umm so whats new!!

So I haven't written on here in a few days as I had a trip to Siem Reap over the weekend which was great for many reasons...a hot shower, meet all the other EGBOK volunteers, a glass of wine (or 2!) and most importantly I got to visit not only the other sites that teach EGBOK classes there, but also the two hospitality schools in Siem Reap, Sala Bia and Paul BuBrule ( http://www.salabai.com/html/ and http://www.ecolepauldubrule.org/html/intro.php).

I was seriously impressed by both and the students who work there, we had lunch at one of them and then a tour of the other.  I also sneaked in a quick soak in a pool at one of the hotels, so some time to enjoy the western luxuries before I headed back to APCA!  Sadly no time on this visit to see Angkor Wat and the other temples but hopefully at the end of the month on my next trip!

Anyway some other random observations about Cambodia, PJ's are in!!  You will see people in there very brightly colored PJ's dressed for the day, sitting on the back of  a moto scooting around PP or selling stuff at their stall!  Think hello Kitty colors and patterns and adults who are wearing this all day, at first I thought they hadn't got dressed yet, but soon I saw people with make up and hair done and in their PJ's!!  I will try and snap a good example soon without being too invasive!!

There is also the whitening obsession here which I hear is common across Asia, so have to be careful when choosing cosmetics that don't bleach the skin.  This desire to look lighter explains why so many people are wearing so many clothes despite the heat!

There is also a strong french influence to life at times, for example to amazing bakeries in PP that sell baguette, couissant, and wonderful pastries!!

Oh and here was an interesting incident, I was waiting to take the 'taxi van' back to APCA from PP (there is one everyday this local Khmer drives and at $1.25 for the hour and half journey not bad, although can be rather full at times!!  So hear is the set up, this guy called Raddy runs this van which is illegal somehow so he has to pay the police at certain check points into and out of PP, he drops off and picks up at some random street in PP, there are no signs and getting a tuk tuk to the spot i snot so easy in my English and few words of Khmer!!  Anyway I make my way to the spot and am there in plenty of time (40 mins early) and since it is already about 30 degrees C at 9.20am Im drinking plenty of water, but then I realize I am going to need a bathroom before I arrive at my destination prob about 2 hours from now!!!  No one speaks any english and all are men around me!!  So Im trying to think of ways to explain I need the to use the loo without being impolite!!  It took a while but eventually they understood and luckily there were some facilities nearby!!  So there is a work I need to learn for sure and pretty soon!!

So the next big event is the first of the trips I will take the students on with EGBOK Mission...a tourism trip to PP where they will visit the sights that tourists go to.

In the mean time some sleep so I can get up and run in the morning before its too hot, although going to be hard to sleep as there is a wedding nearby and this will go on for a few days with music and dancing!!