"Initiation" to Cambodia

Hello from 103 degree heat!!!
Two nights ago I received what my hosts have deemed an initiation to Cambodia by undergoing my first (and hopefully last) bout of food poisoning. I went to bed with a stomachache and woke up nearly every hour with vomiting and diarrhea. In the morning, it was all I could muster to crawl down the stairs and tell my roommates that I was very sick and needed to borrow one of their cell phones to call the school and inform them that I would be unable to teach that day. I am so thankful for my housemates, as they nursed me back to health by making me drink coconut juice and eat rice porridge, as hard as it was to take anything in my body for fear of immediate disposal! They also went to the pharmacy and purchased Oral Rehydration Solution, which is mixed with water and is made of sugar, salts, and nutrients that replenishes your body after such a loss in hydration. By mid-afternoon yesterday all of my symptoms had ended except for body aches and a fever, and I slept for most of the day. This morning I awoke feeling like a whole new person! It is amazing how resilient the human body can be. After examining what I ate the night prior to my sickness, I realized that a fruit drink one of my roommates gave me at dinner contained melted ice, which is usually made from tap water and is not safe for a foreigner like myself! My Cambodian hosts ensured that I would experience some sort of food poisoning sooner or later while visiting here, so I am glad to have this experience out of the way!

I was back to teaching today and enjoyed it once again. The number of students has been actually quite smaller than what I was told when I first signed on with the program (from 6-10 students) because my teaching time conflicts with some of the students work times; however, I am almost glad for this because I have been able to ask students what they would like to learn specifically and provide more individualized instruction. For most of my lessons, I have been emphasizing speaking and pronunciation. My Khmer students have a most difficult time with the English sounds /sh/, /th/, and /ch/.

I encourage everyone to check out my program's website at www.chances4cambodia.org. Here you can see the profiles of the students I am teaching, as well as watch an interview with Steve, the program director who set me up with my position. If you click on the Projects-Help In education-Finance link, you can see a picture of the school that I go to to hold classes. In two weeks, Steve has offered to take me to the Prey Veng province. Most of my students grew up there; it is one of the poorest places in Cambodia and will be helpful for me to see where my students are from and learn more of their background.