ENLIGHTENED?

I met these monks near the Angkor Wat on the roof of a nearby temple. This was a popular place to watch sunset from so many people had gathered. Away from the crowd, sat these two young men in their bright orange robes. As I walked past they were talking quietly between themselves, but both looked up and smiled.
A couple of minutes later I doubled back to say hello. Surprisingly both spoke excellent English so we started chatting. They were very open and friendly and before I knew it we had been chatting for an hour and completely missed the sunset. During this time other tourists were watching in surprise as we chatted in English. There was even a Korean man who asked could he listen in on our conversation. That was kind of embarrassing because we were talking about girls at the time.
We had a great talk. Of course they were interested in Ireland and Japan, but mostly I was asking them why they wanted to be monks. Curious as to why two young men (22 and 24) would choose to spend their youth in a temple and not out pursuing worldly pleasures, I politely broched the subject.
Cambodia, of course, is a developing country. In the rural regions, many families just manage to scrape together a living with their small rice farms. Big families and small stomachs are the norm. And there's never enough extra money or food for when a bad season comes along.
These young men both came from farming families in the countryside. Both have large families (8 and 9 people). All there siblings were fully devoted to farming rice with their family. No schooling and very little in the way of fun.
So these lads signed up to the temple. First they asked permission from their parents and were granted it. Although it left one less worker on the rice fields, it was also one less mouth to feed. And according to both monks their families are proud that they joined and it's seen as a good thing in the community.
Both monks were very honest and open with me and told me that their long term plans didn't involve staying in the temple. Both were hoping to get an education which could then be used to find a job. And following that a wife, family and 'normal' life. When exactly they planned on leaving the temple they didn't say, but both seemed content to be living there at the minute.