Having done 7 days of the Khmer language course, we're all feeling a lot more confident in speaking Khmer and slowly getting used to the 100mph speeds they speak at. We normally finish each lesson by going down to all the other Cambodian employees to practice, which always takes a few sentences to get to grips with Cambodian slang.
Charlotte inevitably attracts a lot of attention at the language school, with Cambodians queuing up to plait her hair as they say she is a "human doll." One girl who works there called 'Sme' seems to have taken a shining to Esme, describing her as the English version of herself, as both are aged 19, with the similarity in names. We're welcomed every morning with "Suasidih Su-ah" which means 'Hello Beautiful.' The past 2 days we've learnt about food and clothes, which nicely for us meant a stroll out to the nearest market with one member of staff each who would proudly held our hands and helped us as we bought the Cambodian fruit we hadn't tried. (Mangosleen and Rambutan were among some new favourites) Going back the next day we then bought any clothing from the market we liked and bargained the prices, all speaking in Khmer. Maybe a small step, but we were proud of ourselves!

The markets here are amazing, we've so far been to the Russian Market, Central Market and the Riverside Night Market. Each one we go to seems to feel like an even bigger maze than the last one, with even more pungent smells and beautiful clothes.

On Thursday night we went to 'Flicks 3' a small cinema, to watch The Theory of Everything. Best cinema ever. The room was tiny, with three levels of red lounging cushions to lie down on and big pillows.

Tonight we went to the Riverside, our new favourite place to eat, we strolled along and watched an
evening (hip-hop) yoga class- very amusing, and a small outside gym, Charlotte did fit in very well on the monkey bars, very quickly shown up by what looked like an 80 year old Cambodian man doing planks and flips on the top of the pull up bars. (Yes, we do have photos) we then went to a rooftop bar and had a green curry and fried seafood noodles overlooking the river and city, lush.

We are now dying to get to our projects, and properly settle in after nearly two weeks. After thinking we were going on Tuesday it's now confirmed we leave on Friday for a 4 hour bus journey to Kompong Thom.
Lots of love,
Li Hi!
Esme and Charlotte
Xxxx