Birthdays and Christmas

It's the 30th of November and I've just spend 2 hours marking science tests while listening to the Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums. Such wonderful music, it even made me forget that I just about ripped a toe nail off during breakfast this morning. Teaching barefoot is a dangerous business.

So, I'm guessing most people reading this blog have already been exposed to the Stevens Christmas tour de force. Even the people at church back in Shetland were privilaged to have it inflicted upon them at a Christmas Eve service where I put it in the CD player and superglued it shut (buoy, fits yon treeemendus din??). Such whimsical, sublime and quirky arrangements of all the old classics. If you don't have a copy make sure it goes in your letter to Santa this year!

Shameless pluggery aside, I've been super busy with actuall school work this week in preparation for the dreaded report card writing. It's actually quite an honerous task for a young teacher - perhaps a lack of experience makes me want to be careful that I'm being fair an honest in the grades I assign. This is particularly important in this school where a lot of the kids will be in deep shame if they are not performing to their parents (culturally imposed) expectations (Confucius meets Piaget).

I also turned 24 on monday. Interesting having a birthday celebration with people I had never met until 4 months ago. I really appreciate the friends I've made here - people from all over the globe with an eclectic range of experiences and perspectives. However, I must admit, I did miss not being with longtime friends on that occassion. A curious mix of feelings. We went out for a nice meal though, eaten sitting on the floor at a classy restaurant. Sadly the hilariously luminous cambodian shaving-foam cake was missing. May have to buy myself one for the experience! Is that allowed?

Glasgow churches

According to this report, they do quite a lot in the city. Nice to see something like this in the headlines.

A Khmer Wedding

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Khmer wedding last night. One of the school secretaries was getting married and the whole staff was asked to come along and enjoy the celebration.

Things kicked off in the morning at 7am with a fruit carrying ceremony, where people bring the happy couple gifts of fruit (and because it's cambodia, this includes coke, biscuits, chocolate etc...!). The rule is that there are two line, and you must bring the same type of fruit as the person you're standing beside. I was still in my bed at this point, so I'm not exactly sure how it's all organised but it sounds bananas...

I rolled up about 9am just as the main ceremony was starting. We had traditional music, some singing from various groups of wonderfully dressed Khmer girls, a band from the school and a hymn or two sung in Khmer. While they weren't actually playing, the band sat at the side and footered away with their instruments, punctuating the speeches occasionally with a drum roll or some canned laughter.

Another oddity... Just off to the side of where I was sitting, a group of older men gathered round in a circle. They promptly all lit up their cigarettes, turned on a radio and started gambling away good style over some vigorous form of card game. Still... the vows were said, the rings exchanged, and a hesitant smooch on the cheek was offered by groom to bride. Hey presto, married!

The evening entertainment was great craic. All night karaoke supported by a live band, and a banquet of Khmer tastyness. The waiting staff only serve a table when it's full so it's a case of flagging people down and making them sit with you if you want to eat. I ended up having a yarn with a theology lecturer at the Phnom Penh bible school... the upshot being the confirmation in my head that hermeneutics really only equals common sense. (I'm sure you'll disagree, oh father mine...!)

There was lots of parading around by the B&G.... and more attempted kissing. Picture a loud excited guy on the stage with a microphone practically forcing the couple together "One, two, three...!" (Moi, bi, bie...!) only for the painfully embarrassed bride to actually run away. Hmmm, Cambodians really don't do public affection! Fair enough!

Anyhoo, it was a right old shindig and I'm glad to have been part of the experience.

Today was a brilliantly sunny day in Phnom Penh. Can't believe it's the 18th November. Things are really getting busy here in preparation for the Water Festival. Easily a few extra thousand people at the waterfront tonight. Allegedly, next weekend there will be between 1-2 million visitors in the capital. I'm wondering whether to stay and try to catch the spectacle or to escape to the coast. Hmmm, isn't life full of choices?!

Get your boffin hat out

Which I'm guessing means I use the occasional big word, or write in a confusingly obtuse style.
Found this link at Jesus Creed

The global village

For dinner tonight, this Scotsman had Spanish Tapas in a South African owned restaurant served by Cambodian waiters in the company of two Aussies, an American, a Dubliner, and two Dutch girls who are studying in Singapore.

Truly, we live in a small world!

Vietnam - Episode 1

Hmmm, I hope this doesn't turn out too negative! It seems like most of my memories are a bit tainted by the bad rather than the good points of VN. Here's the start of the tale in good old bullet point fashion. Perhaps I should leave it there and you can ask me the rest in person! This feels like being 5 years old and sitting politely through yet another set of holiday snaps courtesy of some distant relative.... except it's minus the actual pictures! Ho hum!

Day 1 - Phnom Penh to Chau Doc

- Ghastly smell as a dead dog floats past the boat as we leave the quay in Phnom Penh. In retrospect, this was an appropriately Homeric omen. If only I was the superstitious type I'd have stayed at home.

- Cool racing down the Mekong to the border. Hanging out of the boat window to get the full effect. Fun!

- Border crossing, very obvious transition into Nam. Dingy checkpoint with local kids throwing stones at government buildings, watched by apathetic men with guns. I love the smell of communism in the morning.

- Arrival in Chau Doc. Followed for a while by a tout on a bike trying to get us to stay at his recommended hotel. Ignored him... but learned the lesson. Touts in Nam are like limpets clutching a rock in a storm.

- Ended up staying on the river front. Cheap, mildly nasty. Watched life go by for a while. Wandered around the town square taking in the atmosphere. Had my first bowl of Pho. Mmmm, Pho. This stuff is really really good. 1st positive impression of the country.

Here's a 'pho'to if you wanna see some... Thanks to the random flickr dude.

Day 2 - Chau Doc to Saigon

- Had previously purchased bus tickets to the big city, we waited eagerly for the "air conditioned minibus" to pick us up at the hotel. Along came a beat up old car which we shared with 5 other VNmese. Ah. Then it took us to the bus station where we transfered to a beat up transit with um, air conditioned windows. Hey ho. Still you play the cards you're dealt and we settled down for the 5 hour ride.

- As soon as we hit the main road, all notions of settling down for the ride dissapeared - or rather leapt a foot in the air with every bump we hit. We hit a bump every 5 seconds or so.

- 20 mins into this, a Vietnamese lady is sick. This starts a chain reaction among the rest of the locals. Dave and I look at each other with horror and he turns a pale shade of american.

- 24 mins in. I jam the ipod in my ears... put some tiger balm on my neck to keep the smell away, and stare fixedly out the window. Nice scenery. VN roadside looks similar to cambodian, but is subtly different. Different vegetation etc. I start to enjoy the ride - years spent on boats in the North Sea has somewhat hardened my stomach to this sort of treatment!

- Break for lunch. Pho. Mmmmm. I notice the duck one lady has in a bag is trying to escape. And it's made a terrible mess of the bus floor. If transporting a duck, make sure your bag is watertight. Or your duck is toilet trained.

- Arrival in Saigon. Moto's to the backpacker district. Realistation that the city traffic is about a million times more crazy than in Phnom Penh.

- Find a hotel, eat more Pho. Head out to walk around and see the night life. Saigon deserves its reputation as a melting pot of craziness. Lost count of the number of times we were offered drugs, 'massage'.. etc. I don't think anyone was too bothered about our apparently rigid morality... they had enough business to make walmart look quiet. Not exactly a place to take aunty gladys for an evening stroll but worth experiencing. It's not all bad, we met some friendly travellers, had some banter, and head back to our air-'conned' hotel.

- 1am, the power goes off. Bummer.

Day 3 - Saigon to Dalat

- 7am, power back on. Suspicious.

Chong dahlaing?

It's a mystery why the mighty BBC have chosen to use this stock photograph for the article below. You would think that if the speeding hooligans in question were indeed as plentiful as the beeb makes out then it would be easy to pop down the riverfront and snap a few quick shots. I'd have done it myself if asked... oh wait, no I can't - my camera is busy sponsoring someone in Vietnam.... sigh.

So, please don't get the misinformed idea that the joyriders ("dahlaing" = joyriding) are cruising around 6 at a time on trailers full of bannana leaves, hauled by antiquated scooters. Come to think of it, that might be more amusing than the ludicris reality. Some youngsters here have a very Buddhist attitude to driving - fate is in the hands of the gods, rather than in actually looking where you're going. Mind you, it's not even half as bad as Nam.... that's the real deal for crazy driving - mental!

Cambodia's PM Takes on Boy Racers

A hint of pride

Shetland has been voted one of the world's top unspoiled island destinations. Mmmm, after several months in the tropics, I could do with a sniff of that fresh sea air!

Just beware if you upset the locals!

I'm back

From VN. Tired. Embelished serialization of adventures will follow. The bullet points: Nice country, stunning jungle, scams, huge waves, 'luxury' trains, rollercoaster buses, unusual exercises, pho, more scams, theft, drugs (no mum, not for me!), propoganda, motorcycle gangs and oh yeah, more scams. A happy / sad - up / down experience.

I'm in Nam

And it is sweet. Just hopped off a 9 hour bus ride which was supposed to last 4, but we're in the mountains and it's lovely and cool! 9 hours on a bus is a big deal for me. You see, I've always had an irrational fear of busses... well, today I kicked it and now the (bus)world is my oyster! Chuff'd.

Map skills

View Larger Map

Todays word is institutionalisation

When the youth team was here in the summer, one of the things we did was to trial a workshop run by an ICC project that is researching the needs of kids in orphanages. The idea behind us being involved was to see if the material was suitable for someone who was illiterate - not being able to read Khmer we were prefect guinea pigs!

I had dinner with the project leader last night and we discussed what they have been doing so far. The research phase is now nearly complete and the finding are eagerly awaited by policy makers around the globe. This little project run from a one room office in Phnom Penh is groundbreaking in the simple fact that no-one has ever taken the initiative to ask the orphans themselves what it's like to grow up in care, and then be released into the world with little or no life-skills. Hopefully with the data gathered, proposals and policies can be made that will significantly benefit peoples lives worldwide. I am so full of hope and joy that this work is being done here, and delighted that it is being owned by the Khmer people involved. Nice to see Cambodia on the world stage for a positive reason.

More info on project SKY.

Mmmmm, tasty!

Check out this amazing dinner! Stopped off at a BBQ (1srt right just after Tuol Tom Pong for those in PP) on my way back from the gym. A lump of chicken, 2 limes, a cucumber and some plant that was growing at the kerbside. All this for a dollar...yum!

Photos posted

The Krabi photos are now at my flickr.

A boat trip to paradise

This last week was the realisation of a long awaited trip to the Krabi peninsula in Thailand! George and I headed off last Tuesday for the sun-kissed shores and limestone grandeur of Railay and Tonsai beaches for some serious relaxing and climbing in this world renowned rock based playground. T'was a bit of a mad moto scramble to get to the airport on time, but we made it!

Our first day traveling landed us in Bangkok in a ghetto hostel - 2 beds resplendent with Styrofoam (polystyrene to us brits) mattresses. Not that G and I were complaining (being men and all that)...a solid nights kip saw us ready to complete the journey to the Phra Nang peninsula.

As we rounded the headland in a longtail boat the beauty of the place really sunk in - it seriously is up there with the most amazing places I've been. Palm trees framed the cobalt horizon above azure seas and striking outcrops of limestone and stretches of gleaming sand. (Sold it to ya yet?) On the boat ride, we chatted to a local climber dude, and subsequently met many more locals at the bottom of the cliff faces, urging novice climbers higher and higher and hanging out after hours at the beachfront. They all exuded an effortless cool. Imagine Bob Marley combined with Jack Sparrow and Chris Sharma and you just about get the picture.

This was my only lead climb of the week. All the stuff was pretty hard and since neither of us had been climbing for a while, we were rustier than the original bolts on Humanality. Still, despite humbly requiring some help retrieving gear on one occasion, we stuck with it and got a good few climbs under the belt. Awesome rock, fantastic scenery, sunshine, hairy millipedes hiding in holds and good banter with other international climbers. Just like a typical day at Auchenstarrie.....

It seems like the peninsula contains 2 types of people - climbers, and young couples. On the last night, G and I watched the sunset from Phra Nang beach, surely up there on a list of romantic things to do. Sadly, G isn't a girl, and as he commented too, neither am I. Ah well. We shouldered our backpacks and trudged back to our hotel for another evening talking about cars, drinking petrol and crushing rocks on our foreheads while the rich young couples whiled away the evening hours.

The next day we were back to Bangkok where we explored the Koah Sarn road and had dinner with 2 Spanish girls who were staying in the same guesthouse as us. I think this one was even more ghetto that the first... ghetto enough to give me an ear infection. Saying Sayonara to G, I headed back to the familiar chaos of Phnom Penh where the VISA guys in the airport acknowledged me by name, a water Buffalo held up the traffic, and my moto driver held my leg all the way home. It's strange coming back to a place that is not your home, but feels homely. A curious mix of emotions. So far, this trip has been amazing and even though it won't last forever, I love this unique and special country* :-) More pictures will follow on the flickr account...

D

*not because of the leg holding, that still freaks me out...

Much ado about nothing

Not so much going on here just now. George and I scrapped our plans for adventurous doings in favour of relaxing in preparation for Thailand next week. Watch this space for the tales of daring do.

One of the many things G and I have talked about this week is how churches support missionaries in the field. I guess I want to write this here so that at least some people hear the thought. What if, instead of merely supporting missionaries with money and prayer, a church paid for some of their friends to travel out to see them and just, well, hang out. It's been so encouraging having a friend from home here, and I'm sure lots of people abroad would appreciate it. There's also the side benefit of the people travelling possibly getting interested in mission etc...and they get to see what life in that country is really like. However I don't see any churches doing that (anyone?). Something to ponder...suggest to your pastor?

Meanwhile we're off tonight to a Lebanese restaurant. It will probably taste fantastic and cost me less than this haggis supper. And contain less radioactive substances. Somehow, I still yearn... Mmmmm, haggis supper.

Of coffee and caution

This guy is simply one of the nicest cambodian people I've met. He runs a coffee stall in the market that has a sign proudly displaying "The best iced coffee in Phnom Penh". You know, I've tried a few, and I'm not inclined to disagree with him.

George and I stopped off for a coffee there after consuming various artery clogging deep fried rice products (you can take the scotsman out of scotland....?). The coffee dude (who's actual name is Mr Ay Onbounnnareth - it's less damage my "n" key if I just call him the coffee dude) and I fell to talking in my broken Khmer and his broken english (see? such a boring language, doesn't even deserve a capital..).

It transpires that he's 50 years old and pretty open about his time during the Khmer Rouge era. He and his family were forced out of Phnom Penh and fled up to the border with Thailand (a journey of several hundred kilometers). I mentioned that we were going to Thailand next week and his eyes clouded with genuine concern. "Please, please, please don't go to the south" he said. "It is still full of mines, and muslims fighting the government". I've seriously never had a more passionate plea from a (relative) stranger. Such a nice guy. Anyway, I signed his notebook, said I would frequent the stall more often. He promised to find a scottish flag to put up in the collectino above the stall - however, given that his working hours are 4 am to 9 pm, I'll forgive him if this doesn't happen for quite some time. Coffee dude, I salute you.

Pursat and Kampong Luong

This weekend I headed off to see a bit more of rural Cambodia. Marked on my map are several places tantalisingly marked as "floating village". I was aiming for one up north near to the provincial capitol of Pursat. Too tired just now to say much about it - ask me sometime round a campfire and I'll relate the tales of daring do with much embellishment (thought probably not as much as this masterpiece of hyperbole). The picture above is linked to my new flickr account - the old one is kaput.

Calculus and concrete

There is some building work going on at the school just now. Even though we rent our property, landlords in Cambodia expect you to make any alterations to a building you want, as long as you leave the structural supports in place. The school is adding a third storey to the high school building.

When you employ someone to do a long term building project here then their families just move in on site and live there for the duration. Often the families will help out with whatever work is going on.

Yesterday, I was teaching my a class and watching as a young cambodian teenager carried bag after bag after bag of cement past the window. I had the class stop work and watch for a while just to make them appreciate that they were so privileged to be getting and education, instead of having to work really hard in the heat, dust and dirt to earn a hand to mouth wage. Now, I've tried before to make my classes in glasgow realise how fortunate they are, being in the minority of people who live in the developed world. Mostly, this lore from grandmaster dave fell on deaf ears, but yesterday - with the "other half" sweating and toiling outside the room - I think the kids got it. It certainly hit home to me.

Protecting Cambodia's History

This seems like a good idea...

Ahem.....

Moon festival

Last night, Phnom Penh was celebrating the Moon Festival (or Mid-Autum). Flatmate Dave and I were sitting outside a restaurant having dinner when there was what sounded like gunfire really close by. Turns out it was just kids playing with firecrackers, thankfully! It was then that we noticed a lot of the shops and houses close by had set up little tables with candle, incense and mooncake.

It was really interesting to see the different approaches to celebrating. The family who ran the restaurant hurriedly set out a table, put on a tablecloth, had their adorable daughter light 2 candles on it, place some cake.... and then take it all away within the space of 5 minutes! They seemed almost apologetic but were happy to explain in broken english what was going on. For other, like in the picture above, it seemed to be quite a serious event, quiet devotion at the homemade alter and then a lengthy period staring at the moon. My Khmer skills were enough to politely ask if I could take this lady's photo (she was only too happy!), but I thought afterwards that maybe I was being intrusive. Hmmm, no harm done I hope.

The kids were certainly enjoying themselves! Lots of firecrackers and colourful lanterns. Unfortunately I was only armed with the mobile phone camera which wasn't really up to the job....

Science with Mr Dave...

0.5*(Curriculum) + the Chemical Cupboard / ((HOW2 + (Internet - Fear)^2) = Science with Mr Dave

I've always wanted my own chemical store to play with. Now, it's part of my job! The kids are learning, but I don't think they realise a lot of my "let's see what happens now!" banter isn't actually put on for their benefit... ho hum. Today we made some sulpher dioxide, did a sacrificial electrolysis of copper in a copper sulphate solution and demonstrated the greater reactivity of aluminium by dissolving some foil in more copper sulphate. My attempt to make slime with PVA glue and Borax sadly didn't work. Tomorrow, sodium and water...

For when you absolutely 100% need things dead

Bat. Guaranteed death with a zesty fragrance...

A trip to Kampong Chhang

Phnom Penh - Kampong Chhang, 91km

Confirmation

I love it when biscuits rescue me from a potential mire of existential uncertainty and doubt...

Finally, recognition!

This came to my attention through my femme flatmate fantastic... thanks Mary!

I particularly like the tagline - ''the home of witty banter''. Perhaps I should get business cards made??

'Dave' channel targets young men.

Khmer Dreams

Dave and Laura Vann (sorry if I spelled that wrong guys!), fellow missiony types, are blogging at: khmerdreams.blogspot.com

The current post is an really good reflection on what happened when the multi-million dollar Hillsongs show hit Phnom Penh, worth a read!

Top Khmer Rouge leader detained

From the BBC: Top Khmer Rouge leader detained

Image courtesy of the BBC

Something that sets this country apart from many others... Pretty much everyone over a certain age has a past which either includes horrendous suffering or perpetrating horrendous brutality.

A few days ago I was reflecting on this as I waiting in a government building in a "queue" (read scrum) with about 50 others waiting to get my photo taken. I was the only white guy in the building, I didn't really understand what was going on, I felt very much in the spotlight - people clapped and "ooohed" when my turn came to be photographed. Another learning experience.

Anyway, as I was looking around the room I was spotting all the people over 40 and wondering what stories they could tell of their own experience. How many had mothers, fathers, siblings or even children who sat proped up, too weak to support themselves, in the photographers chair at Tuol Sleng as the flashbulb exploded their world in a stark glare of light? Running this through my mind, watching as people sat, stoney faced (Cambodians tend not to smile in photo's) and a harmless webcam clicked a digital record of their feature, it was easy to picture the other scene, in a different time where a photo in the records of S21 would be the only reminder of a persons. existance. Grim stuff.

It's worth remembering that, apart from the guy in the article above, the only other Khmer Rouge member in captivity is a man known as Comrade Duch. He was in charge of the S21 prison in Phnom Penh. He subsequently converted to Christianity and believes he must be tried for his crimes. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors?

A tale of two weddings

I was on my way to catch lunch at the market yesterday (30p for the tastiest noodles ever) when I came across this wedding Marquee - in the middle of a 5 road junction. The custom is to put up the tent for the wedding outside your house... even if it is in the middle of the road.

There was another wedding going on yesterday, right across from my house, complete with uber-large PA system. Cambodian music is not for the faint of heart, and they like it loud. I was woken this morning (party still happening!) to the sound of someone chanting through the PA... or perhaps it was an invading army of daleks... to be honest, I don't think I could tell the difference.

Susan continues to get worse in Bangkok. Please pray some more. Also, Sun Hour, one of the Khmer admin staff at school told us that his young kid fell out of his cradle and bumped his head and keeps vomitting. I'm sure that's not a good thing so remember him too.

Update: I've been told that it's not a wedding opposite us, but a funeral. I feel kinda bad for mocking them now. On the down side, Cambodian funerals can last from 4 days to a week...

Following the food theme... "Waiter, there's an octopus in my soup..."

Yah, so I ordered pork and noodle soup for lunch today and this little fellow was hiding in it! Maybe octopus are a garnish over here like parsley would be in the UK...? Anyway, down the hatch it went.

This was washed down with some sugar cane juice, freshly squeezed from a stall across the street. I'd often wondered what the ladies selling ground up plants were up to, but it tastes really good. Probably contains the same calorific value as a small rhinoceros though, and I'm sure I heard my dentist going apoplectic somewhere in Partick. Ho hum.

The school switches timetable tomorrow, so effectively I start working full time. Looking forward to it, but I think it's going to be busy. Also, Khmer lesson no.2 tomorrow afternoon! Allegedy, my teacher shouts at you if you don't remember all you 'learned' last time - I'd better go and do some revision!

Oh, one of the school staff, a scottish lady called Susan, has been airlifted to Bangkok with Dengue. Prayer for her and her family would be good.

Mom, there's rain on my sausage...

Last night all the staff and their families came to my house for a bbq! It was awesome... someone had made real sausages which were tasty as a very tasty thing. It was a quality eveningm even when the heaven's opened and it rained enough to make Noah quiver in his grave.

The whole street (dirt track) outside the house was flooded so I headed out to see what the locals were up to. Most of the families are trying to stop their houses flooding, but the kids were having a great time playing with polystyrene boats. As usual, everyone was only too happy to have their photo's taken! All the school kids were busy in my back yard (get off my lawn!!!) turning it into a swimming pool / mud bath. Very tempted to join in but my sense of professional responsibility got in the way...

In contrast to these happy times, the plight of some of the beggars here is really hard to deal with. It's difficult when people with horrific conditions are asking for your help and your heart cries out to give and give and give, but your head says that the chances are there's a kingpin type guy hanging out in the background waiting to collect the money. Really difficult. I'd appreciate prayer for wisdom in this. At the moment I'm going for the giving food option and at least if I hang around for a bit I can see who's eating.

Must dash... I'm off to see a Bob Dylan tribute band. Surreal!

The times they are a changing...

Humanitarian technology

Google knows where you are...

This is really interesting: Fosset saught via google earth

Of dead trees and thankfully not dead cambodians

Took this outside Sarah and Pola Chin's house on sunday morning. These local dudes were busy dismantling a very dead mango tree that was threatening to collapse onto their house. Needless to say, there were no ropes involved and climbing a dead tree isn't exactly the safest thing to do of a sweltering sunday morning. I watched as one guy broke the branch he was standing on, made a desperate lurch for the trunk of the tree, wrap his arms around it, and slide very painfully to the ground. Health and safety???

I took a trip to the russian market in the afternoon. Psar Tuol Tompong is an amazing place, fairly bewildering until you crack it. Bartering is fun and a good challenge for my language skills (skills??), although I think it's important to remember the comparitive poverty of the sellers and the most things are very much cheaper than the UK anyway. E.g I bought a North Face backpack that in the UK costs £60... I got it (dodgy zips included) for $12. I probably could have got down to $11 but while a dollar is relatively little money to me, it goes a long way for the average Cambodian.

Week 1

Today marks the end of my first week back in Cambodia. I'm absolutely delighted to be back in this fantastic country, and in the city of Phnom Penh with all the sights and smells of life in the heart of this developing country. The people are fantastic, the food is great (particularly the fruit) and the school I am working in is unlike anywhere else on earth. Best of all, you don't need to wear shoes in the classroom, hence - teachingbarefoot!