Climbing all over the remains of a temple with Genessa!
Before dinner with Amy, Genessa, and Greta!
In front of Angkor Wat with Greta!
Tomb Raider!
Everybody!
Me and Amy in front of a HUGE hollow tree!Hi! It feels like a lot has happened since I've last updated. I have already finished my first week of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) training and I've traveled to Phnom Phen and Siem Reap! Last Friday was a fun day because we only had a half day of class and we were tired from a long week of extremely tedious presentations, but during class I had to face my absolute worst fear... singing... in front of people... by myself... with no accompaniment whatsoever. hahaha I found myself sing to the tune of "row, row, row your boat" with my dialogue about going to the movies in front of 11 other people. It was pretty terrifying, but I didn't do too terrible. :) After class, 11 of us piled into a minivan to begin our journey to Siem Reap for our excursion to Angkor Wat.
Our drive to Angkor Wat was not fun. 11 tired people piled into a van with luggage for a 6 hour ride never is. Add in the terrifying lurching stops for the cows that randomly cross the highway and the bus that is suddenly coming at you from the wrong direction and it makes it about 5 times worse, and about 10 times more interesting. It was fun to see the countryside though and to see different parts of Cambodia.
We were staying at the Green Village Guest House. I roomed with Amy. Our rooms were alright. haha They were what I expected anyways. The first night we hung out at the bar downstairs where the owners made us food. Some people went out on the town for a crazy night, but I opted for sleep. Khmer people are extremely accomodating and friendly. The next morning we woke up early to go to the temples! We had a crazy tour guide who spoke English, but honestly I couldn't understand barely two words that he said. He had a funny habit of spelling things and really enjoyed the sexual ennuendos that were carved on the temples. Let's just say he was a character. We went to three temples; Banyon, "Old Barahm" (Tomb Raider), and the massive Angkor Wat. They were absolutely amazing. I liked Old Barahm the best because it was more "jungle encrusted" than the rest. Angkor Wat was absolutely HUMONGOUS. At the end of the day we climbed a mountain to see the sunset at the top.
The next morning, Greta and I got up and walked around the city. Siem Reap is interesting. A big tourist attraction. It doesn't seem to fit together because it has designer stores everywhere and then next door is the slums. Then we went out to the last temple, where they're weren't very many tourists at all. It was in complete ruins, so we got to climb all over it. It was so much fun. I wish I hadn't had been so tired, because I think I would've liked to climb around a bit more. :)
Now we are back in Phnom Phen for the week. I have three more class days here and Thursday night I fly back to Pattaya, Thailand. Then, I think I am going to Laos for the weekend to go white water rafting... I'm not quite sure though... You definitely learn to be flexible and go with the flow with Languagecorps. hahaha I'm excited to move on, but I'm going to miss everybody I've met here too. I'm hoping that we will all keep in touch. It's going to be a fun week. Today we went to the Central Market, which is the other major market (besides the Russian Market) that we haven't check out yet. I bought a "Lacoste" shirt for $3. I was pretty excited. On Wednesday we are going to rent a boat and have it take us down the Mekong River. It's going to be a busy week and somehow I've got to make time for class and writing my resume too!
Our drive to Angkor Wat was not fun. 11 tired people piled into a van with luggage for a 6 hour ride never is. Add in the terrifying lurching stops for the cows that randomly cross the highway and the bus that is suddenly coming at you from the wrong direction and it makes it about 5 times worse, and about 10 times more interesting. It was fun to see the countryside though and to see different parts of Cambodia.
We were staying at the Green Village Guest House. I roomed with Amy. Our rooms were alright. haha They were what I expected anyways. The first night we hung out at the bar downstairs where the owners made us food. Some people went out on the town for a crazy night, but I opted for sleep. Khmer people are extremely accomodating and friendly. The next morning we woke up early to go to the temples! We had a crazy tour guide who spoke English, but honestly I couldn't understand barely two words that he said. He had a funny habit of spelling things and really enjoyed the sexual ennuendos that were carved on the temples. Let's just say he was a character. We went to three temples; Banyon, "Old Barahm" (Tomb Raider), and the massive Angkor Wat. They were absolutely amazing. I liked Old Barahm the best because it was more "jungle encrusted" than the rest. Angkor Wat was absolutely HUMONGOUS. At the end of the day we climbed a mountain to see the sunset at the top.
The next morning, Greta and I got up and walked around the city. Siem Reap is interesting. A big tourist attraction. It doesn't seem to fit together because it has designer stores everywhere and then next door is the slums. Then we went out to the last temple, where they're weren't very many tourists at all. It was in complete ruins, so we got to climb all over it. It was so much fun. I wish I hadn't had been so tired, because I think I would've liked to climb around a bit more. :)
Now we are back in Phnom Phen for the week. I have three more class days here and Thursday night I fly back to Pattaya, Thailand. Then, I think I am going to Laos for the weekend to go white water rafting... I'm not quite sure though... You definitely learn to be flexible and go with the flow with Languagecorps. hahaha I'm excited to move on, but I'm going to miss everybody I've met here too. I'm hoping that we will all keep in touch. It's going to be a fun week. Today we went to the Central Market, which is the other major market (besides the Russian Market) that we haven't check out yet. I bought a "Lacoste" shirt for $3. I was pretty excited. On Wednesday we are going to rent a boat and have it take us down the Mekong River. It's going to be a busy week and somehow I've got to make time for class and writing my resume too!
3 comments:
Kat, you forgot to talk about the elephant!! Love you! MOM xoxo
i think i'm going to love reading your blogs- they make my day b/c you crack me up. sounds like you're having an adventure over there!!! love you!
hi kat...sounds like you are having fun. what is this elephant your mom talks about?
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