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!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Just when you think you have Cambodia somewhat figured 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.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Get Low, Get Low, Get Low
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!
One month down
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!
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!
America is calling!
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!
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!
Practicum week
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!
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!
My first concert
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
A Day in the Life of Tay in Cambodia
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!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Catching up...
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
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
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Hotel stay!!
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!
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!
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