Stick to the RIGHT side of the road.

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Hey all. Well this is depressing... I literally just spent about 40 minutes typing up this awesome blog entry for you, and then the computer suddenly restarted itself, and deleted 1200 words. I'm really sorry, but I'm tired and bothered, so this is going to be way more brief.

Monday

- Woke up feeling horrible once again. I stayed home from the work site as I felt so weak and useless. You know that book I told you about? I finished it, all 550 pages in that one day - IT WAS A TERRIBLE BOOK! Very cliched and simple. After spending all day in bed feeling sorry for myself and drinking water, the girls finally came home. They told me they'd had an easy day on the worksite, which made me feel a bit better about having the day off!

Tuesday

- All through Monday night, poor Colleen (my roommate), was up vomiting at every hour. It was clear that Colleen needed Tuesday off, which we had off. Sophie also was not feeling very well, and joined the ranks of the sick with Colleen. We determined that they received food poisoning off their Khmer mother - unintentionally of course... or was it? MUAHAHHA. It was only Amy, Jess and I that set off that morning on our 7.5km bike ride! We were cruising along as per usual, until suddenly, BAM! Amy and I turned around in horror, to find that Jess had been hit by a motorcycle! Rushing over to her side, we found out that both her and the driver hadn't really been paying attention (and that Jess also, kind of forgot that Cambodians drive on the RIGHT side of the road). Jess' bike was totalled, and had to be swapped by our tutuk driver, Buntai. Considering that we don't wear helmets when we ride bikes, and that the motorcycle was going very fast, Jess was very lucky to walk away with only a few bruises and grazes. We got to the worksite that day, and gave it our best shot. Here is a run down of what we are up too in terms of the wall -

WALL UPDATE

- Now all the foundations are laid, we assumed we would be finally building the wall, sadly we were wrong. The foundations had been laid, though they were too rocky to be the base for the wall, so we had to fix that! New steel pillars were set down between each foundation, where we sat down in the blistering heat tying 16 stirrups (thanks uncle paddy) onto each of them. Considering there were around 26, this was a very long process. Once this was completed, next, wooden sideboards were nailed onto the sides of these sideways pillars, and filled with cement. The sideboards were then removed, so all that was left was a perfectly rectangular slab of concrete between each foundation. It was a lot of work, though now we know for sure our wall will be perfect! I hope the pictures I attach will explain it better than I have attempted too!

Wednesday

- This morning we went to the worksite, and Sophie and I were assigned the job of cutting 600 small pieces of steel. This work was truly back breaking and meticulous, with each individual piece having to be measured out exactly. You would have to use all your weight to cut down with the steel cutters, and been hunched over as well, this was far from comfortable. Due to the sun being so hot, I have developed a really sore rash on my arms, that is aggravated by the sun so badly! The Khmer people told me to wear long sleeves, but in 40 degree heat? I don't think so! When we got back from the worksite today, we had a quick swim and then packed up all our belongings from our Earthwalkers rooms. For the next three days, we are going to Battambong for our rest and relaxation package! I know you're probably wondering what on Earth that is, but it will all be explained in the next blog! Tonight we went out to an exquisite italian restaurant and all splurged on an expensive meal - $10 haha! We then checked out the shop, "Mekong Quilts" (grandma you would have been in heaven, I took photos for you!) and went to the bookstore, where I bought two new books. Hopefully at least one of them turns out to be a good read ( I know it will, it's by Jodi Piccoult!).

Currently I am in bed, and quite proud that I still managed to type up an 800 word blog, considering how frustrated I was that it all deleted itself an hour ago! Happy Australia day everyone by the way! I have been reading FB status', and noticed that the weather is not ideal for the typical Australia Day.... be happy, at least you're in Australia! Four hours of my Australia Day will be spent on a bus to Battambong, on which we can only pray that it doesn't break down! Though, I will be going to the circus tomorrow night which is VERY exciting!!

I miss you all so much, though now we're more than half way through the project, so things are defintely looking up! Remember, I always love hearing from you all, so feel free to FB or email me! Missing you all, Ellie xoxoxoxo

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Photos

Progress!
The wooden sideboards encasing our side wards pillars!