Day 5 – Siem Reap “Blue Pumpkin and Global Child”

 Our fifth and least expensive day in siem reap so far! Without any temples for activity we were on our own for activities to fill our day. We woke up a little late due to a late night hanging out over beers with the owner of the Ivy II guesthouse, his friends who were all here from Australia and Britain for a stag party, and another fellow Floridian also on the hunt for adventure. First, a quick stop to our new retreat from the touts, dust and heat of siem reap. It also doesn’t hurt that they also have free wifi (unheard of here), great coffee (kicks starbucks butt anyday), amazing pastry treats, crazy flavored ice cream and wonderful array of fruit shakes – The Blue Pumpkin. I would recommend this place to anyone! Maybe it’s just because it offers a hip air-conditioned lounge on its second floor with airy banquettes covered in big fluffy white pillows that almost beckon you to climb in, but regardless of the reason we spent most of our day there today. We definitely would benefit from a place like this in Florida, although it would most likely be underappreciated there. Everyone jumps in after removing their muddy sandals and sits down behind a white industrial tv tray prepared to order from their eclectic menu . The room is awash in white fabric, white walls and light with a little splash of color here from the abstract photos on the wall. It is great reprieve and contrast from the gritty streets of red clay, moped and tuk tuk traffic, various other smells and sounds of siem reap’s main tourist drag just below. Today we sat down next to the window to have a little of both and shared a spongy baguette (still just as good), and drank our respective drinks of iced coffee and lemon juice. 

Since we had arranged to meet at Joe-to-go coffee (see day before) at 1:30 to meet to go to the Global Child school for street children, we ate quickly after looking at a few emails. Then our adventure began…we got to take our first three person moto ride (Christina got to be smashed in the middle between the driver and myself) while we made our way to the school in the rain. The fun part on a small scooter with three people is when you hit the bumpy roads and think you may be catapulted off the seat right in front of all the khmer people out on the street who can’t help but peer mystifyingly at the giggling American girls on the back of a moped holding on for dear life. I am excited when we finally arrive at the school although our driver tries to tell us we have another 20km to go as a joke. The School is a fairly small two story house in a residential neighborhood with a red clay dirt road and a wonderful garden area with fountain. The big open air room in the front with a couch and two chairs offers a wonderful lounge area for visitors and a big classroom/dance, hang out space for the kids. The program board members, operators, principal and teachers (some from upstate New York) were extremely gracious to sit down and tell us all about the program they run for 22 street kids found rummaging, eating and living in the biggest trash dump of phnom penh . As they explained, they looked to find the diamonds in the rough – the intelligent, resourceful children with enormous potential, ready to make a serious commitment to their studies if give the opportunity. So they are given a home, books, education, $1/day allowance as an economic incentive for their respective families to allow the child to stay in school, and love. 

The kids are really amazing and all run up to us to practice their English and then are nice enough to let us watch them take their Apsara (amazing traditional khmer dance) class. They practice the dances (one of three different sections, we think) in front of their demanding Khmer teacher who continues to correct their posture and hand movements with her high pitched voice. They practice a section of the dance with hand movements only, a section with coconut shells that they click with their partner, and then after a section where they jump over parallel sticks (without looking). I can’t believe that they (both boys and girls) had the patience to work on the dances for 2+ hours without complaints, and only smiles on their faces. Later on they ask us to walk them to their home and we show them the pictures we had taken of their dance class. They immediately ask us to come back the next day, but unfortunately we have to wait until Saturday and Sunday for a chance to return to do art projects with the kids. Tina, one the of the global child school students, actually runs up and gives me a hug when we get ready to leave. It’s amazing that with all the hardship in their lives, that they can now continue to just be regular kids running and joking around, whining about math class and tests. It is almost impossible to miss how bright these girls are as some of them tell us how much they like physics class, or speak perfect English after only having studied for the last three years. Not only are they exceptional students, though, they are really great at dance, art, karate and are eager to give back to their communities when they receive their high school diploma. I am really excited to see amazing programs like these in the flesh that are making real differences in the lives of children here. As with any organization, they would like to grow and plan to move into a larger space so that they can grow the program. Christina and I are planning to go back on Saturday and Sunday to teach arts and crafts and possibly something computer science related, so it should be an adventure. 

After our day at the School, we walk back to the hostel and get some roasted bananas on the street (this time only 1,000 riel as our bargaining is getting better). We decide to go back to the Blue Pumpkin for dinner because we need to use the internet and can kill two birds with one stone. The fellow Floridian, Greg, also decided to join us for dinner where we had the best meal to date -- despite not being khmer food -- grilled tofu and black sesame salad, vegetarian sandwich with sundried tomatoes, eggplant and olives, followed by banana galangal and jackfruit ice cream! Time to turn in after a long day and full belly... more tomorrow.