Last Week in Cambodia!

Our last full week in Cambodia was a busy one! We still had to get to some temples, wrap up our classes and lessons, and buy souvenirs! For our last full weekend, we spent some time with the group of peace corps workers and enjoyed our nights out at the clubs and bars. On Saturday, we met Natasha early in the morning and biked over to the PEPY house. We took a ride out into the countryside and met up with some of the PEPY teachers and workers. We learned about the problems with the Cambodian school system, including how state curricula lack in many academic areas. We visited a local farm where a family grows rice and fruits, and we learned how to make rice whiskey. I didn't have my camera on me, which is a shame!

On Monday night, Tim and I went to see an Apsara dancing show. Apsara dancing is an ancient tradition in Cambodia, and it has roots even before the Khmer empire. There are many large banquet halls in Siem Reap that specialize in hosting the performances. The program paid for our tickets and Tim and I indulged in the incredible buffet! They had all sorts of foods including local Khmer specialties and foods from all over Asia. It was amazing! We got our food and sat down to watch the show (the manager even found special seats for us so we could see better).

           

 
After dinner, Tim and I went to the Night Market, our favorite night-time tourist trap! We even went to the fish spa, something that I wanted to do since arriving in SE Asia. We put our feet into big pools of water filled with minnows. They eat the dead skin from your feet and give you an instant pedicure -- it tickled my feet terribly! The feeling was uncomfortable at first, but eventually I didn't feel it. It was definitely a weird (but unique!) experience! Plus, it was only $2USD, a can of Angkor beer included. Not too shabby...
Of course, shopping followed the fish pedicure. Here's a picture of Tim doing what he does best -- shopping for clothes. I bought a cool purple shirt with the Cambodian flag on it.

Typical...

All in all, a good night (minus the constant heckling by cab drivers...) At least my Khmer is getting better and better!