Thurs 27th

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apologies for the last message...i got over excited.
the keyboards are really bad over hear so bare with me.
i moved into my new apartment yesterday(wednesday)...as with the last one i am the only male in the place however a guy is returning from vietnam on saturday so i will have a masculine input on my daily life.
Its been a while since my last blog so i'll try and remember everything.
The wedding was an experience...i was silly enough to wear jeans so i didnt half sweat.they have a hair cutting ceremony with was pretty weird.basically it starts off with the parents of the couple stood behind them with the woman spraying aftershave on the man and the man pretending to cut the ladies hair...there is a photo then they both take it in turns to splash drops of water on the couples head...as they were quite a few of us from the orphanage 5 of us white the couple were forced to sit there whilst this happened about 13times!then there was food which didnt agree with my stomach at all but after the usual results i was okay toi try my hand at some traditional khmer dancing. this involved dancing around a table doing weird movements with my hands and doing something which confused my feet.i nailed it on the head!haha
the head of education at the orphanage asked if i wanted to go for a walk and i ended up on a 25min moto drive to his home province. I met his friend and his 2uncles and grandfather who'd had a wedding ceremony the night before. I learnt how to greet certain khmer people...its dependant on their age and their relation to you or the friend that introduced you, very complicated. He then took me to his house which i can't describe other than beautiful!i wouldnt like to live their as they sleep in hammocks etc but there were mango trees and palm trees it was amazing.i relaxed in a hammock whilst he showered then we headed back along the narrowest most windy length of turf with the occasional skinny cow ive ever been on. The wedding consisted of more food which sent my stomach over the edge yet i managed to get in some more dancing afterwards and taught 3 little khmer kids the soulja boi dance!!haha it went down a treat.
On to the orphanage...i dont think im ever going to leave!i love it...the kids are so amazing. one girl called veronika is about 3 possibly 4 and shes such a performer...she climbs on tables and sings a khmer song to an audience on a regular basis. One of my students is really clever for the level of most 18 yr olds iv met since iv been here has been quite bad. Hes into his electrician things but wants to be a teacher so im thinking of paying for him to have extra english lessons and will try buy him equipment,textbooks and the uniform he needs. He had an exam today at 7-8pm that i helped him prepare for so i hope he has done well.
Iv spoke to members of staff at the orphanage and iv been told they cant afford to hire out football pitches on a sunday so weve located a school down the road that costs $5 for 2hours so iv said il pay for that for 2months. I watched some of them play today and itl be worth every penny. We are currently building a new kitchen as the current one is outside; therefore filthy,loads of flies and insects and just generally disgusting. One volunteer paid for the materials and we are building it ourselves...it saves money and teaches the children who help new skills so its a win win.
Khmer new year is from the 13th-16th april so were having a party at the orphanage with games and dancing which will be fun. Whether or not i'll stay in phnom penh for the rest of it i'm undecided.
Tomorrow, being friday, i'm getting a bus for four ours to go down to a place called Sihanoukville to meet naomi and maudie who are the two girls from my last apartment. There are some temples there and some amazing beaches so it should be quite fun...i'm back on sunday ready to return to the orphanage on monday!
It's reall hard to describe what im experiencing out here but it certainly isn't 24hour piss ups if thats what anyone thinks...im in bed by 10 a lot of nights and up at half 7 monday to friday to go to the orphanage. If i could sort out uploading photos then i could show you. This country is so special and im getting attached already...living here with the people and respecting their culture and way of life is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The children i work with have no parents or parents who cant look after them...they see the kids that they live with as best friends, brothers or sisters...members of staff are seen as parents-never felt as important and needed as i do out here.
Some of the kids started off at another orphanage...they were treated terribly and the director was a child abusing bastard as far as i can tell. Members of staff left and randomly one nights 17kids turned up on one of their doorsteps saying they couldn't live there anymore...and thats when the orphanage im at started.most of the original kids are still there and seeing a happy face and someone who will play with them and listen to them read a book in a language i didnt even know existed before i got here makes their day.
away from the serious stuff i have just unblocked my phone so texts are good to go...dont think iv not had a working phone for so long...then again out here it doesn't matter...alot of the children didnt even know what a computer was.
Went to a massive shopping centre before and bought some luxuries such as crisps(pringles) pop tarts and biscuits...keeping it healthy. On the way here to the internet i experiencing two crashes. No1 got hurt but it was pretty strange how one happened across the road then everyone was staring at it which then caused a car to crash into a moto which then knocked over another moto!unfortunate series of events one might say.
I might not be able to leave a message until later on on monday as i'm leaving phnom penh tomorrow...if i get back at a reasonable time on sunday and have time i'll try let you know how it went.
love to all...have a good weekend
xxx

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