April has arrived, and with it, sky-high temperatures. Just take a look at this little ditty from a recent Phnom Penh Post article:
That is ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT POINT SIX DEGREES mind you. Some Cambodians may feel a claim to fame about this, taking pride in their record; it literally strikes fear into my heart. I feel my lungs working harder to suck in the oxygen from the heated air around me, I clench my fists and howl in despair...
Let me just give you a small taste of what April in Phnom Penh is like.
Scenario One
Where: on the moto with Jeff, riding into town, following closely behind a large truck
What: said truck drives through a mud puddle on the side of the road, causing small water droplets, probably filled with God knows what bacteria, to sprinkle all over my legs
Reaction: "Ahhhh. That feels good."
My Defense: any sort of coolness from air or water is always preferable to living in hell; bacteria be damned
Scenario Two
Where: at a local hotel that doubles as a spa, after a massage (*it's not ALL bad over here)
What: clad in only my rather small bikini, I went into the dining room sans cover-up to order my lunch
Reaction: horror from the two older French ladies enjoying their Salad Nicoise; embarrassment from the three Khmer male twenty-somethings behind the bar
My Defense: if I had added another layer to my body at that time, I simply would have passed out and then they would have had to deal with that
Scenario Three
Where: in my classroom, around nine am, after the AC has already been on for about an hour and a half; sitting on the couch with a group of students
What: I cross my legs for comfort; fifteen seconds later, the leg on leg contact has already produced a gracefully flowing stream of sweat
Reaction: (inwardly) "Oh my god, am I peeing my pants?"
My Defense: I forgot that there was no skin on skin allowed during the month of April.
Scenario Four
Where: at a nice restaurant for dinner, in full AC, sitting on a leather bench
What: as I get up to leave, I realize I am leaving behind two full-on leg prints of sweat for the next patron
Reaction: "Oops."
My Defense: None.
Scenario Five
Where: on Rabbit Island, a small island off the coast of Kep; part of an end-of-the-year school trip with all students and staff
What: the students all got sunburned backs and faces after not reading the directions on the sunscreen bottle and spending the entire day in the water
Reaction: "What did you think was going to happen?"
My Defense: I feel no sympathy for Cambodians with their never-sweating bodies, who barely notice the heat and come to work in long pants and long sleeves. The fact that they have lived in this country for their entire lives and have NEVER been sunburned speaks volumes.
Summary: it is so hot here that when you leave an air-conditioned place for a non-air-conditioned place, it feels like you have been given this life as a punishment. The change in air temperature and humidity is like walking into a wall. It never ceases to astonish me (in the worst way possible).
I have taken to shrieking at students for the following infractions:
(1) not exiting or entering the classroom swiftly enough, and allowing precious cold air to escape
(2) not turning the AC back on IMMEDIATELY after a power outage
(3) sitting in an AC-ed room without fans on to distribute the gloriously cool air fairly
(4) sitting too close to me or touching me in any way, thus spreading body heat
(5) not turning on the AC well before I arrive in the morning (*this one may be going a bit too far)
This is no joke, folks.
In other news: there are about seven more weeks until the end of the year. We just began our last round of Explorations, including a coding project with a programmer who joined us from Poland. We have several new hires starting work early, including a new tech/engineering facilitator and an English facilitator for the new cohort. Speaking of which, about 25 new Liger students have officially been accepted for the 2016-2017 school year, with another several months of recruitment ahead to bring that number up to a full 50. Parent-teacher conferences went especially well this year, with about half our students fluent and confident enough to translate for their parents on behalf of the Western facilitators.
I ran several Explorations this year, including a fiction writing team of two, who are well into their 15th chapter of a fantasy book written for kids their age in both Khmer and English. I also worked with a team of students on creating our own version of Humans of New York, aptly titled Humans of Cambodia. Check out our website and bear in mind that it was designed and managed by two thirteen-year-old boys. All the photos were taken by students, and all the interviews were planned, conducted, written out, translated, edited and posted by students.
Other big news (though I feel it gets less and less "big" as the years go by) is that we will be returning for year five at Liger, to witness the new cohort in all their glory, and make sure the senior cohort doesn't get their egos bruised too badly. I will be taking on more of an administrative role, stepping back from teaching literacy, while continuing to do Explorations. Jeff will continue doing Math with the senior cohort and running Explorations.
Finally, we will be home this summer for about seven weeks, bouncing around between LA (BABY CARA!), Boston, Buffalo and Florida. Let's make plans.
