Maeve in Cambodia

Here's Whom I'm working, volunteering for in Cambodia:

http://www.vannmolyvannproject.org/Home_Page.html

http://www.vannmolyvannproject.org/IMAGES.html

After an overnight sham of a bus journey form Koh Samui to Bangkok, we were dropped close to but not at the landmark Koh San Road at 5am. A torrent of taxi drivers tried to scam us into non-metered taxi's to here there and everywhere. Funnily enough when Amanda and I were in Bangkok, taxi's and tuk-tuk drivers often refused to take us to where we asked. If our money wasn't good enough for them then, it's not good enough for them now! (that's awful, they are pretty poor, bad Maeve).
So I walked a little bit with some other lost tourists, found a tourist bus to the airport for E3, instead of the E20 in a taxi. The first bus was leaving at 7am. A french guy and a girl were waiting too so I asked them if they wanted to play some pool. It got us over the language barrier and passed the time. It was neck and neck to the black ball everytime! Worthy opponents. One or two sneaky 'hand of God' hand balls was just pay back for you-know-what. They were French.

The waiting around the airport was fine except for the continuous urge to shop. I have no money. I have never had any money. Where does this 'Queen of Sheeba' attitude come from? Who knows. I fought my battle through duty-free and came out unscathed, wallet firmly closed.
Did I mention the 'Support' link on the Vann Molyvann project webpage for donations? Seriously. I love rice but for breakfast lunch and dinner. Oooh maybe I'll put some tomato ketchup with my rice for dinner and spoil myself.

Anyway, everytime I checked the big screen to see which gate I needed to go to, it changed. So I would walk down to F1 and then the screen would say E6. I'd trudge to E6 and it was F1. They'll mess with you mind those Thais. Mess with your mind. Luckily with my steely sense of what planes look like through windows I found it eventually at F3. A Russian Roulette style of airport experience. 


I have to thank my Mum and Dad for giving me the confidence for traveling alone so easily. When I was 16 they let me fly from ballet school in Lyon to meet them in Nantes. I felt so grown up! When I passed through the gates in Phonm Penh to see my tuk-tuk driver waiting for me with my name on a card, I greeted him with almost with the same elation as seeing my Mum and Dad in Nantes all those years ago. Off we whizzed to meet my new boss Billl Greaves at the storefront architecture studio. He is a lovely Canadian New Yorker. At the moment it's Bill, myself and two Cambodian architecture students working on surveying and drawing these amazing buildings. 
Some Finnish architects students were in town so we went to their exhibition where I met some lovely people. A Sweedish lady Freija gave me her card with the view to meeting up. She lives here with her sister while they run an Interior Design Business. Their last client was the Prime Minister's daughter so quite a La Di Da clientele. Another  'hot shot' Cambodian Architect gave me his card too. I better get some printed! Back of a beer mat, would that do? (refer to donations section earlier). It was a fun night and everyone seemed to LOVE living here. It's kinda skanky but it definitely has it charms. 
I have a simple ensuite bedroom above the studio. The boss lives on the ground floor, a motorbike driving archaeologist (complete Indiana Jones - 'I'm so sick of biking around looking at ruined temples!')and his family live above and a German couple on the top floor. Our neighbours are some locals and also some born again Christians who are trying to convert the tuk-tuk drivers to the one 'true' God. The Kymer heritage is so beautiful with it's mix of Hinduism and Buddism I cannot understand this. Why does charity always seems to come at a price? After the tsunami in Thailand certain religious organisations only offered support in exchange for conversion. Horrible.
(refer to donations section above) Only kidding.


Work starts at 8am, breaks for a 2 hr lunch because it's just too hot, and we finish at 6pm. After work today Bill, our tuk-tuk driver Baram and I went to the National Stadium for out-door aerobics. Yep you read it correctly. The stadium is one of Van Molyvann's buildings so we went for 'research'. Picture below.

 

 

It was full of people of all ages doing aerobics, kind of a hip-hip for the younger and a bit of Jane Fonda for the older people. Teenagers, young adults, babies and aul ones each had their choice of  music and routines because every 20m or so around the stadium there were different instructors and speakers. Baram, our 22 yr old tuk-tuk driver was free-styling it, it was pretty cool I have to say, I cant wait for the next time. They even played Footloose. They are all mad for it! Plus it's everywhere in the evenings, in the parks, along the avenues. Such a strange and fantastic use of public space. Designers dream that kind of rubbish up and sell it to the planners, that the public will interact and all hang out together and the kids will be safe and get fit at the same time. Well it's happening in Cambodia. The aerobics capital of the world.
I've only been here 1 day so far.