Quite Random

t’Internet and a freaked out gecko

I am now reading the news ($9.11 for Rudy? What was he thinking?), checking email and blogging from the comfort of home, on just about the worst value Internet connection ever. Think everything is cheaper in Cambodia? Not likely. I have a 256k broadband (ha ha) connection, which is costing me $89 per month. $89 for the luxury of Internet from home. And as for a 1MB unmetered broadband connection? Don’t expect much change out of six thousand dollars per month.

Installation of the new Internet connection was fun. Nothing but a phone call to some poor sucker in India for you in the UK, but here, a wireless reception booster strapped to the top of a very tall pole overlooking the crocodile enclosure, engineers scrabbling around in the roof, and some very confused faces when setting up the necessary connections on my laptop. Still, here we are. Just. I’ve only been cut off fifteen times tonight.

It has been a good day. The girl that I co-sponsor came to the Sangkheum Center to talk to my young adults group about working in a hotel – she works in one of the best places in town part time, and they move staff around so they do a bit of all of the jobs. It was great to see someone I taught English to two years ago, doing very well now, and coming back to give my group some insights. I can see a lot of potential for the young adults who get jobs in the future to come back to the Sangkheum Center and mentor their younger counterparts. With the public schools timetable now set for next week, I’ll also have more time to prepare better lessons for the group as I will only work afternoons, with my group in school in the mornings. That said, I have to leave Cambodia by next Wednesday as my visa expires, so it’s time to go and see Laos.

I have the house to myself – from sharing with three women to nothing more than a freaked out gecko in the kitchen and a gigantic stick insect on the balcony. Hannah and her friends return from Phnom Penh tomorrow, so I am once more treated to a gaggle of freshly showered babes, but also have to wear pants indoors.