Today the kids returned to school, and I walked the little ones over to the schoolhouse. It's only a five minute walk down the road behind the wat, but they love having being chaperoned. I noticed a lot of the other children take bicycles to the elementary school, and no matter how incredibly crowded I've noticed the schools are, park them outside of the schoolyard.
One volunteer at Wat Opot who is from Japan is leaving this weekend, and the NGO through which she is volunteering came to visit today. The kids were incredibly excited; the man who runs it and his wife are visiting and bringing their three daughters, whom all of the little girls just adore. The kids are so protective of each other, just like any siblings would be. But when their new playmates came along, all of the kids played together for hours, leaving me alone in the volunteer quarters. It was pretty nice, I made a 3 in 1 (the most ubiquitous coffee drink in Cambodia, a Nestle powder of coffee, milk and sugar all in one packet) and read some of the books left behind on the Wat Opot bookshelf. One afternoon off of babysitting was great, but I planned out what I would teach for English that night. In the volunteer house are some activity books left behind by a volunteer which are full of coloring activities, puzzles and games. I took a few pages out and decided I'd play games where the kids have to know their colors.
After dinner, the kids weren't as excited and persistent for their English lesson. Perhaps the excitement of having new visitors today changed sent them into a frenzy, but todays' lesson was particularly difficult to get their attention. It was pretty funny to watch them acting up, little Srey Po and Veasna both about 7 years old decided to translate everything I was saying and write in Khmer. Soon after, the other little ones followed suit. A quick singing of the alphabet and all twenty of them ran out of the classroom papers flying in the air and running to their dormitories. Despite this challenge, it was amusing to watch them even more energetic than usual.
I'll have to have a few better tricks up my sleeve for the next lessons, but this weekend I'm preparing to go to Siem Riep and see Angkor Wat! Heading out tomorrow.....
