First Day of School

I survived my first day.  First class was tough as it consisted of about 23 young women (averaging 20 years old) and only about 5 spoke a very little bit of English.  I have this same group three times a week and supposed to be teaching them about project management.  We'll see...  The highlight was when I took out my "go to" Bubble Yum and had them all try to learn how to make bubbles.  A new experience for many of them.  The creative part was how I tied that into a project management lesson.  I may need more gum.

I took a couple of pictures from the road in front of the school.  This is up the street...

And this is down the street.  Those holes you see

are about 2 feet deep with icky water flowing below.  Not sure what's going on there but I'm betting it isn't too sanitary.

I had a very interesting conversation with a young man who came to Phnom Penh from his village because there wasn't enough food for him at home.  His friend encouraged him to take an exam for a college scholarship and he described how excited he was when he passed on the second go'round. He graduated with a degree in political science and now wants to work in the government to improve the lives of Cambodians.   He told me of the gross corruption here and how one has to buy their way into government jobs,  explaining how people are threatened if they speak critically of those in power.   (Puts the debacle in Washington in a different light.)  This young man works 17 hours a day so he can send some money back to his family and wants so badly to make more of his life.  We take so much for granted. 

I met my second class of seven 15-year olds after a harrowing drive to a different building.  Their English was much better, though still very limited.  As a first step in critical thinking (the theme for this class) I wanted them to understand a sequential thought process.  So I brought out peanut butter, jam and bread and asked them to described, step by step, how to make a sandwich.  Then I got jiggy with it as you can see in this video.  Liz Wilson - I am using some of the money you contributed for the food supplies for the rest of the  classes for this exercise.  I thought it would be fun, educational, help with English and also give them a healthy snack.  You can tell by the giggles it was a big hit!

I then went home and totally crashed!  I'm going to need some superman vitamins to get through 19 classes a week.  Today was a holiday so I could spend the time putting together lesson plans for the next few days.  I'm told there are a lot of holidays.  I'm not sure if "a lot" is going to be enough!  I'm becoming a regular at The Elephant Bar in the Raffles Hotel.  Evening recharging will help...