Just hanging out with the girls…

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.

The great cooking adventures of a Peace Corps Volunteer

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!

Getting my nails did!

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

“Come see our American!”

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!

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