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.