Khynomn Joal Jet Jaaane

Today, I was able to tell my family, “I like bananas.”  While this is one of the more useless Khmer phrases, it is something I actually remembered how to say.  It was a big day for me. 

Phrases and words I should have remembered:

• ·      Where is the bathroom?
• ·      Help me
• ·      Where am I?
• ·      I am not sick.  I just have to go to the bathroom. 

Phrases and words I actually know how to say:

• ·      Water
• ·      Thank you
• ·      Delicious! 
• ·      Hello (I can’t remember how to say goodbye…so I usually just slink away).
• ·      My name is Kelly (commonly pronounced Chelly)
• ·      I am 21 years old
• ·      I like bananas

Annnnnnnd that’s all I got.  Needless to say, things are pretty awkward at times.  My host mom and dad still speak to me in Khmer and I have pretty much no idea what they’re saying.  Granted, I also speak to them in English (and sometimes Spanish...whoops) and they have no idea what I’m saying.  So we spend our days speaking to each other in languages we don’t understand, nodding, and smiling at each other.  It’s a good time. 

But as far as host families go, mine is pretty great.  My host mai (mom in Khmer.  Hey! I know another word!) has been very helpful.  Considering that I literally don’t know how to do ANYTHING here, she has been an extremely patient teacher, and an excellent charades partner.  

My host dad is also really nice.  He tries to teach me Khmer words at every meal, but I don’t really have the heart to tell him (not the language ability) that I don’t remember anything he teaches me. 

Currently, I’m living in a small village with about 30 other Peace Corps Trainees (We don’t officially become volunteers until we complete 8 weeks of training).  It’s nice because we all live with different host families but we can still get together and remember what it’s like to communicate effectively with another person. 

Every morning I get up at about 5am when the rooster starts crowing, and then about every 20 minutes after that when the rooster decides to crow again.  This goes on until about 6:30 when I finally decide to stop being so lazy.  I then get up, get ready (which takes forever since I have to apply sunscreen and bug spray everywhere) and eat a bit of breakfast.  I get some iced coffee across the street (for about 25 cents in American money.  Take that, Starbucks.) and then I go to language class for four hours.  I have honestly never sucked at anything so much. 

After any sense of intelligence I had has been degraded to an all-time low, I eat lunch with my host family, read and take a short nap before going back to school for technical training, where I learn how to teach English effectively in Cambodia.

It has been crazy, but I love it.  Don’t get me wrong, this is the most difficult thing I have ever done, and there are days when I have no idea how I’m going to make it through the next 2 years without being the most incompetent barong (Khmer word for foreigner) ever.  But then there are days when I can successfully tell my host family that I like bananas, and I know it’s all going to be okay.