Hello all!

I apologise for the time it has taken me to update this - the first few weeks in Cambodia have been pretty hectic (as you will soon find out)! Pictures will soon follow but for now I will give you an account of what life in Cambodia has been like:

I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon after a sad goodbye to Africa, where I had such an incredible time. It was a good thirty hours of travelling from departure to arrival - in this time I watched five films, read a book, got my first Starbucks in two months and managed to check into an airport hotel and have a shower for $4 - a bargain! I was greeted by 'So-So'at the airport who works on the volunteer programme, was taken to a tuk-tuk and off we went! First thoughts of Cambodia: busy, quite dirty and no traffic laws whatsoever. Despite there being red lights no one really obeys them... it's a case of crossing a road and hoping for the best! First night I was taken to a hostel where I met a couple of other volunteers and went out for dinner.

The week following began with moving into the volunteer house and meeting everyone; 13 of us are living there and it really is a fantastic group of people. I am sharing with a girl called Dominique from New Zealand who is lovely, half of the house are made up by Brits which makes good banter! Everyone is aged between 18 - 27 excpet one 67 year old lady named Sybil - the bravest lady I know to come into a house like this! We've had good fun together getting to know each other and have been on exciting adventures such as getting massages from a blind community, bartering at the local markets, trying local cuisine including tarantulas (pictures will come to prove this!) and relaxing in beer gardens chatting with local people. Everyone so far has been pretty friendly to us - all the children say 'hello' and although at first we got a LOT of stares people have got used to seeing us around, so we seem to be fitting in.

Last week we went up north to a rural Cambodian island to see some of the work carried up out there. An incredible experience! We arrived after a 7 hours on a coach and 2 hours on a boat and were greeted by Cambodian wilderness. This really was back to basics - the next 6 meals consisted of the same food: rice and vegetables (yes - even for breakfast), we were staying with local families on the island so had a thin matress, wooden floor and five others to sleep along side! We were shown around the island and the different projects going on as well as being taken to a local school and handing out gifts we had brought for the children - they got very excited by the balloons. We were supposed to have a big evening of food and dancing outside but unfortunately the rain spoiled it for us - we have entered monsoon season in Cambodia so although it is boiling hot we frequently get down pours of rain which is fun to contend with in flipflops! So instead we ended up in a wooden shack with a few beers listening to Michael Jackson music (the only Western music available!!) Still a laugh.

After this trip we returned with open arms to Phnom Penh; a flushing toilet and shower are never appreciated enough until you don't have them. And so began the teaching! Monday was my first day - I have four classes 6am - 8am and then 4pm - 6pm. After one week I have decided NEVER to complain about early starts in London again! I arrived Monday feeling pretty nervous but looking forward to what would happen... until I went into my first class of very shy, non-talkative students and all ideas went out the window. We had been expecting students to be interested and ask lots of questions - no one opened their mouth!! Quick thinking was required and I just about got my way through the first two lessons. However this left me feeling pretty nervous as I had obviously been under prepared for what would happen and did not want a similar situation to occur again. So this week has been filled with getting up early, doing classes, quick trip to the swimming pool then onto an internet cafe to do some hardcore lesson planning! I have been pretty shattered but by the end of the week there is a huge difference in my classes which is great to see; people are opening up and we have some conversation going - YAY! So hopefully the next few weeks will improve. They are lovely students but incredibly shy - I have lower levels who can just about put sentances together up to level 8 who can speak good English but need improvement on pronunciation and grammar. It is hilarious having a class of 15 repeat something you say in an English accent - I have been told 'teacher - you speak very posh!!'... At least they understand me I guess, we have an Irish guy who I think is having great difficulty with his students!

And so it is a Sunday, I have been in the internet cafe (who now know my name and that I would like an iced coffee!) for a few hours working on next week's lessons and am going to head back to the house soon for lunch. The more time I spend here the more I love Cambodia. It is such a different culture to back home and you have to be accepting of new ways and lifestyle but everyone has a smile on their face. Yesterday we visited the Killing Fields and S21 - places involved in the Pol Pot regime and Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. It was incredible emotional - S21 is where a lot of Cambodians were taken and tortured during these years (they have photos in the rooms of the dead bodies found - it was sickening to see) and the killing fields is where people would be taken to be executed. You would walk around and see pieces of bone and teeth in areas from where bodies still lay. Honestly horrific - I have a greater appreciation now of what people here have been through and it's incredible what they have had to overcome.

Anyway love to you all - I will update you again soon and put some pictures up! Take care xxxxxx