One Month In...

As of tomorrow I will have been an official Peace Corps Volunteer for exactly one month.

I must admit that when I was a child dreaming of being in the Peace Corps, this is not exactly what I had in mind. In my perfect Peace Corps world I was stationed in the South Pacific on a romantic island with white sandy beaches and no mosquitoes...I would fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, and I'd spend my days teaching in a sarong and flip flops.

NOT quite what I am doing now.

I may not be in the South Pacific, but I am in the tropics. And somehow I ended up with the exact opposite of my dream--no beaches and lots of mosquitoes...I don't fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves, but instead to the screeching twang of music from the Wat down the street, or to the dogs barking madly at things that go bump in the night. Actually, I don't fall asleep to the dogs barking...I rant and rave at them in my head until I get tired and pass out.

I've spent a lot of time trying to get to know my host family. I have a brother (Daro) one year younger than myself, and a sister (Dary) the same age. Dary attends University in Phnom Penh, though, so I only get to see her every other weekend or so. Daro is a quiet man with a pretty hearty sense of humor. He knows I'm afraid of the big spiders here (bigger than a dinner plate, and they defend their territory) so he bought a fake spider at the market and hides it in places I where it will either fall on me or I will see it at an inopportune moment. My mother also likes to tease me about spiders and often yells "Prolyat! Ping Pieng!!" Which means, "Look out! Spider!" just as I'm about to sit down at the dinner table, or as I'm walking down the Stairs of Death and Doom at night.

I suppose I should explain the Stairs of Death and Doom...

As is typical of a lot of Khmer families, my house is two stories. The bottom floor is made of cement and the top is wood. There are two sets of stairs to get to second floor, one in my family's private quarters, which is rather like a tree house ladder, and one that pretty much only I use. Those would be the Stairs of Death and Doom. They are made of cement, which is nice, and they are quite sturdy, which is also nice. The first half of the stairs are nice and normal, leading to a landing where Nyung, our black dog, usually sleeps when I go up for the night.

Once you get past the landing, though. the stairs are WICKEDLY steep and the steps are not a standard height. If I stand on one stair tread, the next stair comes nearly to my knee. So at night, when there is no light on account of the electricity being shut off, well....it's not exactly a trip downstairs I enjoy making. Due to the Stairs of Death and Doom being, well, all death and doomy, I am the proud owner of a chamber pot. Which, I shall not describe in detail. No need to thank me.

One of the benefits of living here is that I have produce trees in my back yard! I have coconut trees, banana trees, and even a tree that grows a fruit that tastes exactly like grapefruit but is about the size of my head. It took me three trips to the market to buy bananas before my father took me out back and showed me the banana trees...he thought it was funny. I....well, I did too. I also realized why the banana lady at the market didn't want to lower the price any more for me...why should she when I have FREE bananas at home???

These are the current joys of being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cambodia.

This is the good life...

Bored, much?

October 1st marked the 30th anniversary of the first day of school following the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge. Many do not understand the importance of a day like this, but to a country whose entire educational class was systematically destroyed...it is a really important day.

Since October 1st I have eagerly been trying to observe the teachers in my school, but for several reasons (none of which I really understand), nobody has been doing much teaching at all. So instead, I get to sit around the picnic tables at my school and conduct what the Peace Corps calls IRB-ing. That is, Intentional Relationship Building. I think over the last 14 days I've built some really good relationships!

Other than shooting the breeze for four hours a day with various teachers, I've been reading a lot. I am thankful each and every day to my parents for getting me a Kindle. It is really a fantastic device, and is presently keeping me sane.

Another thing that has been keeping me in good spirits is the care package my parents sent. Not only did the send the much needed USB cord for my camera, they sent hair conditioner (YAY!!!) and some Easy Mac macaroni and cheese....I have been craving mac and cheese for SO long. The fact that I cannot get milk or butter here is frustrating, but having some that I only need to boil water for makes me quite happy! They also included some tea, which I am really really enjoying--I'm a tea nut, I guess.

Other than that I have been watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy and House on my laptop, and am finding that Greys Anatomy is AMAZING with all its gooey drama, and it also includes stunning views of home...and House...well...everybody needs a stethescope wielding misanthrope in their life, right?

By the end of this week I am promised a teaching schedule, which means I should be able to observe all my classes by the beginning of next week. That will help me get a good idea of how to better serve my school and the teachers I work with. And that is a beautiful thing.

Until next time, love and blessings from Cambodia!

The End of the Beginning

Training is now officially over and service has now officially begun. Today at around 4pm my training group was sworn in as the 3rd group from the U.S. Peace Corps to ever serve in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Our training has been long and difficult a times, ripe with drama, stress, injury and illness. It has been an eye opening succession of days, to be sure, and we are all glad to be done with the training process. At times I, and countless others, have wanted to quit and go home. At times I have wanted to make the move here permanent. I can only imagine how those feelings will ebb and flow over the next two years.

Tomorrow many of us will stay in Phnom Penh, purchasing supplies before our three month lockdown (in which we may not leave our province) and enjoying our friends and support networks once more before we strike out on our own. I fully intend to use tomorrow to purchase some necessary items (read: oatmeal, yoga dvds, a chamber pot and a tea kettle) and to relish easy access to free, fast internet and western food.

Beyond that, I have no idea what lies ahead of me besides opportunity, struggle, and, God willing, a host of awesome stories that begin "so this one time, in Cambodia...". I imagine I'll be in for a lot of learning, laughing, and lamenting over the state of the Cambodian educational system. I also imagine I'll find myself falling deeper in love with this ancient, awesome race of people who have already marked themselves indelibly upon my heart.

For now, blessings and love from Cambodia.

Pics: (1: My kitchen at my training family's house. 2: My little sister. 3: My cousin. Bottom 4: Angkorian age temple ruins)

This Cambodia--You Need Help It

Greetings friends!

Life has been a whirlwind of activity since my last post. I left the states on July 22 and have been in Cambodia since July 24 doing pre-service training.

I am living, with 22 other trainees, in a small rural village called Traing. The other half of our group is in a city called Tramkok, and we envy them (sometimes) for having a gas station (with airconditioning) and an internet cafe. For those of us in Traing, when we want to use the internet we must travel by tuk tuk or remork (think farm equipment) for thirty to fourty five minutes to the nearest internet cafe.

I think the most poignent thing I've learned in the last few weeks came from a Catholic nun I met. Her name is Sister Luise and she has been living in Cambodia for going on twenty years; she is quite instrumental in the rebuilding of Cambodia's educational system (which needs a LOT of rebuilding). Sister Luise impressed upon me the need Cambodia has for educated men and women who are willing to invest themselves in a people who are struggling still to recover from Pol Pot's reign of terror and the atrocities commited by the Khmer Rouge.

Speaking to me of her experience so far she gave the example of the lotus flower--if you've seen one you know that it is absolutely beautiful. For them to bloom, however, takes a lot of work. You must peel back the tough outer layer that protects it--"this Cambodia," she said, "you need help it."

Seeing the way this country has suffered, is still suffering, and struggling to rebuild has really impressed that statement upon me. When you travel the country side you see places where temples were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge (and even by US bombs). You see land mine craters. You see brokenness. But when you meet the Cambodian people and you enter into their world you see so much more--you see love, you see compassion and care for one another. You see a wealth of generosity pour out from people that often have next to nothing. If you look hard enough, you can see your place in the rebirth of a nation.

I have yet to speak the language fluently, but the love part I have mastered. It is with a deep sincerity that I can say Cambodia has captured me. My heart weeps with the broken and dances with the whole. This, I believe, is the foundation for a beautiful future.

This Cambodia-you need help it.

And so I shall.

The Adventure Starts Now!

Today we landed in Phnom Penh and already things are bustling right along. A few of us found an internet cafe, hence the blogging (I want to get a t-shirt that says, in Khmer, "I am SO blogging this!" but I don't think they make any....At any rate, Phnom Penh reminds me a great deal of Jiamusi, the city where I lived in China. I believe this will help in my transitioning, so now my biggest concern is learning the language.

I will update more as I can, and remember that you are loved and cherished from half a world away.

In the beginning...

I registered for the Peace Corps today...lots of fun filling out forms and talking about safety, anxieties and aspirations, policies, and expectations.

I've met the people that will be my fellow volunteers and they all seem to be really cool so far. There are quite a lot of us from the Seattle area--the U.W. is the Peace Corps' largest provider of volunteers, I guess, and it turns out that even if you're just FROM the area a not a Dawg you're more likely to apply for the PC. Who knew!?

I'm excited to begin the next part of this adventure--I have a LOT of travel in front of me (Tokyo, Bangkok, and Phnom Penh all a day apart from each other) and then we jump into training with both feet.

Here's to challenge, growth, and the benefits afforded by caffein.

A little adversity makes us stronger...or at least that's what they say...

Good golly, miss molly...it's been a week, that's for sure.

On July 5th I broke down and finally bought a new lap top--my old one served me faithfully through college, but it finally gave out due to old age. The speakers stopped working about six months ago, then the power button, then the power cord almost frayed the whole way through, and most recently the machine itself has started to fail to shut down. SO...it was off to Best Buy to pick out the new one.

On the way home we got a call that my uncle had been in a very serious motorcycle accident in Eastern Washington and was being airlifted to Harborview. At that time he was not expected to live. Several days later he is still in the ICU, but markedly improved.

Tuesday we were leaving the ICU waiting room when my mom's cell phone went off. It was her little brother calling to say they were taking my grandfather to the hospital. So off we rushed.

The stress and exhaustion mounts day by day, but I hold out hope that this is all the medical emergencies my family will experience in the next two years. What all is ahead for my family, I'm not sure, but the reality of my absence weighs heavily on my mind.

As I sat in the hospital with my grandfather today, he reminded me that if we never face adversity we never know the depth and breadth of our character; and if we don't know the depth and breadth of our character, we cannot say we know ourselves. And so I take pause to search and know just who I am, and on what foundation I stand as I begin my next greatest adventure.

T Minus 20 Days and Counting

Well, July is officially here in eight minutes, which means I only have 20 days left in this country. I'm really excited!!!!

I've got all my bills paid off and my insurance and phone service set to cancel on the appropriate days, I've got most everything I need to take with me (with a few exceptions) and my mother hasn't even cried once yet! ...I do have to say that the other day she gave me a hug and told me exactly how many more "good night" hugs I'd get before I leave. I asked if she was putting me on a hug budget...I didn't get an answer.

As far as the doings of leaving go, I only have three more days left at work, which I am enjoying the heck out of. I was hoping to get a leave of absence so I'd have a job to come back to, but as it turns out, my company does not consider the Peace Corps as an acceptable reason to grant a leave of absence--if I were going overseas in a war to kill people and blow stuff up, they'd hold my job indefinitely, but as an ambassador of peace and good will...well, I'm left, at best, to hope for something upon my return. As you can imagine, this did not sit well with me. Ballsy as I am, I skipped all the middlemen and went straight to the CEO of my company and told him how ridiculous this is. He promised me he'd take a look at the policy and see what can be done to change it; while it's too late for me, hopefully there will be changes made at the corporate level that make it easier for people like me to do good things in the future and still come back to a job.

So yeah...I've been thinking about what kind of technology I'm going to take with me. Nearly all the other current Peace Corps Volunteers that are in Cambodia right now have said that having a computer is REALLY nice. When there's nothing to do you can watch movies, play games, and pre-write blogs and letters....I happen to like this idea. Unfortunately, my computer is not agreeing with me. Since I graduated it has gone on this ridiculous decline of functionality and it is little better than a door stop at this point. So...to buy a new one, or not to buy? That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the field to suffer the paper cuts and torture of pen and paper, or to give way to the rise of technology...

I'm going to be taking my iPod, which I've also heard is almost utterly indispensable, and I'll also be taking the SWEET new Kindle my parents gave me. Oh! And my camera. I've been told that I will be beaten within an inch of my life if I don't take a ridiculous amount of pictures and send them on a semi-regular basis. Other than that, I just need to pick up a couple head lamps to use while riding my bike at night and for reading in bed (so I don't burn down the house, see). Oh...and underwear. :( I have to go buy underwear, and anyone who knows me knows that this is not my favorite thing in the world. In fact, I hate underwear and I hate underwear shopping (any shopping, really) with a burning, flaming passion. It's a good thing I'm getting a headlamp to avoid the whole burning and flaming thing, because I'm pretty sure if you combined my hatred for underwear with an open flame, people in China would feel the rumble from the explosion. Sadly, if they did, I couldn't help them...I'm going to Cambodia, you know...

I'll do it for the cause though....oh, the sacrifices we make...

Pretty soon here I'm going to start my epic whirlwind adventure of picture taking and family member visiting, just so I can make sure I don't get stoned with stones and burned with fire upon my return....and so I can show my new Cambodian family (whomever they may be) what their American family counterparts look like.

Heh...turns out I'm pretty much like Brad and Angelina (only without the whole 'are they going to divorce or not' bit, and much more pizaz). See--they have a habit of adopting kids from every flippin continent....I happen to adopt my own families in every country I've lived in. Every state too. I have Chinese sisters and a Chinese mother, and pretty soon here I'll have a whole Cambodian family! This is EPIC! Somebody call PEOPLE magazine, Brangelina has NOTHIN' on this!!!

"That cheeky Brit wants me to say WHAT?"

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned going to the library to check out some things to get me prepared for Cambodia. One of those items is a CD to help me learn some of the Khmer language before I get there and have to learn it all in three months.

So...I just have not had time to listen to the CD until now, and let me tell you--I'm lost! There are sounds in that language that I cannot figure out how to make. Not only that, but the guy that put the CD together obviously has never heard of the idea of learning how to say simple things first, then moving on to the harder things.

The first thing it tries to teach is "What nationality are you?" Which would be easy enough if they had at least started with teaching the words for "What" "nationality" and "you", but nooooooo, just the whole flippin sentence with nothing to go on but what it sounds like coming out of my car stereo. And then...ooooh, and then this impertinent British man that is hosting the CD asks you to craft a response--IN KHMER! It's the first lesson! I have no idea how to say ANYTHING let alone craft a response to adequately communicate that I am American.

Lol...I feel I should write this Brit a strongly worded letter.

In other news, I have now 39 days until I depart and I'm getting wickedly excited. I managed to get rid of a bunch of stuff I haven't used in years, and tomorrow I'm going to attempt to clean out my closet (the difficult part being that most of it is filled with other people's things). My goal is to get down to only the things that I really need and desperately want so that I'm not overwhelmed by STUFF when I get back.

That, and you know...holding on to a bunch of crap that I dont' use or need really isn't doing anyone any good.

I think pretty soon here I'm going to start crafting my photo journal to give to my Cambodian family as a present. I want to include lots of pictures of my family, since our families will be forever linked, and also what daily life in America is like for me. I also want to get them some other gifts, but I have no idea what...

I mean...what do you give someone as a way to say, "thanks for being my family for the next two years...."?

Like a Mobius Strip made of Time

This last month has absolutely flown by, but at the same time it also feels like it hasn't edged forward at all. Just a few weeks ago I was driving across the country, freshly graduated, making my way back the the left coast, and now here I am, waiting out my last 30 days as an active employee at my present job.

Time flies, but also drags...oh how lovely the waiting is.

When I decided to go to China it was like...everything happened in a few short weeks. I got my passport, my visa, and my plane tickets and left. This has been such a long process and now I am literally 46 days away from getting on a plane...I think it's harder because I know when it's all going down.

Right now I'm trying to figure out my packing situation and I'm desperately trying to get together some things I'll need while I'm there. And all this while I STILL haven't unpacked anything from moving home.

I've been having lots of dreams lately. Dreams about conversations with monks, naps in hammocks, and making mosquito traps out of 2 liter bottles (it's true! only requires a 2 liter bottle, water, sugar, and yeast).

And you know the funny thing? Turns out God is helping me prepare for the heat--my normally mild and damp Pacific Northwest has suddenly turned into a scorching inferno intent on breaking all kinds of heat records and making people generally very miserable.

C'est la vie, non?