So today saw us heading to the school for our first-day teaching. The tuk-tuk ride was unbelievable, we were heading out of town so the roads deteriorated to potholed dust tracks. We felt every lump and bump, didn’t need a massage!! Our school was ELMA an English speaking school where the children came out of the public schools for an hour lesson. The Kinders stayed a full morning or afternoon. Was really surprised to find our teacher was only 18 and had limited English. The children did drill and teacher fussed so much about that. 
When we started the lesson it went “A for apple, B for baby” the children reeled it off parrot fashion, with no comprehension at all. Suggested she tried it phonetically which lasted for about 20 mins. I handed out the microphones I had taken in and suggested that she got them working in pairs to keep them all occupied….didnt go down well. So we had a 3-hour lunch break when we enjoyed really good home cooking and a lesson from the head on how to speak Khmer, afraid in one ear and out the other. Some children stayed in school over lunch and made use of the little pool that had been built by previous volunteers. l
During the break there was some amazing music from outside the school; turned out it was a procession to celebrate a monk being in the area for a year.
They were heading to the temple for blessings. An afternoon of same but with slightly younger children. A little poppet of 3 
was the youngest. Alarmingly she wandered out of the class and school to the little sweetie shack during the lesson and the teacher never flinched! In the evening a group of us went to a veggie restaurant where we shared a few plates together. The highlight was our tuk tuk trip home.. .at speed through the bumps. The photo says it all!!
Rambling With Ruthie 