It is the beginning of the rainy hot season, and things are starting to get green again! It is suffocatingly hot, but at least things are getting beautiful.

These pictures are from Chhouk, which is a district town in Kampot. I went there to visit some friends for a night.

Monday through Friday from 8 am to 11 am I can be found at the Tany Health Center. Everyday I ride my bike to the Health Center (about a 3 kilometer bike ride) and set up a health education table. The table has pamphlets, posters, and booklets on various topics.

I usually hang out near the maternity ward and talk to the pregnant mothers that come in. I mostly focus education on the topics that are the common causes of death in Cambodia (maternal death, diarrhea in children, and respiratory infections in children). Educating people on danger signs and when they should seek medical attention.

By 9:30-10 all of the patients that are going to come have come and gone, so then it is time to chat it up with the staff. We usually talk about food, boyfriends, and how hot it is.

In my kitchen there is one window and very often I have this window open for light and air circulation. Well this window opens to where my host family's water basin is and therefore where their shower is. This is not as scandalous as it seems. Khmer people usually have to shower outdoors due to the lack of bathrooms and as a result they shower with their clothes on. No, it is not the most hygienic thing, but it's how it goes here.

Well the other day I was washing dishes in my kitchen and I heard lots of giggling only to look out my window to see Bpo and Niza.

This is Niza's post bath outfit. Vann will wrap her up elaborately with a towel and Niza will sport it around the house for a while.

When I returned from Vietnam my host family and neighbors were very excited to have me home, not because I had been gone for so long, but because there had been a new addition to my house... Furniture! For the past 7 months I have lived in this house seating has been limited. My seating options were 1) wood plank that's outside 2) my blue plastic chair 3) hammock. Not bad options and all relatively comfortable, but now I have the Cadillac of seating options.

Furniture in Cambodia is made from wood and made for more looks and status than for comfort. And now my house is all kinda of status with two chairs, a love seat, and a coffee table. Granted you have to be a little careful with hardwood furniture in a small space (there have already been incidences of stubbed toes and bumped knees), but it is a fun place to sit, read, eat breakfast, and do occasional work.

My host family, neighbors, Bpo, and Niza, were all quick to tell me the cost of my new furniture (which will stay in the house when I leave, and belongs to my host family), $600. A big hit for any rural Khmer family.

In honor of the month of May (the hottest month I have ever experienced in Cambodia) there has been one other addition to my life in Cambodia... a new fan! Appropriately named Big Blue, he has been a loved new companion.

Unfortunately, Tany just switched to getting its power from Vietnam instead of Cambodia (it is cheaper) and our new power source has been a little unreliable. Usually the power turns off around 8am and does not come back on until 6pm. Thus leaving Big Blue out of commission for hot o'clock (hot o'clock in Cambodia is 11am til 4pm). Here's hoping this will not become a habit!

After Mom left, I had one day to do laundry and then I was off for Vietnam with my friend Ben. After a $40 Visa and 6 hour bus ride, we were in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam. It was truly a city, with tall buildings, shopping malls (with food courts!), and movie theaters.

We walked all around the city. Visited the Fine Arts Museum.

We went to the movies. In total we saw 8 movies in the two weeks we visited Vietnam. 3 we saw at a movie theater (Rio in 3d, The Roommate, and Big Momma), the others we saw at a restaurant that had a movie theater on the top floor.

We went to the food court in the mall and had Fried Chicken and Cheese burgers.

We walked around town and saw big buildings...

After a week in HCMC, we took a night bus to Nah Trang. It was my first night bus and it was an experience. The seats were small bunk beds.

We spent the next few days in Nah Trang. It was beautiful. There are mountains and white sandy beaches. The weather was perfect, not too hot with a great breeze.

In Nah Trang, we found a brewery and restaurant that had a pool and beach cabanas. We ate great food, played a lot of connect four, laid on the beach, and read a lot.

Overall, my Vietnam vacation was wonderful. It was really relaxing and it was good to get away from Cambodia for a little bit.

For two weeks my mom was in Cambodia. It was an amazing time having her here. The days were full of traveling, talking, swimming, touring, sweating, and most importantly... eating!

First we visited Phnom Penh. While in Phnom Penh, we went to see the royal palace. The royal palace is made up of many court yards and buildings. We decided not to pay the extra money for a tour, and instead me and my friend Ben made up what the different buildings were for (i.e. "this building is the royal bowling alley").

We ate at my favorite Chinese restaurant Chinese Noodle. Where they make all their own noodles, and are famous for their dumplings.

After a few days in Phnom Penh, we traveled north to Siem Reap. The home of Angkor Wat.

It was here that mom got to try her first Cambodian barbecue. A Cambodian barbecue includes a variety of meats which you place on a metal grill as you eat. We had chicken, beef, squid, snake, and alligator. Mom was a little nervous, but she tried everything! But her and Mrs Lynda (my mom's friend and neighbor who had always wanted to travel to Cambodia, so she decided to travel here with my mom) mostly stuck to the beef and chicken.

For some reason, we decided to visit Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was very beautiful, but it was too early in the morning for me to be awake.

We visited two of the many, many temples.

After Siem Reap we decided to visit southern provinces, but first we went back to Phnom Penh for a night. This time I took them to my favorite Korean restaurant. We had hot Bipbimbop and Kimchi pancake, my favorite. As we say here, "Chnine Na!" or "Delicious!"

Then we started our travels toward Kampot town. It was then that Ben and I started introducing my mother to things us volunteers eat while we are not staying in hotels. Yep... they are grasshoppers. And yes, they are well seasoned just a little leggy.

On our way to Kampot, we stopped to visit Ben's site, Chim Kiri, to give mom a look at what Cambodia is really like (a.k.a a lot hotter and a lot less foreigners because we are the only foreigners).

Then it was time to visit my site, Tany. We went for the afternoon and had lunch with my host family. After lunch my mom and Lynda gave my host family thank you gifts. I think Bpo and Niza got the best end of that deal! Their favorite gift?... a bubble machine.

Mom was able to see my house for herself and not just pictures. She was even able to play "Find the Frog", but I won by finding 3 frogs and beating her 2.

After visiting Kampot, we visited Kep. Both were very beautiful and relaxing, however I don't have the pictures becuase they are in America.

I only posted some of the pictures here, but all the pictures from mom's visit are on Picasa.

Lately the number of frogs in my house has increased. As a result I have started playing a new game, which I have fondly named "Find the Frog". The goal of the game is to find the frogs in the room before they jump and scare you. It can be played by yourself or with others. When people visit and play I have a home team advantage because some frogs have regular hangouts. For example the frog that hangs out on the shower head that doesn't work, or the frog that lives behind my movies.

Tonight I thought I would share the game and post some pictures of the frogs whereabouts right now.

This guy always impresses me with his balance.

I have bamboo growing in cut off water bottles around the house, its Cambodian decor.

I usually have a few little guys lingering in my kitchen.

There are a couple of regulars in my bathroom, tonight it was just this guy hanging out on some piping.

Stay tuned for more frog fun!

The countdown has been ticking away for months and it is finally almost here... my mom is coming to Cambodia in TWO WEEKS!

I am so excited I can hardly sit still. She will be getting in the night of Monday the 28th and staying for 2 weeks. Two full weeks of quality time with my mom!

As much as I have been looking forward to my mom's visit so is everyone else in Tany (my community in Cambodia). As her visit gets closer I have gotten more and more questions about her. The questions are typically Khmer and somewhat blunt in nature. The conversations usually go like this...

Khmai: What day is your mother coming?

Me: In two weeks!

Khmai: What date?

Me: The 28th.

Khmai: What time?

Me: Night time.

Khmai: Oh very late...

Khmai: Does your mother eat rice in America?

Me: No, she eats food.

Khmai: Will she eat rice in Cambodia?

Me: Yes, but maybe only one bowl of rice.

Khami: Only one bowl..? Oh.

Khmai: Does your mother know how to dance?

Me: No, but maybe she will learn.

Khami: Oh yes, she will learn.

Khmai: How old is your mother?

Me: I forget.

Khmai: How much is your mother's salary?

Me: I forget. *(sometimes I switch it up and say "I don't understand" for this question because i get it a lot)

Ming Own (my neighbor) is having a festival on the 2nd of April, when my mother will be in country and she is very excited about having so many foreigners at her party. At first I thought maybe I would try to save my mother from a Khmer party but that conversation went like this...

Ming Own: Your mother visits on the 28th?

Me: Yes.

Ming Own: Where will you go?

Me: First phnom penh then maybe Siem Reap...

Ming Own: for how many days?

Me: Maybe 5 or 6 days.

Ming Own: Then you will be here on the 2nd.

Me: Umm, yes.

Ming Own: Yes.

At least now my mom will get the whole Cambodian experience. Can't wait to see you mom, bring your sweat rag because it's is getting steamy!

A few weeks ago I was in Phnom Penh and I went and ate at a North Korean restaurant with some other volunteers. We had stuffed eggplant, fried leaves (forget what kind of leaf), dumplings, and cold noodle soup (super spicy).

Then there was a propaganda show. All of the waitresses danced, sang, and played instruments, while pictures of country northern Korea showed on a tv behind them.

Then during one of the final acts the waitresses picked a person from each table to join them up on stage... And yes I was picked from my table. So I danced in a circle holding hands and fake flowers with the performers.

Overall, yet another unique experience in Cambodia!

This weekends adventure started when another volunteer, Garrett, told me that he wanted to see some southern provinces. He is from one of the nothern provinces and had never made the 13 hour trek down to Kampot. First he went to Takeo province to visit a PCV, then he came to Tany* (where I live) on Wednesday. Then together we went to Chouk, where two married PCV's live. Another volunteer, Ben, also met us there. We all spoke English, vented, joked, and ate spaghetti and nutella on banana's.

The next day we all went to Kampot, where we ate wonderful western food (I split a burger and a half rack of ribs with Ben, because we both wanted to eat both) and played Bananagrams. Garrett, Ben, and I stayed in Kampot for 2 days. Then we met with 4 other volunteers in Kep. Kep is its own province within Kampot, known for its beaches. The 7 of us went to the beach, ate crabs (because i was the only one who how, i led a very successful "how to eat crab" session). The next day we went to a very nice resort (much fancier than the $5 a night place where we were all staying), where if you pay for the breakfast buffet you can swim in their pool. So after a beyond delicious $6 buffet of cereal, croissants, eggs, potatoes, coffee, mango juice, and bacon, we all went swimming. Then it was back to Kampot for a shower and another burger.

It was a great weekend full of friends, food, and swimming. Pictures to come!

*Get to know Cambodia fact: I live in Kampot Province, Angkor Chey District, Tany Commune, and Pral Village.

January 7th was National Victory Against Genocide Day in Cambodia. It marked the 30th anniversary of the downfall of the Khmer Rouge regime. To celebrate, my Operational District Director (the director of all the all the health centers and hospitals in Angkor Chey District Kampot Province) threw a party. My health center, hospital, and neighboring health centers all went to Takeo Province. Everyones’s families came and we had a fancy dinner, danced, and played games.

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The food was good. There was a pig roasting when we got there, and people were fascinated by it. Everyone wanted his or her picture in front of the pig. At one point a woman I did not know came up to my host sister and said “The foreigner is beautiful, I want my picture with her in front of the pig.” An interesting request for many reasons including 1) I had never met her and 2) it was my camera so she would never actually see the picture. A lot of things were served that I had never seen or eaten before, so my host sister had to show me how to eat things. The table thought it was very funny.

I had my first public showing of my Khmer dancing skills. Khmer dancing is very slow and done walking in a circle, usually around a table. Some how I ended up with small children behind me, who liked to smack my butt because every time they did I shook my butt. Every couple of songs they would play a Khmer cover of an American song. This is when the Khmer would get to show off their dancing skills. Which I thought was super entertaining. There was a lot of stomping and hip swinging. The downfall was that every time one of these songs came on, I would instantly find that the Khmer men had circled around me, surely to show off their dance skills… nonetheless, it was a little much. My dancing skills earned me two thumbs up from the DJ, so I am counting it as a success.

In between dancing sessions, we would play a game that I never quite figured out the rules for, but I still won two boxes of soap.

I posted a picture of my last pedicure so I thought I would keep it going. These are my toes currently. We went for a floral theme… well actually my host sister decided the theme. The girl started painting a different design and my host sister stopped her, saying “No, that’s not pretty. Do this one.”

It is harvest season in Cambodia. This is when everyone goes out to the rice fields, cuts the rice down, brings it back to their house, and beats the stocks until all the rice seeds fall off. Ming Own’s house has been rice harvest central. One day I was able to take some pictures. They were laughing that I found it interesting. But I was quickly told to move because it was super dusty and I would get sick.

Bpo and Niza saw that I was taking pictures and wanted their picture taken also.

Vann is wearing a Falcons hat that I gave him. I think he likes it, but that he thinks it’s the Georgia soccer team. Cambodia football equal soccer, and I haven’t quite been able to explain American football yet.

After the day of harvesting, they all sat and had dinner and beers together.

My first Christmas in Cambodia was awesome!

It started with getting a Christmas package from my Nonna and Poppop. They sent me candy canes, Christmas chocolates, a stocking, and best of all… Christmas cookies! Not just any Christmas cookie, they were Cherry Winks. I opened up the package with my friend Liz, who was visiting from the town over. I gave her, my host brother, Niza, and myself a cookie. Liz and I took a bite, looked at each other and then started crying. My host brother, Vann, not knowing the awesomeness of the cherry wink looked at me to ask what you call the cookie, then noticed that the Americans were having a moment and quickly looked away (Cambodians are not one’s with the public show of emotions).

On Christmas Eve I went to Koh Kong, with a bunch of other PCV’s. Koh Kong is a very tropical province that borders Thailand. It is really different than the other provinces that I have visited, and it was really beautiful. When I got there all the volunteers went out for a fancy dinner. I got pasta, and it was magical!

On Christmas day, the volunteers who live in Koh Kong organized it so that we got a two-story ferry out to a deserted island in the Gulf of Thailand. The ferry out there took us about two hours. Once we got there we all stripped down to our bathing suits (for the girls this was the most naked we had been in public for 6 months!) and jumped off the top of the ferry. Once everyone was in the water, some people swam to the island, and those of us who would have drowned took the little boat to the island. Then people swam, snorkeled, chatted, and sang Christmas carols. The water was crystal clear and the sand was white… it really was a unique Christmas.

Once we were done swimming we got back up on the ferry and had Philly Cheese steak sandwiches. They were delicious! Then we ferried back as we watched the sun set.

Even though I miss my family and friends so, so much, I was really lucky to get to spend Christmas with some really great people.

Part 1

I have noticed that even though I write about the happenings in Cambodia, I have not given a lot of basic info about life here. So now I will try and fill in the blanks.

Bathrooms

There are 3 options of bathrooms 1) the full western toilet 2) A Cambodian-western toilet 3) the squatty.

A full western is a toilet just like in good ol’America. You have the porcelain thrown that flushes and you can use toilet paper. The toilet paper here is pink, because Cambodia has not yet gotten the memo that colored tp gives you UTI’s. Also, these fancy toilets (yes, fancy! They are usually only found in hotels) have a thing I lovingly call the Butt Blaster. The Butt Blaster is a hose located next to the toilet, and you use it to rinse off your booty and your pocket book after you use the bathroom.

The second option is the western toilet seat, which is what I have at my house. It still looks like a toilet in America, but it requires a little more effort because these toilets do not flush. To flush you must pour a bucket of water into the toilet. They also do not accommodate tp, so you have to do a splash and rinse with a bucket of water. When the situation requires more than a splash and rinse, you add soap to the equation. For this you have one had that is your soapy/washing hand and the other is your clean splashing/rinsing hand. After this is done, extreme hand washing is a must.

This same cleaning process is used for the final option, the Squatty. The squatty is basically a porcelain hole in the ground. There are two grippers for your feet/shoes and then a hole in the middle. The squatting position took sometime to adjust to, but if your hips can handle it, it is not that bad. Squatting is also the go to position when any Cambodian does not want to stand.

I have been a traveling fool lately, so this was the first weekend I had spent at my site in a few weeks and I was looking forward to it. Preparation for my Saturday started Friday night when I went to bed. I had the forethought to put my earplugs in the mosquito net with me so that I could block out the 5am chicken wake-up call. So at 5am this morning when the hens/cows/dogs all started waking up I popped in my earplugs (same ones I used in nursing school during my tests, I am convinced they have magical powers!) and managed to sleep until 8! To prove the magical powers of the ear plugs at around 7am Niza and Bpo opened my window and yelled “Bong Taylor! Bong Taylor!” for about 5 minutes, and the earplugs let me keep sleeping.

When I finally got out of bed I did my normal routine of bathroom and shower, brush teeth/floss/Listerine (little did I know that moving to Cambodia would give me the time I need to have great dental practices!) get dressed, and then sweep the house. Then I made oatmeal (on the weekends I cook myself breakfast) with crunchy peanut butter and ate it while watching Friends (The episode with Unagi). Niza and Bpo sat with me, so I shared my oatmeal with them.

Then Ming Own (Bpo’s mother, and my host aunt/neighbor) came in and asked if I wanted to go to the market. So I went to the market with her and she got meat and vegetables, while I got laundry detergent, fabric softener (first time I have used it and it was awesome, my clothes smell super good and are kinda soft too!), and a new dress. Since I did not have rice for breakfast Ming Own was convinced that I was still hungry so she got me dessert. It was this banana dessert that is one of my top 5 favorite Khmer desserts.

Then I came back to the house and was able to skype with my family. However I was somewhat distracted by a muddy Jack chasing a chicken into the house and leaving a combination of muddy puppy and chicken prints everywhere. Niza also got to say hi and impress my family with how many chocolate rolls she ate (half a pack). After saying bye to my family I did my weeks worth of laundry I had been avoiding, and used my new fabric softener. Then I mopped my house to remove the mud.

By then it was lunchtime. After lunch I repeated my morning routine of shower, brush teeth/floss/Listerine, get dressed, and then sweep the house. Then Ming Own came to my house with bon chio. Which is very tasty, and kind of looks like Cambodian omelet (but with no egg and made from rice). So we sat outside and hoovered bon chio. Then she said something I didn’t understand and all I got out of it was “go with her”. So I went with her. She ended up taking me to a rice field to show me her portion. It was beautiful. There were rice fields for miles and in the distance you could see mountains. Sometimes I get these “holy crap you are in Cambodia” moments, and seeing that view definitely induced a holy crap moment. It is the beginning of harvest season so the rice fields are still green and full. There was even a few people harvesting rice while we visited.

After that we went to pick up Bpo and Niza from school, and went to visit my host sisters family. I spoke with her dad (who has great English) about Cambodian healthcare (he is a doctor in Phnom Penh). He asked me if I would be interested in working with him on educating health center staff on infection control, and I couldn’t say yes fast enough. After talking for awhile I noticed it was beginning to rain so I went back to my house because my laundry was still outside. After bringing in my clothes I showered and got dressed in my dinner clothes (for dinner I wear long sleeve shirt and pants because the bugs are intense!). Now off to dinner!

Overall a good Saturday thanks to my unpredictable neighbor/aunt Ming Own.

For Thanksgiving all of the volunteers that live in Kampot got together for a Thanksgiving feast. The turkey came from my front yard, but I was lucky enough not to have anything to do with the killing process. We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, turkey, salad, bread, and apple crumple for dessert. It was delicious!

From what I hear, Cambodia made the world news today. So I thought I would write and say that I am ok. I was not in Phnom Penh for Water Festival. Neither myself or any other Peace Corps volunteer or staff was harmed at the festival.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/world/asia/23cambodia.html

Water Festival is a big deal here. I have heard that over 3 million people travel to Phnom Penh to celebrate. Which is a crazy amount of people. The festival includes a lot of parties, concerts, and boat races. The story that I have heard about the event (which may or may not be true, but is what I have been told) is that there was a concert on Diamond island, that a lot of people attended. At some point a few people passed out, and people started to panic and run towards the bridge. The bridge is very small and could not accommodate the crowd so police used water hoses to push the people back. However there were exposed electrical wires because of the concert. Because of the water people starting getting electrocuted. And it is rumored that some people were afraid the bridge was falling because there were so many people. The panic got worse and people began jumping into the water, however most Khmer people can not swim.

It was a horrible accident, and we are all very sad to hear that it happened. It seems to be affecting people all over Cambodia. My host brother was unable to contact his cousin who attended water festival, so he traveled to Phnom Penh today to find him. Which he did, and he is fine. This seems to be a common problem right now. Many people are concerned about extended family, and everyone is contacting everyone else to check on them.

Hun Sen has declared today and tomorrow national days of mourning and has decided to give the families of the victims money to help them. Send good thoughts this way.

3 months 3 weeks and 5 days is how long I lasted in Cambodia without getting sick. Luckily I just had a solid case of food poisoning, which has a pretty short time line.

So this is how it went…. Last week I went to Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia and where Peace Corps office is) for a meeting. There were a lot of other volunteers there. It was great to see people that I had not seen for a month. We were able to relax, trade stories, and eat western food! Well it turns out that even in the big city you can still eat bad food. On Sunday I got on a van that was heading the direction of my village. The van ended up making me wait a long time for various reasons, but what was in reality a 2-hour ride took us 5 hours. By the time I got to my house my stomach was hurting bad.

I dropped off my stuff at the house, and went to my host family’s house for dinner. But my stomach was hurting so bad I was pacing around the house. The neighbor came over and asked how I was, and I said “oohh chhooe-poa” (ooohh stomachache). They responded with the amount of concern that I was hoping for. Then dinner was ready (at this point I thought maybe I was just really hungry and that’s why my stomach was hurting). I took one bite of rice and the situation went from bad to worse. I immediately had to run over to the mud, as my body said no to the rice.

After that, my host sister laid me down on a cot in their house and this was went the crowd started to grow. First of all, in Cambodia when someone is sick or having any kind of “episode” they do this pinching type thing to the sick persons body. It is kind of like a massage but a little more violent and all over your body. So while I was wishing for death, I had 3 women massaging me, 1 woman on each arm, and 1 rubbing my legs. The crowd of on lookers included (but not limited to…) both host siblings, their child, my host sisters parents, the neighbor and her husband, the other neighbor and her husband and parents, another neighbor, and a few other small children.

My host siblings are both in the medical field, and my host sister’s dad is a doctor. They immediately called him to come to the house because the American is dying. So in between my exorcist-like vomiting episodes, I had people checking my blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. And when I was actively getting sick I had (again) one woman holding each arm, another holding the bucket, and another woman handing me water to rinse with. It was a family event.

When I was able to get myself off of the cot and back to my house all the adults came with me. After the worst of the food poisoning storm was over, it was decided that I should be “coined’. This is when a person has Tiger Balm (similar to Vicks Vapor Rub) rubbed on them and then a hard object (in my case the lid to the tiger balm) is rubbed over the skin in lines. In Cambodia it is thought that this can cure many different ailments. When in my opinion it just is just rubbing Vicks all over and busting capillaries. It leaves you looking pretty tigery. But by this point in the evening, they could have told me they were going to shave my head, and I wouldn’t have had the energy to put up a fight… so I was coined for the first time.

That night my host siblings and their daughter slept outside my bedroom, and Jack slept on the rug outside my door. And with their help I survived the night.

The next day I felt much better, but I spent the rest of the week sleeping and trying to regain an appetite. My sickness was talk of the town for the week, and many people came up to me and told me what symptoms I had. And if you were wondering, it is not fun to have people come up and remind you of the hours you spent in the fetal position. But now things are getting back to normal and I am back to eating full meals!

While I was in Kampot provincial town this past weekend, I bought the fixings for an American meal. My host family had asked me a few times if I could cook them American food, so I decided to give it a try! I bought spaghetti, tomato sauce, peas, and bread.

Liz, a fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) who lives about 10k away, came into town to use my bank and decided to stay for the dinner festivities. It ended up pouring rain, and my host family still cooked rice and pumpkin (which is my favorite dish right now… its pumpkin and pork, and very delicious!), but we still had an American meal.

When first arriving in Cambodia, I quickly learned the saying “ah-che” which translates to “I don’t know how to eat this,” a phrase that every volunteer frequently uses in the first month of Cambodian food. Well upon seeing the pasta my host family looked at me and said “ah-che”. Liz and I got a kick out of it to say the least!

The spaghetti was somewhat well received. Everyone tried it, even the neighbors. There were many questioning looks, confused faces, and laughter.

...My host families faces when we explained what everything was

There is a new character in my Cambodian adventure… a puppy! His name is Jack and he is a Cambodian puppy (i.e. a mix of other mixed dogs). He is about 5 pounds of fumbling cuteness. My host family (having noticed how excited I get whenever puppies are around) brought him home one day.

I thought I should introduce some of the people I spend my days with, starting with the women. My host big sister is 27, her name is hard for me to remember and to spell. Mostly it is hard to remember because I hardly hear her name. She has a 3 year-old daughter named Daraniza, and people call my host sister “mother of daraniza” (ma niza) or “big sister” (bong sa-rye), which is what I call her. One of the neighbors is a girl who is 21, who lives with her husband and their beautiful little baby girl. She does not speak any English, so it forces me to speak my broken Khmer to her, but she is funny and super stylish! Then there is another neighbor, who I call “aunt” (ming). She lives next door with a lot of people, including her husband and daughter named Bpo. Bpo is 6 years-old and a ball of energy.

From left to right… Bpo is sleeping (which is a rarity), my host aunt neighbor, then my host big sister in the hammock.

This is my younger neighbor and her daughter.

This is my host aunt neighbor.

And Niza wanted me to take a picture of her on her bike.

This weekend two other volunteers came to my house for some good old-fashioned American cooking! We made black bean burgers and no-bake cookies. Well… we made modified black bean burgers and no-bake cookies. The black bean burgers called for chives and thyme, which I do not have at my market so instead was used green unions. Considering we forgot to add peppers, salt, and the fact that we did not have buns to eat them on, they turned out pretty good! Even though they were more like bean patties with unions, I still like it! Plus it was a meal that did not include rice so I was even happier!

The no-bake cookies were heavenly. However, they too took some creativity. I do not have chocolate at my market so instead I used powdered Milo (kinda like Ovaltine) and sugar. We left out vanilla, because once again… I don’t have that here. And because I do not have a refrigerator, I bought a block of ice, put it in a cooler, then put the cookie globs on plates on top of the ice. They required a spoon to eat, but the combination of chocolate powder, sugar, peanut butter is always a winner in my eyes! I have big plans of making them again in the near future and possibly just leaving it as one big blob and going to town!

10/6/10

Today I went with my host big sister and her daughter to get our nails done. To give you an idea of the state of my toes before today, I was still wearing the same toe nail polish that I was wearing in America. Mom and I went and got our nails done together a few weeks before I ventured off to Cambodia (and when I say “wearing” I mean, I had some of the color left on both big toes, but that is it). After my host family noticed the state of my toes, they said I should get my toes painted. I had always tried to avoid this, but today I thought “what the heck”. So I went.

We went to the nail and hair shop/hut down the street. I sat in a plastic chair and she went to work. It was oddly nostalgic. Sitting in a shop with your sibling (in this case a host sibling), where they are talking a different language, and having your nails done. In the end, I walked out with my toes painted and my host sister’s daughter got her hands and toes done (she is 4 years old) and having only paid 1,000 riel (about 25 cents). My toes were painted half pink and half silver glitter. Now in America this would look pretty trashy, but here I actually fit in better with my nails glitterized.

This is now how my feet look in Cambodia... flashy toenails and a killer chaco tan line!

This is me in front of my house in Tany district, Kampot Province, Cambodia

10/4/10

Monday through Friday from 8-11 I go to the health center. It is a large health center that is next to the referral hospital for the area (there are 4 buildings total, all facing each other with a courtyard in the middle). Because I am still learning the language and getting my routine down, Peace Corps has advised us to observe the clinic for 3 months prior to starting any projects. Giving the clinic staff time to get to know us, and not feel threatened by our presence. As a result, the 3 hours I spend at the clinic currently involves a lot of sitting and small talk.

The chief of my health center, knowing that I currently can only sit, study, and chat decided to give me my own office. A very kind gesture, yes. However, My office includes a desk, a chair, a fan (which I LOVE), and a window. The window has bars to the outside walkway. Well people have taken to standing in front of my window and having their favorite pastime “watching the American”. It is very similar to when we go to the zoo. People come and watch me as I sit behind the bars. It’s weird. But I do get to sit in front of the fan while they stare!

9/30/10

Today my host big sister made French fries for lunch, so I had French fries with my rice for lunch and it was beautiful. I kept saying how great they were, and having everyone try them, and then asking them if they like them. My host family thought I was crazy. Then they asked me if I wanted French fries everyday. It was, to say the least, a very tough decision, but I told them “No, I would be fat” but I quickly followed it up with “but every once in awhile is good!”

9/29/10

Today was laundry day. Excuse me… the laundry day of all laundry days! I had not done laundry in about 2 weeks, which is crazy talk in the world of PCV life. So instead of taking my afternoon nap I did laundry all afternoon. It took me about 2 and half hours, of squatting in the bathroom and scrubbing clothes my clothes, but I did it.

However that evening it looked like it was going to rain, so I had to move everything inside. I currently have laundry in various places around the house. Including a laundry line completely dedicated to underwear going through the kitchen. Then it not only ended up raining, it down poured. I was sitting up at my host family’s private clinic, listening to the rain hitting the tin roof (which is super load, if you aren’t used to it), when I started worrying about leaks in my house. So I wrapped myself up in my raincoat (thank you Stephen Lush for the best raincoat of PCV could ask for), and ran back to the house.

That was where I found that the basin in the bathroom (that holds all the water) had overflowed (it has piping that collects rain water from outside) into the kitchen, leaving 2 inches of water in the kitchen and still going. I had no clue what to do. So I went to the front door and yelled “Chewy Pong!” (“Help!”). My host brother walked up to me, and because I have no clue how to explain that in Khmer, I just lead him to the kitchen. And he said “oh!”

It took the efforts of myself, my host brother, and my host sister to try and mop up the water. We ended up using a combination of just kicking the water into the bathroom (where there is a drain), scooping it up with a dustpan, and soaking it up with rugs. Surprisingly the dustpan worked the best.

9/27/10

I am an official Peace Corps volunteer now, and so you may be asking yourself “well what is the next step?”

The next step was to get to my permanent site and start volunteering. Easier said than done. My site is along the road that the buses take, so some other volunteers going to Kampot and myself decided to take the bus. We were not in a hurry so we got tickets for the 1:45 bus (the latest bus leaving Phnom Penh). I got to the bus station, with my backpack, two handbags, and my purse. In them were tons of clothes, books, movies, and various other supplies I would need for the next 3 months (for the first three months of our stay at permanent site, we are not allowed to leave our province, so it requires some preparation). The bus trip is approximately 5.5 hours from Phnom Penh to Kampot, but I was planning on getting off when we passed through my town, which was about 2.5 hours into the trip.

Well about 45 minutes into the trip the buss broke down. Crap. But then after about 15 minutes it started working again! Yay! But it was a fake out. After another 20 minutes it broke down again. But this time it broke down good. So we all got off the bus, to wait for another bus to come get us. We ended up waiting about 2 hours. This would not have been such an issue if I was more acquainted with my permanent site, because the delay in the bus ride made it just dark enough outside that I could not recognize my site until we had passed it. It went like this… “This may be my site… maybe?... Yep that was it.” Luckily another volunteer was in the same boat, because it was even darker by the time we got to her village. So we just stayed on the bus for another 2.5 hours and went all the way to the provincial town in Kampot. Which did allow us to have a night in a hotel, and to wake up the next morning and have pumpkin spice pancakes. You read right… Pumpkin spice pancakes.

There is a western restaurant in Kampot called Sisters. It was opened by some women who were raised in an orphanage and who send a portion of their profits to orphanages in the community. There are a couple of Sisters restaurants in Cambodia, and the owners are all women who are friends from the same orphanage.

After the pancakes the other volunteer and I managed to organize a taxi to our villages.

Once I got to my village I was reunited with my duffel and trunk! It was beautiful! When we first got to Cambodia (I mean first thing, like we walked off the plane), Peace Corps asked us to pack a backpack of things we want for training and the rest of our stuff will stay with Peace Corps. So I have not had the majority of things that I brought to Cambodia. But now that I am at my permanent site, I have all my belongings. It was actually a little overwhelming! I have not had this many possessions in over two months.

The first thing I did was unpack my books. My host family gave me a bookshelf, which I immediately filled up with novels, health reference books, and dvd’s. Then I decided to take a shower to cool off. This was when I noticed that none of my host family’s stuff was in the house. Later that day I asked them were their things were, and they told me that they moved into their private clinic, which is just about 20 yards away, by the main road. This means that I have the whole house to myself. A big change from what I had grown accustomed to. This is a very kind gesture, and I was very, very appreciative. The house has two rooms, one room has a corner closed off as my bedroom, and the other room is the kitchen/eating area. The bathroom is off of the kitchen. They also installed a shower! Shower is a strong word, it is really just a showerhead, but it is glorious. I have not figured out how it works, but I am enjoying it while it lasts!

My first afternoon in my new site, I spent watching Avatar with my host brother’s brother-in-law and a couple of neighbors. The brother-in-law brought over his computer and asked me if I like movies. So of course I said yes. It was interesting watching an American movie with people who have never been to America. They kept asking me if certain things were “real” and if America had them. Such as the lab and the helicopters in the movie. They did seem disappointed when I told them that we did not have them and that they were not real.

I plan on taking pictures soon, so that you can actually see what I am talking about!

It has become very real that I have just started my routine that I will have for the next two years. Every time I meet someone new (which is constantly) I hear someone say “bi chnam” (two years). Reminding me that I will be here for two years, which is totally overwhelming. But I am trying to look at this as an opportunity rather than one big booty of a challenge. I hope all is well in America. I miss you all so very much! Stay happy and healthy, and enjoy that air conditioning and recognizable food.

With love,

Tay

As a part of our training we were asked to have a community project. The trainees in my villages decided to have a Community Health Fair. There were 3 stations: Self Defense, Frisbee, and Hand washing with healthy snacks. I will give you one guess as to which station was my contribution to the fair... haha yes the hand washing with snacks!

I had gone to the market and bought two tubs for a hand washing station, that the kids would stop at to wash their hands before they were allowed to get a snack because "It is important to wash your hands before eating". The kids were great sports and all washed their hands, even the Peace Corps staff washed their hands before they got their snacks!

It went really well. We had the fair at the school and over 100 children from the community came. For the rest of our stay in the village we saw children practicing self defense moves on each other and playing Frisbee.

These are pictures of some of the many fruits in Cambodia. My favorite are the little purple ones that kinda look like plums, but then you mash them and peel off the shell and the inside is white and almost tastes like banana. It's wonderful!

The pink fruit with the polka-dot inside is my second favorite, it's called Dragon fruit. It is sweet and kinda tastes like watermelon.

On September 23, 2010, I was sworn-in by the US Ambassador as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cambodia.

Not really sure how it happened, but somehow training is over and it is swear-in week! What does that mean? Well first it means that after Thursday, I will no longer be a Peace Corps Trainee, I will be a Peace Corps Volunteer. It means that next week I will move to me permanent site in Kampot. And my favorite thing… it means that I am in a hotel all week! And man-oh-man it is an awesome hotel. If you have skyped with me lately you have already hear my excitement about this hotel, but those who have not… Its got air conditioning, a shower (with hot water), tv (with HBO), black out curtains, and internet in my room! It is indeed a little piece of heaven.

Sadly my first night was not as wonderful as I was hoping. Yesterday I received my seasonal flu shot, and last night I suffered the consequences. I had a fever that kept me up with extreme sweating followed by chills, and then more radiating heat. I am hoping it was just a one night event because it was not enjoyable, however if there was a time to have a fever it is when I am staying in an air conditioned room. Before the night of “revenge of the flu shot” I had a good night. Phnom Pehn has so many options of restaurants and places to eat it is really fun to go out and eat. A group of us went out for pizza. We got a sundried tomato and a meat lovers (which had surprisingly little meat on it). Then we went and got frozen yogurt. I got “Death by Chocolate” with chocolate syrup on it. It was awesome!

So in Cambodia men and women do not touch very often, however same sex touching is very common. It is not unusual to see two grown, heterosexual, men walking down the street holding hands or two men sitting with their arms around each other. There is also the inner thigh grab, which many of our male volunteers have had, awkwardly, happen to them. This is when a Cambodian man just grabs another mans inner thigh. It is about as common as a pat on the back in America.

…just a little tid-bit about Cambodian culture.

9/6/10

The shower frog is back! He and I had a very close encounter, in his new home, the bathroom. After our afternoon session some other trainees and I went to a market restaurant for cokes, and I ended up getting my bike cleaned (it was very dirty from riding after a very heavy rain and was making a new and interesting noise today from the collection of mud), well the bike cleaning got me home a little later than usual. Our bathroom and shower room are outside and there is no light so it is an increased level of difficulty to shower or use the bathroom once it gets dark. Well so, I was opening the door go into the bathroom, and I turned my head to see the frog very close to my face. I naturally let out a very girlish scream, and my host sister came running. She laughed at me then got a stick to encourage the frog to vacate the bathroom.

While on the topic of bathrooms…. My family recently got guppies for our bathroom! Now you are probably wondering A) Why guppies would go in the bathroom and 2) Why am I excited about it. Well guppies are natural mosquito killers! They eat mosquito larvae, which reside on the surface of standing water, and greatly reduce the number of mosquitoes in the bathroom. Which means less booty bug bites while showering! I was very excited to see some little guys swimming in the cistern of water that I use to shower. Now the next challenge… Not to scoop one up in the bucket to shower with (which one girl trainee actually did!).

9/4/10

I received my first letter since arriving in Cambodia, and the letter was from Nonna and Popppop! It was a wonderfully sweet letter, with perfect timing. I was having an “it’s hard being in Cambodia” day and the letter was the perfect piece of home that I needed.

So Nonna and Poppop, if you are reading this… Thank you so much for the letter. It meant the world to me to hear from you, and to hear about the goings-on of the family. It sounds like the beach is the place to go for the Hall family. I hope that Poppop’s shoulders feel better soon, and that Nonna stays the healthy and wonderful grandma that I love! I miss you both and I love you very much.

My visit to my future permanent site went well. There was that initial "Hi, am the American that will be living with you for two years" awkwardness, but it passed fairly quickly. My host dad and host mom (which I call "bong pro" or older brother and "bong pa-own" older sister, because they are not much older than me) are very nice and want to learn English as much as i want to learn Khmer. So they would speak to me in English and I would answer in Khmer. I imagine it looks quite weird.

They have a 3 year old daughter who is very cute and frequently runs up to me and yells "HELLO WHAT IS YOUR NAME!" just because she knows how to say it (3 year old's will be 3 year old's no matter what country you are in). But luckily the past month of small children yelling similar things has prepared me for this. (SIDE NOTE: I am not sure if I already wrote about this but... often when children see a white person it is very common for them to yell any English they know at that person, usually it is a "HELLO" sometimes "WHAT IS YOUR NAME" i once even got a "WHERE DO YOU LIVE", now you may be thinking oh that's cute and at first it is, but sometimes it is a gaggle of children chasing you on your bike yelling HELLO! but it is just another part of life in Cambodia)

I did not stay in the small house by myself, because my host borther's 5 boy cousins are staying there. I am not sure how long they will be there, or how they are all fitting in that house, but I stayed in the main house. My host big bro and sis own a private clinic, which is were they sleep at night. It is very common here for people who work in public health care to own their own clinic. Because public health care does not pay very much, and the hours are short (The health clinic is only open from 7:30-11:30 in the morning).

They were very concerned that I did not eat two bowls of rice at each meal. In Cambodia I usually only eat one bowl of rice because they are huge bowls, and even I might explode if I ate more than that. My host sister said that she is not a good cook (which I think she is! but my training host family mom is a little more creative with her meals), and she said that when I come back I should cook too. I told her I would like to learn to cook khmer food, but she will have to teach me. So that will be interesting!

There are a lot of animals at my host families house including: 4 full grown turkeys, 9 baby turkeys, 10+ chickens, 2 cows (that both wear collars lined with bells), 2 dogs, and 1 cat. Lets just say me and my ear plugs are best friends.

While in Angkor Chey I met a lot of new people. I met my host sisters family, the hospital staff, the health center staff, the neighbors, and more. Everyone was very welcoming and kind. I received a call from the Director of the Health Center this morning, asking if I had had rice yet, and if I was able to get a taxi to Kampot. Then I got a couple of text messages from my host bro making sure that I got to Kampot, and making sure that I was able to eat once I got here. Needless to say I think I will have people watching my back once I get to permanent site.

It was weird being in a new place again, it made me realize how much I have learned to function in my training village (Prey Chhor). There I can go to the market if i need to buy something, I know who sells the best fried bananas, which lady makes my morning coffee the way I like it. So it is a little disheartening to realize that I will again have to learn a new place, but at least then I will really know two places in Cambodia.

I miss everyone at home, and I hope everyone is well! Big hugs from Cambodia.

Right now I am sitting at a western restaurant in Kampot provincial town, looking out at the river with the mountains in the background. I just had a veggie burrito with a coke and a piece of apple pie for dessert. For the record, today is a vacation day and this is very different than my daily routine. But it is a beautiful break! I really wish I could upload pictures, so that you could see how pretty this view is! It is a very pretty view, but it is also pretty because it is so different from my picture of Cambodia so far. Most of Cambodia does not have mountains, there is no view of large bodies of water, and Kampot is a very clean town. Also, for such a busy and popular town, it is very calm and quiet. Right now I am not hearing the constant honking of cars or chickens and cows, and more cars honking. All I hear right now is some kids playing does stairs, and all the trees around me being blown by the wind (well and the staff of the restaurant spraying the plants with either water or pesticide, but that is not as serene sounding).

This week I visited my future permanent site, which is in Angkor Chey District in Kampot Province. After my visit, myself and the other volunteers being placed in the province met up for a day of relaxation in the provincial town. Kampot provincial town is beautiful. It is the southern most Province in Cambodia (so I am still holding strong as a southern girl in this country!). It is along the coast, and it has the Mekong river running through it. There are mountain ranges throughout the province. The land is still very flat, however there are these mountain ranges that seem to have come out of no where. Also, thanks to the coast and the mountains, it is known to be a cooler province. There is a wonderful breeze and it seems that the afternoon heat is not quite as killer.

Kampot provincial town is a tourist attraction for Cambodia. There are a lot of westerners that visit and a population of foreigners that have taken up residence here. With that comes the western restaurants that I have grown to love and appreciate. Also along the coast is Kep (which is a small province inside of Kampot). I have not yet been to Kep (only a taxi ride away), but I hear that it is also very pretty.

This is the Cambodia that I can't wait to show people who visit!

Today I learned where my permanent site will be...

Kampot province in Angkor Chey district! I was given a paper that gave the run-down on my new host family: my host dad is 29 and a nurse at the local Hospital, my host mom is a midwife at the hospital and they have a two year old child. They live on a paved road and have two houses, they are letting me live in the smaller one while they live in the other. My host dad is the son of the village chief. My family owns 20 chickens and 2 pigs that live behind the house.

Tomorrow I am traveling to Kampot and then on Monday I will meet my host family and stay with them for a few nights. It is kind of a test run of what the next two years will be like. But I will not move there for another 3 weeks, I still have to pass my language test and be sworn-in.

After I visit I will have some more details to dish out!

8/25/10

Today started out by my host family dog having puppies! This is funny mostly because their dog is quite possibly the most ugly dog I have ever seen. It is flesh colored, has hair going every possible direction, and some gnarly teeth. However, the puppies are super cute! There are 5 puppies that are all white with brown spots.

Then this afternoon I was going upstairs and my middle host sister gave my booty a nice smack. Now in America this would not be that weird for me, many people give encouraging booty smacks, but here my host family does not touch me very often especially in the buttock region. I think it surprised her that she did it too, because she said sorry right after. I just started laughing and told her it was no problem.

And the day doesn’t end there… my host family and I were eating dinner as usual and after we finished things got interesting! My host dad pulls out a large bottle of beer, and my host mom broke a chunk of ice into two cups. (Background info: I have not drank at my host family’s house and I have never seen my host parents drink) Well my host mom fills up the two glasses, hands one to me, and takes the other. She clinked them together, and we both drank. I took a sip of mine and then looked at my host mom, who finished her glass in one chug. All I could say was just an emphatic “wow!” and laugh. It continued like this until the bottle was gone. Then she stood up, started laughing and saying she was drunk. She was clearly not drunk, but seeing my host mom (who really does not speak much at all) joke around pretending to be drunk and smack my host dad on the stomach, was hilarious.

8/21/10

Everyday, multiple times a day, the PCTs go to this “hung-bai” (market restaurant) and eat breakfast, drink iced coffee with condensed milk, or get cokes. It has been our go to place for the past month. A family owns it, and they have gotten to know us over our multiple visits. Well the woman that works there has become fond of the girl volunteers, and yesterday she gave all the girl trainees hair clips! Mine is two rhinestone hearts!

Today while we were at the hang bai, one of the sons of the owners was playing music on his computer. And you guessed it… “Get Low” came on. It was 9 am in the morning and we were sitting at a market vendor in Cambodia listening to American rap music. Needless to say we all found it very funny.

Tomorrow is the day I head to the big city! There are places in Khampong Cham that you can have your laundry done, so a bunch of us our bringing our clothes to have them cleaned. I am trying to decided if I should bring all the dirty clothes I have, because the thought of having actually clean sheets (not just my attempt to clean) is really appealing!

8/20/10

It’s Friday!! Even though we still have language class and scheduled activities on Saturday, I am still excited because on Sunday we are going into Khampong Chham! I already have plans to go to the PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) favorite western restaurant and internet café, called the Smile! I am so excited to get to skype, facebook, check email, and eat pancakes with nutella and bananas.

And it has been just over a month that I have been in Cambodia! It feels like I have been here forever, and it feels like I just got here. The PCTs all had our permanent site interviews this week. This is when the peace corps staff come and ask us questions and get details related to the site that we will be placed for the next two years. And next Saturday we find out where we have been placed! After we find out our site, we go and visit our site and meet our host family. Then we stay with our permanent site host family for 3 days, as a dry run for what the next two years will be like. I am pretty excited that this time next week I will know my site!

8/17/10

I had a stressful day today. Really only because our days are jammed packed, I didn’t sleep well last night, and language class didn’t go well for me today… but then my sister called!! It was beyond great to hear her voice. But of course I forgot all the things I wanted to tell her.

For example… there is a piece of trash (it looks like a candy wrapper) that says LUSH and I see it every time I brush my teeth and think of her. And how the flannel shirt she helped me pick out at target is my dinner shirt, that I wear every night at dinner. And that I can’t wait till she visits because she will fit into all the cute Cambodian miniature-size clothes, every time I go to the market I make mental notes of things she should get.

After I talked to Lindsey, I went for a run. It was the first time that I had exercised in Cambodia and it required a lot of explanation to my host family. Cambodians don’t typically run for exercise, so they are very interested when “bor-rungs” do this. (“Bor-rung” is Khmer for a French person, but this is what they typically call a white person.) When I got back to my house, one of my host sisters stretched with me, and then I took a bucket shower. Now I am sitting on my bed watching a dvd of Friends and pre-writing my blogs so that the next time I have internet I can do a mass update!

8/16/10

Today was the first day of practicum week, which the week that we practice what we will be doing for the next two years. The volunteers that are here for education are spending the week in the schools teaching English lessons. Because we are the first group of health education volunteers are schedule is a little more impromptu. Today we had a session on obstetric care in Cambodia, which was really interesting. I was even asked to help teach some of the information to the other volunteers. And if you know me, you know that I enjoy any chance to talk nursing! Tomorrow we are going to the Health Clinic and shadowing the staff.

Little note about Cambodia… Community Health Clinic staff includes (usually) 1 doctor, primary and secondary nurses, primary and secondary midwives, a pharmacist, a receptionist, and sometimes a person who gives vaccines. Also, in the past medical schools in Cambodia taught doctors in either English or French, but the nurses and midwives are taught in Khmer. They have started to change this practice, but there are still some areas that there is a language barrier between the two. Cambodian clinics offer consultations, vaccines, medications, prenatal/postnatal care, childhood development, HIV/AIDS testing and consulting, and they also deliver babies (and this is just listing a few services). We have visited multiple clinics but tomorrow will be our first time shadowing.

Also I have developed a new habit in Cambodia… usually once a day (on a hard day twice) I ride my bike to this bread stand and buy “nom” (Khmer for sweet bread). I usually get the one shaped like a flower with this sugar/coconut jelly in it. And it is awesome! But there is a rumor that the nom shaped like a crab has an apple-cinnamon-like filling. It costs 1,000 riel, which is like 12 cents. Then I take it to the coffee shop in the market and get an iced coffee, and it is a breakfast of champions!

8/13/10

Tonight I went to my first Cambodia concert, and by concert I mean the largest karaoke night ever! It was put on by one of the cell phone companies here (it is really common for cell phone companies to hold big events), and included people putting their names on a list to be called up on stage to sing and dance. I think that there was easily 200 people in the audience. They had vendors and everything. My whole host family came with me and proceeded to buy me some interesting concert food. First they got me bacon-flavored chips (they were actually pretty spicy!), chocolate filled mints (I didn’t know they had anything in the middle, initially it was a surprise, but then I realized it was chocolate and I was happy), and then I got my first sugar cane juice!

Sugar cane juice is really good! It was really interesting watching them make it. They take two sticks of sugar cane and put it into a machine that compressed the sticks and squeezes juice out, they put the same two sticks through 4 times, and then there you go… sugar cane juice! Also, in Kampuchia (Cambodia in Khmer) they usually give you your drink in a bag with a straw or they give you a cup in a little bag carrier. I think they might do this because then you don’t have to hold the juice and melt the ice, and also the bags are cheaper for the vendors. They serve coffees/cokes/lemonades in bags. And you haven’t lived until you have had hand squeezed lemonade made by a lady on a bike in a plastic bag.

So I wake up around 5:30 because of the sun shining in my window and the chickens that live under my room (houses in Cambodia are on stilts, where you sleep upstairs and hangout under the house during the day, the animals also hangout under the house) but then I get to lay in bed til around 6. That is when I get up and change into my sampot (which is like a dress that you shower in) and head out behind the house to the shower. For my shower I use a bucket that I fill from a basin of water. In the morning I usually find myself showering with a large toad, a lot of mosquitoes, and the occasional spider. Then I go get dressed for the day. After I am dressed I get on my bike, bike through some rice fields, and go to “that place where we eat”. Where I get iced coffee and rice with egg and chicken. The iced coffees here are awesome! They make it with condensed milk, and it is the sweetest coffee ever!Then it is time for language class. We are in small groups of 5 each with a host country national (aka a person from Cambodia who works for peace corps). My teachers name is Samnong, and he is awesome! After 4 hours of language I bike back to my host families house for lunch. But first I take a shower. In Cambodia you shower before each meal (the showers cool you off, and if you don’t shower you are “too hot to eat rice”). Then after lunch I lie down on my bed in front of my fan (my best investment so far at a whopping $4.50) and read over Khmer vocabulary while listening to my ipod. This is generally a very happy and relaxing time of my day. Then it is time to bike to technical training. At technical training we learn about healthcare issues/practices/culture norms in Cambodia. Then it is time for dinner, so I bike back to my host family house, shower, and eat. After dinner my host family likes for me to teach them English because they do not speak any English. This involves a lot of passing a dictionary back and forth. But proves to be difficult when my host dad points to words such as “malcontent” in the dictionary then I have to try and explain its meaning…. If we aren’t having an impromptu English listen, I go read, listen to my ipod, or write in my journal. Then it is time to set up my mosquito net and crawl into bed. Hope all is well back in the USA. I miss you all very, very much! I am going to try and put up some pictures soon!

So I am going to rewind a little....

About a week and a half ago I moved to my training site Prey Chhor. When we got to the town we were blessed by the monks (which was a first for me, it was very cool; they threw flowers and holy water on us, which no one gave us a heads-up for and made me flinch). Then I was dropped off at my host families house.

Cambodians shower before each meal because "when you are hot you don't want to eat rice" so after I was dropped off, they had me shower. My first Cambodian shower was me, a bucket, and a frog. Bucket showers are new for me, but really not that bad. the water is very cold but Cambodia is very hot so it is almost refreshing. That night i went to brush my teeth (which i do outside, because we do not have a sink), but i have an electric toothbrush. So it only took a moment for my host family to go get the neighbors to watch me brush my teeth. I had a group of 10 people (yes, 10! I counted) watch me brush my teeth, and then after I was done they pasted around my toothbrush to figure out how to work it.

The first time i did laundry went very similarly... I was about to shower when my host sister figured out that i had dirty clothes. so then my host family decided it was a good time for me to clean my clothes. they then got the neighbors again so they could see their American do her laundry.

My host family and i think the other host families take a lot of pride in how they care for their guests (aka us peace corps kids). My friend James came over and my host dad proceeded to compare the number of bug bites we had. stating that his American (me) has less bug bites than he does. this is most likely a result of the fact that my host family puts the bug repellent coil next to me, where ever i am in the house.

I am still adjusting to life as a Cambodian, and learning a lot of language, cultural norms, and life skills. But I am a happy Peace Corps trainee, who is about to go to her hotel and take a glorious shower!!!

Lots of love from Cambodia,

Tay

PS. The best address for now is... (be sure to write the US embassy and Peace Corps so they dont open it and/or charge me). Any mail would be lovely!

PCT Taylor Hall

PO Box 2453

Phnom Pehn 3

Cambodia

US Embassy

Peace Corps

Hi there! I am writing from Champong Cham right now. Peace Corps brought us here for a seminar day then we get to spend the night at a hotel here. Which i am very excited about a shower that does not require a bucket and a toilet that also does not require a bucket... and internet! It is also great to see all the other peace corps kids and speak english!

Then tomorrow we are all breaking up into small groups and visiting current PCV's at their sites. I dont know where I will be going, but it will be nice to get some kind of idea of what the next two years will be like.

I am hoping to do a better update later, this was a surprise internet access so i dont have all the things that i was going to post.

As far as where I have been for the last two weeks... i have training in Prey Chhor. It is one of the bigger training sites. My village is very small but only a short bike ride to a lot of places! Out my bedroom window I see a rice field, and another rice field. it is a beautiful view. The sunrise is my favorite though, and yes I do see the sunrise every morning because 1) Cambodians wake up very early and 2) it's very bright and 3) the chickens wake up at 4 so I wake up at 4! And yes, I do go to bed very early to make up for it!

I do have an address but not with me right now because i wasnt expecting a computer to be around, but that's to come!

My host family is very nice, and always concerned about me. I have a host mom and dad, and three host sisters (ages 12, 9, 7ish), with two (for example: I had an allergy attack and they wanted to call PC Medical Emergency because they didnt know what was wrong with me) dogs (which I think are theirs but really they just come and go as they please).

I gotta run, todays seminar is on potential diseases we may get. Some what depressing, concerning, but it has everyones attention! Hope all is well at home. The plan is to do a better update later while I am at a hotel! Yay!

So the day has come... we are about to move to our training site. I am moving to Prey Chor. and that's about all I know about it. they weren't able to tell me anything about my family, but Im taking this as a good thing because I cant be disappointed if i dont know what to expect!

Not sure when the next post will be... but keep sending good thoughts :)

Missing everyone at home, and I am a little jealous of everyone at home with their toilette paper!

peace, love, and lollipops!

Tay

So quick update... I am in Phenom Penh tonight but we are leaving tomorrow for champong chang (thats not how u spell it, but i have no clue how too!) We got to walk around the city today, and it was beautiful. there is soo much to look at it's a little over-stimulating. We went to a market (where i got a coconut that they cut open and u stick a straw in it and drink... it was good, but not as sweet as i was thinking it would be), then we went to a wat (temple) where there we monkeys walking around and lots of cats. One cat hid under my skirt for about 5 minutes, it was cute but the whole time i was thinking "please don't bite me!"

Lots more to say, but I'm pooped and its another early morning tomorrow. Love you!

It is getting down to crunch time... only 12 days left until I go to staging.

Very early on the 19th I fly to San Francisco, where we have staging and I get to meet everyone! Then on Tuesday we all fly to Hong Kong. Which will effectively be the longest flight I have ever been on! But I am hoping that it will be a chance to get to know other volunteers, which will make the 13 hours and 45 minutes go by a little faster. Then it's a hour flight to Cambodia!

It's getting so close to my departure date that I have already had my send-off party! On Saturday the 3rd, my family and friends all got together for a "Cambodia Party". It was great to see everyone, and it made me feel very loved because of how supportive everyone was. I even had two (that's right, TWO!) America cakes! Both were very good, and I had multiple pieces of :)