Day 5 - Tues. June 13th
Tuesday we went in the am to the Russian Market. It's an open air market that has everything. We bought soccer balls for the kids and took them to the orphanage and played with them.
A side note....to all who thought we would adopt cambodian kids...it won't be happening. we learned on the first day that adoption is forbidden for americans (hmmm, can't be great that they made that rule for americans).
In the afternoon, we taught english at the orphanage. The school is hooked up to a neighbors electricity and they didn't pay their bill, so it was very dark and no fans. We had a great time though and they are so excited to learn. They all have their hands in the air all the time to be called on. Sochia is their teacher and he teaches for such a long day that he keeps losing his voice. We had made flash cards on crepe paper and went through colors, numbers, letters -- focusing on pronunciation and spelling. There is also a book that has a cirriculum that we followed. Sochia isn't able to help them with pronunciation, so he really wanted us to keep repeating and correcting them. They are just adorable. They get so excited when you tell them that they have done well. They won't leave your side after the class if you have complimented them.
After the class, we were the guests of honor for a traditional Khmer dance recital at the orphanage (see pix). The stage and costumes were recently funded by a british charity. The girls and boys did beautiful dancing and had elaborate costumes that had been donated. They were really really good. After the girls did serious dancing, they had a group of 6 or so young boys who came out in squatting position and did the "monkey dance". I laughed so hard. They come out and run around in squats with their hands under their armpits. They look just like monkeys!! Part of the dance they actually pretended to pick bugs from each other's hair, sniffing of themselves. We all died!!!
At the end of the dance they pulled me onstage. It was a dance with two long sticks held at each end. You go in between and jump over while they open and close them. They keep speeding it up and eventually, you get your ankles squeezed in them. It was very funny and everyone was laughing at the americans.
This was Drew's mom Dorice and Sandra's last night so Drew invited some friends and arranged for a boat cruise on the Mekong. We motored around for a while -- weather was beautiful and beautiful sunsets. Then we all went to dinner across the river where the local Khmers eat. We had a number of crab and shrimp dishes that were some of the best we had.
Tuesday we went in the am to the Russian Market. It's an open air market that has everything. We bought soccer balls for the kids and took them to the orphanage and played with them.
A side note....to all who thought we would adopt cambodian kids...it won't be happening. we learned on the first day that adoption is forbidden for americans (hmmm, can't be great that they made that rule for americans).
In the afternoon, we taught english at the orphanage. The school is hooked up to a neighbors electricity and they didn't pay their bill, so it was very dark and no fans. We had a great time though and they are so excited to learn. They all have their hands in the air all the time to be called on. Sochia is their teacher and he teaches for such a long day that he keeps losing his voice. We had made flash cards on crepe paper and went through colors, numbers, letters -- focusing on pronunciation and spelling. There is also a book that has a cirriculum that we followed. Sochia isn't able to help them with pronunciation, so he really wanted us to keep repeating and correcting them. They are just adorable. They get so excited when you tell them that they have done well. They won't leave your side after the class if you have complimented them.
After the class, we were the guests of honor for a traditional Khmer dance recital at the orphanage (see pix). The stage and costumes were recently funded by a british charity. The girls and boys did beautiful dancing and had elaborate costumes that had been donated. They were really really good. After the girls did serious dancing, they had a group of 6 or so young boys who came out in squatting position and did the "monkey dance". I laughed so hard. They come out and run around in squats with their hands under their armpits. They look just like monkeys!! Part of the dance they actually pretended to pick bugs from each other's hair, sniffing of themselves. We all died!!!
At the end of the dance they pulled me onstage. It was a dance with two long sticks held at each end. You go in between and jump over while they open and close them. They keep speeding it up and eventually, you get your ankles squeezed in them. It was very funny and everyone was laughing at the americans.
This was Drew's mom Dorice and Sandra's last night so Drew invited some friends and arranged for a boat cruise on the Mekong. We motored around for a while -- weather was beautiful and beautiful sunsets. Then we all went to dinner across the river where the local Khmers eat. We had a number of crab and shrimp dishes that were some of the best we had.
posted by Stephanie Mackin at 2:49 PM
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