Happy Merry Christmas!

Through the month of December, one thought kept running through my head "I can't believe its almost Christmas!". I'd never been in a tropical climate for Christmas, much less a Buddhist country. The only place that put up Christmas decorations were the major shopping centers; around the city one could also find signs of "Happy Merry Christmas!". Christmas cards I received from my students, also have this greeting on them : )

On Christmas Eve, the Sisters held a party for all the school staff. The teachers prepared a Khmer dance for the event, and included Andreea and I. They even found us Khmer clothes to wear for the performance!
A few of the Sisters also dressed up and performed a skit for the occasion.
The first time I felt like it was actually Christmas, was during mass on Christmas Eve. Although the mass was celebrated in Khmer for the most part, somewhere between hearing Christmas songs I finally felt the Christmas spirit. After mass, we returned home and celebrated with the Sisters; opening presents, playing games, and eating.
Christmas morning, Christine, Andreea and I woke up early to prepare a special breakfast for the community of Eggs Benedict. Here are some of the Sisters about to dig in!
Later that day we had a big Christmas lunch complete with games and dancing : )

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

The month of December was dedicated to preparing for the school's annual Christmas play. The play this year was "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". Coincidentally, Christine happened to bring the DVD of this story with her to Cambodia before the play had even been selected for the year! Our school's play is greatly anticipated by a number of expats as Cambodia is 95% Buddhist.

During this month, our class schedule changed just about everyday (as practice shifted from the morning, to the afternoon, to mid-day). While I consider myself a fairly patient person, I really had to remind myself to be flexible throughout these constant changes.

Somehow, I was but in charge of the choir for the Christmas play. Anyone who has ever heard me sing, knows just how ridiculous this is...while I play piano and clarinet I can't carry a tune to save my life. Despite this, I had a lot of fun singing everyday with the chorus.

Here I am with the chorus

The dress rehearsal...

The angels...

Mary and Joseph...

Before major events, the blessing dance is performed. Below, students performed the dance before the start of the play.

The 23rd of December was the official performance of the Christmas Play. After the performance, the school had its Christmas party (complete with Khmer dancing and a gift exchange). The students always love seeing me attempt Khmer dance : )

Vanne's Wedding Continued

Saturday morning, the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony began at 6:00 am with attendees lining-up in the street to enter the wedding tent. Andreea (the new volunteer) and I, didn't make it to the wedding quite that early. However, we did arrive early enough to see most of the ceremonies. Below, we're in a Tuk-tuk (which is basically a small carriage pulled by a moto) in our wedding finery ; )When we arrived, my students were excited to see me dressed-up (they are always good for a confidence boost!) and rushed to make sure a had a good seat. I was really glad they were nearby to help explain some of the different rituals that took place. The family was also extremely welcoming and treated Andreea and I like honored guests. Even including us in family photos!
Below, the hair-cutting ceremony begins. Individuals take turns pretending to cut a lock of hair from the bride and groom, symbolizing their new begginning together.
When we weren't with the family, Andreea and I spent time with the students at the wedding, who had earlier performed a special blessing dance (led by Dimang).

Here we are! Called in specially to take photos with the whole family!
Unlike home, where brides search for the one, perfect wedding dress, a Khmer bride changes into multiple dresses throughout the day. Vanne had around nine different outfits on Saturday (I have pictures of most, but not all!). Luckily, the majority of these dresses can be rented.

Pictured below is the begginning of the hand-tying ceremony, which symbolizes the union of the bride and groom.

After many ceremonies and pictures, the bride was able to take a break and rest in the early afternoon before her reception began. The family was incredibly sweet and invited Andreea and I to nap at there house until the reception. It was fun to see the girls in between outfits. During their small slumper party they gossiped and giggled. It was interesting to note that while there were many differences in traditions some things are exactly the same acroos cultures.

Around 4:00 pm, the reception began. Vanne donned her newest dress to head-up the reception line (which she would change a few times before entering the reception herself).

Here is Andreea and I with three of my students (who were Vanne's bridesmaids).

Dimang and I

Another dress...

Three more of my students, who Andreea and I sat with through the reception. They all looked so different then they normally do in their school uniforms. Especially Gakleang (who is in the middle). You wouldn't guess it from the picture, but she is such a tomboy!

And another...

Andreea, Phirun (our school secretary) and IThe final dress! Which Vanne wore when she sang a Khmer love song. She is quite the performer and a beautiful singer. She had the whole crowd captiaved!

Vanne's Wedding

In December I went to my first Khmer wedding. It was the wedding of one of the teacher's at my school, Vanne, whose younger sister is also my student. She and her husband had met at a church function and dated a number of years (in the traditional Khmer sense...with little time on their own). But they seem perfect for one another. The wedding festivities took place over two days. The church ceremony was held on Friday and the more tradional Khmer celebration on Saturday.

The whole school was invited to the wedding on Friday. Below, you will see me with some of my students.
Here I am with Vanne's sister, Dimang. She is one of my top students; incredibly bright and such a pleasure to have in class! She is also a very talented Khmer dancer. She has trained some of the other students in our school, and they are the ones who always perform at school functions. She was rushing around the wedding ensuring that everything went smoothly, the dedicated younger sister, but found time to snap this photo with me.
The bride and groom enter, followed by their parents.

The ceremony begins. While a Catholic wedding, it was interesting to see how the local culture played into the ceremony, with everyone sitting on the floor and of course, the colorful dress!Below, Vanne and her husband are about to begin the foot-washing ritual.

All in attandance bless the newly-weds by showering them with flowers three times.

The couple thank Sr. Malen (our school director) for coming to the wedding. The couple proceeded to thank everyone, before processing from the church (only to begin preparing for another big day)!

Natalie!

Just before Christmas, I got to see my cousin Natalie. She was in Cambodia for a mission trip, volunteering at an orphanage. It was so wonderful to see someone from home (although completely surreal!). We spent the morning together, and were able to show her around Christine's school. After having been in Cambodia a few months, I had mostly adjusted to the way of life here. So it was fun to see everything a-new through the eyes of someone who had just landed in the country (albeit for a second time). Even though our visit was fairly brief, I was really sad to say goodbye! However, I think we are both doing work that is perfect for each of us!

A Special Welcome

So, back in November, Sr Carmen (one of the Salesian Sisters on the Provincial Council) paid a visit to Cambodia from Italy. While most of the students at our school are Buddhist, a couple weeks were spent preparing for the welcome of Sr. Carmen. The girls learned welcome songs, prepared special dances, and decorated colorful signs. Of course, all of this meant time cut from class. When I first arrived in Cambodia, I wondered if I would have enough material to fill up a class period. Now I find that there is never enough time to cover what I would like too in class. However, even though I lost class time during the weeks leading up to Sr. Carmen's arrival, and even though most of the girls probably didn't really understand the significance of her visit, I had a lot of fun the actual day of her visit.
Here is a picture of some of my students lined-up waiting for Sr. Carmen to arrive.
Here, the students are taking a break, resting in the shade after running through the program for what felt like the 100th time : )
While most of my students are 18-22 years old, they are often adorned with large plastic or sparkly hair-clips and Hello Kity can be found everywhere. So, it shouldn't have been surprising to see them pull out pink pom-poms to dance to one of the Welcome Songs! : )
Here are the teachers being silly with a few of the students.Central to cambodian culture is Khmer dance. The Cambodians have a unique classical dance style, which originates from the 7th century; the placement of the hands and arms is very important, and each gesture has a particular meaning (such as flower, love, etc.). There is a small group of students that are absolutely fantastic dancers, and they prepared a special dance for Sr. Carmen. One of them has been teaching me a few movements, and while I can't compare to the students I'm starting to pick it up!

Christine's students also performed a dance, in which she was included! She got a number of delighted comments when she made her appearance in Khmer clothes!

The day before Sr. Carmen arrived, a new volunteer Andreea also arrived. She is from Montreal, but has been traveling around the world for the past year (well, through Africa and S.E. Asia anyway). She had most recently come from nepal where she climbed Mt. Everst. The students were all fascinated with her short hair (every single one of my studenst has long hair).

This is a group of Christine's students with one of the Sisters who also teachers at her school.

Not only is Christine teaching English, but she is also teaching recorder to 5th grade students. Below, she is with a few of her students who she was teaching songs to for a special Christmas performance.