one is an english major at Svay Rieng University. Also have my friends from work who look after me, and my landlord and landlady have adopted me as their daughter and always check up on me bring me presents and invite me to dinner with my Campuchea mudai and papa!

My cambodian brother lives outside my house for protection and I'm about to start teaching him english, his name is Rina and he's 20 but very shy! hopefully can overcome this! Other than that I have met 6 USA peace corps volunteers. We have all become very good friends and I think they have possibly been my saving grace! Someone to chat in english after a long day and who understands my culture is the best feeling in the world!

So although they are spread right throughout Svay Rieng we all get on so well and it's been great to get to know them and now I have lots of places in America I want to go!