catch up

went to floating village the other day... that itself was crazy! they literally have built life on water... there is a school, shops and little floating houses. i couldn't imagine living on the water... especially cause there is no doubt crocodiles in the water and snakes! (but we'll get to that) i saw people just jumping in. scary cause one, the water is soooo dirty and two cause of all the things that could be in there! but they're def used to all this, they're really fearless people it seems.
when you go to the floating village, you actually have to take a boat through it... it's a pretty big 'village', thats for sure. so really you just pass the houses, the school and whatnot... then on our way back, we stopped at a little shop type thing. it was ridiculous. first, we fed some huge ass fish, i think meng called them river sharks? hah but then we went up to a higher level and there were dozens of crocodiles! huge ones, little ones... they're ugly, interesting things. meng was telling me about someone who used to put his head in their mouths, but nothing happened and one day he put his arm in and it took the whole thing off. i wish my camera didn't die :(
after walking around a bit, i went to look at the other stuff they have in there. they had a water snake (i think?), a crocodile fish and other types of fish that were big and little. there, looking at those fish, was where i was approached by like a 4 or 5 year old hold a huge snake around his neck. i don't know how they do it! i looked around and there were a few other kids holding snakes too... it was insane! just the thought creeped me out. meng said that they were quiet snakes, so they wouldn't do anything... i wouldn't trust any snake.
meng showed me wine that had snakes and scorpions in it... they looked really sweet and they were actually drinkable too... something else i wouldn't do lol
beside the table was a basket... meng started petting it. it was a snake. i was completely freaked out because there was only a net covering it... he kept coaxing me into petting it, i was too scared to but then i finally did... and i jumped haha it was such a weird feeling, creepy too.
in the shop they also had stuffed crocs and croc skin... the skin they had hanging up was taller than me, by like 2 feet... that's a hugeee croc! but it was really sweet to feel.
ah! driving home from the floating village, i encountered my first crazy person... not personally but close enough. we had to go slow because some of the roads, especially on the way to the floating village, were still flooded. so driving slowly along, this man jumps out of a house with briefs and a shirt on, swinging a machete around all crazy... i looked at meng and he's like "ah crazy man.. when they do drugs, they get crazy". he had blood running down his arms and he was yelling stuff... it was crazy, to say the least.

i also went to the artisan centre in the last few days... there it shows like people chipping and molding and painting all the stuff they make there. it really takes a lot of skill... and these people have the skill.
it was pretty sweet... my guide was telling me how he has an uncle who lives in brantford... i haven't talked to anyone from cambodia who has heard of anything more specific than "ontario, canada". he was telling me how his dream is to get out of cambodia and move to canada with his uncle... i think it's great that some people have dreams like that. i was talking to meng, and he on the other hand, wouldn't leave cambodia.
meng was telling me that people make $30-50 a month and all this stuff about cambodia. he said they don't measure wages by the hour like we do, its by day (which is something like $2-3, sometimes more, but it really doesnt last long), or week and month. he said he has family who live in paris, but he said it would be too much to do. he'd have to learn french and he really is fine with living in cambodia. i guess there are people here who are content with living the way they do, they make it work and they're fine with it... and then there is people who want nothing more than to leave... meng said getting all the things to leave cambodia is expensive, and it is hard to get visa's and stuff... if you could afford all of that, then you could live in cambodia comfortably anyway.

i've been going to the orphanage, teaching and whatnot... i love the kids soo much, they're all so sweet.
i think thats all for now!