Green bean-like things with sugar, salt and chili

So it's November, I'm into my second month here, and an important new guest has arrived at the orphanage, Alicia! She's 29, is from Hawaii, and finished her Masters in education two years ago. She'll be staying here for the next 2 and a half months (and maybe longer).
She arrived last Friday. Kit, Ream and I drove to Phnom Penh to pick her up and spent the day shopping for odds and ends (I managed to buy a number of things I really don't need), and spent the night at a nice hotel with a nice big comfy bed and hot water!!! The next day we drove to the orphanage and all the kids got to get to know her. I'd asked (or better said threatened with various ominous fates) my English class to introduce themselves to her, which a few actually did. They said that we look like sisters. The next day we went with one of the staff, Bow, to visit her sister who lives just a 15-20min bike ride away from our place.

Bow's sister and her son

It was a really really nice, fun relaxed afternoon, and I hope I can give you a taste of taste of it.

After a fun bike ride over a „path“ that was more of an adventure course (up and downs, deep ruts and puddles) we reached her sisters house. We first went over to her friend who was weaving beautiful blue material, I've never seen anybody weave before so it was quite interesting for me.

After that we went across the street to two big trees that the kids (or better said boys, girls don't climb trees, at least not outside of the orphanage, which I've kinda learned through trial and error) promptly climbed, and then proceeded to throw down the fruits (a lot of them were inexplicably aimed at me) , which were small round green thingies and these long green bean-like thingies.

Collecting the fallen fruit

We then went over to the porch of her sisters house and ate the fruit by dipping in in a mix of sugar salt and chili pepper. It's taken me a bit to get used to it but now I really enjoy it. I have the theory that the salt and chili pepper somehow counteracts the potential nastiness of the fruit that has been neither been peeled nor cooked.

The bean-like thingies and the dip in the background

While we were there, a very sweet elderly lady came over. She really took a liking to Alicia and was trying to talk to us the whole time. The kids translated a little but mostly we weren't able to understand what she was saying. She seemed very happy to get to know us (we sure were :) ) and insisted on a number of pictures.

The elderly lady and perhaps her grandson-we felt like giants

We spent the rest of our time there eating and walking around, and of course taking countless pictures.

Myself, Bow, Thea, Bunhouen, Rachana, (back row) Alicia, Tee, and Bow number 2 (front row)

Posing in front of the sugar cane, some of you might recognize the black sweatshirt the one guy, Lim, is squeezed into, it's mine

Thea, Alicia, myself and Bow

We love bananas!

Me with Tong (who I have to admit is one of my favorite kids)

I also got to try some sugar cane that grows in a patch in front of her sisters house. What I liked so much about that afternoon was that it was such a normal thing, just chilling with friends, but under such different circumstances: sitting on a bamboo platform (every house has one) eating fruits, whose name I don't even know in English, and communicating mainly through smiles and sign language.

Chilling on the bamboo platform

After a while we headed back and raced home (I tied with Tong).

Alicia is really really great, I'm extremely thankful that she's here. While I've never been in danger of getting lonely, being surrounded by the coolest kids on the earth. I haven't been able to talk much about what I'm feeling and thinking. Most of the communication is through smiles and sign language, and with some of the older kids simple English, no in-depth conversations. Kit and Ream are always really busy so I'm not able to talk to them so much. I was talking like non stop for the first few hours after she arrived and have been talking a lot since, its really nice to exchange impressions and thoughts as this country and culture is new for both of us.

Some of you have asked what exactly I'm doing here. I'm mainly a teacher. An English teacher for the advanced class in the orphanage and for S'dung, one of the staff. A Math teacher for Sam, the Carsons' 6 year old son, and a violin teacher for 11 students.

I really hadn't thought that I'd be teaching violin (though they mentioned it before), but a number of the kids said they'd be interested, and so we bought a violin for 40$ and I've been teaching since. I've never taught an instrument before, let alone music theory and so I'm completely out of the water here, but it has been really really exciting. I've already gotten to know the kids a little, so it's been interesting to see which ones really show talent. One kid Lim, for example, a 17 year old boy who I first thought was kind of a big goof, has shown immense potential. I kind of feel bad that he only has me as a teacher.

Another extremely interesting development is that I'm going to be teaching English at the public school here!! I drove out to the school with Ream a few days ago (on a motorcycle-another first for me) and we talked to one of the principles. I'm going to start off teaching a 7^th grade for a month, and if that goes well I'll start teaching the older grades. I was telling the one of our kids that I'm going to be teaching and he said „ I know, I also told my friend, but he wouldn't believe me.“ I asked him why and he said that his friend had asked „Why, why would a foreigner come and help?“. I was pretty touched by that, and told him to tell his friend that because Jesus loves me and I know he loves them, I love them too and want to help.

But what really brings me the most joy is becoming friends with these kids, I'd really be fully satisfied if I could spend the whole day just hanging out, playing and talking to them (but I'd also be kind of useless). It's soo rewarding to see how some of even the shyest kids are warming up to me. There's this one 14-year old boy Yong who I didn't talk to for the first few weeks, I'd smile at him and say hi, and he'd smile back but that was it, so I just thought that he wasn't interested in getting to know me. Suddenly a few days ago he started to sit at my table.
Now sitting together and eating a meal with someone has a much bigger meaning here than it does in the „West“. You usually don't sit with somebody who's a guest and older than you, only if you are close friends with that person. This rule doesn't seem to apply to the little kids, which is why I was just sitting with 6-9 year-olds the first few weeks. Ream, the director, then told the kids, that I was not a guest but family. A few of the girls I'm closer with started to sit with me after that, but not any of the boys, not unless I ask them point blank to please sit down. So I was really surprised to see Yong come every meal to sit at my table (in the farthest corner away from me however), it's a really sweet gesture.

Yong

Last week there was a funeral going on at a neighbors house. One night, Alicia and I were awakened at 4 o'clock in the morning to extremely loud Cambodian music which went on for about 10min and then a man speaking, also extremely loudly, into a microphone, then music then speaking then music then....it goes on and on. The next day we found out that an elderly lady living with her family just down the road died that night at 11 o'clock. Now their customs (and the high humidity) dictate that they start the funeral as soon as possible. They got every thing ready in 5 hours. I don't know what exactly goes on in a Cambodian funeral, but it involves a lot of loud music, and monks who preach loudly over a loudspeaker, is extremely expensive, and goes on for three days, and basically goes on the WHOLE day, always starting at around 4 or 5. That week Alicia and I were suffering from a bit of sleep deprivation.

Altogether I'm doing very well, and am having a very hard time thinking about going back and living in Germany again.
If any of you are interested in financially supporting the work here, please contact me, money is always greatly needed, and you can do a lot with a comparably small amount of money.

Love and Peace from Cambodia

Sarah