Don't worry, I'm still constantly embarrassing myself

I feel like I haven't really lived up to the public's expectations for this blog.

Anyone can tell you that a day in the life of Kelly Grogg is really just a string of embarrassing stories.  Seriously, I have a series of school dance and public bathroom stories that are so awkward, most people think I'm making them up.  But I'm not.    

As you can imagine, plopping me down in the middle of Cambodia did nothing to alleviate my life's attraction to a few embarrassing moments.  So I'm going to make more of an effort to publicly post my most embarrassing stories for your amusement.  Here my most recent story.

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching one of my 11th grade classes, and having quite a bit of trouble getting any sort of participation from my students.  Eventually, I asked them to read the dialogue in pairs so they could practice before I called on them to read aloud.  A few of my shyer female students immediately started to point to their chests, gesturing that they had something to say.  I got WAY too excited and exclaimed to the class, "GREAT!  We already have a pair who would like to volunteer to read!"  These girls immediately started shaking their heads from side to side, looking like a couple of deer in the headlights. While I thought to myself, "What's the deal?  If you want to read just read already."  They motioned me to come in closer and whispered to me in khmer, "Teacher, um...your shirt....".

Sure enough, my shirt was almost entirely unbuttoned and the whole class got a scandalous glance at my underclothes.  I'm sure I was the talk of the town, but that did explain while it didn't feel quite as unbearably hot.  Who knows, maybe my shirt will find itself mysteriously unbuttoned from time to time in order to catch a breeze.  "Oh no!  Is my shirt unbuttoned?  I had no idea..."

My Start as an Old Cat Lady

Sometimes, life at site can get a little lonely.  So it helps to have someone else around who also doesn’t speak Khmer fluently.  Or any language fluently.  

He never really looks super happy, but he doesn't run away from me anymore!  

Meet Cat.  Well, I actually call him cha-mah, the Khmer word for cat.  But, for all intents and purposes, his English name is Cat.  Cat likes to hang around my porch a lot and has been known to sneak into my room from time to time if I leave the door open (especially if I have forgotten about a mouse trap that has gained an unfortunate resident).  Cat was a pretty skinny, little guy when we first met, but after sneaking food to him for a few weeks, he has become a regular part of the family.  My host family doesn’t always appreciate his meowing, but they bring him into the house every night and, as evidenced by his weight gain, they have started feeding him as well. 

As you can see, Cat only has three functional legs, so he’s had a pretty rough life as a Cambodian cat.  He’s got a lot of spunk and we’re not really at a point in our relationship where either one of us is willing to risk touching the other one (most animals here have fleas, rabies, or both, and I am a giant alien as far as this cat is concerned), but who knows?   We may get there one day. 

Pets aren’t really seen as companions here, but more like guard animals or they are kept around to trap mice.  Pets are so different in Cambodia that it’s a little hard to express sometimes.  I tried to explain the concept of dog food to a student the other day, and felt like a complete idiot. 

Me: “Yeah, we have these small balls of food that aren’t really food, but like a bunch of different foods put into a dried ball.  People don’t eat it, we just buy it for our dogs.”

Student: “Why don’t they just eat rice?” 

Aaaaaand of course it came full-circle back to rice. 

But seriously, it is kind of weird to think that we buy special processed food for our animals, when most people here just feed their pets whatever they have left over.  Which yes, is mostly rice. 

So hug your flea-less pets extra tight (unless you have a cobra or a fish, or something like that) and know that if you feed them rice every once in a while, they will survive.  

Two Years

Yesterday I was talking with another PCV friend over the phone and we began to broach the subject of the 2-year time commitment for Peace Corps Volunteers.  Yes, two years is a long time.  But as we were talking I realized that my first year is almost up, and I feel nowhere near finished.  We concluded the first year is basically the time you have to screw everything up, and the second year is there for you to screw fewer things up, and hopefully get something done in the process.  

Progress is something that is extremely slow-paced in Cambodia, and in most other developing countries.  It is something that is especially slow when you are coming from the outside without a complete understanding of the language, the politics and the culture.  I can’t tell you how many times these roadblocks have gotten in the way of projects I thought would be amazing, only to realize that’s not really how things work here. 

But even with all the roadblocks, I am happy to report that things are finally starting to take off.  I have been able to work with a new teacher who is really receptive to working together, and even takes time out of his day to lesson plan outside of class with me.  My English club has a core group of students who meet every week, and I absolutely love working with them.  Last week I drew up my own ESL version of Chutes and Ladders.  It was the first board game they have ever seen or played and they LOVED it (side note: I’ll be on the lookout for used and unwanted board games when I come home to visit this summer, so let me know if you’re looking to get rid of any)!

I’ve also started an English class for adults that meets three days a week, and I have a great group of bank employees who are really dedicated to improving their English so they qualify for more promotions.  Last but not least, Camp GLOW has been fully funded so we are on for the second weekend in June.  When I told one of my students that her application was very good and I would like her to attend the camp, she was jumping out of her seat and clapping her hands, she was so excited.  I am so thrilled to see what this next year has in store for me. 

But with the great progress that comes with a great time commitment, there is also this continuing fear of missing out and the perpetual homesickness that never really seems to go away.  When I think about my time here, being in Cambodia has gotten so much easier, but being away from home continues to be just as difficult as the first day I left.    This past week, my Aunt Debbie passed away from a long battle with ovarian cancer.  This period of time has been the hardest for me to be here, even though things in Cambodia have been going so well, lately.  I wanted to be with my family, and even though we could Skype, in the words of my mom “The one thing with Skype is that I still can’t hug you.” 

But the great thing about being a PCV is the new family you acquire the moment you step off the plane.  I have felt so supported by Peace Corps staff and other volunteers in the past few weeks.  Of course I wish I could have been home during this time, but I’m very much looking forward to flying home in 36 days to give my family that big hug we’ve been waiting for, and then heading back to Cambodia to finish what I started.