Mozzeenet

Been in the new house for a well over a week now and we’re settling in well.

We had a small housewarming party on Saturday night. We all sat around on the couches in the lounge room and talked and drank punch - it was a punch party! I made one with cranberry juice, vodka, lemon juice and ginger ale. It was really nice and Ana made one with pineapple and coconut plus rum.

Have been enjoying sitting out on the balcony in the evenings, really relaxing.

We have a long weekend this week and the following week. I am probably going to the coast, Sihanoukville, this weekend with some of the new YAs, if we can get accommo - it’s booked out for the holiday.

Work very busy but very satisfying. Í’m really enjoying getting into these final projects.

This morning I am invigilating Sonia’s exam for her Masters subject she is studying this semester! I’m about to head over to World Vision now where she works. Quite funny considering we are good friends and flatmates! It is a seen exam though so she already had the questions.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

Busy, busy and feeling a bit spacey today. This keyboard keeps typing multiple characters so you’ll know it’s not because I’ve gone to sleep if some of my words are strangely spelled.

Yesterday was moving day so I have been in the new place for a night. I love it - very airy, light and shaded with a big, leafy tree in front of the balcony. It’s lovely - very private but still can hear lots of activity on the street and there are windows all along one side and at the front which makes it very light. The windows have wooden, French shuttters.

I woke early yesterday morning. I had to finish off packing up my room and the kitchen. I was a bit worried but it was actually very easy. It makes such a difference not having to pack and move furniture here.

Dara, one of the moto drivers who has a taxi car, arrived at about 10.30am and we packed up his toyota with the stuff. Then, it was time to say our goodbyes and take some group photos of the family. That was really nice. Thy, my day driver, who lives just up the street came down as well.

We gave the family some chocolates and a card the night before and they gave us 3 sarongs in little, plastic pouches so that was nice.

It was after 11am by the time we got going, the last item to move being the cat! She kept her claws hooked into my shirt the whole way and was looking at everything but didn’t try to jump out of my arms. I got her upstairs first then we unpacked everything. It didn’t take long at all to unpack.

Tooley spent the rest of the day investigating and getting used to her surroundings. She’s doing pretty well considering although she did pee on Sonia’s lounge chair in her room last night! The kitty litter was on the balcony at the side of the apartment but she was too scared to go with people from out the back walking past. I moved it to the front of the balcony and she has used it so hopefully she will continue to do so.

Last night we went for some drinks at the new YAs - really nice. We’re going to have a house-warming next weekend.

On Friday night, we had a last dinner at the old house - steak and 3 veg, a big treat for us and Ana made diane sauce. It was really great chatting with Ana and Sonia and a good finale for our time there. When we were just about to leave on Sat morning, I looked around and felt that we had had a great time there. I knew I would have excellent memories of that place in the future.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

Had a great week - work really progressing well. My presentation last Monday at the management meeting was successful - the directors seemed to understand what I was saying and started nominating staff for wev dev training as well as desktop computer maintenance training so I was really pleased with that.

They also started putting together content for the website, so far only updated text but I was impressed that they were enthusiastic to improve the website and it is a good starting point.

I have done some designs and am creating some templates just to get things moving for the website but I will get suggestions and feedback from staff in a planning meeting, hopefully this week.

We had the monthly staff meeting on Tuesday and I was excited that Sarayeth talked about what I will be doing in regards to training in the next 2 months and that they would be selecting staff to be trained in different areas, after my presentation.

I helped writing a proposal last week for WMC - Yeth supplied the information and I helped her put it together. The Asia Foundation, an organisation which was an agency for USAID here, managing the distribution and acquisition of funding, did not get the contract this year which is a concern for WMC. The centre must approach the new management group.

I did (or perhaps should say did not) do Internet training this week. It was a bit of a disaster - could connect to the Internet but it was incredibly slow and kept getting errors so really couldn’t show anything. Finally got on at the end of the week but it was very frustrating because it wasted a lot of time and money (on the pre-paid card). I will try again this week.

On Friday night, we had dinner at the house of one of the groups of new YAs. There are 4 of them living here, all really nice people and a great house - very open and comfortable. It was fun - we had Nepalese home delivery, delicious. Home delivery here is fasntastic - you don’t pay any extra and the restaurants will deliver even small meals for one person. It’s delivered by moto. You can get almost anything you want!

Sonia moved to the new place yesterday and I will move next weekend. It is great not having much stuff here - makes moving a much more pleasant experience. There are already new tenants for the house - they’ll move in the day after we leave so we were pleased about that for the family.

It’s still sad though and we’re planning on giving them a present and spending some time with them next Friday night.

Last night we found this fantastic Japanese restaurant, reasonably priced. Inside it is all woven walls and wood. You get your own little room with cushions and a table in the centre. It is like a traditional Japanese house.

The food was great - we had mixed Sashimi, vegeatables, rice and miso soup. Then we went for a quiet drink at The Tamarind Bar which has a great atmosphere, on street 240 where there are lots of nice restaurants. The new place is 5 mins from there which is very exciting.

I moved some stuff over yesterday too and we started setting it up the way we want it. It’s got a great atmosphere with a big tree out the front, shading the tiled balcony. We have a hammock and ceiling fans. It’s great. Sonia has a loft room, up a ladder with louvres opening out onto the main area. It’s a nice space. My room is downstairs with a window opening onto the lounge. I can open or close the curtains depending on whether I want to get some light and breeze or sleep!

I think it will be nice to have a room which will be very quiet compared to now but it’s feels strange not to have a window, very Khmer! It is set up well with wardrobe, chest of drawers, big bed and fans.

The street is lively - lots happening which is fun and there are lots of little shops and restaurants around.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia