Already into week 2

This is gonna be over before I know it.

There's a fair bit I'd like to do at All Ears but I think the reality is I ain't gonna have the time. It's taken me quite a while to get my head round what the previous volunteers had done, the current situation and priorities, and the small matter of how you're suuposed to do accounts for charities/ngos which I've never done before, in a country I've never been to before..

I turn up at All Ears each morning to be greeted by a gaggle of children waiting to have their ears seen to, which always puts a smile on my face. I escape the heat into the airconditioned interior to commence the daily spreadsheet battle.

Glyn, the Director, briefed me on All Ears in general and the work they do. Good work it is too, and I was impressed at the budget ear mould (for hearing aids) manufacturing process they have in the kitchen, where they can be made at a fraction of the cost that the NHS spends on them but almost as good quality.

Outside of work...

I arrived on New Years eve, to a ready made party in the backpackers hostel. Conquering jet lag was tough.. I struggle at home if I have to get up half an hour earlier let alone 7 hours early. And my pre-booked room in the hostel was right next to the bar which stays open into the samll hours (both sleep and snow were fast becoming vague and distant memories)... A cool rooftop bar though complete with s shabby guitar with all 6 strings intact :)

As well as the transient backpackers I hooked up with some expat residents of Phnom Penh through a friend from uni. I've been made to feel very welcome and been out to dinners, drinks, bowling, dodgems, clubs.. not entirely sure how Cambodian this is but it certainly seems like somewhere you could happily live for a while. I did eat some ants though and saw some monkeys which I don't do every day in the UK..

Otherwise it is very hot, the Cambodians are very friendly and apart from the insistent Moto and Tuk Tuk drivers I have experienced very little in the way of hassle from anyone, so no beggar fatigue :)