Happy Days!

It took me a couple more days than expected due to the fact that I put SO many pictures, but I believe the pictures describe my experience so much better sometimes.

So today(Tuesday) is a holiday!  I believe a Buddhist day of prayer, but either way no school today.  Carmen's birthday was Monday, so today(Tuesday) we are going out for pizza, yes pizza by the river and just enjoy the afternoon out in the city. 

So, just to update you all, we have had quite the festivities the past week or so.  Last Tuesday was Don Bosco's feast day!  So we had a day filled of fun.  We started off school that morning with mass, but it was so special and fancy!  Okay so traditional mass mixed with Cambodian culture, like when they bringing up the gifts, there were 4 girls dancing khmer up to the alter followed by incense and flowers of jasmine, once they got the alter the dancers bowed and tossed jasmine towards the alter, so neat....sorry i didnt know this was happening so I don't have pictures of the service but I will be prepared next time!  So after mass had ended all of a sudden about 15 of the girls dissappeared while everyone else remained seated.  Then all of a sudden a moto came into the hall (where we were having mass, not in a church don't worry) with three of them on it followed by several girls beating on drums and playing recorders and carrying flowers and then all of sudden Chenda, one of my girls from class walks in dress as Don Bosco, welcoming and greeting everyone, so funny.  The best part was she starts to give her Don Bosco speech and she has a question and then said Jaaaa and everyone died laughing and I felt so cool, because I got the joke....Jaaa is yes said by a woman so you she said something only a girl is supposed to say but she was Don Bosco, I'm sure you're thinking Kait, this doesn't make any sense but it was so funny here, I promise!

So then after that the 2nd years had a speech competition. IN ENGLISH!  They were all so nervous and gave their speeches on their hero and stand up in front of the whole school!  I was a judge :) Some of them gave very beautiful speeches talking about family members and all of the sacrifices they have made for them or religious leaders or sisters and one even talked about the sisters here, and everything they have sacrificed, their families, their language, their home to come here and make a home for us, very beautiful!

We, then broke for lunch and then after headed over to one of the other Don Bosco schools in the area, where there were four teams for girls volleyball, 2 from other schools, then our schools team as well as the Laura girls, the younger girls that stay in the school as well.  So much fun!  We were screaming and cheering on our teams and there were so many people there our girls were a bit intimidated...we ended up losing both of our game :( but got two prizes because we had two teams,  so you tell who the winners really were! 

Continuing to celebrate Don Bosco day all week, the kindergarten had a futball (soccer) day on Friday.  PRECIOUS!! So our kindergarten had these neon uniforms, don't worry I have pictures, plenty and of course it's just what you would imagine or have seen, all of them on both teams are in a swarm chasing the soccer ball around, Carmen was refereeing but she would blow the whistle and it would take five minutes to get them to stop, so she eventually just stopped blowing the news unless it was critical, so 3 hours of playing between 3 different teams and a grand total of 2 goals.  It was so much fun to see them all excited and the teachers and sisters were just as bad, running and following them up the field, wanting them to score so badly!

Next big festivity was Carmen's 51st birthday!! and WOW, how many wishes she received in one day was so, so many!  She was sung to in mass, at the beginning of school, in each of her classes, at dinner with a wonderful birthday cake from the sisters and then at the good night with the girls.  So generally in Cambodia, birthdays aren't celebrate, they might be mentioned but you don't hear of many celebrating, but they know in America, we are big celebraters so they went all out!  They also made her posters, cards and anything you could imagine.  From thousands of folded cuts of paper they made this extravagant swan and embroidered a picture of Snow White, which they said was her when she was young, hehe so sweet those girls!  Also ones of the girls the made these little flowers out of fabric  like she sewed them, then the girls also put there money together and got her this "cake" which were these sweet rolls with a candle and then started to go up one at a time and sing for Carmen in front of the rest of the girls.  We also had a very eventful dinner with the sisters, and learning the proverb, Don't worry, the cow died yesterday, sorry, but if i understood it i would explain to you, its something about don't stress becuase you never know what will happen, but Sr. Dory was so choked up talking about it none of us knew what she was talking about!

As for our celebration, the pizza was amazing, tasted like home and the view was nice as well, me and Carmen split a lunch deal for a mixed salad more than enough for both of us and a pizza, total cost $6.50....gotta love Cambodia!

So one Sunday I walk outside to go read and I see all the young girls walking like they are on a mission, then several of then start climbing a tree over by the kindergarten and others are catching what they drop either in boxes or in their sweaters.  They are called rose apples I believe and we ate them not stop for about a week.....hopefully we will wait a couple months before they go again :)

Catching them all and the tub was overflowing by the time the girls came down.

So its the little white looking fruit Bun Sok is holding in the tree.

One of my students dancing for the Don Bosco mass :)

All of them dressed up!

Some of Don Bosco's crew

The 2nd year volleyball team!

Teacher Borey giving the Laura girls a bit of a pep talk.

Celebrating their loss, bahah such good spirits

Carmen and I enjoying it all.

One of the many times the girls braided my hair.

Kindergarten futbal soccer competition, ready to watch it go down.

The goalie is fierce.

And cheerleaders at all ages

He didn't care too much for the soccer!

sportsmanship and bright, bright colors :)

precious, precious, precious little boy

Before the game gettin pumped

more incense

another statue, i forget all the names but made for a pretty picture I think

my new record, 11 of us in a tuk tuk

Happy Birthday Carmen!

The girls' birthday cake to her

Us with Amy, another volunteer at the school

Rooftop view of the river

i love the tile so much

for you, lyndsay

Carmen is a loon, so i wanted a picture with the monument, so we were going to cross the street to try and get a better view of it and then Carmen just stops in the middle of the road and says smile!  we survived, but this is the only evidence of it!

independence monument