After enjoying a weekend getaway to the beach with some of the teachers, we were back in Phnom Penh and settling in for our final two weeks of volunteering at Krou Yeung School.

Our main duty during this time was to continue developing the “reading club” with students. This included having them act out some of the stories in their books — especially “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Three Little Pigs”. They loved performing these stories — especially the younger ones, whom Kimberly guided in making paper tortoises.

We also taught some of the regular English classes, substituting for the regular English teacher — who was, shall we say, troubled. She missed days because she supposedly had a broken foot; she missed days because of “food poisoning”; she missed days because she had to make repeated trips to the pharmacy for something or other. And finally, she missed days because the supervisor decided not to put up with her anymore.

Farewell Party turns into “See You Later” Party

At the end of our volunteer stint, we were given a farewell party with some very nice surprises. They included letters of recommendation and, for each of us, a small handwoven traditional Khmer blanket that would turn out to serve us well in the days ahead. And perhaps most touching of all, Alessandro the music teacher whipped out his guitar and sang not one, but two, songs he had written for us.

The director of the school, Mr. Sopheap, expressed an interest– indeed, more than an interest, it was a strong desire — in having us return to the school in the fall to be regular teachers for a year. Regular as in paid. So we sat down with him and went over the terms of the contract, and ultimately we decided to accept the offer.

It was a huge leap for us. It had been many years since we’d worked a regular job. As directors of our own touring theatre company in the U. S. for more than 30 years, we had (for the most part) set our own schedule. And the “touring” part meant that, since 1992, we were seldom in one place for more than a couple of days. So the prospect of putting down roots for an entire year, while a piece of cake for most people, seemed quite daunting to us.

But hey, we’re always up for a worthwhile challenge. So we committed.

1/9-19/2023