“All I want to do is BICYCLE!.....”
And that is the song
that plays in my head every morning at 6am when I hop out of my already sun-drenched
bed to join Diana on our daily bike ride. About two weeks ago we each invested
in a $40 used bicycle. I named mine right away. Her name is ‘Gong Sabai’, which
means ‘happy bike’ in Khmer. And a happy bike she is! Her shiny, perfectly
pitched little bell comes in handy as we maneuver through herds of cows. Her
beautifully un-dented white wire basket (it won’t stay that way for long) comes
in just as handy since Gong Sabai’s rider can’t seem to stay hydrated in the
early morning heat and needs to bring frozen water bottles with her. We spend
over an hour each morning getting lost in the rural dirt roads. We ride through
small villages where the mothers holding their toddlers stare at us as we pass
by. I think their first thought is, “Who the heck are these two white girls?”
and then after we smile at them and say hello it changes to, “Where the heck are
they going?” In addition to the confused mothers, we also pass pagodas, monks
who are out for their morning offerings, children walking to school, and dogs
who have nothing better to do than to run after the two white girls. Sometimes
APCA kids will join us if they don’t have class, and it’s funny to see
villagers’ reactions when they see Diana and me pedaling along with a pack of 8
teenage boys.
Bikes haven’t been the only exciting new addition to our
daily routine. Thanks to the donations Diana and I have received (THANK YOU
AUNT HELENE!), we each bought a netbook just like I mentioned in my last post.
Now, whenever we aren’t teaching a class, we’re monitoring two kids on Rosetta
Stone. It’s an awesome program because
it’s self-paced, so we just have to slap two kids down on the computers and
give them headsets. Okay, maybe ‘slap’ isn’t the right word. But anyway, it’s
really fun for the kids and they all enjoy it. Diana and I can’t go outside
without someone yelling our name and motioning like they are playing an
invisible piano, “Maliss! Computa?”
Cinco de Mayo has come and gone already? Crazy. Diana and I
treated the Amret staff to our ‘cooking’. We decided to make tacos. This meant
a trip to the international grocery store in PP to get taco shells and wraps
($5 for 10 wraps!!!), big cans of chili, lots of fake cheese (we couldn’t risk
it melting in the 90 degree sun), olives and salsa. Add some onions, tomatoes,
and 5 Amret staff who only shop at the local village market, and you’ve got a
lot of explaining to do! Can openers, hard vs. soft tacos, how to fold the soft
tacos, fake cheese, American eating habits, Mexican Independence Day (which we
didn’t know much about), tequila….the list goes on. Let’s just say that Diana
and I each had thirds (we have a picture of our clean plates to prove it) and
most of the staff enjoyed the tacos, but not nearly as much as their teachers.
Next new development: Diana and I bought three swing sets and a slide! It was very exciting to have them delivered and watch as the little ones couldn’t wait to hop on and try them out. It was a great, fairly cheap investment for the kids; there is rarely a time when the swings are all empty, and it give us a good place to visit in the evening while star gazing and singing,” You Are My Sunshine”. One of the swing sets is painted pink, which is pretty cool.
The boys’ dorm is finished! They are all moved in and the monks came last week for the blessing. One of the monks who came to perform the blessing is in my big kid class, so it was fun to see him do ‘monk’ things for the first time. As soon as the blessing was finished it was move-in time for the boys, who quickly and excitedly boxed up their belongings and organized their space. It’ll start raining regularly pretty soon, so the timing is perfect.
From my hotel room in Saigon (I had to leave Cambodia to renew my visa), I’m looking at these posted pictures like it’s not even me who took them. As much as I know each of the kids and their amazing personalities, it doesn’t even seem like this experience is real. I still find myself thinking, “How did I get here? In rural Cambodia? With 69 kids? Riding bikes with them, playing Bingo with them, teaching them about superlatives and comparatives..” It’s been an amazing experience and I’m so thankful I have two months left to soak it all up.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!
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