TWO WEEKS IN SIEM REAP

I was woken up by the blaring sounds of Khmer music playing next door to Globalteer's building. There's a wedding going on and so unless I get ear plugs I'm told I won't be sleeping much this weekend. I don't mind this though because I'd love to experience a wedding in Cambodia. From my third floor window I've got a view of the top of colourful tents and can see a few ladies cooking away. Of course when I went to grab coffee downstairs this morning I had to go walk over to have a peak. The scene had the feeling of excitement and joy as preparations were still going on. I think the actually wedding ceremony will happen sometime this evening. There were two large pictures of the bride and groom placed out front of the 'main' tent. The couple looked pleased but not exactly happy in the pictures. Clearly the shots were taken soley for the purpose of placing them at the front entrance. There's no such thing as engagement pictures here and who knows if this couple is even in love or not. Arranged marriages are common here.
So today I'll be chilling around the house until I have to head over to Peace Cafe for my second Khmer lesson. Khmer has got to be the hardest language to learn. They have like a 40 vowels and about 50 consonants. Hearing Khmer being spoken is like listening to strange sound affects. But the more I hear it, the more I can pick out actual words being spoken.

Anjali takes part of a photography exhibition that takes place in Siem Reap over a week. Work from professional photographers are displayed around the town on different days. The kids of Anjali displayed their work last Wednesday. They are taught about photography by professional photographers who come in from different countries for a couple of weeks to teach the kids how to take a good shot and to create a slide show of the best work. Not all the kids get to participate. It's mainly designated for the older kids however all the children get to come out on the day Anjali displays its work. It was a great night out and it was so nice to see the pride amongst all the Anjali kids as they cheered and laughed at the images displayed during the slide show.



One of the pictures taken by a student during the slideshow


The kids were given free balloons and were having a blast with them


The adorable kindergartens- I've got a soft spot for these kids


The younger Anjali kids arrive at the exhibition



It's been just over two weeks that I've been here and I've done some cool things. Me and a few other volunteers did a Khmer cooking class at a restaurant on Pub street called Le Tiger de Papier which we all just call the paper tiger. I learnt how to cook fish Amok which is the national dish. It's a fish curry made with a blend of spices, lemongrass and coconut milk. I really should have written down how we made it because I've already forgotten how but to be honest it was more about the experience of making a Khmer dish on my own than becoming an expert at amok. I also made papaya salad as my starter and we all decided on sticky mango rice as our desert. 3 hours on our feet chopping and mixing and stirring, we were all starving. We then sat down and ate our own meals. It was so satisfying. I even got a certificate to prove I learnt how to cook!