French Fries

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!”



This is a picture of my host big sister's daughter. Her name is Daraniza, and she is 3 years old. She is super cute and a total drama queen!

The Great Laundry Day of 2010

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 loud, 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 a 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.

**Correction: It has been brought to my attention that the "best raincoat a PCV could ask for" was a gift from Stephen and Lindsey. So thank you to my best sister and my best brother-in-law.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

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

Health Fair

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.

Cambodian Fruit

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.

Swear-In

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

Swear-In Week

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!

Cambodian Man Love

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.

My Cambodian Bathroom Adventures

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!).

We have a winner!

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.

Future Permanent Site Visit

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.

Beautiful Kampot

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!