Battambang

The view from our room in Gems

at war with mosquitoes

In Battambang we fight battles. We fight against jet lag by not napping during the day and forcing ourselves to stay up longer than the sun, which sets at 6:00pm.We fight against the heat with thoughtfully placed fans and open windows. We fight against the mosquitoes by climbing up flimsy ladders to fix window screens and by sleeping under a net. I think we have finally reached an upper hand on all three, but I still have constellations of itching red welts as a reminder of the battles being fought.

the river before it was TOO high

enjoying sugar cane juice and
viewing the river at its current peak

The town itself is also fighting. This is a seemingly lost battle against water. The river that runs through Battambang is high and fast. One friend told us that it hasn't been this high in ten years, and people stand along the banks and bridges just watching it in awe. Certain streets are also flooding. Yesterday it was just big puddles, one of which offered up a soaking hundred dollar bill, that have today grown into intersection lakes.

devotional 

Between all battles we also have some time for a pretty sweet life. I have been doing some teacher training using the Hidden Gems Curriculum with the teachers at the Hidden Gems International School in Battambang (which we are currently living above), Ash has started putting together a masters course for UniED students. We have a dinner schedule with our housemates so everyone only has to cook once a week which is a great way to not have to worry about cooking, and get to try new foods (primarily Malaysian and Chinese). On Sunday morning Aunty Grace made all of us nasi lemak (but she spared us the anchovy garnish...) it was delicious. Later on Sunday a group of first year UniED students came over for a devotional. It turns out that "God is Sufficient" has the same tune in many languages, so the boys taught it to us in Khmer (Cambodian), then we taught it to them in English and then "Kim", our Chinese roommate, taught everyone the prayer in Chinese. We decided to save Arabic for next week.

In sum the first few days here have been pretty awesome. Between down-pours we have walked around a few different parts of the city and I am beginning to feel more like I know the place everyday.

in Khmer Cafe to escape the rain

A More Chronological Capturing of Events in the Form of a Poem:

first day in battambang
nassi lemak breakfast
gecko cafe nachos, coffee
walked around in battambang (stuck in rain, khmer cafe)
devotional with unied students
learned God is Sufficient in Khmer and Chinese,
save Arabic for next time
taught God is Sufficient in English

breakfast at sunrise cafe

dinner by Grace
chinese moon festival

second night in battambang
slept by 7:00pm
got bitten by mosquitos
woke up by 1:55am
Ashraf woke up by 2:30am
slept until 5:30am

second day in battambang

the money was counterfeit

breakfast at sunrise cafe
gems teacher meeting
ash to unied
skype with mom and dad
lunch at one more smoking pot
found money
market for fruit, veg, eggs, yogurt
unied (becoming insted)
walk through nice part of town
high river