super kid

this week at school will was awarded the super kid award!

the award was for settling well into his new school. we are so proud of our super kid, he has done very well in his first two weeks at school. he has made new friends, he has learned to sing new songs and played fun pirate games in the school yard. he loves going to school and he even asks to go to school when it is his days off!

sunrise over my city...

i am not usually up early enough to see the sunrise, but lately my son has been waking up at the crack of dawn so i have had the pleasure of capturing it on camera

before climbing back into bed of course!

our days are starting early now, greg has his khmer lesson at seven in the morning and the little guy starts school at eight so being up early is now apart of our routine. khmer people are always up early and by the time i come out of my apartment at seven thirty it feels like everybody else has been up and out for hours.

if you know me well you know that i am not a good morning person. well that is changing can you believe it! we are now early rises, when in cambodia do as the cambodians do!

rain...

the rainy season is nearly upon us. at the moment it only rains about every three days or so and the rain only last for about half an hour.

i am told that when the rainy season is in full swing it rains everyday and usually in the afternoon for an hour or two. i bet that the rain will be during school pick up time!

it is still very hot at the moment and i can not wait for the temperature to cool down. rumour has it that the temperature will slowly get cooler and in december and january the weather is at its best.
my temperature gauge says that it is thirty degrees, and that is inside with the air-conditioning on! at the moment the rain is still a novelty to us but i am sure after a few months we will be sick of it.

we have our raincoats and umbrella but there are no wellington boots to be found around town, so we shall just roll up our pants and let our feet get wet. of course the little guy loves the rain, for when there is rain there are puddles and puddles are perfect for jumping in.

home sweet home...

here is a look inside our little apartment...

this would be considered a western style apartment. we have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen and lounge and a small balcony. we also have the luxury of having air conditioning in every room so it is a nice cool haven from the hot busy streets of phnom penh.

we live a sort walk away from the major market and a little supermarket, our friends live just around the corner and wills school is a short moto drive away.  it is a great location for us.

william will give you a mini tour of our home...

first day success

the first day of school was a success! the little guy had a wonderful time, he was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave. i think it had something to do with the fact that they have a great outdoor playground and he wanted to stay and play outside.

here is what he had to say about his day...

last night when it was bed time he was very tiered. when i finished reading him a story he said "ok mummy you can go now, i need to go to sleep" bless him.

today when it was time to get ready for day two of school he was a little mystified, he said 'but i have already been to school'. i think he failed to understand that he would be going on a regular basis! but he happily got dressed and we set of to school again as happy as yesterday.

if he is tiered after one day then he is going to be exhausted after two days! he has a day at home tomorrow and then back to school on friday. 

first day...

the little guy is at his first day of school...

he was up early as usual and a quick breakfast of weet-bix {which i am very glad is available here in cambodia}. then a quick play with daddy, face cleaned, teeth brushed, clothes on {wearing his favorite t-shirt no school uniforms at his school } and hair spiked up.
looking good, very handsome and oh so grown up....

we ran through what was in his school bag and the contents of his lunch box. fingers were crossed that there was enough food in there for an energetic little school boy and that it would survive the heat until lunch time.

we all jumped in the tuk tuk to travel the short distance to school. it is not far to go but a little too far to walk.

we arrived nice and early so that we could have a chat with wills teacher {who is a fellow aussie and who is lovely} and that will could have a little play outside before it was time for the school day to begin.

a quick kiss and a hug goodbye and he was off ready to play and learn. he is already friends with some of the children in his class as we see them every week at playgroup which is reassuring to know. he was most excited to be able to play outside and to play in the sandpit {typical boy}.

i hope he has a wonderful time, that he remembers his manners and his please and thank yous. i hope he loves his teacher and his new friends and that he enjoys being in a fun and new environment. i can not wait to hear the little stories he is going to come home with and i hope he tells me about all the things he did at school.

it is a new season for this little guy and for this mummy too and i thank the Lord that He is walking beside us giving us strength, peace and reassurance. i know that this is going to be the best school for him. they specialize in teaching missionary children or third culture children as they are sometimes referred to.

i still cannot believe that my little guy is going to school! where has the time gone?

orussey market

i took a little trip to the orussey market. today. it is mainly a locals market, i think i was the only foreigner around. luckily i have basic khmer language skills and i could talk with the stall holders as there were not many people who spoke english.

the market is huge and spread over multiple levels. once i got deep into the market i found it very difficult to find my way back out again.

everything you could possibly need is available here and in bulk. on the ground level there is fruit, vegetables, meat and spices as far as the eye could see. the upper levels had clothes, bags, shoes, jewellery, stationary, school supplies and home wares. there was entire section devoted to material and sewing supplies and many many tailors sewing away.

one of the many things i love about phnom penh is the markets. as you may figured out i am a total market lover! i love the sights and sounds and smells and i actually love being able to barter to get a better price on something. i think i should write a travel guide about markets and call it markets of the world. i may need to do a little more research as i have yet to shop at the markets in turkey! one day,

exploring the river front...

today the little guy and i headed down town to the river front to take a walk and look at the sights. it has been really hot here the last few days so we waited until late in the afternoon to venture out.

we left greg at home in bed. unfortunately he has the flu and has been pretty sick with fevers and chills. today his fever broke and now he is on the mend. we are praying that will and i remain germ free.

the river is the famous mekong river. it is an important life source to many people and it flows through several south east asian countries.

the water is a lovely shade of brown but at least it was not too smelly. unfortunately we did see a lot of rubbish washed up along the river bank, that sparked a good conversation with will about the importance of not littering and looking after our environment. today we saw people fishing, washing, swimming and traveling by boat on the river.

the river front was fairly quiet today, not too many tourist and not too many people trying to sell me stuff so that made for a very lovely stroll along the water. there are lots of restaurants, bars and guest houses lining the river front so it is considered the tourist area.

next time, when we have greg with us, we shall board a boat and take a cruise up and down the mekong river.

what you see on the streets in phnom penh

the hubby has started collecting images of crazy things people carry on their motor bikes here in phnom penh.

it just amazes me what they can pack onto the back of a moto!

i am sure that there is a moto in there somewhere! 

 

yep, there are ducks hanging off this moto. my friend snapped this shot and she told me they were still alive!

now i know this next one is not a moto shot but it was too good not to capture...

now that is some pretty impressive packing!

greg took the photos while he was driving on his moto. it would be totally illegal to do that in australia, driving and using your phone/camera at the same time. and i guess what he was photographing would be illegal too! i am sure carrying live ducks draped over your motor bike would not be ok!

the weekend...

the weeks seem to be flying by. we have been here for three months now but it feels like more. i no longer feel like the tourist but i still feel like a foreigner. it is a very strange thing and a difficult feeling to explain, living in a country where it feels like home but you still stand out as a stranger in a foreign land.

you would think i would be used to standing out, as i literally stand out as i am just over six feet tall. the locals take one look at me at the market and call me madam and try to sell me something. now i can politely converse with them in khmer and tell them no thank you. they then look at me slightly differently and recognise that i am not a tourist, still a foreigner though. i don't think that will ever change. a foreigner here is someone who is wealthy and important, and i am neither of those.

this weekend found us enjoying home cooked food both at home and our friends home. everything we need in terms of cooking is available to us here sometimes it is just hard to find. at home you can go to one supermarket or one shopping center and find all you need. here it is a different story, you have to travel to a dozen different stores all over the city to get all you need to bake or cook. we are slowly getting the information stored in our head about where everything is sold and how to get there. the one and only thing that i have yet to find is chai vanilla latte, i may have to get my sister to bring me some when she visits.

on saturday morning we all piled onto the moto and toured around town shopping for this and that. it was hot out and at one point william couldn't even put his little hands on the top of the handle bars because the surface was so hot.

we had morning tea at bloom cafe where they make and sell the most delicious cupcakes. bloom is another NGO helping young women escape from the sex traffic industry.
their cafe is lovely. it has a relaxing atmosphere, the air is cool, the coffee is hot and the cakes are beautiful and delicious.

the worship was alive at the PPHoP on saturday night. i love coming into this space.

we finished the weekend off having dessert with our neighbors. greg cooked us churros and we ate and chatted the evening away. after eating all that food i may need to get out and walk everywhere this week!