Ah JUNE?

The latest bit of big news is that my close of service date was moved up a month. This means that all volunteers in my group (unless they file to extend) will be out of Cambodia by July 12th. While this does not actually make that big of a difference since I was planning to try and leave in July anyway, it did trigger a little bit of a freak out.

I think we are all kind of in Limbo mode. Many of the volunteers (myself included) who have applied to graduate school have not heard back yet. For everyone else, it is still a bit early start looking for jobs back home. Having one month less to figure it out puts the pressure on a bit. I think I will feel better about it, either way, once I know about grad school. The not knowing is the hardest thing. When you have a vague idea of what’s coming you can start trying to wrap your mind around it. At the moment I don’t know whether to be wrapping my mind around a visit to the states before I am of again to re-enter the academic world…or looking for a job, and deciding what academic pursuits are next.

I feel like the start of my time here dragged and once I got settled in and learned to love this place it all flew by, now I don’t feel ready to leave.

On another note I am working with a number of other volunteers on a series of projects over the next few months that I’m very excited about. Plans are in the works for a women’s day event in March focusing on women’s independence, balancing work and family, and women’s health. Later in March there are plans to do a community service project for Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary, and in April I am planning a workshop with a friend in my provincial town on violence and consent for my 12th grade students.

Next week I am off to Malaysia!

Cheers!

I don’t even know where to start, it’s been so long since I last wrote and the last month has been so eventful. I suppose I will begin with saying that I now have internet at site and so, hopefully, will not have this problem in future! Prepare to hear from me a lot more often.

Liv got here on the 16th and was able to spend some time with me at my site before heading to Phnom Penh to pick up Ryan and celebrate Christmas. This was eventful for a number of reasons. First, Liv came to school with me one day and met my students. We did a Q and A session with her and she received some excellent inquiries. My favorites were:

1)Why is your hair different (from mine)?
2)Why are your eyes brown?
3)Student: “what is your religion?”
Olivia: “I don’t have one”
Student: “Oh, how do you feel when you are alone?”
Olivia: “I feel fine. I like to be alone sometimes.”
Student: “Do you ever cry out to God at night?”
Olivia: ______________________________

I might have to give a simple genetics lesson in future. We also had karaoke time, something that tends to happen on any special or not so special occasion at school.



In addition to having Olivia at site, we also had some other house guests. My Yays have a brother who moved to France during/after/because of the Khmer Rouge. He married a French woman, and they have 3 French/Khmer children (same ages as me and my siblings). They came to visit my host family for a week and a half in December. The preparations began months ago. Everytime I left for a while I would come home to some new addition, framed photos on the walls, new curtains, floor mats, mattresses, etc… It was a lot of fun getting to hang out with them (as they spoke some English and come from a culture much more similar to my own) but also kind of bizarre as they did not speak Khmer. There is nothing in my life experience that can relate to having family who I have only met a couple of times and with whom I am unable to communicate. There were several excellent Foo moments during this trip. I love him, but he is becoming a bit of a terror. His offences during those few days included: hitting me in the nose with an electric mosquito racket, punching me in the chest, picking his nose and wiping it on my arm, and punching me HARD in the mouth (he was aiming for his twin sister who was sitting in my lap). Liv and I joined the French fam for dinner one night and I drank a beer, something I rarely do at site. While we were sitting there I hear Foo yelling “CHER, LOOK!” so I turned around and there was Foo and his sister holding beer bottles and cheers-ing, they then romped on over to cheers with me. I was mortified until I saw the girls refilling the bottles with tea…then it was just funny.

Christmas was pretty low key. There were a lot of Peace Corps volunteers in Phnom Penh for the holidays so Liv and I went out to dinner with some of my friends then out dancing later. Christmas day we just lounged by the pool and then went to dinner for another friend’s birthday. Ry sadly could not get a flight in until late Christmas night. Once he joined us though we did some lounging, some shopping, and got some photos taken.

For new years we went down to the beach where we ate, drank, danced, and greeted the New Year by running into the ocean during a fireworks show. Not a bad way to ring in 2011. I suppose this is the part where I talk about my resolutions for this year. So, here goes:
In 2011 I hope to:
1)It has occurred to me in the last year and half how much pressure I put on myself as a result of my culture, my academic background, my religious affiliation and community, etc… As someone who strives to be open minded, loving, and forgiving, it’s alarming to realize how closed minded, unloving, and unforgiving I often am toward myself. So in 2011, preparing to get back into the fast paced, competitive, academic, western world, I am going to strive to be kind to and patient with myself.

2)We learn many behaviors, coping mechanisms, and communication styles, for our families, friends, and communities at large. One that I have been coming to terms with is my tendency to present hurt as anger. Acknowledging when other peoples’ words or actions are hurtful creates vulnerability and it is easier to react with anger or feigned indifference. Neither of these responses show love. Angry reactions reconcile nothing and acting like you don’t care when you do is a coward’s cop out. This year I am going to strive to call a spade a spade.

3)Blog more than once a month!

Lots of love to everyone back home! Happy New Year!

Don't think about something....

The last few weeks have been pretty eventful. Lots going on. I have been sitting here thinking about what I want to write, but I keep losing motivation so I figured I would give the very abridged version.

Over water festival weekend I went to Siem Reap and spent time with other volunteers and tried to avoid the masses. Phnom Penh is out of control during Water Festival with people pouring in from all over the country. Many of you have probably seen news reports or read about the stampede during this years celebrations which lead to the deaths of roughly 350 Khmer people. Fortunately there were no peace corps volunteers or staff involved but many of the communities in which we live and work were effected. Being so far removed from Phnom Penh, it has had less of an impact on my community than those of many other volunteers. Irregardless of location though, it was a tragedy for the entire country, which has had more than its share already.

On a happier note! This Thanksgiving was one He!! of a production. There was an in service training held in my provintial town on the friday following Thanksgiving for all of the new volunteers. Soooo 8 or so of us spent the better part of 2 days cooking thanksgiving dinner for about 80 people. I made brownies, sugar cookies, and apple crisp for dessert, and pitched in here and there with the dinner preparations. I rubbed a raw turkey with oil. This was a big step in overcoming my touching raw meat phobia. I would also reccommend basting turkeys with Anchor Beer. They turned out great. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun, I may even have enjoyed the prep for the big meal more than the big meal itself. As tradition dictates: I am Thankful to have now spent two great Thanksgivings in Cambodia.

The latest and greatest at site moments include:

1) discovering khmer dance aerobics at my market. They are hard core about it too.
2) Best awkward Foo conversation:
Foo: CHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?
Me: GETTING DRESSED
Foo: Can I watch a little please?
Me: (SILENCE............).....No.
* He has stopped trying to follow me into the bathroom when I showed which is a step in the right direction.
3) People laughing hard over my boldily harm/stupidity/clumsiness. I showed one of the nurses at the healthcenter that I had burned my chin with a curling iron. She started howling with laughter. Thought it was about the funniest thing ever and then started talking over patients to tell the other nurses about it. They are all still making fun of me about it. I am not sure I will ever fully understand khmer sense of humor, but I appreciate the ability to make people laugh.
4) Assessment exam responses. Very few of my students were able to get to the essay questions in this exam I gave last week...only one out of the 80 or so kids that took it, was able to get to the last question. It was something along the lines of "talk about some dangers or health hazards in Cambodia and how to avoid them." Her response was (abridged version):
There is bodys healthy and hearts healthy. For bodys healthy eat good food [blah blah etc...] For heart's healthy: 1)Try not to stress, 2)Try to be happy all time, 3) Don't work so much, 4) Don't think about something.

So there you have it, the keys to emotional health and stability. Don't work, don't stress, don't think, and be happy!

Safety & Security

Recently I went for a walk down the dirt road I lived on for the first few months at site, it winds back through rice fields and houses. While walking I ran into my old neighbor. She asked me if I was afraid to walk alone and I naturally said no and continued on my way. I passed a few more houses with people who waved and asked where I was going. I kept walking and was invited to sit and "talk play" with a family, so I did. When I got up to go with the intention to walking farther they scolded me and told me to go home because it was 5:00p. They seemed to be looking past me so turned and saw a random guy sitting on his moto just staring at us. Or me rather. I had seen him ride his moto past me at least 4 times while I was walking. So, I turned around and walked back towards town. Then I started thinking again about the question "are you afraid?" and why I am not. It occurred to me that people like that family are why I feel safe walking alone on backroads.

Now I am sitting in a hotel room in Siem Reap and thinking about why I feel perfectly safe leaving my moneyand passport on the night stand and my laptop and ipod on the bed while in a huge tourist town on one of the bussiest weekends of the year(Water festival). I think last night is a pretty good illustration of why. My roommate and I came back late after going out dancing to find that they had pulled the gate over the doors shut. Getting locked out of your guest house could be cause for alarm, but they knew we were out and left the gate slightly open so we could get back in. The two women who run the front desk were asleep on cots in the lobby and we did not want to wake them so we hopped behind the counter to look for our key. We could not find it. Naturally I am thinking...well if we could get in and just jump behing the counter then anyone could do it...But eventually we woke one of the women and she laughed, lifted up her pillow, and handed us our room key.

When we all first got to country we were told, as were PC trainees all over the world I am sure, that the best way to ensure our personal safety was to build relationships in our communities. After a little over a year I can say I think they are right.I feel safe walking alone in my community because I cannot go 10 feet without being greeted, asked where I am going, or asked to join a family in whatever they happen to be doing at the time (usually eating rice or talk playing). Moreover they warn me when something is off (subtly, but still). I feel safe leaving my valuables in a hotel room in Siem Reap because the ladies downstairs call me sister, know where I live and who I came here to visit, and sleep with my room key under their pillow!

Creative Parenting

I’ve seen a lot of what I will term “creative parenting” during my time in Cambodia, but I saw a particularly amusing technique while at the health center this week. There was a woman waiting for a pre-natal checkup with a son who looked to be about two. He was running wild having a great time and his poor 6-months pregnant mother was chasing him all over the place. Eventually she got fed up. He was getting ready to make a run for it again so she grabbed a piece of medical tubing that was lying around and tied one end of it to his ankle and the other to her chair. Then she and the other pregnant ladies sat there and laughed at him while he tried to get away and dissolved into wailing fits of rage on the floor. Tying up your children seems to be frowned upon in America, but in Cambodia it accomplishes the desired result AND provides entertainment for your friends.

This past week has been the coldest of my Cambodian experience and I am being a complete baby about it. I have been sleeping in a sweater with 2 blankets. I am not sure if it has actually been cold or if I have just become that used to the climate. I am considering putting together a photo album of Khmer winter fashions because people wear the most hilarious get ups to keep warm. I saw a little girl in a santa suit the other day.

Among other highlights; I got to make a trip down to the beach over a long weekend to celebrate halloween with friends. The beach makes me happy. Also, I was able to attend a Hillary Clinton meet and greet at the US Embassy along with about 20 other volunteers. I was not one of the lucky few who got to shake her hand (I thought lunging over children was sort of bad form)but it was still a cool experience. Foo has started wearing a backpack and telling me he is going to school to learn English. So far he knows "1-10" (not necessarily in order) as well as "bye bye." His backpack contains a notebook, pen, waterbottle, and rubber band gun. He has taken to shooting me with the rubber band gun (doesnt actually shoot rubber bands...just makes a snapping noise) and then yelling "CHER STOP DYING!!!!!!!!!!" It is more funny in Khmer because there are two words for die. One is used for humans and the other for animals. He uses the animal death word for me. Thanks Foo.

"Don't talk to crazy people"

I have written about the woman at my school who thinks she is a teacher, and I think I have mentioned the woman my host mom chased away with a stick during training (that’s quite a story so you guys will have to let me know if I have not in fact shared that experience). There is a strange man who often shows up at eating establishments I frequent and raves about people trying to kill him and wanting my phone number. Now we have a new character. I was at the market the other day buying fruit and chatting with my fruit lady when this woman walked up. She wore glasses and had a trendy haircut (signs of $$) so I did not realize right away that she was talking nonsense. Of course, the fact that her sentences consisted of Khmer, English, AND French, didn’t help. Anyhow she was showing me random stuff out of her purse and the fruit stand ladies were giving me “we don’t know what she is saying either” kinds of looks. So finally I completed my fruit transaction and walked home. I had been sitting chatting with my jolly yay for a few minutes when this woman appeared in front of my house. She sauntered on over and sat down next to me and proceeded to sing me a song while pointing to various injuries on various parts of her body. I sat there looking puzzled for a bit before my ming (aunt) looked at me and mouthed “GO IN THE HOUSE”. So I did. Later my business yay asked me about it. I told her that I didn’t know the woman and that she had followed me from the market and I didn’t know what to do. Her advice was this; “Cher, do not talk to crazy people.” Duly noted.

This past several weeks also included another golden moment with my Khmer tutor. I asked her the Khmer word for “rub,” as in “rub in ointment,” or something along those lines. The dictionary had several contextual options for “rub,” one of which was “rub one out,” and I naturally laughed. She naturally wanted to know why I laughed. I attempted to explain the slang meaning by having her look up relevant words, as a result I discovered another glaring omission in the Khmer dictionary (well, the one we were using at least).

Every once in a while I am struck by an unexpected memory of my pre Cambodian life that leaves me feeling nostalgic. This week I was contemplating Halloween and my thoughts wandered to Kay. Kay is (or at least was) the organic chemistry lab coordinator at Linfield. I thought of her because she took Halloween seriously. Every year on Halloween Kay came to work in a full body lion suit, complete with tail, and lab coat. Arguably, a full body lion suit is not the best idea in a chem. Lab, but that never stopped her. I was debating dressing up for Halloween this year, but I think I will in honor of Kay.

Foo is still a little monster. I have included photographic evidence in this blog. The other night he stuck his head in my mosquito net and started banging on the keys of my laptop until he noticed the movie that was playing and then asked if Hannah Montana is my friend. Yes, I was watching the Hannah Montana movie.

Goals

Not much new has happened in the last several weeks. I did a little traveling and a little relaxing around Cambodia, celebrated the k4s swearing in in Phnom Penh, and had a couple low key weeks at site waiting for school to get going again. It has been fun getting to know the new volunteers in my province since swear in. I know it isnt new years but I feel like the swearing in of new volunteers is a good time to re-assess goals. So here is a list of my new goals for the last 10 months in Cambodia:

1)Learn to like beer. It's far more economical.
2)Start reading things of substance again. I recently rememebered that I like learning, and moreover, and I hate how much stuff I have forgotten. (Dad I now understand why we used to find you reading chemistry textbooks in the garage,I wish I had mine here)
3)Teach less EFC and more creative things. I surprised myself with the realization that I really like teaching, I just hate the EFC (the English Language Curriculum used here).
4)Try more new recipes. I made pumpkin soup last weekend and it was a success. I really should learn to cook khmer food too...
5)Travel outside of Cambodia. It seems ridiculous that I have been here over a year and haven't gone anywhere (except America of course...)
6)Get khmer-tastic photos taken.
7)?
8)?
9)?
10)Figure out what I am doing after Cambodia.