COSI kids

this post shall be dedicated to the COSI kids!
haha..
had fun with them juz now..
and gues what..
i've learnt a few more words!
haha.. landa taught me.
he's such a sva(monkey) okae..
so naughty.
he kept insisting that kamara's my songsa.
LOL!!!
crazy kid la..
and know what?
i found out that kamara's sister, ratana, is his songsa!
whahahaha...

hmmm... lemme recall some of the things that happened at cosi last year when i went..
when we landed in phnom penh, we drove another part of the city where there's this coconut shop.
on the way, there were many cars, van, bicycles and motocycles espcially.
a number of them didn't have number plates but that was normal.
some motorcycles had like some 5 ppl on them.. crammed togehter..
not sure if there was one with six people.. can't rmb..
but anyway, we went to the shop and had lunch.
the owners were chinese i think.. they looked chinese.
they served beef stew with french loaf.
the bread was warm and crispy on the outside and really really soft inside.
yum.. haha.. then we ordered their specialty- ice-cream served in coconuts.
after lunch, we took a long ride in the van to cosi.
after some time, we got out of the city area.
we passed many padi fields which we green, some yellow, but it was the time when the drought was starting already.. no water.
the raod which we drove on was just a narrow path cleared of grass.. on both sides were either fields or little huts..
the richer villagers had two storey houses made of wood/ bamboo.. not like the resort kind.. just simple and not very stable looking..
some had cement staircases.
we dozed off on the journey.
the sun was already setting and the sky had gone purple.
when we finally reached cosi, the kids all crowded round to welcome us.
they recognised aileen, dore, dosius and alethea because they had been there more than once.
first girl i noticed was ratana.
she was in a red shirt and was wearing a white bead necklace.
she smiled and waved at me.
we went to our room and got settled in.
after that, i went to the playground where the children were all having the evening off..
there was this straw/ metal hut with seats and a table inside..
quite small.
i went in.
they were playing blind man's buff.
then the girl who was moving around with her eyes closed accidentally touched me and she kept saying sorry.
and i was trying to tell her that it was okae.. haha.. dunno if she understood..
but after that, i sat around in the hut with some of the girls..
we talked a little.. think sreyline was inside..
i can hardly remember who else now.. after a few minutes, the dinner bell rang and the kids all went for dinner.
the next morning, i went out to area near the toilets where the two rows of dorms were joined by a small clearing of stones and sand.
the children were clearing the stones from the sand..
slowly picking them up and throwing them into their plastic buckets.
it was really cute.. i went over to help.

at cosi, we also played captain's ball with them..
kamara was apparently very good with the ball and i told him that he'd be good at basketball too..
haha..
yeah..in one of his letters, he said that he was sorry that he would like to play bball as well..
but when we were in cosi, we didn't talk much.. he kinda stuck to his group of 2 other friends..
haha..

it was really fun..
the gilrs loved to play ice and water so they always got me to play with them and they NEVER let me be the cathcer!
haha.. so cute..
then i'd be running here, running there and manx.. those kids have super good stamina..!
sometimes when alethea and i got caught, we just hoped that we could stand there and not let anyone save us otherwise we'd have to start running again.
haha..

on one of the days, aileen, dore, sius alethea and i followed some kids to the nearby village for a walk.. think aunty agnes came as well..
so we walked across the clearing of grass to the village.
there were houses on both sides.. many had hammocks..
topless children were running about..
there were a few cows, some other animals as well.
the village was just like two rows of little huts seperated by a sand path..
it was an eye-opener..
i remember the village having these trees which bore these round little fruits which came in red, green and yellow..
socheat and a few other boys climbed all the way up the trees and shook the branches..
the fruits dropped down like rain and the children just picked them up to eat..
i began eating them too..
they were sourish and dry..
sorta like the texture of mashed potato..
so imaging sour mashed potato.. hahaha.. not that bad lar..
so after that, when we saw this fruit, we'd just pick it up or pluck it to eat..
really fun..
on our way back, there were these black coloured berries as well..
soman pointed them out and plucked them for us to eat.. they're reallly tiny.. like beads..
and they had seeds too.. so we just popped them in and spit out the seeds after chewing..
yum..
haha.

i think it was our 2nd or 3rd last day there when we went to the lake.
there was this bridge like thing which was quite high.. the boys were like monkeys, climbing here and there..
the bridge was on flat ground and there were cememt steps for you to climb up. from the top, you could see rather far.. but it was very narrow so you can only stand there.
there was a metal board which stood vertically and reached the bottom of the bridge.
the boys refused to used the steps but climbed the metal instead.. it was actually falt except for 2 small edges where you could put your feet.
soman taught me how to climb up..
it was like.. step by step.. where to put your foot, where to place your hands..
haha.. really quite fun..

there was this 6 foot plus tall wall which aileen was so desperately trying to climb..
and chantha,one of the girls who's one year older than me but slightly shorter, she chould climb it really really easily..
really amazing..
haha..below the platform where the wall was on, there were many rocks..
there were little pockets of water also.. very shallow water..
some of the children were looking for someting in the rocks..
the suddenly, this girl held up a small black crab!
haha..
soman, also started looking for crabs..
then when he found one, he broke a part of it's leg and pushed it into the pincers so it couldn't clip my fingers...
but its legs were still mobile..
it was a lot of fun.. the first time i held it, it ran off my hand..
we caught it back though..
well anyway, we went to the lake..
suddenly, the girl who was with soman and i pointed at something in the water..
she said something in khmai which i obviously didn't understand and appeared to be about to run away.. then soman told me that there was a snake in the lake..
he showed me where it was..
then he quickly asked the girl for a rock..
he thrust it at the snake.
then another.
the snake floated to the side of the pond.
soman picked it up.
it was bleeding at its neck..
a yellow and white snake with black markings..
soman used it to freak me out..
so scary!! it was still alive.. and moving!

that was the most interesting day in cambodia..

there was one day when we went on a village prayer walk..
it wasn't the nearby village but one which we had to drive to.
there were many little children playing in their own groups..
they were either half dressed or not dressed at all..
it was a really different place..
the ppl there were really poor..
wonder how they are doing now actually..
wonder if those kids will go to cosi or something..
there are some believers in the viillages..
there was actually this man who had half his body paralysed until some missionary prayed for him..
that's how powerful prayer is and how wonderful miracles are.. =)

once, dore, sius, me, aileen and two of the cosi boys went to drink coconut juice.
we walked an area nearby where there were 2 men climbing trees and extracting the juice i think..
they had rusty tin cans in which they poured the juice in for us..
we all drank form the same can..
it wasn't very clean.. there wa a huge red ant and a few other things inside..
but we still drank it anyway..
the taste of rust was there but it was still refreshing =)

wanna go back to cosi again.......
maybe next year..

shall end here..

byee..

COSI kids

this post shall be dedicated to the COSI kids!
haha..
had fun with them juz now..
and gues what..
i've learnt a few more words!
haha.. landa taught me.
he's such a sva(monkey) okae..
so naughty.
he kept insisting that kamara's my songsa.
LOL!!!
crazy kid la..
and know what?
i found out that kamara's sister, ratana, is his songsa!
whahahaha...

hmmm... lemme recall some of the things that happened at cosi last year when i went..
when we landed in phnom penh, we drove another part of the city where there's this coconut shop.
on the way, there were many cars, van, bicycles and motocycles espcially.
a number of them didn't have number plates but that was normal.
some motorcycles had like some 5 ppl on them.. crammed togehter..
not sure if there was one with six people.. can't rmb..
but anyway, we went to the shop and had lunch.
the owners were chinese i think.. they looked chinese.
they served beef stew with french loaf.
the bread was warm and crispy on the outside and really really soft inside.
yum.. haha.. then we ordered their specialty- ice-cream served in coconuts.
after lunch, we took a long ride in the van to cosi.
after some time, we got out of the city area.
we passed many padi fields which we green, some yellow, but it was the time when the drought was starting already.. no water.
the raod which we drove on was just a narrow path cleared of grass.. on both sides were either fields or little huts..
the richer villagers had two storey houses made of wood/ bamboo.. not like the resort kind.. just simple and not very stable looking..
some had cement staircases.
we dozed off on the journey.
the sun was already setting and the sky had gone purple.
when we finally reached cosi, the kids all crowded round to welcome us.
they recognised aileen, dore, dosius and alethea because they had been there more than once.
first girl i noticed was ratana.
she was in a red shirt and was wearing a white bead necklace.
she smiled and waved at me.
we went to our room and got settled in.
after that, i went to the playground where the children were all having the evening off..
there was this straw/ metal hut with seats and a table inside..
quite small.
i went in.
they were playing blind man's buff.
then the girl who was moving around with her eyes closed accidentally touched me and she kept saying sorry.
and i was trying to tell her that it was okae.. haha.. dunno if she understood..
but after that, i sat around in the hut with some of the girls..
we talked a little.. think sreyline was inside..
i can hardly remember who else now.. after a few minutes, the dinner bell rang and the kids all went for dinner.
the next morning, i went out to area near the toilets where the two rows of dorms were joined by a small clearing of stones and sand.
the children were clearing the stones from the sand..
slowly picking them up and throwing them into their plastic buckets.
it was really cute.. i went over to help.

at cosi, we also played captain's ball with them..
kamara was apparently very good with the ball and i told him that he'd be good at basketball too..
haha..
yeah..in one of his letters, he said that he was sorry that he would like to play bball as well..
but when we were in cosi, we didn't talk much.. he kinda stuck to his group of 2 other friends..
haha..

it was really fun..
the gilrs loved to play ice and water so they always got me to play with them and they NEVER let me be the cathcer!
haha.. so cute..
then i'd be running here, running there and manx.. those kids have super good stamina..!
sometimes when alethea and i got caught, we just hoped that we could stand there and not let anyone save us otherwise we'd have to start running again.
haha..

on one of the days, aileen, dore, sius alethea and i followed some kids to the nearby village for a walk.. think aunty agnes came as well..
so we walked across the clearing of grass to the village.
there were houses on both sides.. many had hammocks..
topless children were running about..
there were a few cows, some other animals as well.
the village was just like two rows of little huts seperated by a sand path..
it was an eye-opener..
i remember the village having these trees which bore these round little fruits which came in red, green and yellow..
socheat and a few other boys climbed all the way up the trees and shook the branches..
the fruits dropped down like rain and the children just picked them up to eat..
i began eating them too..
they were sourish and dry..
sorta like the texture of mashed potato..
so imaging sour mashed potato.. hahaha.. not that bad lar..
so after that, when we saw this fruit, we'd just pick it up or pluck it to eat..
really fun..
on our way back, there were these black coloured berries as well..
soman pointed them out and plucked them for us to eat.. they're reallly tiny.. like beads..
and they had seeds too.. so we just popped them in and spit out the seeds after chewing..
yum..
haha.

i think it was our 2nd or 3rd last day there when we went to the lake.
there was this bridge like thing which was quite high.. the boys were like monkeys, climbing here and there..
the bridge was on flat ground and there were cememt steps for you to climb up. from the top, you could see rather far.. but it was very narrow so you can only stand there.
there was a metal board which stood vertically and reached the bottom of the bridge.
the boys refused to used the steps but climbed the metal instead.. it was actually falt except for 2 small edges where you could put your feet.
soman taught me how to climb up..
it was like.. step by step.. where to put your foot, where to place your hands..
haha.. really quite fun..

there was this 6 foot plus tall wall which aileen was so desperately trying to climb..
and chantha,one of the girls who's one year older than me but slightly shorter, she chould climb it really really easily..
really amazing..
haha..below the platform where the wall was on, there were many rocks..
there were little pockets of water also.. very shallow water..
some of the children were looking for someting in the rocks..
the suddenly, this girl held up a small black crab!
haha..
soman, also started looking for crabs..
then when he found one, he broke a part of it's leg and pushed it into the pincers so it couldn't clip my fingers...
but its legs were still mobile..
it was a lot of fun.. the first time i held it, it ran off my hand..
we caught it back though..
well anyway, we went to the lake..
suddenly, the girl who was with soman and i pointed at something in the water..
she said something in khmai which i obviously didn't understand and appeared to be about to run away.. then soman told me that there was a snake in the lake..
he showed me where it was..
then he quickly asked the girl for a rock..
he thrust it at the snake.
then another.
the snake floated to the side of the pond.
soman picked it up.
it was bleeding at its neck..
a yellow and white snake with black markings..
soman used it to freak me out..
so scary!! it was still alive.. and moving!

that was the most interesting day in cambodia..

there was one day when we went on a village prayer walk..
it wasn't the nearby village but one which we had to drive to.
there were many little children playing in their own groups..
they were either half dressed or not dressed at all..
it was a really different place..
the ppl there were really poor..
wonder how they are doing now actually..
wonder if those kids will go to cosi or something..
there are some believers in the viillages..
there was actually this man who had half his body paralysed until some missionary prayed for him..
that's how powerful prayer is and how wonderful miracles are.. =)

once, dore, sius, me, aileen and two of the cosi boys went to drink coconut juice.
we walked an area nearby where there were 2 men climbing trees and extracting the juice i think..
they had rusty tin cans in which they poured the juice in for us..
we all drank form the same can..
it wasn't very clean.. there wa a huge red ant and a few other things inside..
but we still drank it anyway..
the taste of rust was there but it was still refreshing =)

wanna go back to cosi again.......
maybe next year..

shall end here..

byee..