HI.If you would like to continue following my food adventures, I am starting a new blog called Ready. Get Set. EAT! . I am hoping to make a more professional impression, as well as, put more attention and effort into the blog, now that I have consistent access to internet and free time. thank you!diana

Apologies--I was unable to post while traveling through China. This will be my final post on this blog as I have returned home after 2 years of Peace Corps service and 2 months of traveling in Asia. What started out as a monthly, when I have internet access, or I'm not feeling lazy today, account of my life and work in Cambodia, morphed into a travel food documentary of Asia. Thanks to my followers, where ever you are. I hope you have enjoyed my photos as much as I enjoyed eating the food and traveling. CIAO!

In Cantonese, China is called 'zhong gwok', which accurately translates into 'middle country'. I divided my time between Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin and Yangshuo (Thanks DragonBus). I really didn't (and still don't), know much about China before going, despite my ancestry. In a nutshell,China is another world. I spent 3 weeks in China and that barely cracked the surface of what the country has offer in culture, diversity, cuisine and landscape. It was beautiful, strange, despicable and wonderful all at the same time. I hope to visit China again in the near future. As always, I will summarize my travels with photos (mostly of food). Please enjoy.

A foodie alleyway in Beijing with deep fried scorpions for sale. The small ones are alive and moving!!! POOR STARFISH! I took a cooking course in Yangshuo. This is my work station.Beautiful, fresh ingredients to work with...WATCH OUT! My favorite dish: Spicy EggplantFinally! I can eat. Michelin 2 stars!No doubt about it--A few of these were probably used in my spicy tofu! SO GOOD.Have a cup of tea in the peaceful rice terraces of Guilin.

Beginning of the Great Wall. Doesn't look too bad, right? WRONG! The Great Wall certain deserves its name!So steep! Almost lost my shoe!This was at the end of the walk!In Macao now. Portuguese Egg Tarts! SOOOOOOO Delicious!Now, in the New Territories of Hong Kong on the Kowloon side. This is not too far from the Tseun Wan station. All these people are waiting for dessert at 10pm on a Wednesday night!

Fresh fruit with sago and coconut milk. YUMMMThanks for reading. Good Bye!

I've been eating pretty mediocre food for dinner, so I decided to splurge on lunch. I had a classic--Fish n' Chips! I didn't think I would be able to get good fish and chips here, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was very delicious. I keep forgetting about the British...Dutch...and Portuguese influence. Overall, I had a really nice, relaxing day. I slept in, played into the water, read, ate food, ate chocolate and took a nap. Also, the lady at the front desk of my hotel did my laundry for free. I love washing machines! My clothes smell SO good. I'm heading into KL tomorrow. Yikes!

Here is my lunch--

Still in Malaysia. I arrived in Palua Pangkor yesterday. Palau Pangkor is an island off the cost of the state of Perak. I'll stay here for 3 nights until I head into KL. In order to stay within budget, I have disciplined myself to not eat any seafood for the time being. Well, I'll splurge on my last night here. Here is an example of what I have been doing since I've arrived--

Today, I partook in a countryside tour that was 'meh' to 'okay'. But, in reality it cost 8.50 USD and it included transport to and from the guesthouse. So, I shouldn't complain. I did get to eat some tasty treats (not included in the price of the tour). The tour consisted of 7 sites around the Cameron Highlands, which lasted about 4.5 hours: 1)Buddhist Temple 2)Rose Garden 3)Boh Tea Plantation 4)Honey Bee Farm 5) local produce market 6) Butterfly farm 7)Strawberry farm.

The highlights of the tour was really the Tea Plantation. But, the Rose Garden and the local produce market were pretty neat. The others weren't so impressive and I didn't even enter the butterfly farm (5RM for entrance fee I didn't pay because I chose to spend it on food. A few photos here and the rest are on picasa--

I only stayed a night in Georgetown/Penang. I am not the one to do historical cities...hmp. I'll try again...I should've taken a photo of the place i was staying in...2 years in cambodia just barely prepared me for this place! back to the colonial times!

I'm in the Cameron Highlands now. Its in the state of Pahang. Its high up in the hills and its not hot and its beautiful. Unfortunately, still mosquitoes here. I guess this place is the capitol of where Malaysian teas are grown. Tomorrow, I'll take an early tour of the tea plantations and other attractions, like a strawberry farm...

Here is my afternoon snack: scones and jam. Strawberry Jam. Its pretty good quality jam and then i realized that strawberries are grown here. I'll see the real thing tomorrow.

More photos up on picasa now. Please take a look at my food travels...

I missed the bus this morning because I purposely overslept. I've had a nice time at this guesthouse. The owner has been the most accommodating. He speaks cantonese too. I really like being in Malaysia because all the blending of cultures here. Frankly, I'm enjoying being in a place where people speak cantonese. And, not surprisingly, I am mistaken for a local here too, that is until I start speaking.

I'm known in Asia as an A-B-C, or an American Born Chinese. When people find out that I was born in America, they seem to be really surprised and confused. I'm not sure why. I'm thinking it could be one of two things: 1)they expect me to look different, or 2)they've never met a Chinese person who was born in the states. I'm thinking its the latter.

Well, here is my Chinese face in a photo. Judge for yourself. American or not?

I'm drinking a Melakan ice blended coffee, hence the happiness. Its really delicious.

I am going to dedicate this entire post to just CAPITOL SATAY! It was like a club—HAPPENING! You had to wait in a line outside before they let you in! I ate at Capitol Satay for dinner tonight. You know, satay, the meat on a skewer, usually served with peanut sauce. In Malacca, satay is awesome. You cook it yourself at this place and choose the skewer type you want for only 80cents in Malay Ringgit. So, I had 22 skewers and 2 cups of iced tea. This put me back 19 ringgit or a little over 6 bucks green back. It’s a nice farewell dinner in Malacca. I hope these photos will do this place justice…

He's not a who, he’s a what: ice cream flavors to be exact! In Singapore, I visited an ice cream/waffle place with my CS hoster, Sue. The place: Udders. Yes, like the udders of a cow. This place offers the classic ice cream flavors along with unique ones, like lychee martini, earl grey and; wait for it…DURIAN!

Since I’ve been in Asia, I’ve found a new appreciation for durian. The #1 stinky, highly prized, expensive fruit is delicious. The very first time I tried fresh durian, it was disgusting. But, over the 2 years I’ve been in Asia, I’ve come to appreciate its rich, pungent flavor.

Hi. Good morning. Its morning time in Singapore.

The title of my post today is "Welcome Back" for two reasons. The first, Singapore is like home--DEVELOPED. The second, the flight attendant welcomed me home when I was getting off the plane :/

In the spirit of coming home soon, I stopped in the first Coffee Bean and Tea i found and had a hearty drink(in the airport of course). Ohh, I made it my goal to watch Harry Potter when I came to Singapore! Mission Accomplished!

For those who do not already know about my adventures explaining to locals that I am an American, I'll quickly explain. As part of my Peace Corps service, it was part of my job to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the people who I was serving. Basically, I told and re-told that America was a diverse place and that people of all colors come from America. So, where ever I go now, I tell people I am an American--born and raised. Actually, its a really difficult feat to accomplish as everyone seems to think I'm not an American with my asian face. Yes, I know what I look like. So, every country I have visited and not visited so far in Asia/SE Asia, I've been mistaken for a local. I've gotten Nepalese/North Indian, Japanese, Korean (I've been mistaken in Cambodia as Korean 85% of the time), Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Filipino, Taiwanese, Malaysian, you name it. People have often insisted that I was a local even after I explain to people that my ethnically, I'm Chinese.

Enough about that, I have one day left in Singapore and I need to some laundry and then go eat some food. I can't afford to shop in Singapore. Clothing seems more expensive here then it does in the states. I walked around yesterday after taking a long nap. I'm staying with a Couch Surfer host. She's been very nice and her place is clean and central to all the places in Singapore. I'll take a few more photos tonight and tomorrow, hopefully, I'll be on my way to Malaysia! By the way, I updated my picasa to include some photos of Bali.

I spent my last 3 days in the Sanur and Kuta/Legian areas of Bali. Both are beach places, but very dissimilar. Sanur is more family and senior friendly. Frankly, Sanur was a bit of a snore. I did get to visit the Orchid garden though. But, that sounds like a Golden Girls moment. I wanted to spend some time around the beach and I thought Sanur would be a nice alternative to Ubud, but it wasn't what I expected somehow. Too slow...so, I packed up and spent my last day and night in Kuta.

Kuta/Legian are for the party going crowd. In Kuta, I stayed in a $7 room located on one of the two backpacker alleys and it really reminded me of Khao San Road in Bangkok. All night partying and drunken debauchery by the 20-30 year old crowd. If I were that kind of person, I probably would've enjoyed the night life. But, the beaches are really beautiful.

Here are some more photos of Bali. I'll upload the rest to my picasa, so please take a look when you have time.

FATTY TUNA for lunch

Snack Time: Carrot cake and a cup of tea

I Heart Bali--Lime and Mint Iced tea

Kuta Beach

Bye Bye Bali

Hello!

I woke up later than I wanted to this morning. But, its okay, I'm on vacation. I am staying at a themed bed and breakfast. My room was designed after the musical, South Pacific. Its the cheapest room in this place and is a fan room. Actually, the fan isn't necessary because its been cool everyday since I've arrived. I was super excited about the breakfast and afternoon high tea this place provided but, both have been a disappointment. I have failed to finish both my breakfasts, thus far. And, except for the first day, I've skipped the afternoon high tea. This morning, I supplemented my free breakfast with my own fruit. Here are some photos of this morning:

My waffel dish with butter?

The fruit I bought and ate. Similar to the passion fruit, the marquisa is sweeter tasting and not sour.

Here is the inside.

Anyway, I wanted to take a leisurely stroll through the rice fields this morning after breakfast, but since I woke up late, I was only able to do a 2-hour walk, so that I could make it to my noon time spa appointment. I should've chosen the walk over the facial because I chose the wrong facial treatment!!! I chose a cucumber honey facial program and discovered that I AM ALLERGIC! I knew something was wrong when the therapist began placing sliced cucumber on my face. Despite the cooling properties of cucumber, my face became itchy. YIKES. And, being the dummy I am, I didn't say anything thinking I was overreacting! After removing the cucumber from my face, the therapist asked if I was allergic because my face was RED. It was red, itchy and bumpy. I'm okay now though. Didn't take too long before the itchiness stopped but my neck is still sorta red and splotchy. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy after my spa treatment. LESSON LEARNED: NO cucumber facials. Sorry, no photos available of my face. But, here are some views of the rice field!

I'm just now having lunch since my 3-hour spa appointment ran into lunch. I should've know it was a bad idea interrupting lunch. I found this neat vegetarian/vegan japanese indonesian place while walking back to my guesthouse the first night. Its too bad I'm leaving Ubud tomorrow because the food here is delicious. SO DELICIOUS. This is what I ordered:

Taco Rice with avocado, beans and salsa. Truly DELICIOUS!

And, of course dessert! Vegan Coconut Pumpkin Pie. Also, tasty. Interesting texture. I was expecting custardy filling, but the filling was stiff like a hard jello.

I'm gonna post this now. I was gonna wait til after dinner, but I'm too lazy for that. I'm gonna have dinner in a bit, not sure where, but this japanese vegan indonesian place is quite tempting and is worthy of a second, consecutive visit within a 3 hour period. I purchased a ticket to see a Balinese Shadow Puppet show at 8! BYE! Talk to you tomorrow when I am in Kuta--3 more days in Bali.

I'm in Bali now. It is beautiful here. As in Cambodia, Bali is in its rainy season and its unbelievably lush. It is a lot greener here than in Cambodia. It is also a lot cooler than I expected and in the evenings, its rather chilly. I only have one hooded sweatshirt and this is the most I've worn it in over two years.

I managed to snap a few photos today.

This seems to be traditional Balinese architecture. This is the entry way to a home or a shop.

I visited the Monkey Forest in Ubud today. Monkeys live inside this sacred Balinese Hindu site.

These long tailed macaques are common in southeast asia.

I treated myself to some street food after the monkey forest. For a little under $1 or 5,000 Indonesian rupiah, I was able to buy some fried tofu and spring rolls slathered in a sweet/spicy peanut sauce. Verdict: delicious and full of flavor.

For lunch, I visited this hugely popular place that specializes in Balinese suckling pig.

The pork was very, very moist!!! The rice was a really good quality too!

More to come tomorrow when I take a walk in the rice paddies!

I am officially a RPCV! I have just completed my two-year service with the Peace Corps in Cambodia. Today, I got all my paperwork in, medical clearance and had my exit interviews. I took my language proficiency test the other day and scored an Advanced level in spoken Khmer! YAY!

On June 30th, I officially left site and it was very emotional. All morning, my students would repeatedly tell me "Teacher, DON'T CRY". Nevertheless, I cried. I made my host family cry. I'm too emotional for my own good.

My students and counterpart sent me off in style from site. My counterpart and the students I developed close relationships with accompanied me to the bus stop in the provincial town and waited for the bus to depart before leaving. According to my counterpart, once my bus pulled away, my students started to cry!!! Here is a photo of my last few moments in Pursat. My gang at the bus stop.

Here is my last day in Kandieng, out in the rice fields.

In a few days, I'll be leaving for Bangkok via the Poipet border in Bantey Meanchey province. From BKK, I'll be heading to Bali, Indonesia. I'll be in Bali for a week and then onto Singapore. After a few days in Singapore, I'll be going to Malaysia for 2 weeks. Then, I'll be in China and HK for about a month. I'll be home September 4th!

I'll probably post on all the delicious food I encounter(with photos) throughout my journey.

That is all for now. I am actually suffering from a bad cold and need bed rest. Being sick and traveling is a bad combination. I'll keep you all posted. BYE!

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to give a quick update. I just returned from an 18-day trip to INDIA!!! INCREDIBLE INDIA INDEED! Please see my photos here. But, my post is really about the world map project that my students and I finished in early April.

Over a course of five days, students from my geography and speaking clubs came together and worked on a 2.5m x 5m mural of a world map. We began by measuring and drawing a large grid of 1,568 blocks. Then, we painted the space white and drew the countries on the wall block by block. Step three consisted of painting the oceans and countries in varying colors. And, voila--world map! Here are a few photos. But, go to my picasa page for a full visual of the progression of our work!

I was such a control freak through out the whole process. I had to keep in mind that my students have never had experience painting and drawing. This project was all new to them. It was even new for the teachers at our school.

By introducing a map to my school, Cambodians now have a better grasp of their own country in respect to size and location. Most Cambodians have never seen a map before this. Most teachers at my school were surprised by how small Cambodia is compared to many countries.

Overall, I am very happy with the result of the mural. More importantly, however, my students had a lot of fun.

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So, I have 75 Days Remaining of Service!!!

Officially, I will close my service July 12th. But, I will be traveling for a little over a month before I return to Los Angeles. I am planning on going to Bali, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong...see you all very soon.

I'm really sleepy now. Apologies for typos and grammar mistakes! Good night! diana

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Here are three kinds of seasonal fruits that can be found here in Cambodia. All very delicious in their own ways.

The MILKFRUIT is perfectly round like a petanque ball. Its either a deep violet or bright apple green hue.

The khmer name is "ply dict dawh gooh" which loosely translates to fruit milk. Appropriately named, the pulp of this fruit gives a milkly like juice when squeezed. The fruit is subtly sweet. You either have a taste for it or you don't. But, I enjoy eating this fruit!

The STARFRUIT is called "ply speu". It does not translate to star, however. It is actually a name of a province in Cambodia.

But as you can see, in English, the starfuit is appropriately named for its shape.

The JACKFRUIT starts out really small, as small as your thumb...

But, it can grow as big as your head or even bigger! One can weigh up to at least 30kg or roughly 66 pounds!!!

The inside is yellow.

You take the fruit apart from its shell and eat its 'pods'.

Its very tasty and sweet when ripe. The texture is slightly tender, slightly firm. There is a big seed in each pod.

Hello!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Although I have dearly missed spending Chinese New Year with my parents and extended family these past 2 years, I've been lucky enough to have a host family who are of Chinese heritage. Both years, we celebrated in a way that reminded me of how my paternal grandmother would celebrate the coming of the new year--incenses, prayers, offerings to ancestors past and a vegetarian meal on new years eve. My host mother even gave me 10,000 riel (2.50 USD) sans red envelope. It meant a lot to be able to spend this holiday with my host family.

Every year, the day prior to chinese new year's eve, my host family spends an entire day making khmer 'pastries' to sell for the festivities. So, I wanted to focus this entry on the process of the making of the pastries and share some photos.

OH! OH! I'm in my final stretch of service with approximately 6 months to go!!! I'll start the official countdown when the days remaining are in the double digits!

Start here---

One of the girls who lives with us, Pheaup, is preparing the banana leaves for cutting. She is laying them out in the sun so they get some heat on them and kill germs?

Host mom cutting and wiping down the leaves for stuffing.

Some sort of bean. In Khmer its called 'sundike bai'. Maybe lentil, but I have a feeling its something other type.

The main ingredient: sticky rice.

The layers of the pastry.

My host mom spent the whole morning making these!

Looks so perfect. Oh, you see the string holding the leaves together? Well, that is just part of the giant banana leaf. Biodegradable wrappers! Ingredients are all organic!

The final product: Nom Ansom. This is a savory pastry made with pig fat. Its pretty good, but heavy. Once these are wrapped, the pastries are steamed in giant pots. These sold for 3000riel each. So, 75cents per piece.

My host sister Mite. She is the best Khmer cook ever! She knows how to make me Mac and cheese from the box and spaghetti after only one lesson. Her food always comes out great. But, she cooks like any other asian lady--doesn't use measurements. Adds ingredients based on smell, taste and experience. I haven't learned any khmer dishes. I should get crackin on that.

This is a home made tool. Its made from a top of a bottle cap with a hole punched through it. Then, its screwed onto a metal handle. The ridges of the bottle cap scrape the coconut meat easily and perfectly.

The results of scrapping the coconut.

Coco and sugar filling for the sweet pastry.

I helped last year too with the wrapping of the leaves. Its good that I enjoy baking. I like to feel involved.

My host niece, Lekena, reaping the rewards of the labor intensive cake making session. This khmer pastry is made with rice flour. The outer layer is slightly sweet and chewy! The inside filling is made only with fresh shredded coconut and sugar. That is it!!!

SO EARLY! I took this photo around 6:40ish am, but my host sister and nephew started selling at sunrise! Markets are open very early and people normally do their shopping early n the morning.

My sister, Rothmony, on the main stretch of the road, in front of the market, selling cakes.

The banana leaf wrapped cakes sold for 200 riel each. That is approximately 3 cents a piece.

Coconut milk sticky muffins. Pretty tasty. These sold for 500riel or 12 cents each.

My host nephew, Reaksmey, sold cakes in another makeshift stall at the market that morning too.

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I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed eating the cakes! diana

Sorry if there are typos and grammatical errors

Heavy rains in parts of Cambodia have managed to overflow rivers and lakes to create flooding. Its not an emergency yet, but heavy rains have visited us every night now for over a week. More like over 10 days! Its raining at this very moment I am typing this!

A house that was flooded. Good thing this house sits on stilts.

My host-nephew, Somethea, riding his bike in the water

This is a bridge over a small river. Its fairly deep, but the water has gotten so high, children are playing in the water.

Another houses in my village were affected by the rising water in the nearby river.

This is a boy on his bike crossing a small bridge.

Also, read this page on Peace Corps!

so, i've been at this expat cafe several hours now, mooching off their free super fast internet, and just met a young married khmer couple. they are sitting across from me and i just couldn't help but notice how un-khmer they were. they were very kissy face, very pda! their pda is just so very strange to me. even the way the husband treated his wife was very genial, moreover, respectful. he didn't eat before her, he waited for her and had her take the first bite. so i couldn't but help but ask them if they were married, because they were young looking. i found out that they've been married for 5+ years now with a 5 year old son. he is a custom's officer and she works in business. their son is going to a good private school in the capital, and no doubt will learn english.

this encounter is just so fascinating. while phnom penh has areas that make you wonder, "really, this is the capital?" having social encounters like the one i just mentioned above really makes me believe that cambodia is on its way to developing. i can't say for certain what kind of development it will experience, but withing the next 50 years, this country will experience significant. but of course, its inevitable that any developing country will experience development within a 50 year span.

i just had to mention this because since being here and living out in the provinces, most times it feels almost hopeless. i wonder often, is it possible for khmer people to think about their existence and have a desire to improve their lives.

hey everyone! i'm overdue with my updates but i have a good excuse: i've been busy finishing up summer projects on the cambodian end and i recently returned to the states for a 3-weeks, but i'm back in the 'bode now.

okay, so i finished up the water project at my school. if you weren't aware that i was working on a water project, well catch up here.

camp GLOW was pretty successful, but not without a few bumps along the way. however, Keiko and I were more than satisfied with the camp. in the fewest words possible, the goal of our camp was to help our female students become vehicles of change to improve the future of gender equality in cambodia. the camp addressed the needs of young females in present day cambodia with life skills education and reproductive health training. so, many thanks to our counter parts, pc small grants, school directors, pcvs, trainers, ngos, and our students. photos!

condom demo during the reproductive health portion

the design of our shirt was designed by a fellow pcv, julie k. in takeo province

discussion time

day 1--students filling out a pre-camp survey

Culmination Day

these girls are from my school. the lady in the center is my school's co-director, ms. ngai

Keiko and I trying to form a heart...the camp is FINISHED!!!

the camp was the conclusion of my summer projects. I was then able to relax and enjoy my vacation back in the states. i was suppose to take a lot of photos back home, but i didn't. i'm so retarded.

anyway, i'm back in cambodia now and the school year is about to start. can't wait.

bye.

another month has gone by and its nearly july!! approaching my one year mark since i left the states...here are some new photos and accompanying comments:

every culture has a special way of celebrating a housewarming (lang ptdeah in khmer) and in cambodia, food and monks play a big role in the process. so today my host family and i went to the provincial town to celebrate my eldest host brother's newly built home. the day started off with women preparing food and around mid morning, 4 monks arrived to start the blessing of the home. i think the blessing is performed in sanskrit language. after the blessing by the monks, my host mom also blessed her family, all her children (including me) and grandchildren. she is the head of the household.

the new home

women cooking

my host sister cooking vermicelli noodles

monks blessing

my host mom giving blessings

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my family is very involved with the wat (pagoda) and my host sisters and host mom participates in all major and small buddhist holidays. giving alms, or 'rabat' in khmer, is a morning ritual where rice, drinks and small goods are given to monks from a local wat. the other day, 20 monks came to my house and my sisters and I, along with 2 yay's (older women) gave each monk a spoonful of cooked rice. the rice they are given in the morning is what they are allowed to eat. monks do not eat at night. also,the ritual is performed shoeless. once we were done giving rice, we sat before them and they said some prayers to bless us. it was all a very quick process. in return for giving alms, i hope to have earned some merit in my current and later life :)

see, no shoes

leftover rice from morning alms

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here is a brief blurb on food. while there may be food available here in south asia, not available in the states, i miss food from america immensely. i miss it every second, of every minute of every hour of everyday!!!! SERIOUSLY.

my host sister taking the mature coconut from its outer outer shell

mature coconut

mature coconut with outer shell removed

younger coconut

my friend haeng, shaving coconut with a machine, instead of by hand.

many phases after removing the cocount from its outer layers, you get coconut jello!!! 4 ingredients: sugar, water, coconut and agar agar powder (a powder made from seaweed to turn the liquid into gelatin. vegan!)

coconuts are a wonderful ingredient. this is a coconut milk with mungbean concoction. mung bean is known as "sun-dike kew" in khmer pretty Y-U-M-M-Y

old fashioned shave ice machine..you turn the crank

guess what she's cooking in the wok...? see next image

CRICKETS!!! the taste is good, but the texture takes some getting used to...i'll try eating them again at a later time.

the breakfast that built a nation--pork and rice or as the khmer call it "bai saik jruk"

this was made into chicken soup...all parts of the chicken used!! no wasting

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oh! my dog gave birth the other morning. the photo isn't very clear, but i will post more when i have better lighting. 6 puppies!

hey guys!! i got back from vacation earlier this week. i have photos up on my picasa if anyone is interested. its been a while since i last wrote. but, back to being busy, which is great. being idle here makes me really depressed.

anyway, the purpose of me writing was to let you all know that our CAMP GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) was approved and we will receive funding very soon. It came at a very appropriate time too. strange how things happen...but earlier in class, my 12th grade class was learning about human rights. and there was this section on women's right and the chapter opened up the subject by talking about husbands beating their wives. well, one of my female students said that if her husband beats her, she would tolerate it because she is a wife and he is the husband. I was speechless...all i could say was "no way. don't let your husband hit you" and then asked the boys in the class if they will hit their wives and they all said 'no'. it was rough to hear my student say such things. i got teary. damn. damn. i dunno. the state of female equality is non existent. damn. listening to her speak in her broken english about how its okay for a husband to hit a wife. not cool. not cool.

bye. diana

so its raining today. i've never adored the sound of rain as much as i do today... or rather for the remainder of time i am in cambodia. today is cool with a lot of moisture in the air. its not cold, its just right. the sun isn't beating down on the house or my skin either...

anyway, here are some recent photos from site. a few of the photos are of my home and the others are from the wedding i attended last week. a teacher from my school got married...

also, i will be going on vacation in a couple of weeks for about a month. i will be checking out the north of the cambodia, visiting my training family in takeo, and visiting laos and vietnam. i'll be sure to take photos. enjoy these for now...

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This is at the end of the wedding. We are wearing traditional khmer wedding attire. The colors are usually very vibrant. The sampots are made out of silk. Depending on the quality of the silk, a dress can cost anywhere between 25-65 USD. Yes, that's a lot of money.

These two girls are my students. They are younger, so I suppose they are wearing modern dresses. Very prom like.

This is my favorite wedding food. Small, fried egg rolls except with more meat. Yum! Tasty! Another good thing about this dish is how easy they are picked up with chopsticks and popped into your mouth. A khmer wedding is similar to a chinese one. The food is reminiscent of chinese food, but not exactly. People are sitting together at tables and 6-8 courses are served depending on who is throwing the wedding party. Sadly, there is no wedding cake. Also, there is no wedding registry, so people give money. I usually give $10, which is a lot for a meal.

Normally, weddings out in the villages, you will see little children picking up empty beer and soda cans that are thrown on the ground. At this particular wedding, there was this one table full of drunk khmer men who were egging on a little boy (probably 10 years old) to drink glasses of beer for the empty cans. It made me sick to my stomach. Its not cool. Totally not cool.

I was sitting at this table with a few of the other female teachers. This photo is similar to the other photo I posted last month. The expressionless, vacant faces of the female teachers almost leads me to believe how "not" fun weddings are. The tables are usually separated by sex.

This is the bride. She is probably 24 years old. I almost didn't recognize her with the makeup and accessories.

This is my brother in law, Vuthy. He is picking mangoes from one of the several trees around our house.

This is my sister, Rathmoney. She is around 40 years old. She is holding up some freshly picked, unripe mangoes. Khmer people like eating unripe mango with salt and chili. The sour, salty and spicy combination is tasty, but I prefer sweet mangoes.

Another photo of them picking mangoes. At the end of the bamboo stick, there is a small basket to catch the mango. One must be careful not to touch the sap that comes from the branch and freshly picked mango because you could develop a rash.

Hello. My secondary project this summer will be a girls camp, where girls in the 10-11th grade will learn about gender issues, female empowerment, careers and the benefits of higher education. Today, my co-teacher and I were able to get all the signatures, stamps and ok's from the necessary departments in our district and province for the go ahead! YES! SUCCESS! Keiko (pcv from Kompong Chhnang) and I will now work on securing the venue and writing the proposal for a small grant. YAY! This is a good start to our project and we are making good time.

Today was a good day. Oh, I also ate 4 mangoes today and they all came from the trees surrounding the house. Jealous? Tomorrow, I will try to eat 5.

BTW, here's a link to an interesting article on the peace corps--

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/03/peace-corps.html

Here are a few shots of my lazy dog, Lucy. She is suppose to be a guard dog...

i taught a mini geography lesson to my two of my english classes friday. it was suppose to be a fun activity and it sorta was. since the majority of my students think north america and france are the same country (yes i realize what i wrote), i wanted to introduce the world to them in 50 mins. i used photos of different places of different countries from national geographic and cut them up into puzzle pieces. the class split into small groups and started to rearrange the pieces into a whole photo. Meanwhile, i taped a giant map of world onto the white board. once the groups completed the puzzle, they tried to find the places on the map. i had them find cambodia first ; ) the goal of my lesson was simply to make it fun and interactive, so that to inspire and offer them new knowledge. they said they enjoyed it and it did look like they enjoyed putting the puzzles together by the faces they made. but at the end, i asked them if they like the lesson. one of my students said that its not so important they know about other parts of the world because mostly everyone in the class cannot afford to travel and see the places...literally at that moment my heart skipped a beat... i know that one student who voiced his opinion isn't the voice of all the students....but its just really sad and pathetic. they have no hope or aspiration to pull themselves out of a situation. and mind you, this boy is in my best, most advanced class out of the entire school. unfortunately, i was teaching alone that day. if my co teacher was there, he would've backed me up. i dunno...teaching is not getting any easier. i'm not gonna give up on this topic. i'm planning a geography class for the summer.

***UPDATE: Several weeks ago, i helped out some of students with essays for study abroad scholarships. One of my students was selected to move on to the next phase, which is an exam in PP. If he passes the tests, he will move on to the interview/presentation phase. CROSS YOUR FINGERS! This is great news, but there are a few more hurdles!

anyway, here are some random photos of my site: my room, school, students....

Cambodian flag

My house. See the car to the right? Also, my family is sittle underneath the house.

This is the main part of the house. Everyone sleeps on the floor. At night, they put up the mosquito nets and lay out the thin mattresses. 9 other people live here.

I have my own room with an actual bed. I don't have an actual mattress, only a thin camping type pad. It works. its not the most comfortable, but i bet i have a super straight spine now. the size of the room and the low ceilings make my room extremely hot. my host family has also provided a fan for me. my site has 24-hour electricity.

This is the high school where i teach. it is fairly new building, however, we don't have electricity or clean running water. electricity is available, but teachers must pay for it. so, the fans and the lights at the school are non operational.

This is one of my top students. Her name is Ravin. She is looking up the location on a world map.

This is an area where various vendors sell food. Food stalls...see all the trash on the ground...? Unless it is a big tourist attraction, pretty much all over the country is littered with trash.

These are some of my students in my advanced speaking club. On this particular day, I had them choose photos of places they liked and had them speak on it. Not many students showed up....

hi. i am usually at site on saturdays. but this past saturday, i visited a mango farm with a few other pcvs in kandal province. here are some photos. lots of fun!!! and yummy food....i didn't get to take photos of all the food i ate, but whatever...its hot in cambodia.

perfect start to the morning: a hot bowl of meat balls and 'fun' (white fat noodles)

...reminds me of home

edible flower

eating sugarcane

julie and dave

who knew bananas grew upside down???

BATS!

who's fobbier? me or james?

mangoes anyone? sovachana our peace corps friend

yup, those are mangoes!

taking a swig of fresh coconut water

mango farmer and great host

funny finger picture

muslim family doing some fishing on the bassac river

funny bug

HELLO FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!

it's february already! cambodia is warming up and mangoes will be in season soon! okay, quick update and photos!

life at site couldn't be better. maybe its the high level of endorphins in my system from playing volleyball with the girls team or simply that i've come to terms with learning to accept life in cambodia and have begun to learn how to be happy here.

so this past month, i've been playing with the vball girls team 2 hours everyday. while, i am enjoying practicing with the girls (and enjoying NOT teaching english), its not as strenuous as i would like. i'm 28 now and the girls i play with are 10-13 years my junior and i hustle a lot more than they do! practicing with the girls just makes me think back to the glory days of the wilson vball team and how much discipline i had as an athlete (snickers). the girls aren't horrible players, but some of the girls just stand there and watch the ball drop, never taking a step forward or back or to the side. when this happens, i just shake my head and make faces. students just don't show much of a competitive nature...sigh...

mid-januaury, our school hosted the mountain of rice festival to raise money. it was a lot of fun. the community bands together and donates sacks of rice and money to the school...monks came to the school to give their inspirational buddhist speeches and the community reciprocates by giving food to the monks. in all honesty, i don't understand nor will i probably ever understand khmer festivals cuz yea, i just don't. anyway, it was fun and i got to watch some of students perform little skits at school. good times and afterwards, there was a party for the teachers--male teachers really and of course drinking was involved. and of course, i was invited and i did go. i drank palm wine with the male teachers until it got too dark! i was able to hang...pretty amazing considering i don't drink. it was a lot of fun.

and finally, i went to my first khmer wedding this past week. it was fun, but the fun started after when most of the guests left the reception and the drinking started again with the male teachers at school, which i was also invited to. again, i was able to somewhat hang, but didn't drink to much beer. you know, drinking with khmer men really can't compare to drinking with people at home. khmer men drink their beer with ice...and they get pretty drunk, pretty quick. its quite funny. if i, diana f. wong, can drink with khmer men, that means they can't drink for beans! anyway enough about that....oh the gender topic again, still bugs. this is more of an observation...but khmer girls get all dressed up to go a wedding...they do their hair, face the whole package. they probably spend 2+ hours getting ready, but they dont' stay long. they stay at the reception for like an hour to eat and then go home...they don't have any fun! they don't dance, they don't socialize! they sit all together and eat in silence... i mean, you people at home, must think i'm going crazy and find it funny that i'm complaining about being reserved and shy, but c'mon. girls here take shyness and passiveness to another level! and the men here have no game! no game! seriously!

finally, i've rambled on for far too long. photos:

unhusked rice

my host sister, rathmoney

monk

my co-teacher, mengsea, giving rice to the monks

monks

pisey, my 11th grade student

kasy, another 11 grade student

random student enjoying the skits

kandieng high school girls soccer team

my school director, mr. phay leng, with some of my vball girls

girls in action (yellow is kandieng hs)

a few of the female teachers at my school,

not smiling much at the wedding

my director's sister in law, she's 20 studying in pp

my director and his family at the wedding...dig my outfit?

enjoy the spinach and pumpkin soup

hi. i hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. i am in phnom penh now and will be spending the glorious evening with some pcv's in town...i hope everyone is well.

just a quick update about work...site is good. i am working pretty much 7 days a week, but i am enjoying it. hopefully, i will start playing volleyball with the girls team next week. teaching english is difficult...really difficult. my co-teacher is fantastic and my director is great. he invited me to have dinner at his house and meet his family for xmas and i gladly accepted. it was a nice evening and so very thoughtful of him. ummm....my family is really nice and they treat me well. for breakfast, i normally eat noodles or bon chayu (this egg omelet with bean sprouts) with an iced coffee at this shack next door... i pay .75 cents for it...i eat lunch at home if i am hungry and my family always cooks dinner for me.

well, here are some photos. hopefully i will have more after new years. enjoy!

giant wooden carving, Battambang Provincial town

Alleyway in Bttb again

(l to r) mira, me, christian and jaNise

Fish drying out in the sun, Battambang Provincial town

BBQ, Battambang Provincial town

Giant Guava, given to me by an old grandpa from school

my feminist side certainly comes out a lot more while i am in cambodia...

i was at school one day and i was sitting grading tests outside. apparently, i was sitting inappropriately, or not like how a female should sit, and one of the younger male teachers told me in khmer to put my leg down on to the ground. i asked why in khmer and he didn't respond. seriously, motherf****r!?! i was pissed for the rest of the day...i really hate how women are treated here and how they so willingly accept it as part of the culture. not funny....

i am waiting to eat with my fellow pcvs and i'm getting hungry. cranky...

hey all...its thursday and its a day off from school...human rights day.

i don't have photos to post now, but i just wanted to write and say hi. its already december and i have been in cambodia now for nearly 5 months! time is flying and i am a fifth through service. phew! school has been keeping me busy and i have started my clubs. eager learners out there, but we'll see...cambodians can be quite flakey...haven't seen this much flakiness since leaving...eh...we've all been flakey...

normally around this time, i would be baking and trying new recipes. i miss baking. i haven't seen an oven in 5 months. talk to you later. i am getting hungry.

me and darlene

our language group

keiko

keiko, tyler and christian

kenny, bob, megan, bri, eddie and katie

dinner

dessert

leah and nikki

lisa and kealan

all finsinhed

conclusion of language--khmer style

Doesn't this look pretty delicious? I am in Battambang Province for In-Service Training and Thanksgiving. Tomorrow night we'll be celebrating with 2 smoked turkeys, pumpkin pie, sweet potato cassarole, massed potatos and other fixins...yum....THANKS DARLENE!

Keiko, Kealan and I just arrived not too long ago in Bttb with PC staff. Riding in the PC vehicle feels so official! Anyway, here's a photo of a 'Valentine Ice' that I enjoyed at a chinese owned, cafe spot in town with Dr. Darlene, Philip and Keiko. I ordered this not knowing what it was, but it was pretty tasty. It was a fruity shaved ice with a little bit on condensed milk and some bobas. This cost 5,500 riel or about $1.35.

Just a quickie update on life in Cambodia. So, its officially been 2 months at permanent site!!! Time flew by and life is improving! I am adjusting to site finally and am making friends. For example, I went to the market yesterday to look for some kromas. My neighbor came up to me to ask what I was doing and I told her Iwas looking for some kromas, but was unable to find any to my liking. I guess she told the meat vendor and while I was walking out of the market, she chased me down to tell me that the meat vendor had some at her house. I talked to her and she said to swing by her home around noon and she would show me her stash. I went and she gave a free kromas!!! That was so nice of her. And, I guess being invited to someone's house means they they like me!! YAY! They like me!

Anyway...I am gonna eat a piece of chocolate now and wait for dinner with the gang. Gonna play some cards later tonight in the hotel and just relax. We have 6 hours of language training tomorrow and 6 more saturday!!!

I'll definitely post photos after turkey day festivities tomorrow and perhaps blog. Hi Mom! Hi Dad!

Here are some sorta recent photos:

The lady in green is the US Ambassador to Cambodia, Carol Rodley.

Pretty much the whole gang of K3's...i think a few people are missing.

Christian and me after swear in.

Lori, Mira, Dylan and me. We did a small community health project together on brushing teeth and washing hands.

During Pchum Pben festival at the pagoda.

hey, i swore in as a volunteer on 24 September 2009. i will post photos later, but i just wanted to update everyone.

i am now at my permanent site in Pursat Province. I live in a rural area about 30-40k from the Tonle Sap. my village is very small. i live on a paved road in the middle of the village. i have electricity and running water. my new host family is very different compared to my training family. i live with 11 people now- i have a host mother and 3 older sisters. there are 6 kids in the home ranging from ages 8-20. my host mother and sisters are constantly busy and i don't anticipate growing close to them anytime soon. i have been here for about a week now and feel more or less like a border. i have also noticed that the accent here is different than in takeo, so speaking to my family is very difficult and making that connection and building a rapport is quite challenging. but i think i am making progress with the children in my family, which i am happy about. the oldest son finally talked to me yesterday and asked me in khmai to practice english with him. that was a nice moment.

school also started this week. i am not teaching english yet. instead, i am observing the different english classes. anyway, the education system is very different than from home. since it is the first week of school, more than half the student population is absent because teachers are introducing themselves and establishing classroom policies. also, students do not have their books. it's very frustrating and disappointing to see.

anyway, i should go home and eat lunch now. while i am finished observing classes today, i want to come back and work on organizing'/cleaning the library for the rest of the afternoon. i don't feel like staying home and reading a book in my room under the mosquito net. i can do that tonight after dinner and bathing. i am still debating on whether i want to wake up early and ride my bike 10-15 k into town and hang out with christian (the closest k3 volunteer to me).

it's strange, it was only yesterday that it dawned on me how difficult being a peace corps volunteer is. i hope all is well on the home front. i miss home, diana

FINALLY! here are some random photos featuring me and my fellow K3 trainees...Hi MOM! Hi DAD!

This was taken on the first day of practicum. I am wearing a sampot--a traditional teaching skirt worn by khmai female teachers.

Here is RT, Christian and me...we are in Phnom Penh on a scavenger hunt.

Obviously, this is a house. I am in training now, but this is my temporary home in Takeo Province.

Here's 1/6th of the Peace Corps group. We went on a field trip to Tonle Bati...quite a relaxing day. L to R: Nikki, Christian, Lisa, David, Me, Dylan, Chrissy, Nick, Vanny (LCF) and Greg (K2).

Nick, Mira and I visited Kristine (in red) for our Kampuchea Adventure. I am sitting next to Kristine's host dad. He pulled these coconuts straight off the tree and served them to us...fresh coconut water...

Me, Chrissy and Dylan on our trip to Tonle Bati...we are sitting in a hut above the water...

(left) You see dilapidated buildings from time to time in Cambodia. (right) This is also in Takeo--homes above water. You see the guy in the boat?

(left) A little girl in Mesang. (right) A girl performing a traditional khmai dance with coconuts.

that's it for now...we are almost finished with training...and can you believe i've been in cambodia for 2 months now? we are swearing in as Peace Corps volunteers September 25th and its really exciting...after that, we all go to our permanent sites. anyway....HI TO EVERYONE AT HOME!!!

we are more than half way through training...its exciting...i can't believe we've been in cambodia for 6 weeks now...so i guess on september 25th, we will be sworn in as volunteers. i'm gonna work extra hard on my language acquisition, so that i am able to communicate as much a possible with my new host family.

oh, i forgot to mention--my permanent site for the next 2 years will be in pursat province, which is half way between siem reap and phnom penh, west of the tonle sap...i live in a rural community, but i am only about 10k biking distance away from the the town. my province buddy is christian (he lives in town). our provincial town is quite small, but clean somewhat. there isn't much to do in town, but we are excited about the presence of a few ngo's in town. there is an orphanage near my village, which is exciting...and there is an women's development org too...

i'm currently at this new internet cafe/hamburger joint in town...fast internet and cheap...everything is new and clean....so, next time i visit, i'm gonna try to post some photos....

i'll write more next time, talk to you later

diana

well, practicum is over. over the past week, we got the opportunity to practice teaching in front of an actual cambodian class and along side an acutal cambodian english teacher. i taught 11th grade english to about 48-53 students for approxiamately forty-five minutes each day and it was exhausting. i can't imagine how teachers teach all day. but, kudos....

i would say that this trial run went somewhat smoothly. nothing major was reported as bad! all the feedback from current PC volunteers and our trainers were positive with some constructive criticism. i'm talking too fast...however, i'm managing my time well and utilizing my co-teacher.

---oh, actually, terry did say i was cracking the whip and frightening students when i said "YULLL?!?!?!" in khmai, it means, UNDERSTAND?!?!!? i must be a maniac in class....

anyway, i think we lucked out with the student population...tramkak district is a larger town and students here aren't so shy. i keep hearing that when we get out to the rural areas, it will be diffifult to elicit student participation.

i haven't figured out how i feel about being a teacher. with all the expectations and responsibilities, i don't know if its a good or bad thing. to tell you the truth, i am one of the laziest people i know. although, i have been going to bed early and waking up early --which is extrodinarily rare for me....i wake up around 5:30 every morning.

teachers in cambodia are well respected and are active members of the community. they are known to be the third parent, which hold a lot of responsibility--teachers are expected to teach students to become disciplined individuals. however, similar to teachers in los angeles, they aren't paid well. in order to survive, most teachers have a second or third job , so they are constantly busy. they either teach private classes on the side or own a small business.

anyway, this week was bittersweet...i felt like a celebrity...so many of our students asked to take photos with each of us and it was really exciting. terry, judy and i got precious little gifts from our girl students...i got two momentos: a key chain with my name stitched in and a minnie mouse hair clip.

oh, today was also the announcement of national test exam scores at local schools. test scores are important because it means going to univeristy in phnom penh---if you get a good score, you are going if you can afford to...if you get really good grades, there's the possibility of getting scholarsips....so 12th grade students rushed over by 9am to check their scores on the printed sheets posted on the wall...tension was in the air...

i'm tired and hot...bye...

so, i'm back in angtasom district from our 2 day kapuchea adventure. mira, nick and i left around 6:30 am thursday and boarded a taxi headed for prey vang via phnom penh. traveling hectic, cramped and hot, like a sauna. so for 5-6 hours, we were crammed next to 12-14 khmer people sharing headed for multiple destinations in a mini van. at one point, some one was sitting on the roof of the mini van and 3 people puked duringthe commute. the road was seriously bumpy. but, we made it safe and somewhat sound and was welcomed by our wonderful k2 host. we stayed with the k2 and her host family for 2 nights. the k2 was awesome, her host family was awesome, her village was awesome. this k2 lives in a rural village east of the mekong river--about 3 to 5 hours away from phnom penh. her village is small and quite peaceful. honestly, i learned a lot on this short trip. it was nice to get an intimate picture of volunteer life after training. having seen the rural areas now, i'm more welcoming of the idea of being placed in one.

i was pleasantly surprised to learn that her host mom is ethinically chinese and was actually able to speak cantonese. wow! everyone told me that the chinese in cambodia speak some other dialect...the moment that her host mom revealed her ability to speak cantonese immediately changed the dynamic of the visit...from that moment on, she and i communicated in chinese. i think i may request a chinese cambodian family for my permanent site.

on the down side, she lives near a cambodian ngo that is supposedly run by this scumbag director who is pocketing all the fees that the students pay. we heard that the director is charging each student 7 USD (up from 2USD) and 20 kilos of rice per month in exchange for housing, food and education. apparently, the students are only getting 1 meal of day, consisting of rice and green vegetables. looks like all the money is going to the director's two wives...on the bright side, however, the kids who live at the school are so happy. they were just so optimistic and were so eager to practice their english with us. it's just so heartbreaking to see that they are directly affected by rampant, unchecked corruption.

ughh..while this issue may not be as disguisting as the above mentioned, it definitely bothers me a bit-- okay, so my two counterparts, nick and mira, are both american looking (white) and were the highlight of the trip for the people in the village. i, on the other hand, was constantly mistaken to be a khmai person. it happened everytime i was introduced to someone new...it was just frustrating. i think trying to explain immigration and being born in the us will be a challenge in itself because cambodian people have a different perspective of what culture is.

anyway, i'm tired of blogging. its impossible to tell you everything that i've seen or have learned. also, i really wish i could upload photos, but i'm worried about viruses at this internet cafe. sorry. i'll try to write more next time.

its so hot. i sweat 23 hours 58 mins of the day, each day. yesterday was the one cool day with scattered showers throughout the area. i was still glistening.

our large group of 40some have been split into 2 groups. i am currently in takeo province, in a small town called tramkak. the other group is located in the other direction, in a town called traing. language and cultural training has been tough. its like school all over again, except i'm in cambodia. if anyone has ever experienced cambodia, you'd understand that life is tough. as much as i like living with my host family and have grown an affinity towards my host sister, i have to admit that i am treated like a child. i didn't go home for the lunch the other day because i live 20 mins away by bike and they called me to ask where i was. i never got this treatment from my own parents. its also sorta weird for me, at this point in my life, to start calling another person mom or dad.

other than that, i like being here. learning the language has been somewhat successful.

hello to everyone at home. email me or something!

diana

while today was suppose to be our first day in cambodia, thai airways overbooked the flight to phnom penh. so, me and 8 other lucky souls were left behind in bangkok international airport. it just so happens that having a last name beginning with the letters s, t, u, v, w, x, y or z isn't so bad after all. here's a photo of us sitting by the ticket counter waiting to see if they can place us on a later flight:

and, since we had like 10 hours to kill, the gang hopped into 2 taxis and spent half the day in the city. we visited the grand palace and afterward, wolfed down some amazing thai food at a nearby thai cafe.

after that, we took a walk and i ended up buying mangosteen on the street. 1 kilo of this fabulous fruit only put me back 30 baht.

now, we're just waiting at the airport blogging, uploading photos, eating, wandering around. today was pretty awesome. after a day of staging in sf and traveling for what seems like 2 days, having zero structure and being able to do something spontaneous was just what we needed.

anyway, i have nothing else to say. gotta change back into my "professional clothes". we will be boarding soon and finally getting into phnom penh. our destiny awaits!

later taters!

so, we're in thailand for a bit. pc set us up at the hotel novotel bangkok by the airport, so we could catch some z's. we've been traveling for over 15 hours now -- 10+ hour flight from sfo to tokyo; 2 hour layover; 5+ hour flight from tokyo to bangkok. oh and waking up ass-crack early wednesday morning to catch the bus to the airport. i feel sticky and smelly from the recycled air circulating throughout the plane.

we lost someone at the airport earlier tonight. he was taking a cig break. hopefully, we'll see him tomorrow.

off to sleep. in a few hours, cambodia.

I HATE LONG GOOD-BYES. i'm having ryan take me to the airport tomorrow morning. its probably not the best idea, but i figured it's a wiser option than having my parents do the deed. i am pretty emotional at this point and by tomorrow morning, i'll be on high alert. and having to see my parents faces can only result in unnecessary crying and puffy, swollen, red eyes. so to avoid all this, i'll just have ryan take me since he always has a stone face. i don't want to show up to orientation looking all tore up.

i just said good bye to crystal and gretch. i didn't even look them in their faces when i said bye. and i'm also making the rounds and calling people to say "see to later". if i don't call you, don't take it personal. i'll see you in 2011. or, come visit me in cambodia--the country of the future.

well, talk to you later. read me blog, as i will try my hardest to keep it updated.

di

SOLD THE COROLLA. enough said. take that haters! oh, and i'll be checking out HP later this week too.

its pretty unreal...i'm leaving in 6 days...and i haven't packed, i haven't studied...i haven't done much lazying around--in fact, i'm not sure what i have been doing with my time.

anyhow on to another topic. you guys remember goal #7 on my list of things to do before i leave? yup, selling the corolla. my cousin Ben has been helping me achieve this goal by doing all the selling. he posted my car on craigslist friday and a bunch of people have called. no luck yet, but, i have a few more days before i leave. at this point, my dad is telling me to just give it away. we've driven this car over 100k miles now, so i suppose he feels like he got his money's worth. currently, the odometer reads 229,392 miles!

this weekend was special. ryan surprised me with a meal at THE FRENCH LAUNDRY! we spent an amazing 3 and 1/2 hours eating a 9-course lunch (the price was pretty amazing too). but, i'd say it was well worth it. people, you gotta experience fine dining at least once in your life. and when you do, try to make it out to napa to visit the french laundry. it wasn't just the food that was excellent. but, the staff made us feel so comfortable and relaxed. they weren't snooty or stand-offish. i enjoyed listening to them tell a story immensely. so, with each new course, came an explanation or anecdote and i was so very happy to listen to each one. and there was so much effort put into creating the food. from every finely sliced pea to precisely positioned piquillo peppers, i appreciated all the little details that were put into our meal because it created such a happy, fulfilling experience. anyway, i can't tell a good story, even if its to save my life. so, when you have time, check out the photos. they should explain it all.

gotta study now. g'night.

diana

peace corps supplied us with a list of our mobile numbers yesterday and i have updated the blog with my contact info. there are 47 of us going! i'm excited to meet everyone---yesterday, i took a few moments and imagined what these people looked and sounded like based on their names. its pretty silly, but i'm really excited at this point. i still don't have any jitters yet, but they should be kicking in sometime soon.

last thursday was my last day of work. phew...feels weird being unemployed. i wake up around 8 or 9, but by noon, i'm napping. and, with my extra time, i finally finished reading stay alive, my son. nearly 90% of the book was about being in the labor camp and figuring out a way to secure extra food. nearly a third of the population died in result of starvation or execution or disease. now, i'm reading First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. The author is a female who is part Cambodian and part Chinese. She was only 5 when the Khmer Rouge took over.

well, gotta go. lunch date....

hey hey...got excused from jury duty earlier. i told the clerk it was my last week at work and showed them my assignment for peace corps. they require dates, so the lady photocopied the front page of my assignment and my invitation letter. but, since i will be keeping my ca driver's license, i'll continue to receive jury duty summons. bummer--i'll let my parents handle it.

there will be a language assessment when we arrive in cambodia. so, i am trying to keep up with my language study. we will only have 8 weeks of language training before we go to our permanent site. i can barely say "how are you"...

peace corps cambodia wants us to read at least one book on the country before we arrive. so, i am currently reading Stay Alive, My Son by Pin Yathay. i'm only on the second chapter, but the book is a personal account of a man who was forced into a labor camp by the khmer rouge and was separated from his only surviving son, Nawath.

being on a fixed income, i don't have much financial wiggle room. with that being said, i purchased a netbook from costco. it should be arriving this week. acer 10 inch...i hope its worth it or doesn't break down the day i arrive in cambodia.

other musings you ask...THURSDAY is my last day at work! after that, i have 18 days to prepare and "do stuff". i'll be up in sf for one weekend. hopefully, i'll get to go rafting with lisa and tom while i am up there. ryan is taking me to chez panisse one last time! yum!

hold the phone!!!! ryan just said that its no longer chez panisse---and that it was a surprise...huh? what could it be?

time to go eat some hummus....

I made strawberry stuffed diafuku mochi the other night. fun. fun. fun. anyhow---

I will be flying up to San Francisco, July 21st. We are having one day of staging-- its orientation and pre-training info. I'm anticipating a lot of paperwork and a lot of talk and reflection. Stuff like that. But, I'm excited.

We have a long haul trip to Cambodia though. Our flight schedule looks like this:

July 22nd, leave from SFO for Tokyo on an 11 hour 15 min flight.

July 23, leave Tokyo for Bangkok on a 6 hour and 40 min flight

and finally on,

July 24, leave Bangkok and arrive in Phnom Penh on a 1 hour 15 min flight...phwwww...

I'm still thinking about what I should pack. I think the roller duffel I purchased from Costco may be too big. The dimensions are within Peace Corps limits, but I don't think I'll be packing for 2 years.

Using my handy desk calendar at work, I am realizing that I am only bound to 10 more days of work! wowo! However, I mentally signed out like 2-3 weeks ago (blogging from work...). pretty ridiculous. And, you know what else?!?! I have jury service duty my last week of work. ughhhh..so annoying.

I'm trying to meet up with family and friends before I leave. All this meeting up and eating is really cutting into my running routine (I ran one day this week):

This past Sunday, I had dinner with my Grandma and my aunts and uncles;

Monday, I had dinner with Naveen;

Wednesday, I had dinner with my uncle Charlie;

tonight, i'll be joining my cousin Ben for dinner;

Friday night, i'll be making mochi with Jennifer;

Sunday is Father's day, which probably means Baccali

And, for the next 3 consecutive sundays, I will be attending Hollywood Bowl shows--which means, I will need to cook food. I love Bowl shows!

Okay, gotta go.

Here's a video of me feeding geese in Cerritos Park---

I knew I would feel the excitement and blues of leaving once I began the process of quitting and transitioning into the planning and packing mode. Well, I gave notice last week at work and my last day with USC will be July 2nd. I felt very at peace when I handed in my resignation. And, today was my last day tutoring with Jonathan. After nearly 2 years of privately tutoring him, I felt very protective and attached. I'm not sure what he felt or if our last tutoring session even affected him, but it was a bittersweet moment for me. Not that he needed any tutoring, but I asked if he felt that our meetings together helped improve his performance at school and his reply, with a big head nod, was "I think I'm a better reader now." I guess that's all the emotion I'll get from a soon to be 6th grade boy. Having to tell Mr. Lee was harder than I expected. I felt the gratitude and disappointment in his voice. Or, maybe I just imagined it. We shook hands and he said "Good Luck with Peace Corps". Really, my being so super emotional annoys me.

On my drive home, I began to wonder how I will feel when my 2 years in Cambodia finishes. Being ultra sensitive all my life and knowing I'll never change, I really can't imagine thinking or feeling like, Finally!! I hated this place. I'm never coming back." And, once I start thinking about PC, I have to ask myself the reason(s) for joining. It always yields the same reason: the experience--the experience as a whole and the individual pieces of it. The experience of change. The experience of not living with my parents at the ripe age of 27. The experience of quitting the library after so many years of looking for a gig thats more professionally and intellectually stimulating. But, these reasons are too obvious. I guess I want to know if I'm looking for something more...deeper...yea, a deeper meaning. Is there? And not knowing, bugs me.

I've been in a crummy mood for a few days now. Everything just bugs me. Well, we're gonna catch a movie now. Later Taters....di

Hi! I got back from vacation a few days ago and it was quite enjoyable! What originally started as tagging along with Ryan to the Tribeca Film Festival, manifested itself into a full blown east coast trip. The weather was all over the place...cold, rainy, humid and hot! Unfortuanely, I didn't get to pack for global warming and looked like a big dork the whole time. Anyway...

Together, Ryan and I visited New York, Boston and Cape Cod. While in New York, I stayed at the L Hostel in Harlem for the first night before Ryan arrived. I liked it. I liked seeing all the north and west african restaurants and shops.

After almost a decade, I got to reconnect with my former roommate, Jennifer from Pace University. It was nice to see her and catch up over dinner. It was a full 4 hours or so, but it felt brief.

After New York, we boarded a bus to Massachusetts. We split our time between Boston and Cape Cod. While in Boston,we got to spend time with Naveen. She actually lives in Cambridge and is attending MIT at the moment. It was the most untimely visit, however, since it was during finals and she was 'quite' busy. Cape Cod was wonderful. No tourists! I recommend going during the off season. Lighthouses, windmills, clambakes, potato chips and beaches. BUT! BEWARE OF TICKS! Yeeeachhh! I chose to visit the Bird Santuary in Eastham or somewhere and after paying the entrance fee, I learned that the ticks had come out early this year! YIKES. I don't even want to talk about it. You can see Ryan with his socks stretched over his pants on Picassa. Boston was cool. So many colleges around. Our stay with NJ was NICE. We ate out, ate leftovers and went dancing. And, she didn't get upset with me when I ate all her clementines. Thanks, Naveen!

I was also able to visit Joanna in Philadelphia. She finishes UPenn this fall. I was a little unimpressed by Philadelphia. I did the liberty bell and cheesesteak deal. It was okay. Can't say that I will crave a cheesesteak anytime soon. On the other hand, Joanna's cooking blew my mind--in particular the salsa! Tostadas! YUM! Thanks, Joanna!

The final leg of my trip led me to DC and Virginia with Marbella. I stayed with Mar in Cleveland Park. One stop down from the park. I loved the grilled cheese sandwiches she made with her cast iron skillet! WOWO! I finally met her roommate, Ed. Nice man. I hope to see his band play one day. Mar rented a car and we took a day trip and visited the Luray Caverns in Virginia. In addition to the caverns, a giant garden maze was on the grounds. The rainy weather made the maze very much so enjoyable. Thanks, Marbella!

I don't feel like writing anymore. Too much info already! My next trip will be to San Francisco this Memorial weekend. I'm gonna fly up Saturday night after work and visit Lisa at her new place. Then, Monday afternoon, drive down with Tom. It should be fun. I hope Armand has some time to eat at Gregoire's.

I never did watch any movies at the film festival.

I really should study Khmer more diligently.

bye.

i began studying khmer a few days ago. it's a language I am not familiar with and so far it's tough. also, it's not the most beautiful language. so imagine the combination of speaking khmer with my squeaky, high pitched voice. it'll be awesome. i'll keep going...we'll see how far i get in a couple of weeks.

anyway, it's been a while since i last wrote. i have to admit, i'm not a blogger. and i'm pretty sure that while i am in cambodia, i'll be writing even less.

initially, i thought blogging would be easy--but really i have difficulty posting, not only because i have nothing to say, but i feel very self -consciousness. i feel pressure to entertain and update and to say something profound. i'm not good at any of those things.

ugh, there's something to do around the house. i am gonna do something productive. bye.