Day 2 - Siem Reap

Hey everyone :)


Today was a very busy day in the life of our Cambodia team. Firstly, we headed towards the Elephant Rides, only to find out that our plans required alteration, due to a morning rush of Japenese tourists, thus they didn't have quite enough elephants for all of us. We then decided to visit the "Jungle Temple", famous for a number of reasons, but most of us knew it as it was the location where they filmed Tomb Raider. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to enter it, as it is a place of idol worship, however it was still beautiful to admire from afar. We then caught up with the wandering elephants at Angkor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and it was definitely not hard to see why! The ancient ruins were riveting, and just by being outside of it you were able to feel and experience the culture and history that is the basis for this country. After many photo taking, we finally met with the elephants. A number of us had the pleasure of feeding them with bananas the size of one's pinky, which will forever be a fun and memorable moment in our minds. Finally, after much waiting, we boarded the beautiful elephants in groups of threes, enjoying the sightseeing, and waving to the seemingly fascinated locals.
Our next stop was the Remote school, a very poor school in the countryside, and our first community project. The children were all very excited to see us, and were even more delighted when they were given delicious lollipops. Some of us remained outside with them to play classic games such as: Duck duck Goose, Simon Says, Hokey Pokey, and a vast amount of AFL footy, while the others were led to a classroom where we taught them basic English words with the help from picture books, constructed by Grade 2 at FKI. We played and taught for a long while, until it was time for the children to return to their houses on their bicycles. Before they left, we gave them the gift of AFL footy jumpers, for them to wear as sport uniforms and sporting occasions. It was then time for the Scopus team to buckle down and do some solid work. In partners, we were to plant two mango trees (24 in total). One thing we have learnt from this paticular experience is that planting a couple of trees is sure a lot harder than it sounds. We hacked away at the ground, absorbing the sun's raging heat and getting on our knees to do the best planting job possible. It was hard, it was rough and boy was it hot, but we did it with a smile on our face. It was all worth it in the end when some kids who had stayed at school rewarded us with pretty water lilies.
We collapsed into the seats of our bus, and drove to the Rural hospital, armed with presents of blankets, stuff toys, crutches and baby wraps. The doctor, staff and patient were delighted, and so was a patient who was given baby blankets, toys and wraps just as she was about to go through labor.
Tired, exhausted, we drove back to the hotel. Some of us shopped at the supermarket in search of necessary supplies (in other words, strange lollies), while others hopped into the pool for a long deserved swim. We then had an office themed dinner, which was delicious, especially when it included a Cambodian specialty curry called "Amok", vegetables wrapped in banana leaf baskets.
Best board meeting EVER!!!Tonight it was time for some serious shopping at the night market followed by some very unusual foot therapy courtesy of "Dr. Fish", which involves sitting on the edge of a giant fish pool with your feet submerged and getting nibbled clean by hundreds of small fish.
A short walk back to the hotel and time only for journal writing before packing up for our next move tomorrow to the city of Battambang.


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