Day 7: Heart of Campus

After a night of bonding and plenty of rest attributable to a 9:00 AM late start, we were refreshed and ready to start a new day. Packing into the bus with our pen pals, we headed to Prey Touch Secondary, a Cambodian Village Fund school in a local village. There, we spent the morning setting up their new media room donated by Francis Parker, pumping air into their new soccer balls, and spent the rest of the time playing soccer and other games. We set up the media center with bookshelves, a computer, a printer, and much more.

Following our morning at the school, we headed toward the house of a Cambodia Village Fund teacher, in whose class we had taught English lessons the past two days. There, we ate lunch prepared by a Cambodian native who has lived in San Diego for the past 40 years. She was the one who gave the original idea for the Cambodian Village Fund to Bill and Nancy. This traditional Cambodian meal consisted of various types of noodles, rice, beef, and vegetables. Many students commented on how delicious the food was and eagerly returned for seconds.

Next, we broke into three groups and visited the houses of our pen pals. The Cambodian Village Fund has dedicated itself to serving the least fortunate of farming families, so the visits were an eye opening experience for us. The girls and their families held pride in where they came from and warmly welcomed us into their homes. While visiting the houses, we learned stories of their families and their livelihoods. Some girls’ families had huge vegetable gardens while others cultivated rice fields and even more raised pigs, cows, and other animals.

Two out of the three groups had the opportunity to visit the village market. Under a wooden cover, countless people spent their days selling fresh meats, clothes, and different traditional foods. Many of us all tried barbecued rat-on-a-stick, which actually tasted much better than expected. Some girls took us to their parents’ stands, including a delicious dessert stand where students enjoyed various foods such as rice jelly and sweet melons. It was interesting to walk through the market and see what the daily lives of many villagers were like.

After having an authentic Cambodian market experience, the students and our pen pals went for a ride on the “bamboo train”. The bamboo train consisted of several carts that were essentially just four wheels, connected by two axels, with a sheet of bamboo on top and a motor. Groups of four sat on the trains together as it rode down its path through rural Battambang. Because all the trains shared one track, when one had to pass in the opposite direction, everyone would have to jump off and disassemble the cart to allow the other to come through. On our way back to the starting point, we stopped the trains and enjoyed the sunset together.

We ended the day enjoying a delicious dinner at a local restaurant. Many of us enjoyed a drink called the “Battambang Spider”: coke poured over vanilla ice cream. Students remarked at how spectacular the food was, and some ventured to say it was best meal yet.

Brendan and Ally