Baby, it's Cold Outside

It rarely feels like December here in Cambodia, but today was a day full of nostalgia for snow days, sweaters and christmas cookies.

I woke up around 4am to what I thought was the pitter-patter of little mice feet, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was the pitter-patter of fresh, glorious rain.  We're entering the dry season, so it hasn't rained in almost a month, and yesterday was quite the scorcher.  I went back to sleep looking forward to a cool morning.

When my alarm went off at 6:20, it was still raining.  And anyone in Cambodia can tell you what rain during the day means:  a rain day!  It's a lot like a snow day, but with rain.  I called my co-teacher to double check, but I was pretty sure the rain meant no class this morning.

I had grand plans of sleeping in, but like any excited kid on a rain day, I was so excited about not having class that I stayed up and finished reading a book I'd been working on for a few days.  I taught one class mid-morning when it stopped raining for a bit, but then the rain returned and there was no school for the rest of the day.

Some of you might be thinking, "What, they can't just handle a little rain?", which was definitely my thought during my first "rain day".  But think about it.  Riding your bike in the rain when you don't have a rain coat, or a rainproof backpack, on a muddy road for half an hour just to get to school seems like enough reason not to go.  That and the fact that the school roof is made of tin, so even if you did make it to school, chances are you aren't going to be able to understand the teacher over the "ping!  ping! ping!" of the rain drops.  Not to mention the holes in the roof, leaking water all over the classroom.

Now the original purpose of this blog was just to tell everyone how cold it is!  Since the sun has yet to grace the day with its presence, it has been a cold one*.  I'm currently sitting here wearing socks, a thick skirt, an undershirt, dress shirt and sweatshirt.  And I'm not sweating!  It's truly a Christmas miracle!

Mirror selfie!  

So please excuse me while I make myself another cup of hot chocolate and look at things on pinterest while I listen to Michael Bublé's Christmas album.  Winter has come to Cambodia!

*Truth be told, I think it's only about 70 degrees, but it feels like at least 65!

A Field Trip Turned Philosophical

There are some things I never really pictured myself being able to do while I was in Peace Corps.  Taking my students to a nature reserve to learn about endangered bears, where they would be included in footage for an upcoming documentary, was definitely one of those things.  How random, right?

A few weeks ago I contacted a nature reserve fairly close to my site (it's about a 25 minute tuk-tuk ride away) because I heard they run an education program that is free for students.  As soon as any Peace Corps volunteer hears the word "free", we're all over it, so I was looking forward to hearing more from them.

Well, everything worked out and yesterday I took 25 students from my high school to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center.  The program taught the students about sun bears and moon bears in Cambodia, and how these animals are endangered due to numerous factors, including deforestation and poaching.  My students got to make a few snacks for the bears and throw them into the enclosure, which both the students and bears enjoyed immensely.  They also were able to go around and see a few other treasures from the nature reserve.  

Learning about the endangered bears 

Spreading some jam inside the bear enclosure (the bears were being kept somewhere else while they cleaned their habitat) for the bears to eat

This bear is eating the jam I left for him!  

One of my students, excited to see the bears so close-up!  

Making another snack for the bears.  These balls were stuffed with bananas, vegetables and some honey

Watching this happen was so freaking adorable.  My heart almost exploded.

Elephants!  

Yes, Dad, that is an enormous python.  There were three of them in that cage. I was fine watching from a distance....

The other exciting part is that my students are going to be on TV!!!  A film crew happened to be at the nature reserve that day, and they were working on a documentary about endangered animals along the Mekong River.  My students will definitely be in a few shots, and it comes out in March, so I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy so they can all watch it!

My students being surprisingly calm and collected in front of the camera

I was extremely grateful to have this opportunity to share a completely new experience with my students.  The majority of them had never seen a bear before, or any of the other animals displayed at the nature reserve, for that matter.  However, they were just as amazed (if not more so) by the other foreigners at the nature reserve, and ran up to take pictures with a few surprised tourists (I'm apparently old news).

At the risk of making this a rather long blog post, I have to add an aside to this story.  This nature reserve is an extremely nice place.  The education center has a nice, flat-screen television, the walls are freshly painted, there are fans mounted on the wall, and there are soft benches to sit on.  The bears are fed several times a day, and given a variety of fresh-fruit snacks, kept fresh by a refrigerator which is powered by a solar panel.  As we were wandering around one of the bear habitats (a very nicely decorated area, created to make it seem as if you are in a bear-cave), one of my students came up to me and said, "Teacher Kelly, this place is fantastic!  That's a word I can use, right?  'Fantastic'?"  After assuring this student that was a great use of the word, he replied saying, "Yes, I wish I could live here forever."

Truth be told, I didn't think much of his statement, at first.  I just assumed the statement was uttered, as any excited kid would, at the close of a fantastic day in a new place.  But I have been to where this student actually lives.  He is one of my brightest students, and an extremely hard worker.  He also lives in a one-room house, made of wood, with tarps and straw lining the roof in an attempt to keep out the rain.  He cares for his blind mother, and teaches her English in his spare time (he must be a pretty good teacher since his mother was able to have a short conversation with me in English before we switched to Khmer).

It was one of those moments that completely broke my heart, as I realized this student probably really meant what he said, and the realization that these bears have a better quality of life than a good portion of my students.  

This is not a criticism on the nature reserve, or those who donate to care for animals.  Phnom Tamao Nature Reserve has many donors whose passion is in protecting and preserving the environment.  Phnom Tamao not only helps to preserve the environment, but educates young people on the importance of the ecosystem, provides them with a completely new experience, free of cost, and provides employment for many people in my area.  I truly believe this is a great organization.

But this is the issue with development.  It's easy to provide assistance and vastly improve the lives of a bunch of bears in a short amount of time.  You can just plop a bear in an nice enclosure and it will be completely content for the rest of it's little, bear life.  It's much harder dealing with people.  There are so many different barriers: religious barriers, cultural barriers, language barriers, socioeconomic barriers and simply, human barriers.  Even if you finally get through all these barriers, there are still so many things that can go wrong.  There are so many examples of development projects gone awry, and I can personally attest to numerous failures at projects I thought would be really great ideas.

So while improvement may not happen as quickly with humans as it does with bears, it's still completely worth a few more attempts, and a few more after that.

But for now, I'll simply reflect back on a great learning experience for my students.  Not only did they learn more about the ecosystem, but they got to see a lot of different careers in action.  Perhaps this will inspire one of them to work at a nature reserve, or on a camera-crew, or as a journalist.  I truly believe my students are capable of anything, and I'll do whatever I can to make them believe that, too.

One last note: The student I talked about earlier is in grade 12 and will be graduating near the top of his class at the end of this year.  I was able to put him in contact with an organization in town which will be able to help sponsor his studies at a university of his choice.  This student has truly been an inspiration to me, and I am confident he will reach his goal of becoming an English tour guide and helping to provide more for his family.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

We all go through slumps.  There are times each year, where I just want to curl up and let a few weeks pass me by.  The past year has obviously been no exception to these periods of time, and I would venture to say that many Peace Corps Volunteers, myself included, have found ourselves in a bit of a slump lately.  The combination of missing the holidays at home, along with the things happening on our side of the rice paddy, can combine to make a lot of us forget why we're even here.  And sometimes, it's hard to see the big picture, so, like Julie Andrews, I like to focus on the little things.  So here is a list of some of my favorite things about living in Cambodia.  Some items on the list even have a visual aide!

1) Team Takeo: The people in my province really have become a sort of second family.  Whether  they're like a sister, or a creepy uncle, I know they always have my back.

2) Bon-chaio: a truly delicious breakfast made of egg, rice flour, pork and vegetables.  It's even better when you throw some fried noodles on there.  

3) A successful English Club:  These are some of my students hard at work on a game I planned for the day.  

 4) The view outside my classroom:  Because sometimes I just need a breathtaking reminder that I'm living in Cambodia...and that's pretty cool.

 5) The fact that anything, and I mean anything, can be strapped onto the back of your motorcycle. Because sometimes there's just no other way to transport that sliced-up pig carcass.











Some of my other favorite things (not pictured here) include:

6) The feeling of actually being a little bit chilly, and having to use both of my blankets (this only happens at about 3am)

7) Long bike rides

8) Dancing my heart out to a good Taylor Swift song in Phnom Penh

9) Consistent weather

10) Knowing that no matter how bleeeeeh (I can't thing of an appropriate adjective.  My grasp on the English language is loosening) things might feel now, they are going to be great, very soon.  But for now, we'll focus on the little things to get us through; like raindrops on lotus flowers and whiskers on adorable, flea-ridden kittens.

They See Me Rollin'

This is my most common form of transportation:

Photo credit to: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-04/13/c_132306166.htm
They also have some other great shots of common Cambodian transportation, if you're interested

This particular mode of transport is called a "tourie" and is the most common, and cheapest, mode of transportation in Cambodia.  Catching a tourie is actually just somewhat organized hitch hiking, and it's probably one of my favorite things about Cambodia.  All I have to do to get to Phnom Penh is stand by the side of the road and wait for one of these babies to roll along.  After a brief period of bargaining, I'm usually on my way to Phnom Penh for a mere $1.50.

And while cramming 35 people, some puppies, and a few bags of rice into one, fifteen-passenger van isn't always a picnic, it is certainly always an adventure.  Many conversations have been started with the phrase, "You'll never guess what happened on my tourie today..."  Most of these stories include, but are not limited to:

• Children throwing up 
• Peace Corps Volunteers throwing up  
• Getting dropped off in the middle of nowhere
• Being awkwardly stared at for the entire ride
• Being forced to teach impromptu English lessons 
• Sharing a seat with the driver (In Cambodia, there is no such thing as your own seat)
• Explaining that just because you are traveling with a member of the opposite gender, it does not mean you are married 
• Pretending that you are married, because sometimes it's more fun to make up a back story than to explain why you're 22 and don't have a boyfriend

And of course, one of the best parts about being in a tourie is the constant blowing of the horn.  Honking is not used in Cambodia to signal a close-call or annoyance, but rather as a way to communicate with the general public that your vehicle does, in fact, exist.  You honk when you are approaching any sort of populated area.  You honk when you want to pass another car.  You honk when you want people to know that yes, there is room in your van for four more bags of rice.  Or, like the guy in this video, you can just honk because you feel like it.  

The Second Time Around

Exactly one year ago today, I woke up with knots in my stomach uncertain what the day would bring.  October 1st is the first day of school in Cambodia, and I had NO IDEA what was going to happen.  All I could decipher with my minimal Khmer skills was that a lot of students would be coming, but we would not be teaching classes.  It was some sort of opening ceremony but I had no clue as to what that would entail.  Were they going to make me give a speech?  How would the students react to me?  Would any of the teachers want to teach with me?  And most importantly, what I am supposed to wear????  

Needless to say, this time was much easier.  I woke up today just like any other day, put on my sampot and headed off to school, where I greeted teachers I haven't seen in a while, and met some of the new teachers at our school.  The students were much less phased by my presence, and there was significantly less staring the second time around.  I also finally understand that just because the school director says we have school tomorrow, it doesn't mean we actually have school, and I've finally learned to tell the difference.  

I'm at the point in my service where I'm going to start doing things for the second time.  While it might not seem as exciting after coming from a year of almost entirely new experiences, I'm quite looking forward to it.  Excitement is sometimes overrated.  

However, it is rather exciting to see the progress I've made over the year, and think about all the things I want to accomplish during my last year.  Just this last weekend, my friend Jodi and I were able to reserve lunches and dinner for over 70 people at a workshop, speaking only Khmer.  This is definitely something I did not envision myself ever being able to do a year ago.  

The lady at the restaurant even gave us some free cokes.  This was a cheers after a job well done!  

And although I've made a lot of progress, I know there are still things I'm going to need to figure out.  Like how to ride a mountain bike in the mud without looking like I pooped myself.  Hopefully I can master that skill, and a few others by the time I leave.  

It's mud, i swear.   

  

Some More of Daily Life

This is my awesome bike.  More importantly, this is a picture of me, waiting alone at my school for students who didn't show up.  While most of my classes possess a few eager students, the date of this particular English Club coincided with the height of rice planting season.  When I went home and told my host mom that no one came to class, she said "Of course, they didn't!  They're out planting rice!"

I live right along a national highway in Cambodia.  One day, the government decided to start repairing the road, which I was really excited about...until it looked like this for a week.  Loose gravel+motorcycles and bikes=not a great combination.  They finally got it paved while I was in Thailand, but returned today to plant down another pile of gravel.  I have no idea what is going on with this construction process.  

This is the result of loose gravel and traffic.  All the dust from the road construction settles nicely in my house, so everything is covered in a lovely shade of grey.  While inconvenient, it does make last minute note taking rather simple.  

This is something I've been trying to capture for a while, so I hope you can see it clearly.  Yes, that is a motorcycle with about 20 live chickens strapped to it.  Say what you want, but at least the poultry is fresh.  

This is a delicious snack my host mom made for me one day.  It's a tiny pumpkin that is broiled and filled with some sort of sweet filling.  It might not look like much, but it kind of reminds me of a baked apple.  It's probably my favorite sweet in Cambodia. 

Oh you know, just taking a selfie with a cow.   

This is the trap door that goes down to the bathroom from the upstairs.  There's a ladder under this that I have definitely fallen down once or twice, but climbing down this makes life exciting.  I'm also a very fortunate PCV, in the sense that I can access my bathroom at night and don't have to pee in a bucket or stumble my way to an outhouse in the dark.  

Oh hey. I went to Thailand. It was pretty cool and I took some pictures.

So I failed to mention that I went to Thailand a couple weeks ago.  It was alright, I guess.

Just kidding, it was AWESOME, and I highly recommend a trip if you ever have the chance.  The food was great, the shopping was plentiful, and the views were fantastic.  And we went zip lining through a rainforest!  I could bore you with the 3 page itinerary I wrote for the trip, but I'll just post some pictures here instead.  

Yes, this was definitely the first place I ate in Thailand.  Haters gonna hate.  

The first of many temples we visited.  This one had an enormous standing Buddha!

Street food on a stick!  It was just like the Iowa Sate Fair.!

This was my first train ride (that I can remember.  Being a baby doesn't count, Mom) and it was so exciting!  There were bunk beds and a lot of dirty backpackers.  Good times were had by all.  But mostly we just slept.  

My partners in crime, shopping at the night market in Chiang Mai.  There are sooo many different things to buy and so many pretty colors!  

There was a deal with the zip-line tour that you got to stay a free night in a 5 star hotel.  This was definitely worth it!  Here we are chilling at this super awesome pool at our super fancy hotel.  

Some Thai food we were served at our Thai Dinner and Dance cultural outing.  We like to keep it classy.  

This is the dancing portion of the Thai Dinner and Dancing cultural extravaganza (that was definitely not the name of the event, but I really like calling it that)

I'm all ready to go zip lining!  If you've never done it before, I highly recommend it.  We got to zip line for 3 hours and it was so much fun!  Terrifying, but fun. 

Rockstar Jodi heading out on a zip line!  

"Small town girl in a big city" shot.  Bangkok is crazy but it was definitely refreshing to see a big city in Asia with clean streets and functioning traffic.  You're up next, Cambodia!  

As far as things outside of Thailand go, they are pretty great.  I've been keeping really busy at site, and I'm feeling extremely productive (this has been a rare feeling for me this past year).  There will definitely be a separate post on this later, but for those of you who can't wait, I'll just tell you that I finally feel like I've made a difference in some small way.  I know this last year is going to fly by, but I can't wait to make the most out of these last months.  Here's to one more year!

Cornfields and Rice Paddies

Having lived in Iowa for most of my life, I have constantly heard about the dangers of getting lost in a cornfield.  I once vividly remember scoffing at the very idea, only to have my father remind me that once you get far into a cornfield, it's hard to realize which way is the way out.  The stalks are all incredibly tall and hardly seem to be in their straight little rows once you get in there.  Because of this advice, I have never just wandered aimlessly into a cornfield...but that didn't stop me from getting lost in a rice paddy today.

This morning I was informed of a wonderfully hidden road that leads to a mountain located a few towns over.  I frequently bike there on my way to my provincial town or to visit my friend who teaches at the high school there.  The idea of getting off the beaten path was especially appetizing since the main road I usually travel on is currently rife with slow-paced construction.

Taking the instructions I thought were given to me, I started on my merry way.  As I kept biking, the road turned into more of a path, which seemed pretty impassable, at times (but of course, that didn't stop me).   I kept thinking, "Why would they tell me to go this way on my bike?".  I kept going, walking my bike through the muddy areas and consequently enveloping my feet in mud-made clogs.  When I tried to wash them off in a nearby creek, I (of course) slipped and also covered my hands in a nice layer of mud.  Through lots of practice, I've become rather good at falling and was able to spare most of my clothing, but nonetheless, I was quite a mess.

A few moments later, I heard some voices yelling at me from a rice paddy.  It was some friends of my host family and the conversation went something like this:
Rice Paddy Friends: "Kelly, what are you doing out here?"
Me:  "I'm going to that mountain!"
(laughter ensues amongst Rice Paddy Friends)
RPF: "No you're not, you're just in the rice fields.  You forgot to turn left at the Wat!"
Me: "Yes, yes I did."

So I turned around to go home.  However, at this point, I was surrounded by rice paddies and couldn't quite tell which direction I was going anymore.  I seemed to have missed some sort of fork in the road and was passing by unrecognizable rice paddies left and right.  I started to wonder what the record for being lost in a rice paddy was, and feeling that I might just surpass that record today.  However, a few more friendly Cambodians planting their rice yelled out at the poor American who was so obviously not where she wanted to be, and I managed to find my way out of the rice paddies and onto the main road.

I'm sure it's good for everyone back home to hear that I can still get lost in my own town.  My sense of direction has certainly not changed.  However, the scenery has, and I must say, wandering aimlessly for a few hours in the rice paddies was definitely worth this photo.

Accomplishing Goals

I’m a very goal-oriented person.  I love goals.  Having them, accomplishing them, scoring them…okay that last one pretty much never happens for me*, but you get the point.  I love having goals.

So it’s extremely helpful that Peace Corps has outlined these three lovely goals for volunteers to try to accomplish.  These goals are as follows:

1.    Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

2.    Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3.    Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of

Americans.

Goal one is pretty self explanatory, and goal three is kind of what I’m trying to do with this whole blogging business, but today I’m going to share a little bit about what goal two is like for most volunteers. 

American culture, like any other culture, is incredibly complex and, at times, almost impossible to describe.  It’s difficult to explain a culture that is so often inaccurately portrayed in popular television shows, movies and other pop culture (although it’s hard to deny that my life could not be summed up with a few episodes of 30 Rock and a sampling of Taylor Swift songs).    

Just to give you an idea of what some Cambodians think about America, here are a few choice quotes by some of the people in my town**.

“People in America are fat because they all have washing machines”

“In America, everyone has enough money and time to go on vacation whenever they want.”

“There are no homeless people in America.”

Market Man: “Do all people in America have light skin?”

Me: “No, we have people in America from all over the world.  Dark skin and light skin.”

Market Man:  “What state do all the people with dark skin live in?”

Me: “All of them…?” 

“America has 56 states, and I hear that they want to have at least 60 in the future”

So in summation, a lot of Cambodians belive America is made up of mostly fat, rich, and racist imperialists.   And yes, there is often some truth in stereotypes and misinformation.  It’s true that America isn’t exactly known for being the healthiest country (my own saga with McDonalds is a fine display of that fact).  And yes, our GDP and standard of living is drastically different than that of Cambodia.  We certainly have a history of racism and putting our long arms in to several pots, but that is not all there is to America.  I certainly consider part of my job here to show that America is an incredibly diverse country.  Yes, there are really rich people in America, but there are also people who live on the streets and battle with mental illness, just like in Cambodia.  There are people who are incredibly healthy (without eating immense amounts of rice, I might add).  There are people who are incredibly good and incredibly generous, living right alongside the genuinely terrible people who exist.  Just like in Cambodia.

It’s not my goal to disillusion Cambodians about life in America.  I will never deny that in comparison to many Cambodians (and Americans, for that matter), I have lived an extremely comfortable life due to the hard work and love of my parents.  But it is my goal to show them that life isn’t perfect.  It’s not perfect in America and it’s not perfect in Cambodia.  But it’s our responsibility to take those imperfections and try to make something better, one step at a time. 

*Fun fact: when I played soccer in elementary school, I can guarantee that I possessed more pairs of broken glasses than actual scored goals. 

**Fair warning that most of these quotes are probably mistranslated…but I’m still writing them down.  

Seven...well actually six more pictures! (Mom don't look at the first picture)

Okay so, I didn't quite take a photo every day, but I almost did, so here they are:

This is just one of my many roommates.  It may seem cute, but I'm still waiting for the day when they help me sew a dress or clean my room.  I'm not holding my breath.  

At least one day a week I wake up to some random act of vandalism unleashed by my mice friends.  This week it was my purse.  The things that happen when you forget half a granola bar in your bag...

In pretty much every Cambodian household, you'll find this wall of photos of pretty much everyone in the family.  Mine also includes a large photo of Angkor Wat.  I'm not on the wall yet...but I plan on hiding several photos around the house before I leave.  

I forgot to take a picture this day, so here's a lame picture of me reading my own blog at night.  For those of you who wonder what it looks like when I'm chatting with you on facebook, this is it.  And yes, Sealy is obviously an important part of my life in Cambodia.  

You can't really see it in this photo, but I promise it's actually raining.  When it rains in Cambodia, life pretty much stops.  And during the rainy season, life pretty much stops every day for at least an hour.  It's pretty nice, but it's going to  make readjusting to life in the US a bit more interesting.  "I'm sorry I can't leave the house right now.  It's raining."  

One day I'll have to write a blog post exclusively about my awesome Khmer tutor, but for now you all will just get a photo.  I just discovered this woman a month ago and she has been a lifesaver.  Her name is Arun and she lived in the US for 20 years after she married her husband (who was volunteering in a refugee camp she went to during the Khmer Rouge).  She has led an incredible life and is also fluent in English and Khmer, which makes learning from her a piece of cake.  She's teaching me how to read and write and I'm actually enjoying it!  I have no idea if I'll actually get the hang of it all before I leave, but I'm certainly making progress.
(And yes, fellow PCVs, she does have an oven AND a refrigerator)

A New Blog Project

As many of you know by now, I'm kind of terrible at keeping regular blogs.  That is all about to change for year numero dos (yay! I can still speak a little bit of Spanish!).  That's right, I'm in my second year.  Crazy.  

So the plan is to take a picture every day and post seven pictures at the end of each week.  I didn't do super great at it this week, so most of these photos are a little old, but here they are!  

Me in front of my school with a few of my students from my English club.  These ladies are such hard workers and I have been so blessed to be able to work with them.  The young lady in the top right is my most dedicated student, and is moving to Phnom Penh with her family so she can attend a private school.  I'm so happy for her, and I think it'll be great for her education, but I'm also selfishly going to miss teaching her.

This is a terrible photo I took from my window of the road construction happening on the highway outside of my house.  It was pretty awesome to watch it all take place.  There are no such things as closed roads or orange cones in Cambodia, so it's interesting to just watch motos drive through the road construction.  Also, you can see my neighbors watching the construction.  I found it kind of funny how entertained they were by it all, but then found myself staring at the construction right along with them.  

The election just happened a while ago and this is Cambodian campaigning at its finest.  It basically consists of trucks and motos driving up and down the highway blaring music and campaign speeches.  

This scene is something I bike past every time I go to my Khmer tutoring sessions.  It seriously takes my breath away every time, and is even more beautiful in person. 

I woke up to this gem a few days ago.  This is my littlest host brother who is about 4 years old.   A little background on this is that no one wears helmets in my village except for me.  So it was pretty heartening to see my little host brother using the world's best helmet while riding his bike around the front yard. 

This photo is in honor of my fellow Iowan who has returned to the homeland after his two years of service.  However, before leaving,  he left me his Iowan flag so I can carry on the Iowa pride.  

This is a random photo, but this is what happens when you go to the dentist (which also happens to be the most modern looking dentist building I have ever been in) in Cambodia.  They call these Crocs "hospital shoes" and you have to don a pair of these babies before you get your teeth cleaned.  I'm pretty sure these are never cleaned, so that's a little gross, but after a year in Cambodia, putting on used Crocs is the least of my hygiene problems (no toilet paper...think about it).