saffron robes, soccer games and khmer weddings...

HELLO FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!

it's february already! cambodia is warming up and mangoes will be in season soon! okay, quick update and photos!

life at site couldn't be better. maybe its the high level of endorphins in my system from playing volleyball with the girls team or simply that i've come to terms with learning to accept life in cambodia and have begun to learn how to be happy here.

so this past month, i've been playing with the vball girls team 2 hours everyday. while, i am enjoying practicing with the girls (and enjoying NOT teaching english), its not as strenuous as i would like. i'm 28 now and the girls i play with are 10-13 years my junior and i hustle a lot more than they do! practicing with the girls just makes me think back to the glory days of the wilson vball team and how much discipline i had as an athlete (snickers). the girls aren't horrible players, but some of the girls just stand there and watch the ball drop, never taking a step forward or back or to the side. when this happens, i just shake my head and make faces. students just don't show much of a competitive nature...sigh...

mid-januaury, our school hosted the mountain of rice festival to raise money. it was a lot of fun. the community bands together and donates sacks of rice and money to the school...monks came to the school to give their inspirational buddhist speeches and the community reciprocates by giving food to the monks. in all honesty, i don't understand nor will i probably ever understand khmer festivals cuz yea, i just don't. anyway, it was fun and i got to watch some of students perform little skits at school. good times and afterwards, there was a party for the teachers--male teachers really and of course drinking was involved. and of course, i was invited and i did go. i drank palm wine with the male teachers until it got too dark! i was able to hang...pretty amazing considering i don't drink. it was a lot of fun.

and finally, i went to my first khmer wedding this past week. it was fun, but the fun started after when most of the guests left the reception and the drinking started again with the male teachers at school, which i was also invited to. again, i was able to somewhat hang, but didn't drink to much beer. you know, drinking with khmer men really can't compare to drinking with people at home. khmer men drink their beer with ice...and they get pretty drunk, pretty quick. its quite funny. if i, diana f. wong, can drink with khmer men, that means they can't drink for beans! anyway enough about that....oh the gender topic again, still bugs. this is more of an observation...but khmer girls get all dressed up to go a wedding...they do their hair, face the whole package. they probably spend 2+ hours getting ready, but they dont' stay long. they stay at the reception for like an hour to eat and then go home...they don't have any fun! they don't dance, they don't socialize! they sit all together and eat in silence... i mean, you people at home, must think i'm going crazy and find it funny that i'm complaining about being reserved and shy, but c'mon. girls here take shyness and passiveness to another level! and the men here have no game! no game! seriously!

finally, i've rambled on for far too long. photos:

unhusked rice

my host sister, rathmoney

monk

my co-teacher, mengsea, giving rice to the monks

monks

pisey, my 11th grade student

kasy, another 11 grade student

random student enjoying the skits

kandieng high school girls soccer team

my school director, mr. phay leng, with some of my vball girls

girls in action (yellow is kandieng hs)

a few of the female teachers at my school,
not smiling much at the wedding

my director's sister in law, she's 20 studying in pp

my director and his family at the wedding...dig my outfit?

enjoy the spinach and pumpkin soup