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Published: July 22nd 2006
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he knows what the world needs
it seemed common for kids to be floating around in buckets Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all of the emails. You've been making me smile so much! Today was a great day. I was on my way to a "floating village", which is about an hour ride south of Siem Reap, when I noticed a baby (about 2 years old) sitting on the roof of a grass hut all alone with a big grin on her face. There were a few people sitting below her inside the hut. I wonder at what point someone thought, "I know! Let's put little Susie up on the roof!"
During the ride to the lake where the floating village is, we passed through several smaller villages. I could have been on that tuk-tuk for hours just watching. I took a ton of pictures that will speak for themselves. I got to the lake and, what do you know, I have to use the restroom. I asked where to go knowing that it wasn't going to be pretty, but I didn't have much choice. I was led across some boards going over the water which led to the floating village and then was directed to a tiny shack over the water. It had a few
boards that had a big space in between them. Yup. Right in the lake. This is the same water they use for everything...cooking, fishing, swimming. The smell at the lake was, at times, very rank. Their bodies are pretty immune to bacteria, but disease and illness is very common. They truly utilize their resources to the fullest because that's what they need to do to survive. During the dry season the lake totally disappears and the whole village moves to a near mountain for 2 months.
A guide took me to a boat and he told me about the schools and people there. He is 20 years old and has this job in order to pay for English classes for himself and for his sister. There were floating fruit markets and tea houses all in tiny boats. People use long skinny boats (can't think of the name of them) and even buckets to float around the village. I loved watching how they didn't waver a bit getting on and off the boats and things. It was so smooth and natural looking. Like I said before, the balance they have is amazing. I got to see crocodiles and hold a
huge snake. They even let me drive the boat. I sure hope pigs don't get motion sickness like I do. There was a cage full of them tied to a "house" floating back and forth and back and forth in the water. By the way, I now swear by ginger gum to help with motion sickness.
After that I went back to the orphanage. I found out why there are so many older kids. The kids are orphans, but aren't up for adoption. They live at the center (Sunrise Village) until they are 18. The program is really comprehensive for these kids and it's run by part government funding and mostly donations. Here is the website if you are interested http://www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org/ssr.htm I'm really impressed by this place. There's definitely cohesion amongst all of the kids and staff. I played with the kids until the dance show. It was a rehersal, so they weren't in costumes, but it was really cool to watch. I was invited to dinner and I was a little nervous about what would be served (I declined lunch yesterday because I had to meet my driver and I was kind of relieved). For those of you
orchids
this is in front of the Golden Temple Guesthouse. It was a clean, cheap place to stay w/ free internet who know my eating habits, you'll understand how hard this was for me. They said we were having bamboo soup and I thought that actually sounded really good. I sat down in front of a huge bowl and amongst the greens and bamboo were huge chunks of
something. I asked what it was and they said it was fish. Remember where I said they do their fishing? Um, yeah, at that moment I became an imposter vegetarian.
The city had a power outage this evening for a few hours and it was business as usual, but it came back on after a few hours. My dorky headlamp came in handy.
I probably won't be able to write for a while. I've had free 24 hour internet here and it's been really easy to email. I leave for Thailand in the morning and I'm not sure if I will have internet in the next guesthouse.
Take Care Everyone!
Peace,
Nikki
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