Ringing in the New Year

by Dana Martin

January 1st, 2013

Last night for New Year’s Eve we ate at Soup Dragon. The restaurant had three different levels and our table was reserved on the top floor looking over Pub Street. Pub Street is the main, crowded street in Siem Reap. We ordered a variety of pizzas to share as a group. The table was casual with lounge-like benches and pillows. The restaurant next to us was prepping for the new years party and had balloons, a dance floor and loud music that we were singing along to during dinner.  The girls bought matching Cambodian outfits and wore them to dinner. The outfits consisted of light, patterned pants and a light, white, long sleeve top. After dinner we walked along Pub Street and headed over to the Night Market where we had also been the night before. Everyone was complimenting on our outfits and it seemed to limit the amount of intense bargaining we had experienced the night before. After the Night Market, we walked back to the hotel and watched television and played cards in the room I share with Brooke.  We went to the large, outdoor lobby to count down to midnight. As we did, the streets became very loud and there were fireworks. The fireworks were colorful and very loud and near. Some that stood out to us were a heart shaped one, a smiley face one, and a green one that shimmered. Soon after, we all turned in for the night. 

Off to School...and Work.

December 31^st (Happy New Year’s Eve!)

CeMaia Wise (with a few statistical details added by Dr. Romeyn)

Today we went to the Aranth School bright and early. We were met by Megan, CFC coordinator, and by Ya, a local student at University of Cambodia. We presented our donations of more than 1,000 toothbrushes and 500 tubes of toothpaste. Megan explained the value of the donation:  each elementary school student has his or her own toothbrush at the school, and the teachers supervise the students and encourage them to brush twice a day.  The brushes are replaced every six months, and with 4,000 students enrolled in CFC schools, the brushes will be put to good use.

Megan took us on the tour of the facilities, which include a primary school, a middle school, and a (nearly completed) high school.  The school currently goes until 9th grade, but next year those current 9th graders will be able to move to the brand-new high school.  Our donations have provided for key supplies for three of the classrooms in the high school.

W broke up into two groups to work on projects for the day. My group (Matt, Mr. Kosegarten, Noah, and Brigid) worked on mixing cement and building a four foot brick wall, which is already looking nice. The wall is part of a larger landscaping and gardening project, which will help to beautify the grounds of the school.

The other group worked on making bulletin boards for the Upper school buildings. Blake sanded frames for the bulletin boards and Rachel, Brooke and Dana nailed in the board. We used machetes to chop off the excess woven matts.  Dr. Romeyn helped to stretch the woven bamboo mats over the boards, which will then be spray painted bright colors and mounted on the classroom walls.

The school was clean, bright, and well-equiped. The students wore nice white uniforms and were happy. In the afternoon we switched projects.  It is a public school, but CFC sponsors the school in part which allows for the purchase of better equipment, supplies, and training for the teachers.

As we were leaving for lunch, we joined about a dozen children for a pickup game of soccer.  They had fast feet! We will be working at the school all week and it will be great to see the progress.

Everyone loves shopping!

Rachel Weinberger and Brigid McCaffery

Late afternoon/evening December 30^th

After a long trip from Phnom Penh, including several unsuccessful stops to attempt to repair the air-conditioning, we were all relieved to arrive in Siem Reap.  We enjoyed the pool and took much-needed showers before heading out to explore the town.  We had dinner at Khmer Kitchen, where many of the kids ordered chocolate shakes and French fries. We went a little American during this meal. We also met Megan from Caring For Cambodia, who has been here for almost two years. She is the one who will give us our tour tomorrow when we begin our work on the school’s construction and design. After dinner, we all went to the night market, which was decorated with a lot of lights for the New Year. All of the girls bought elephant pants and white shirts in an attempt to be submerged in the Cambodian culture. The boys purchased pajama-style pants, white blouses, and rice farmer hats that they wore proudly back to the hotel. There were so many different types of merchants and artisans selling their goods and services at the market. Around each corner, you could discover small paintings, Buddhas, clothing, massages, jewelry and bags. The girls of course, not mattering that it was Cambodian style, went crazy over the idea of shopping. We spent a couple hours shopping and bargaining for good prices, even though we didn’t know when we were getting ripped off or not. After several false turns and backtracking, we returned to our hotel and settled in for our first night in Siem Reap. 

Spiders and Roaches and Crickets, Oh My!

Sunday, December 30^th

By Noah Weinberger

Today, we packed up and left our hotel by 8 am, headed north for the six hour drive to Siem Reap.  Along the way we stopped by a market known for their deep fried tarantulas. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we were greeted by many children who were very extroverted and kind. The kids were selling bananas, mangoes and pineapples for only a dollar. We could not eat the peeled and sliced fruit because it would not go down well with our stomachs but we gave them at least a dollar each and bought some bananas for the road. As we proceeded, we soon found out that not only did they have piles of fried tarantulas but fried, abnormally large crickets, crunchy grasshoppers, juicy earthworms, roasted water birds on a stick, and last but not least, cockroaches. My arachnophobia started kicking in and I was scared. But of course our tour guide Veng was not afraid of spiders so he picked up a huge tarantula and put it right on his shirt. Next, he picked me out of our entire group and placed the hairy creature on my shirt. Thankfully, tarantulas don’t bite and there was no danger.  Next we stopped by a woman with a bucket full of fried spiders in a garlic sauce.  It was kind off gross because the spiders had still had hair on their legs and big abdomens. Mr. Kosegarten was the first to try one and when he did, everyone freaked out. According to him it did not taste that bad. Then Brooke and Dana ate a tarantula together. Veng just laughed his contagious laugh. Then he gave me one and I could not deny the man so I try a few legs and then I am done. It was the crunchiest thing and the worst part about it was that it would just sit in your throat when you tried to swallow. Matt, Blake and Brigid all tried a sample, but C’Maia steered clear and Dr. Romeyn said she was too busy taking pictures [Dr. Romeyn says:  "I did eat some tarantula legs once we got back on the bus, thank you very much."]  Veng then led us to a bunch of crickets that were deep-fried. Once again he picks me out of all people to eat it. Veng places the enormous cricket inside of my mouth and I begin to chew. It was the same texture as the spider. I spit it out but at least I can say I tried!  Mr. Riffee was the most adventurous, eating a tarantula, cricket, grasshopper and earthworm.  He said the tarantula was the best.  Finally we were done so we boarded the bus and waved goodbye back to all the children and we continued our voyage to Siem Reap.

[Dr. Romeyn says: we arrived in Siem Reap about 4 pm, after a long, hot ride (the aircon on the bus died about halfway through the trip.  Everyone enjoyed the pool and a shower and we are headed to dinner soon. Hopefully, there will be no fried insects on the menu.]