Friday, May 22, 2009

Starting now.

You know you live in a small town when you walk into the library and say, "Hi...I need to learn to speak Khmer as fast as humanly possible," and the librarian gets all excited and goes, "You're Nikki! I already put some things aside for you."

The focus of the next two months for me will really be on learning some basic phrases in Khmer and trying to learn the alphabet. I've looked at it, and right now it doesn't really make all that much sense to me. There are so many loops and swirls and I don't think a single letter has a straight line. It's radically different than English and even worlds apart from Chinese...I know that with time and practice it will come, but that doesn't stop the occasional wave of "ooooh man..." from washing over me.

I can do this though.

A little time, a lot of patience, and a double measure of hard work...that's all it really takes, right?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

I've got the "Let's Go!" bug...

I just accepted my placement literally less than 8 hours ago, and already I'm ready to be in Cambodia. I've been doing research since just a little after I found out where they wanted me to go, and it looks like Cambodia is an awesome place to be. Yes, the country has had a very rough, tumultuous past but its future is brighter than ever and as a people they have made many advances.

The entire country is slightly smaller than the state of Oklahoma and has a population of roughly 15 million (that's five times the number of Sooners in OK). Its climate is warm and wet, with some months receiving over 10 inches of rain and little temperature variation between seasons. From what I've been told, the seasons are "hot, hot and wet, and wet". At least as a native of the Pacific Northwest I'll have the "wet" part down!

Thus far my research indicates that I should not take a whole lot of stuff with me--nearly everything I could ever want (with the exception of a laptop) can be procured in country at a VERY reasonable price...my plan right now is to pack light. Some of the more seasoned Peace Corps Volunteers have given me this advice: "Don't pack as though you're going to be living somewhere for two years. Pack for a week and a half. That's all you'll need." I thought that was a bit odd, but considering if you bring much more clothes than that they'll get eaten by rats, I'm pretty confident I can do quite well with about a weeks worth of stuff!

And...besides...I don't really have that much stuff anyway.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

So it begins...

I am a flip-flop wearing, tree hugging, grass-roots hippie. I believe in the power of community service and duty to one's family and environment. I believe in the power of love, friendship, and humility. I believe that this world will only sink farther and farther into the depths of despair unless we, the citizens of such a marvelous planet, take steps to reach out to one another in faith and compassion.

It is with these beliefs that seven months ago I began the long process of applying for, and being accepted into, the Peace Corps.

I received my acceptance packet today, and I'm excited to know that I will be living and working as a servant-leader in Cambodia. I'll be teaching English there, learning the language, loving the people, and hopefully, growing some.

My present departure date is set for July 20, 2009 and I'm told there is pretty reliable internet in Cambodia, especially in the bigger cities, so I hope to be able to write about the next two and a half years of my life with some regularity.

Thanks for reading.

With blessings and love,

Nikki