FEBRUARY 1st A IS FOR: Australia
I’m going to try to make this alphabet month about objects and items we own and take every photo on the day.* So, I rounded up all the obviously Aussie possessions I could lay my hands on in our house for this first shot! Some of these have been in five countries with us
FEBRUARY 2nd B IS FOR: Buddha. This one was bought in Phnom Penh at the beautiful Wat Phnom Handicrafts outlet several years ago and has resided in pride of place in our living room ever since
FEBRUARY 3rd C IS FOR: is colouring in, which is definitely the preferred end of lesson activity for most of our youngest monks
FEBRUARY 4th D IS FOR: drink o’clock and in our house, it looks a bit like this at around this time quite often. The ring pull is from the open can and the message written on it means a free can. Yay and cheers mates
FEBRUARY 5th E IS FOR: eating - left over spaghetti and salad for lunch before our swim and a big night out
FEBRUARY 6th F IS FOR: That would be face! My face in this month’s selfie
FEBRUARY 7 G IS FOR: groceries! A pretty standard looking pile of groceries for us! We feel blessed to be able to get such a wide range of fresh local produce and try to buy local as much as possible
FEBRUARY 8th H IS FOR: hands. We usually buy local snacks and milk for break time during our class with the little monks but today we took homemade oatmeal cookies. Lots of little hands scrambled to get one out of the box. It’s hit and miss with western food and these little guys but everyone wanted to get their hands on one of these today and I got lots of thumbs up when I indicated that I made them. One of the oldest and least vocal monks gave me several thumbs up and then said “Good boy!” We don’t teach that kind of thing but I do say it hundreds of times every lesson. I guess we know oatmeal, raisin, dried apricot, coconut, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are a real hit
FEBRUARY 9th I IS FOR: incense and the scent of a Bhutanese Lhakhang drifting through the house and awakening nostalgia and memories of that beloved Himalayan kingdom
FEBRUARY 10th J IS FOR: jump rope or “jum plope” as most of these boys insist on saying. We were practising identifying initial sounds in phonics today. Mek is sorting flashcards into their correct letter groups.
“J.. J… jump rope”
“Good boy, Mek.”
FEBRUARY 11th K IS FOR: Kampot. We were in Kampot for the second time this week, today and I always take time to admire the beautifully restored old colonial buildings when we stroll around downtown. This one is the radio station
FEBRUARY 12th L IS FOR: latte. Yesterday, after my minor surgery, while we waited for our Rumblefish coffee beans to be blended and ground, we enjoyed a latte in Kampot’s quirky Cafe Espresso. Still the best coffee in Cambodia in my humble opinion
FEBRUARY 13th M IS FOR: monks. We made a surprise visit to the little monks yesterday afternoon and found them all working hard to clean up the pagoda compound and very excited to see us
*Our dear friend and their most loyal sponsor also treated them all to ice creams from a mobile motorcycle vendor who just happened by as we were leaving - with the Abbot’s permission of course. They don’t usually eat after noon so they were very happy about that
FEBRUARY 14th N IS FOR: NUTS. We usually have a few different nuts in the house and today I made a fragrant, spicy Dukkah mix with nuts in it
FEBRUARY 15th O IS FOR: ocean. Fifteen months since my knee injury and I can finally ride my bike to the little monks’ class again, so it’s possible for us to stop and admire the ocean views on the way there and back
FEBRUARY 16 P IS FOR: Pier. Now that the old pier to Rabbit Island has been replaced there are nothing more than remnants of the old pier in its very dilapidated state remaining visible
FEBRUARY 17th Q IS FOR: quote. This a favourite quote of mine but I don’t know who the author is! We went on a three- hour boat trip along the coast from Kep to Kampot yesterday and it was truly one of the best days ever in Cambodia
FEBRUARY 18th R IS FOR: room. Our room in the riverside district in Phnom Penh. We are taking a mini break for a few days and enjoying the bustling activity of the capital
FEBRUARY 19th S IS FOR: street scenes. Phnom Penh’s finest folk are those who work on the streets and spend most of their days street-side. They always have a ready smile and an easy laid-back attitude. These guys were joking and laughing with us early this morning when we headed out on foot: joking about the fact that we wanted to walk when they would ride us both for next to nothing. I love Cambodia
FEBRUARY 20th T IS FOR: tiles. Back in the capital and obsessing about the stunning traditional deco tiles we can see everywhere. I have added several shots like this to my collection in the last 24 hours but this is my favourite
FEBRUARY 21 U IS FOR: umbrellas. A typical early morning sight in Phnom Penh and cities, towns and villages all across Cambodia is the monks on their early morning alms walk! Orange is the new peace
FEBRUARY 22 V IS FOR: vegetables and vendor. The market is usually our last stop in the capital before we head home. It’s too hard to the resist the huge variety of the freshest vegetables and friendliest vendors
Second choice: - one-serve soup or stir fry selection is always available at many of the vendors for those who shop every day and for one meal at a time
FEBRUARY 23rd W IS FOR: window. I delight in the eclectic combinations of old and new that inspired renovation brings into play. The resultant industrial looking, modern aesthetic adds a vibrant, new look to grungy downtown alleys. This is a favourite window treatment spotted on our explorations of Phnom Penh this recent trip
FEBRUARY 24th X IS FOR: xylophone. This is a traditional, Khmer, wooden xylophone played at Buddhist ceremonies. In this case, at the small altar where locals frequently offer flowers, incense and money, on the riverfront in Phnom Penh. We often see them carried on the back of motor cycles in a convoy of the entire ensemble but have only heard them played live twice in almost five years in. Cambodia
FEBRUARY 25th Y IS FOR: yak. I had to resort to the alphabet flashcards for this one but I can say every little monk we have ever taught knows “Y is for yak”
FEBRUARY 26th Z IS FOR: zebras. This is actually an advertising hoarding on the High Line in NYC. I did in fact take it back in 2013 but it’s all I’ve got today having decided that zebu would be the go, I didn’t spot any on our bike ride and we almost always do!
FEBRUARY 27th LETTERS: of the Khmer script. It too is an alphabetic language albeit one cannot read. I only know what it says because the message “Say no to plastic,” is written in English on the reverse side
FEBRUARY 28th YOUR FAVOURITE WORD: Eyrie! I have had a few favourite words over time but currently I’m going with this one as we have our eyes on this little eyrie in Phnom Penh
* well that failed!
-I soon realised it would not be any kind of journaling about the month that was if every photo was a possession
and
-the usual letters caused archive shots to be the only option but most were in fact taken on the day and indicate what we have been up to recently with perhaps just a little mystery attached
