Happy New Year...sorry I'm twleve days late. :)

For New Years a big group of us headed down southa and straight to the beach in Sihanoukville. It was exactly what we needed, a little time away from our sites to sit on the beach, swim in the ocean and enjoy each others company. Although I like being at my site it's always nice to have moments like these to look forward to.

Sean, trying not to burn himself, or us for that matter, with some fire works.

Erika, steward and Sam looking fabulous.

Some cool kid had his birthday party at the beach along with all the other Cambodians who were celebrating New Years.

Wouldn't be New Years without the firwork display.

I'm sure it says happy new year in Kamar.

My first photo taken in 2012. Happy New Year friends! I hope your year is enriched with love and happines.

Artists on the rise in Cambodia

During my Christmas weekend I stayed at my site and helped my friend Erin paint a Cambodian map at a near by highschool. I was excited to see and work on  the project so it can later help and motivate me to get a similar project going at my school. Doing a world or Cambodian map is a great way to get the students to interact with each other and to work on a project that is on a grander scale. This is probably one of the best ways to boost a high level of confidence and motivation in them. I can't wait to get one going at my local high school.

On that same day I had my art club. I was really impressed to see that my students drew amazing drawings of Lady Gaga. The week before the students had asked if I could print out a step by step of how to draw Lady Gaga. A week later they came up with these beauties and other creations.

I"m so proud of all the them. They're such a talented bunch.

You should've seen how excited they got when I showed them the picture of Lady Gaga. The girl above was almost ready to cry. They asked me if next time I can bring Justin Bieber. I might not like the artist of their choosing but if it makes them happy who am I to judge?

I believe this art student is going to be a fashion designer. She draws images of women wearing the most beautiful and elegant dresses.

I love the details that she portrays in her images.

This is another student's art work who also does some amazing stuff. I might not be able to fully communicate with them in Kamar but I hope they know of how proud I am of them. My counterpart, Vanny, and I have some really great ideas on how to push these students to the next level. Every week I try to introduce them to a new artist by showing them images of their work that i try to download on the internet. Sometimes it really astounds me that most of these students have never laid eyes on works of art that we are constantly bombarded by in America. These students had never seen the Mona Lisa until I showed them a body of work by Leonardo Da Vinci. So if anything my goal is to try to open up their eyes and imagination to a whole new world of art. Whether it be through showing them the great works done by master artists or by introducing them to to whole new spectrum of art I hope that it's something that they can enjoy. Watch out 2012! You have a whole new group of up and coming artists who are coming your way.

A Merry Cambodian Christmas!

These are my pictures of my very first Christmas spent away from home and spending it with a few other volunteers in my provincial town. We all gathered in one of the volunteer's tiny but cozy apartment and we all brought over a combinatin of food and drinks. There was plenty of delicous food to go around and we were completely equiped with our little Christmas tree.

Kellie baked some cookies that tasted a lot better than they looked. We called this array of chololate chip cookies "cow dung" because of its close resemblence...well to cow dung. Believe me, giving it such a name did not deter us from eating it. We're volunteers, we'll eat anything that has chocolate in it, no matter how it looks.

Unwrapping care packages and gifts from back home is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I have to say a big thank you to my siblings and my parents back home for sending me such wonderful gifts and items. And thank you for all the snacks and comfort food. I love you all!

We also decided to have a white elephant exchange but in case your wondering the beer and wine are not part of the gift exchange. I just thought they would add more to the christmas cheer holiday spirit. And it did.

Along with the combinations of food I believe this is a sweet sauce that was tastey and glorious. Again, it tasted much better than it looks. Don't let looks deceive you.

Nothing says Christmas like mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and a cooked chicken with it's head still on.

Instead of gathering around the fire we gathered around the food. We had the perfect amount of plates and utensils to use. Any more people and we would have been in trouble.

Erin and Chris! I got chris's gift which was a complete package of smores...cambodian style. A pack of marsh mallows and some chocolate waffers. I can't wait to eat them and share them with my family. I'm sure they'll have no idea what it is or how to eat them for that matter. Thanks Chris!

After eating my heart out I was stuffed, relieved and completely grateful that even though I wasn't with my family I still got to spend Christmas with some awesome friends and volunteers.

Thanks guys for everything especially for all the great food and company. :)

I Feel Like a Proud Mother

I love most of my students. I teach a wide range of 7th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders. The students in Cambodia are very sweet, gentle, polite, and respectful.  They also tend to be very, very quiet. When I stand in front of the class i have to speak very, very slowly and usually have to wait a few minutes in order to get a response from them. Most classes contain anywhere from thirty to forty students. It hasn't been to overwhelming and I'm finally getting used to standing in front of the class teaching some new English lessons. The students really get a kick when i try to speak kamar they also like it when i act goofy and dance in front of them. I enjoy trying to make them laugh or just getting them to speak. I hope that i'm providing some sort of education that they're benefiting from and I hope that they're feeling a little more motivated to learn English from me.

Some of the students get very shy and intimidated to practice their english. But when there are those that do my counterpart, Vanny and I like to challenge them and push them to new boundaries. A few weeks ago we had given our advanced class a group project. They were to prepare and present a presentation on health. Each group had a different topic such as, smoking, giving birth and living healthy. They had to present in English and for some of them this was not an easy task. I could tell especially by how nervous some of them were. Each group presented drawings and one group even did a short skit. I was very proud of all of them. We even invited our school director to sit in and watch. He was also very impressed.

This is my host sister-Theravan. I wanted to stand up and clap for her after she finished presenting but i thought that wouldn't go to well with the rest of the class as they might think that i'm playing favorites. But non the less, she did an awesome job.

Some of these students have extraordinary drawing skills.

The director giving his two cents.

The teacher in the foreground is Vanny. She's my counterpart extraodinaire. She's a wonderful friend and an amazing teacher. I am so happy and blessed to be put in the same site with her.