Photo-ma-graphs!

Breakfast!!

Shopping in the Monsoon!

Guitars...I am yet to hear them play though!

Night time tuk-tuk

Welcome party- Kirsty (l) Jen (r)

It was requested that I put some photo's up on here of my adventure...so here goes. This is just going to be a highlight, if you would like to see them all add me on facebook search 'Charlotte Harman' and I am in my profile picture so you should recognise me!!

Hot and Uncomfortable 12/09/09

Khmer word of the day: Hael teuk ( to swim...yes please!)
Weather update: Really very hot! The clouds have cleared and it hasn’t rained for a couple of days so it is boiling. I have forgotten what cold feels like again! It reminds me a lot of Greece but the heat here is a lot more humid at the moment.
So another day in Kampong Cham learning the Khmer language...
It is great here and I love learning the language, however, there has to be a but here...! As I keep being reminded ‘nothing worth doing is easy’ well no, but sat in my office in the UK doing the VSO applications I never imagined it would be this hard either!
The home sickness and culture shock are all encompassing and fairly crushing to deal with. Although I know it is going to get easier every day, it is still really very upsetting right now!
Anyway, enough of my moping! Our language teacher, Dara, is a really nice guy and has been teaching VSO volunteers for nearly 20 years. He really doesn’t like it hot when he is teaching and it is about 30 degrees at the moment and I’m sure it is worse in the classroom. Dara says that every year he has worked for VSO they have provided air conditioning, except this year. From what I understand, this is a result of the recession and the weakness of the pound against the dollar, VSO are getting a lot less spending power from their DFID (Department for International Development) funding. So no air conditioning for the classroom! However, if it continues being this hot the we are thinking of putting some money in every week so we could get it for him. This affects us especially as we are in the afternoon class, when the heat is really starting to sap energy.
During one of the breaks yesterday Jen and I cycled and bought a green coconut with a straw in to drink. We had seen a little shack place selling them and decided it might be quite refreshing, so to get out a bit, we cycled down there and a nice lady cut us a couple with a massive machete. These then when in our baskets (much to the locals amusement) and we cycled back with them to the school.
When we returned we all sat at our desks just chatting and I don’t know how it began but Dara started telling us about his experience of life under the Khmer Rouge. That is one thing you have to remember here, everyone over 30 has some kind of memory of that time and their lives. Dara was working in the fields for exactly 3 years 8 months and 20 days, he remembers the dates exactly. He fought in the civil war before that for 5 years and was 17 when he went to the fields. Dara explained how he and his fellow prisoners (he referred to it as a prison without walls) were set to work at 6am when they would watch the sun all day until 12. They would then get a 1 hour break to eat a spoonful of rice and work again until the sun set about 6 when they would get another spoonful of rice. Everyday he would watch the sun move across the sky and couldn’t wait for another day to be over. His entire family was killed apart from 3 of his brothers, who still live today, all together in Siem Riep.
After the war Dara was moved to a refugee camp in Thailand (he called it ‘the cage’) where he lived for 10 years in the rough conditions of the camp. He remembers when it was cold, putting hay over his body to keep warm. It was also here where a group of Americans taught him English and he was given a certificate showing he could teach English. This was his way out and shortly after this he began work with VSO.
It was a very moving story and I don’t think I moved a muscle the entire time he was speaking; I was so riveted by what he was saying.
When you hear stories like that from just normal people it really helps to put into perspective what we’re doing here and helps me to deal with my low feelings. We are helping a country which is desperate to recover after a gruesome, crippling and very recent conflict.
Last night, after dinner, Jen and I went and chilled out with Sarah and Kirsty in their hotel room and watched a bit of BBC world news. All it had on was the live footage of the Memorial Day in the US for the victims of 9/11. It was strange to think that just as the USA was waking up we were getting ready for bed!
It is 7:30am here (it is impossible to sleep late unless it is drug induced owing to the lady chopping things outside my window at 6:30am and the general massive amount of noise early in the morning!) and I have just looked outside the window. It is another cloudless day, which also means a very hot one! The electricity has also gone off and I am really hoping it comes back on soon as I am using my laptop battery to write this and the fan has gone off! Jean has just informed me that this might be due to some guys arriving in the street with loads of new cables. No nice informative letters here...!
I’m also hoping that a couple of volunteers might be up for staying up late tonight and having a few drinks as we don’t have class tomorrow!!
I think I might even try and do some laundry today, not sure how I’ll hang it but will give it a go!!
Love :o) xx

On the Move 09/09/09

So today we moved to Kampong Cham, where we will be living for six weeks whilst we do our intensive Khmer language training.

Anyway, I had a pretty interesting day today so I shall try and describe it for you...
Our first session of the day was entitled ‘Health and Safety’ and I was a little worried as we already had a talk in the UK regarding all the horrid diseases we would be susceptible to! The biggest issue for most volunteers here is malaria and whether to take the prophylactics or not. The advice given by the doctor here is NOT to take them as dealing with the side effects for the entire length of your placement could be hard. Also, if a mosquito bites you whilst you’re taking the drugs it can build up a resistance to the few drugs which are used to treat the disease. You can also still get malaria whilst taking the drugs. However, I DO NOT want to get malaria, it is a deadly and very dangerous disease which is a major problem in the area I am going to be living in. The decision is left up to me as to take them or not and there is an equal number of volunteers who do and don’t. So I shall be mulling that over for the next few weeks (whilst living in a malaria free zone!). I won’t even start on dengue fever as I do not want to scare you lovely readers, but put it this way, my chances of NOT getting it are not good!

So after that uplifting session Kirsty and I headed out to find a pharmacy as she wanted someone to look at her very swollen mosquito bite on her ankle and I needed sleeping tablets (still on UK time grr!).

I also merged this trip with one to a ‘reputable’ dvd shop to stock up for the long evenings in the provinces! I managed to get the entire 3rd season on The Tudors and loads of great films for about $1 each. I don’t usually agree with piracy, but, when in rome!

So we were then going to head back to the programme office but still had over an hour to kill and didn’t fancy just sitting around so we ended up going to the Cambodian National Museum. I mean, we’re not talking the British Museum here, it is pretty small but the building is lovely with a beautiful garden section in the middle. We half of the time sat by the pretty carp ponds on a bench as it was mega hot! It was generally very relaxing and enjoyable and the objects on display were fascinating. So well worth the $3!

For lunch we were joined by the visiting UK MP Sharon Hodgson, who is here to do some advocacy work with a NGO called ‘Disability Action’ and has several high profile meetings with Cambodian ministers. Sharon is also giving a speech on Friday in Siem Reap to all the female MP’s in Cambodia on the role of female MP’s in the UK. Anyway, it all sounds really fascinating and Sharon is a lovely person to speak to.

So we then all headed off to the bus office in a convoy of tuk-tuks to board our bus to the countryside. The bus was alot nicer than I expected and air-conditioned (actually, it was bloody freezing but I dare not complain because I could hardly remember what being cold feels like!). Once we made it out of PP, which took a good 45mins, we headed out into the wild Cambodian countryside. It was at this point that the monsoon started and it was unbelievable! The roads were massively flooded and the driver didn’t seem to want to slow down whilst swerving wildly around massive puddles and pot holes! Crazy times!

On the way we stopped at a little pit stop place where they were selling the token deep fried spiders. They were pretty massive actually and black, which is what concerned me more than the fact that people we eating them! So, goaded on by the (very wimpy) group Simon decided to go for it and we all watched, took photos and decided that if one of the group had done it, it kindda meant we all had! Looked pretty gross actually and he managed quite a bit of leg before he decided enough was enough!

So back on the bus (after a coffee with condensed milk!) and on our way again. We arrived in Kampong Cham about 3hrs after leaving, which isn’t bad considering the state of the roads and the weather.

6 of us, including me, are staying in a house and the other 6 in the Mekong Hotel on the waterfront. This turns out to have been quite jammy on my part (totally unintentional might I add!) as I have my own room with a double bed and wet room. So I’m pretty happy. Apart from the fact that I’ve just realised that my bed is lacking a top sheet for some reason so I will have to sleep under my towel!

The family that have rented us the house live next door and we share a little courtyard area which is nice. We will also be cycling to our language classes, so it is another chance for us to test our biking skills (by skill I mean staying on the 40 year old bike, which I doubt has ever had a service or new brakes in its entire life and veers to the left when you push off!).

Anyway, this evening we had a lovely meal at a place called ‘Smiles’. It has been set up by an NGO and is completely run by ex street children from the local area and gives them training and a job. The food was amazing (I had pasta....YES!! I have never loved the taste so much!) and the staff are great. It was pretty cheap too with breakfast costing $2 and my big dinner and a drink came to $5 with tip! It also has wireless internet so I’m sure it will become a second home for all of us for the next 6 weeks!

I’m about to chill (literally, thanks to lack of sheet and enthusiastic fan) and watch The Tudors.

Lots of love xx

The Calm Before the Storm

Right so time to update you on what I've been up to for the last couple of days...

We have been having intensive training sessions at the Programme Office on everything from cultural do's and don'ts (watch the soles of your feet!) to corruption (everywhere).

It was really very interesting and I have learnt alot, however, sitting in a warm office whilst still suffering from horrid jet lag is some what of a challenge!

No photo's to update on facebook either I'm afraid as I actually haven't been anywhere really. Well, apart from the crazy bike ride around PP earlier today with Jeltje! However, I was focusing too hard on trying not to hit anything and avoiding some crazy road behaviour. A Khmer dude on a moped actually laughed at me...he was coming towards me on the wrong side of the road!!!!! Was definately a worth while experience though!

I have a free morning from 9am tomorrow so I was planning on walking down the river side to get my last few purchases before we head up to Kompong Cham (on Mekong river north of PP). It looks like a really nice place and I'm staying in a house with a roof terrace with views over the town. However, it is a little more rural than PP so stocking up on some luxuries now!
We are all staying there for 3 weeks doing launguage lessons for 4 hours a day 6 days a week. Then heading up to Placement for a visit and it is a chance to meet my co-workers and the volunteers who are living there. It is also the time when Jeltje and I go househunting...We have decided to live together as it means we have more money for a bigger and nicer place for when all you lovely people visit :)

Kompong Cham is quite small but I hear you can do boat trips up river to Kratie and see the really rare freshwater dolphins, which makes me quite excited. It will also be nice to see some of the countryside which Cambodia is famous for!

So next time you hear from me that is where I will be and don't worry I will take many many pictures on the 2hr bus journey!!

Love xx

Shopping in the Monsoon!! 06/09/09

Khmer words of the day: Barang (foreigner)
T’lei pon man? (How much is it?)

Weather update: Bloody boiling this morning as the sun was out making everything ALOT hotter! I’m guessing it was about 30c today. However, this quickly turned into mega heavy rain and it has been spitting ever since (i’m writing this at 22:50!) This does mean that it is alot cooler now though so much better for sleep!

So this afternoon, after spending over 2 hours in the lovely air conditioned internet cafe we decided to venture to the market. So Simon, Kirsty, Sarah and I headed off to the Central Market armed with shopping lists and very limited Khmer! However, pretty much the minute we jumped into the tuk-tuk a major rain storm set in and when it rains here it usually seriously rains! So we were pretty wet when we arrived and had to jump over about 4 ft of puddle to get to the entrance and enter the maze of tunnels of tiny little stalls. The ‘roof’ is made out strips of plastic sheeting which I have no idea quite how it manages to withstand the rain. Put it this way, there are many holes so it is like being in a slightly lighter rain storm! I’m sorry I haven’t got any photo’s of inside the market, it is not a great idea to flaunt wealth as being a foreigner makes you conspicuous enough without looking like a crass tourist too :p
So here we are, making our way through a fairly smelly and very wet rabbit warren on a mission to find the things on our lists...

The first thing on the list for Kirsty and I was definitely HAIR STRAIGHTENERS! We are both seriously suffering from some serious frizz action, probably not helped by the sweat and humidity but still a problem! Anyway, there are absolutely loads of different kinds of straighteners available and we eventually bartered $11 for 2 sets of fairly good (I hope) sets.
I then decided that a pillow and towel were next on the list, so feeling confident I marched (well, sort of did a random leaping dance over yucky puddles) towards a stall I had seen selling bed stuff and towels. After getting some advice from one of the VSO staff, who told me to avoid Cambodian pillows (they smell awful apparently!) I settled on an American pillow which was very plumphy (technical word!) and was also antibacterial and hypoallergenic. I managed to get this god of pillows and a big pink towel for $10 which I was very happy with! The trick with bartering here is to take about $2-4 off and try and try until they put it away in which case you’ve reached the lowest point. Luckily, pretty much the only barangs (see word of the day!) who are in PP this time of the year live here/are volunteers so the market sellers don’t take the mickey too much with prices.

So i’m now armed with a fairly sizeable bag in tunnels designed for people half my size and jumping like a loon over puddles (flip flops ewww)...lord only knows what I must have looked like to the Khmer stall holders!

In the central area of the market it is all amazing jewellery and i’m sure it is very reasonable but on a VSO budget definitely not on my shopping list!

So we proceeded on to try and find bags. Sadly i’m not talking about the lovely silk embroidered ones they sell here but rather the boring, practical kind! When we move to Kampong Cham on Wednesday I do not want to be carrying things such as a potato masher up there and I’m sure I can leave some clothes behind so as to minimise weight. However, this means a new bag! So went up to a lovely lady selling all kinds of bags and after getting out really quite a few I settled on a little north face (yeah right) and Salamon (hmmm) holdall. These will come in useful on my bike and also on my travels to Phnom Penh and hopefully to Thailand and to visit other volunteers in Ho Chi Minh City.

Anyway, so those set me back $20 for the 2 which isn’t too bad really although I probably could’ve knocked it down further if I had better Khmer and could actually understand the numbers. It is a bit embarrassing when you are being all confident and saying ‘hello, how are you’ and ‘how much’ in Khmer to then just stare blankley back at the stall holder when they answer in Khmer and you don’t understand a sodding word!! However, I am muchly reassured by the other volunteers who have been a few months being really quite fluent!
So now I have 2 huge carrier bags to haul around we decide to head out and go guitar shopping for Kirsty and Sarah who have both decided that they are going to use their long lonely evenings in the provinces learning this fairly cool skill! When we emerged back into the street it was to be met by a wall of water which meant we quickly turned back towards the market and the handily placed umbrella shop! This saw Kirsty and I acquire 2 shiny new brightly coloured umbrellas (Sarah had a poncho and Simon was very prepared and already had a brolly!). So we set off again out into the monsoon to be greeted by completely flooded streets, it seems the Cambodian’s haven’t got road drainage or do have it and it is completely overwhelmed. Anyway, after a few more leaps over giant smelly puddles and a few enquires we found a guitar shop!
I must say I was a little dubious and thought we wouldn’t find one but find one we did and it was actually pretty amazing! Had a huge range of guitars and the girls managed to find a couple they loved and they were both made in Phnom Penh which is great. So we then all leged it to a tuk tuk which now contains 4 people, 2 guitars, pillow & towel bag, 2 new bags and sets of hair straighteners!

We were all pretty exhausted when we got back to the VSO PO (Programme Office) and just decided to go around the corner for dinner at a Khmer place Simon had visited the night before. It was really authentic with accompanying Khmer Karaoke! The food here just comes whenever it is ready and beer is cheaper than sodas! So was a pretty cheap night costing us $4 each including loadsa food and beers! So that was good. Bit of a shame that I couldn’t really enjoy it though as I have completely lost my appetite (I think this is the best diet ever as I haven’t felt hungry all day!). Anyway, I’m sure it’ll come back when I get used to the heat. I must admit that I went next door to the nice supermarket and bought actual Coco-pops for breakfast for tomorrow! I know it is stupid as they cost $4 but they will make me feel less home sick and means I will probably eat breakfast. Saying that ‘You’ll never walk alone just came on my ipod and now feeling very home sick! In fact listening to my ipod in general is a bad idea as every song on it reminds me of something from home!

Just a quick thing, the MP for Newcastle-upon-Tyne is staying in the room opposite mine as she is doing a couple of weeks volunteering as a government adviser. Feel some serious networking coming on...although she’ll probably be eating with the ambassador at the Cambodiana (best hotel in PP, there is supposed to be an amazing hotel in Shianoukville too, if anyone is interested!) every night, not at the local Khmer place for $4!! Oh well!!
Please keep me up to date with what you’re all doing! I want to know the football scores and if anyone can find a way of recording strictly for me I would love you more than I probably do now! Of course, you’re all welcome to come visit if anyone is in SE Asia and we can live it up in PP!!

Ok, this is a complete essay (It is in fact a lot longer than most of my essays and took me 20mins to write...!). So I’m signing off for today, Mega busy training sessions coming up in the morning.

Love you all xx

Cyclo tour of PP!

On our first Saturday in PP VSO hired us a cyclo (a chair pushed by a guy on a bike) to take us on a tour of Phnom Penh!

It was a little scary getting in these things as the roads here are MENTAL. I mean MENTAL. I saw a massive 4x4 driving the wrong way up the dual carriageway yesterday and this is totally normal. The only law is that there is no law, especially if you're wealthy.

So we got in our cylco and headed off to our first stop which was the temple on which PP was built. It has been totally restored and is set in beautiful parkland. There are many Khmer people there praying to all the different buddah's and shrines and the whole place hums with incense. One of the first things you notice with PP is the smell, one min it's drains, next jasmine, then rubbish, then insence! Very odd!

After that we headed up to the main market called 'New Market', which was amazing! It is a rabbit warren where there is anything and everything you could ever want or imagine!

We travelled on to the Foriegn Corrsepondents Club down by the river front which is really famous as it is where all the journalists were during the war. It has an amazing terrace with great view accross all of the riverside. It also has wifi but is quite expensive at about $8 a meal, so one to save for when someone else is paying :p

We then headed up towards our lunch spot passing a hotel called 'The Pavillion' where you can spend all day by the pool for spending $5 on food and drink, which was a great find!

Lunch was at an amazing little restaurant where you eat whilst reclining (a little difficult if you're not a teeny asian!). Was very tasty!

The cyclo tour then continued on to Tuol Sleng (s-21) which was the school that the Khmer Rouge turned into its infamous torture prison during the civil war here. It was a harrowing expeience and really very graphic. We hired a guide to take us around, which was definately worth the $2 as he told us some amazing stories from his life during the Khmer Rouge reign. I didn't take alot of photos there as it didn't really feel right and it was really quite graphic. I could probably write a huge long blog just about the place but it really does need a visit in person as nothing I could say would really describe it.

So after that harrowing experience we cycloed back to VSO office and chilled for a bit before going out for a curry with some other volunteers who have been here for a year already!

Sorry for rushing this but just noticed that I am massively late for a shopping trip to the market and I have alot to buy!

Hopefully will get on later and can describe my shopping experience!

Love xx

Nothing that is worth doing is easy!

Hello!

Right, so I have arrived in Phnom Penh...!

So I'll start with the very begining and work my way through what has happened since then!

So on 2nd September 2009 at 6:30am Mum drove me to the Heathrow terminal 3 and the adventure truely began. I was a little nervous about checking in as my bag wieghed about 28kg and the max was 25kg (but it did have my helmet in!). Luckily the lady at the desk must've been in a good mood as we weren't charged a thing for excess baggage thank goodness!

As we proceeded towards security I knew that horrid goodbye was coming and was bloody awful. Possibly one of the hardest things I have ever done and if it wasn't for the support of the other girls...I'm actually quite suprised I didn't just run back but I guess it is mind over matter. I have alot of people relying on me and of course all of you have donated money to the cause so I couldn't just run away!

Anyway. So we got on the plane and we were sat on a 4 seater in the middle with just the three of us but it became fairly apparent that the plane was pretty much empty so everyone got to spead out a bit. I managed to curl up on 2 seats and slept the most I have ever slept on a plane! Managed to get about 4-5 hours which was pretty good. I also did quite a bit of reading :) unfortunately we were on a really old plane which was a bit disappointing as it only had one tv quite a way away so you couldn't really see. Caught the end of Angels and Demons though which is a pretty good film. To be honest, we chatted most of the way! We were all getting to know each other as we are going to be spending alot of time together in the coming months!

The transfer at Bangkok went really smoothly and it was an amazing flight over to PP. The first thing I noticed was that EVERYTHING is flooded. From the air it looks like those arial images you see when you are looking at a flood disaster on the news, however this is totally normal for this time of year!

We were met at the airport by the lovely admin team from VSO Cambodia who helped to guide us through the visa process (n.b. when you come to Cambodia you need to have a passport picture for your visa. Luckily I knew this!).

Then we went to the office and met some more of the team and Kirsty and I went to the guest house as there weren't enough rooms for all of us at the Programme Office. I really hated it and luckily I have managed to swap with one of the girls so that I am now staying at the office.

I will be in PP until next Weds when we move to Kampong Cham which is about 3 hours NW of PP and meant to be lovely. This is where we will be doing our language training which I am really looking forward to as so far I am still struggling with hello and thank you!

Phnom Penh itself is crazy! I have never been in a city like it. There is quite an apparent wealth divide, with the rich and poor living side by side in quite a stark contrast. On the second night we went out for drinks so quite a swanky place and I had an amazing cocktail for $3 which is really not much at all but for a cyclo driver in half a days wages. Since I found this out I always tip at least another dollar. I don't know how long this will last on my limited funds but we shall see!

Ok, I'm going to end this blog now and go on to a new one describing my Cyclo Tour I did yesterday...!

Thinking of you all :o) xx