A red woollen bracelet, a monk dressed in orange and spiritual chanting…..I had been blessed by a monk. For those on you reading this who read my blog last year may remember that I had been blessed before. Unfortunately when the red tie breaks the blessing is broken therefore I wanted to get another one. The blessing took place in a little village out of town. A collection was firstly given and placed in a wooden bowl. One by one we were asked to kneel do...

My weekend got off to a fab start with a music quiz, a few beers (I gave in) and cocktails followed by a visit to good old Temple bar. I remember when I first set eyes on 'Pub Street' I was amazed to find that there were actually clubs in Cambodia. Temple bar was a favourite, however I forgot how hot and sweaty it gets so I cleverly positioned myself near the aircon vent…a win win situation! I got up bright and early Saturday to ensure that the plasterer who w...

My first full week back at school in Siem Reap and it's has been incredible; I can't say I'm surprised. I cycle from my guesthouse each day, saying hello to the locals along the way. The children cycle and walk past me shouting 'cha Bess' whilst waving and smiling, more often than not they are in their angry bird pj's. I've been working closely with my Khmer teacher Soky helping her with her lesson plans to enable her to have time to herself at the weekend. She s...

Today was my first day teaching music back at school, it was a great feeling walking into two different classes both wanting and willing to learn and both excited that you were there to teach it to them. They are musical kids; they love dancing, learning lyrics and are a joy to teach. My lesson plans today were based around the Lion King. After various warm up and starter activities I asked them to close their eyes and listen to the piece of music which I played ...

The atmosphere, the smiles and the sheer determination; this year's sports day, the first of many I'm sure, was one to remember. At 8 o'clock around 11 NGO's gathered together at the athletics stadium off of route 6 to compete in the sports day. I travelled on the back of a school truck to get the venue and then watched the other schools turn up with sheer excitement. ABC's truck approached with a sea of painted green and red faces to represent Portugal and was...