The last few weeks

So Mid-August we headed down to the southwestern part of the country to a province named Takeo. The K3 (Kampuchea group 3) volunteers arrived last July and we were down there helping with their training. They brought 10 of us from K2 to observe their teaching practicum and give them feedback from our knowledge bank as we of course know everything there is to know about teaching English in this country. Well, maybe not quite; but we did our best to provide good advice. We were down there for a week and it was a nice (pc paid) way to get to see another part of this country, spend time with some other volunteers and not to mention meets the entire crew of new trainees.

Takeo seemed like a decent province. Getting down there from Phnom Penh involved an interesting bus with an interesting bus ride. It was a small; AC broken automobile, and no place for Will and me to put our bikes but the back row of seats. (Luckily they were empty; but we did have to pay half fare for them). We decided to travel cross country with our bikes as they would be useful. Which they were; but in the end we sort of felt like they might’ve been more of a hassle than they were worth. Oh well. Live and learn. Half way through the hot crowded bus ride, the bus had quit and several of the passengers got out to help push and jump start it. We got it goin and we were on the road again and made it to our final destination, Takeo Provincial town.

The provincial town was actually pretty decent. It was on a river and had a nice feel. Plus there was a Tela Mart (which we frequented to purchase tubs of ice-cream) AND there was a small restaurant called “My Burger” which served American food and in all honesty wasn’t too bad. The burgers really did have a decent flavor, with a toasted sesame bun and all…however the meat patty was really quite small. (like really small.) Nonetheless we ate them without complaint as a change up from the standard Khmer meal is always nice. They also had fried chicken which rivaled KFC, and they also had hot dogs. Not a bad little joint for a provincial town of this size.

After observing practicum we headed down to our friend Emily’s site to hold a sports and health clinic at her school. Overall it went pretty well. We covered the importance of stretching and warming up, practiced basketball drills as well as other games involving plenty of exercise, went on a nature hike in the mountains behind her school and followed up everything with a session on nutrition. The attendees were sort of young; but they had a blast the entire time AND they got free transportation to the high-school via horse cart. Quite a trip!

After that week finished up we headed down south with another PCV Matt to Kah Tonsay for a few relaxing days together hanging out with good company.

We finally made it all the way back up to our province and settled in only for a week and a half (enough time for me to finish my 2nd sewing project: a skirt) as well as finish up the summer session English course for teachers. Before we knew it, we were packing our bags to head out of town for one last hurrah of the summer… which I’m sure I’ll report on once we return. : )
That’s all for now til next time!