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Published: August 11th 2007
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Things like having a stable base, an place you consider 'home', something to keep you occupied that isn't another temple and some friends who aren't going to take a flight out of the country the day after you meet them, are all things that anyone who's been backpacking for a while is going to value. What's even better, though, is when your 'home' happens to be Phnom Penh, and your occupation is spending time with a group of awesome kids at at an orphanage that you just can't get enough of. And to top it all off - being a member of Raffles doesn't hurt either...
Well, lakeside first. Lakeside is a little corner of Phnom Penh (the Cambodian capital) filled to the brim with backpackers and a few ex pats where our guest house is situated. Its really laid back, with tons of street side and rooftop bars with huge comfy sofas, i-tunes and $1 cans of Beer Lao. On top of that there's a decent selection of restaurants (mainly either Khmer , Western or Indian) and crowds of friendly tuk - tuk drivers trying to sell you all manner of substances (and occasionally they ask you if you
two girls
one of the oldest girls, with one of the youngest. they all look after each other like one big family. need a tuk tuk, too!). Part of me is beginning to question the amount of time I'm spending in lakeside - it seems like I've got a whole country to explore and yet I barely leave this little cluster of buildings. Then again, though, I'm kinda 'touristed out', and I love lakeside so much that I rarely have the motivation to move outside of it.
That, and the fact that spending every day in the orphanage leaves me too shattered to move! Every day is a mixture of teaching, talking with and playing sports with the older kids and just messing around with the little ones. The orphans go from 2 years old (baby veronica, bless her!) to 20 (kids who are struggling to graduate high school or entered the system later than other kids) and theres about 80 in total, so we're told. Teaching is getting easier and I've started to get a bit of classroom banter going which is always a good sign - my two 11 year old boys were teasing me yesterday after I explained valentines day, putting my name and one of the other volunteers names in a card they were supposed to
hip - hop dancer!
He's trying to do that thing where you make it look like there's a wave passing through your arms, in case you couldn't tell... be writing as a practice activity! I've also taken on a position as part time climbing frame for the younger boys, who insist on being picked up and tossed around whenever I look like I'm not already busy. One of the kids, a great little 11 year old with the brightest smile you've ever seen and a passion for learning the worst English language songs he can find and repeatedly singing them throughout the day, seems to have attached himself to me and follows me round all afternoon. I consequently believe that sound of the lyrics to 'Take Me to Your Heart' sang in his passionate, squeaky voice will quite unfortunately never completely leave my head.
And what is Raffles? For those of you who aren't familiar with upper class Singaporean hotel chains, its, well, an upper class Singaporean hotel chain. More specifically, it's the upper class Singaporean hotel in Phnom Penh which I have a gym membership to. Its simply the poshest place I've ever been - they give you a pile of towels when you walk through the door, the outdoor heated pool is large and normally empty, the power showers have hot water (yes, that IS
in da orphanage
this kid beat me at arm wrestling :-( . Honestly, he's abnormally strong! considered a luxury out here!) and the gym, although small, is equipped with brand spanking new equipment which, admittedly, I have barely touched. Whats better, though, is that it has a decent sauna, jacuzzi and (my favorite fact about the place to demonstrate its utter poshness) a steam room which emits jasmine scented steam. Ok, I admit this might sound a bit superficial, but in the sweaty and polluted city where our guest house has the measliest cold showers hung next to the toilet and a single fan to keep you cool, feeling clean once a night feels pretty damn nice.
Well, that would be my daily life in Phnom Penh in a nutshell. Getting up, teaching, getting home and eating, going to bars or having a swim and sauna before passing out from exhaustion at 10 in the evening. Hopefully the next entry will be about life in Phnom Penh in general - its merits as a city outside of lakeside, the effect of its history and some of the stuff that we've managed to do at weekends. For now, enjoy some pictures of the little angels we've been working with... (I do know all their names, btw,
two more
the girl is my personal tutee. Her English is amazing and we have a lot of fun doing silly activities like writing amusing stories or poems! but I can't put them or the orphanage name or location on a public forum)
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