Motorcycle Diaries in the Cambodian Countryside

A part of my job is to go to neighboring villages and both observe classes and offer pedagogy training. 

Getting there has been interesting.. 

With the floods, a lot of roads have turned into a mess; the staff take me via motorcycle but I'm not sure if it's culturally appropriate to grab them 'round the waist so I just bear the bumps, break my neck and hope that the weight of my backpack doesn't topple me backwards.

Despite this, the Cambodian countryside is so picturesque, imagine rust colored dirt roads, naked children running free, cows with over sized bells, chickens with their gang of fluffy brown chicks (yesterday I counted 25), palm trees and homes with bright cobalt blue doors nestled in bright green (almost neon) rice paddies. If you look closely, you'll catch water buffalo head deep in water..

The students are adorable, chubby, tweety-voiced characters who repeat everything the teacher says, 47 of them rammed on benches, with pencils and notebooks, dressed in white shirts tucked into dark blue shorts, focusing on everything except what they're supposed to. Again, I don't teach the students, I teach the teachers to teach so the changes are more sustainable. Right now the focus in on shifting from rote learning to critical thinking, although it's funny when you have your glasses and laptop, looking all astute and making a point about multiple intelligences and a cow interrupts you with a moo ..

Back on the bike and to the main center (which seems like a resort in comparison - gardens, bottled water and wireless internet), the roads are bumpy but who am I to complain when I pass a tiny tot on his father's lap, all of age 2, disheveled hair and flushed cheeks, with the same look, same white knuckled grip, seemingly thinking the same thing .. "when is this shit gonna end"..

:S