Mozzeenet

Back to a full week of work this week.

Went to see Bend it Like Beckham at the pub we went to the other night - Talkin to a Stranger on Sunday night. It was fun - I hadn’t seen it before.

Caught up with another YA, Natalie who is working in a village in Kompong Thom province on Sunday which was good. We went to Java cafe - I love it there, wooden style cafe - excellent food.

Hean is back from the provinces - we’re all going to the zoo this Saturday. He is learning English so studies from 5:30 to 8:30 every day. He is doing a more advanced level to learn writing skills now.

Work is fun - lots to do and feel that I am making some progress. I am presenting to the managers on Monday about anti-virus software and reporting on my assessments of technology in the centre.

Also have been writing training materials on virus protection as well as basic computer skills and maintenance. The virus one will be a presentation and the other will be small-group training of about 4 people at once.

It is also satisfying teaching small things like aligning paper in the printer properly and changing the display properties of the screen, all those things I take so much for granted.

Aleang who I share the office with had her baby at 3am this morning - a son.

Her replacement, Lekanna is nice.

Ty, my day time moto driver showed me some photos this morning of his baby son, only 1 month old - that was nice. He told me his son is a reincarnated American. I asked him how he knew and he told me his wife dreamed it!

Met some girls at the market today who knew people from Australia. It was a sad story because one of them had had an Australian boyfriend but he died recently of cancer so she was pretty emotional about that. She invited me to see her work so I went for a couple of minutes. They work at a cartoon company, drawing cartoons for comic books which go to Korea. That was pretty amazing. People are very friendly here.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

Had a good few days off - a couple of times I was at a bit of a loose end because the city closes down - still people around but much quieter. Lots of things not open and no TV of course!!

Had a great day on Tuesday. I went with Theavy, a friend from work, and her boyfriend, Dinaa, and 2 other of her friends to Tonle Bati. It is about 35km south-west in Takeo Province.

We saw ancient ruins there which have Buddhist altars and statues. There were lots of people there due to the holiday. We lit some incense. The temple was built by King Jayavarman II who was pretty big round here during the Angkor Empire. Some detailed stone carvings which were interesting.

Dinaa was telling me about robberies of the precious artefacts - there is lots of money to be made, selling them in Thailand. Some of the pieces have been secured in the museum in Phnom Penh.

After we saw the ruins, we spent the day on a woven hut built out over the Tonle River. Very relaxing…we basically ate lots of fruit all day and chicken and fish. Had fun trying to learn some more Khmer.

You walk out to the hut on a thin wooden pole. Some people were swimming and floating in rubber tyres. I didn’t venture in though.

Toilets consisted of a shower receptacle and of course the big trough at the back with the container for pouring water after you’re done. 500 riels for the experience (10 cents US).

The road was really muddy because it had rained in the morning. Saw heaps of muddy people on motos on the way back - we were in the luxury of a car (Dinaa’s).

Saw a few motos tip over in the mud with the driver and all their cargo - saw one with an enormous mound of vegetables. It’s amazing what they carry on motos here. Sometimes you see the driver squashed right up to the front of the bike with his back bent backwards and a whole tonne of stuff behind him - people carrying sheets of glass, 3 babies, even saw a pig the other day!

On Wednesday morning, Theavy took me to the pagoda at the end of our street, Wat Toul Tom Poung. Heaps of people there for Khmer New Year. We went in and gave some fruit and food to the monks. They bless it then we went out and put a bag of rice on a big mound - symbolises something and dirt in another mound (covers up any problems you’ve had that year). Then we gave some money for the temple (monk’s gold is what it’s called apparently).

After that, we burnt some incense and put some flowers in front of a big altar then went to the temple. A monk there splashed us with holy water and we made some more wishes.

There were children looking after the shoes outside the temple and hall. You give 100-300 riels (5 cents) to the children, beggars and for various others things.

I enjoyed it - a pretty typical religious ceremony.

The big Buddha statue had flashing neon lights around him!

Been out the last few nights for dinner - we went to Indian last night - great and good for a bit of variety and had a drink at a bar called Talkin to a Stranger on Thursday night. Really friendly atmosphere, run by an Australian. Met someone Sonia works with there who was interesting. She was a Youth Ambassador before.

Today I had a successful market trip - usually it is a nightmare - so hot and frenetic but today there weren’t many people (probably still away). I managed to get a towel, new cover for my mobile because a pen leaked on the other one, some stationery and lots of fruit and veges. I’ve decided a good approach is to know exactly what you want and if you see what you want, buy it. The concept of shopping around doesn’t work at the market.

Hean, my moto driver has been away for a week for Khmer New Year. Feel lost - it’s so good having a reliable driver.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

A full week at work and now holidays until Thursday for Khmer New Year - having just started work, it doesn’t feel like we need it but it’s definitely welcome.

There’s a lot to be done at work - mostly so far I have been planning and assessing. I’m impatient to start doing something concrete to help like training and solving problems but there is a bit of ground work to be done first.

It has become apparent that a virus protection and backup strategy is desperately needed. There are several factors which make putting these in place very difficult. Started researching options yesterday and it didn’t feel so daunting after that. I will report back to the managers after the break about what I’ve found during my assessments and offer recommendations for improving their systems. Will spend some time tomorrow working on this.

On Friday at work, it was like the end of the year in Australia before the Christmas break. Everyone was putting up decorations, eating snacks (green mango with chilli and soy sauce, fruit juice) and chatting. Not much work.

Had planned to go out Friday night but the mobile phone network was down - no cals or messages going in or out. There must have been an overload of calls because of the new year break. So didn’t end up doing much - went up the road to our corner restaurant for dinner.

Last night, went out with Sonia and two of her friends, Kimsour and David. We went for dinner by the river and finished with a fruit shake (yum). I don’t think I had drunk enough water though because I felt pretty dizzy at the end. Came home and had a gastrolyte. It is so easy to become dehydrated here.

I’ve been to see Wat Phnom this morning. It is the main PP Wat (temple) built on a small hill. It is believed that a woman called Penh founded the city at the site of the wat and so the city was named after her. It’s a nice location - leafy and green. There’s a big elephant there which takes people for rides and lots of street vendors and people visiting the temple.

Just about to have another massage at Seeing Hands massage - the masseurs are all blind people. Only $3 (US).

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia