The Season of Flower Diareha!

(I hope the pics above loaded....I can't see them on this computer today so I'm hoping you can. They are of a big bug I found in my house, the bedroom at my permanent site, me and 2 of my little sisters, and the high school at my permanent site where I will be teaching)

Hello friends!!

I hope all is going well at home! Things here are good but oh so hot! :) Unfortunately I stupidley forgot to e-mail everyone and let you know I updated my blog last week so if you are reading this and didn't check last week, the one below this is new as well! Read it first! :)

This week has been a busy one here in Tbong Khmum. We've started our practicum teaching so I'm at the high school in the morning and language class in the evenings and doing lesson plans during my free time. I'm definitely getting a taste of what my life will be like for the next 2 years although I'll have a lot of free time since I won't be in language class there. I'm already collecing more books to keep me busy during my down time at permanent site!

Speaking of language class, I'm sure you are wondering about the title of my entry. Well the title comes from a rather unfortunate miss-speak I did in class the other day when I accidently announced to my language group that it was the "season of flower diareha" instead of "the season of flower blooming" which is their word for spring. Oops....The word for diareha "rie=ick" and the world for bloom "rick" are too close for comfort....and we've all been using the workd "rie-ick" a lot lately as it's something we've all been plagued with on a regular basis. Khmer has many similar works like "nom" - urine and "num" - snack that are horrible to mix up. Definitely makes you may more attention to what you are saying! I did learn how to write my name in Khmer though.....I'll try and take a picture of it and post it next week....I'm rather proud!

Some people have asked some questions about my permanent site so here's a little more info. The school has 2,00 students, but my village is not that large. The way high schools are set up here is that were is 1 high school for every district, which is a pretty large area. Many students must travel quite a ways to go to school and other come to places where there are high schools and live with family members or board at the Buddhist temples. The size of schools make our towns seem large, but they are not that big. I have everything I need in my village though....it's about the right size. Unfortunately the one thing I will not have is internet. I will have to go to Siem Reap town to use the internet which may be only on a monthly basis. This will definitely put a damper on communication, but hey....I'll have more e-mails to read when I am able to check it! :)

Well folks that's all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful spring weather! Oh and Happpy St. Paddy's Day!!!