Juxtaposition

My posts up to this point have related to the images we see and the emotions I feel when traveling around Siem Reap and the surrounding villages.  To give you an idea of the huge gap in incomes and lifestyles in Cambodia, I thought it would be interesting to provide you a glimpse of how I, as an expat working for a well funded NGO, live in a developing SE Asian country.  At times I feel horrible because of the conditions under which my students (and most of the population of Cambodia) live.  It creates quite the mental/emotional roller-coaster for me. I enjoy my life here quite a bit right now and want to help as much as I can for as long as I can and this apt makes my life a bit easier so I can do as much as possible.  (I'm just trying to rationalize my white man's burden)

Below you'll also see pictures of where I teach - this is not a typical Cambodian school, trust me.  This school is very well funded by an American philanthropist who wanted to provide Cambodian children a proper education that will set them on the path to English speaking colleges and universities so they can help develop Cambodia into a country that will flourish like the rest of SE Asia.  I am quite passionate about my students because they are the hardest working and most compassionate students I have ever taught.  Their collective eagerness to learn is so much greater than anything I have ever experienced in my fourteen year teaching career and it humbly makes me want to work that much harder for them.  I'll never possess the capabilities to truly express how much these students are impacting me (and this is only after one week) I cannot conceptualize how I'll feel at then end of the first semester.  It's a tough job as I am the only high school English teacher for nearly one-hundred students.  English is obviously their second language and all of my instruction and material is that of an American college-prep school - this education is truly daunting for the students but they have risen to every challenge I presented this week.  This is an amazing situation and I cannot predict how it will unfold.

Also, check out my wife's blog for her interpretation of our lives in Cambodia.
http://comealongwithkathleenweil.blogspot.com

My work space in the guest room 

Laundry room/second bathroom

Kitchen area

Master bathroom

Main living space

Main living space w/ kitchen in the background

Master bedroom

The campus where I teach

My classroom - exterior

My classroom - interior