A Dance Night with the Family

(Family cousin, my younger sisters, Kimvong and Lecheang.)

When my training host family in Takeo told me that they wanted to throw me a going away dinner party I was completey touched, surprised and honored. And when they told me to invite my friends I was even more thrilled. At first I was a little hesitant and shy that they wanted to go all out and do for this me because I didn't want them to go to so much trouble on my behalf but the more I tried to talk them out of it the more they kept pushing the idea that they were going to go ahead and do this. After living with them for two months I realized that once they have their hearts set on doing something than there's no turning back.

Home cooked steaks and pork.

 My host dad on the right with his brother and one of  his friends having a pre-party before our dinner party.

 My family made some delicous curry. It was such a great feast. I'm so happy I got to share it with my family and friends.

 Alison, Arnaldo, Socheata and Andrea.

 After filling our stomachs my family wanted to keep the party going. The best way they knew how was by dancing. They turned on some Kamar music and started having us dance around in a circle, which is a traditional Kamar way of dancing. Better yet, throw in a chair with a bunch of flowers placed on top of it in the middle of the circle and your set!

 Of course there's no shying away and backing down from dancing. In fact, there really is not point. It was so much fun dancing around and my family enjoyed our american input mixed in with the kamar version so much that they started recording us.

 After dancing for almost an hour straight my friends were getting ready to head back home. My family wasn't ready for them to leave so in order to keep them from going they put on J Lo's song "Get on the Floor." I can't tell you how popular that song is here and how much the Kamar people love it. But once they played it we were hooked and back on the dance floor.

(My host mother, her sister, my yay, and younger sister.)

Pchum Ben

Three days before I was to move away from my training site I woke up at the three in the morning to meet up with some of my friends and language instructors. We met up and biked our way in the dark to the watt (buddhist temple) and participated in the Cambodian holiday, Pchum Ben. Pchum Ben is a religious Cambodian festival that lasts for fifteen days. The last three days are probably the most exciting. Family comes in from out of town and spend time with their loved ones, eat food allllllllllllllllllll day, go to the watt and pray, and take time off from work. Pchum Ben also reminds of Dias De Los Muertos because it's a holiday  where Cambodians pay their respects to their relatives who have passed away. Cambodians offer food and prayers to their deceased relatives and during Pchum Ben it is believed that the gates of hell open up and the souls of relatives are able to find their way back home to benefit from the the food offerings and prayers.   

Plates of fruit and rice are made for the ceremony and for the monks at the watt.

After the plates of food are placed on the ground for the monks and spirits the monks and everyone else begin to chant for the next fifteen minutes.

Then after wards we walked outside of the watt and began throwing balls of sticky rice at small temples that are placed around the watt. Throwing the balls of sticky rice signifies the food offering for the Cambodian's ghost relatives.

I wanted to capture the moon at four in the morning.

Even though I had to wake very up early in the morning it was a small sacrafice to make in order to be apart of Pchum Ben. I'm glad I was able to participate it with my friends and language instructors. It was a great way to end my time at my training village with my wonderful host family. They welcomed me into their home with a great big open heart. The least I could do was to show them the love and respect I have for them, their culture and their religion. <3

Mexican Food in Cambodia! It's Like Music to My Ears

Right before we left our training site we had a day all to ourselves where we got to cook whatever we wanted. This was to help us learn how to cook and survive on our own. Unanimously, we all voted to cook Mexican food; it's cheap, easy, and delicous.

Tim, Kate and Sam were in charge of making some of the guacamole.

We also had some mac and cheese which we were also pretty excited about eating. Not having to much access to cheese can get any cheese lover excited when ever it's around. I know I was jumping for joy and I hardly ever ate mac and cheese back at home.

We also didn't have enough plates or untensils but that did not keep us from finishing it all up.

Amelia, Arnaldo and I worked on frying the tortillas. Now that i've learned how to make tortillas I feel like I want to make them all the time now for my host family. I can't wait to go back home to show my mom that I know how to be a better cook.

This is mostly everyone from my training village gathered around ready to eat a good meal that we all worked so hard putting together. They have all been an amazing, funny and supportive bunch of people. I'm glad that we all had our training site together and that we have all had a chance to get to know one another. I love them all.

Our final product. In the end we were able to whip up guacamole, spanish rice, spicey black beans and veggie burritos all mixed in with cheese and sour cream. Talk about a good home cooked meal. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmm. :)

Our very own private island

A week before moving to our permanent site, peace corps sent us on a little Kampuchia adventure to the rabbit islands, which is located in southern part of cambodia, right off the Gulf of Thailand. After eight weeks of training it was a much needed vacation...one which we all could not wait for.

Before arriving on the island we stopped at a resort that had a nice and relaxing pool. Also, if you paid six dollars for a breakfast buffet, (which is considered very expensive in Cambodia) than you can swim in the pool for free. We definitely took up both offers. The breakfast was so good that we went back the next morning to stuff ourselves all over again.

In order for us to get to our island we needed to take a 20-30 minute boat ride. It was something that I was very excited for but once i got on that boat I quickly changed my mind.

Neysa, Jill and corey looking very excited for rabbit island.

Amanda, Ashley, Eric, Diana and Vanessa.

As you can see, the boat is not leveled out with the water or even the island. It just goes to show how unsteady this boat was. I couldn't help but feel very scared. There was a lot of splashing going on.

But once we got to the island I could see that it was all worth it.

We had to walk another fifteen minutes just to get our final destinination.

Then after trenching through the bushes and wet trail we feasted our eyes on this glorious site.

Including us thirty-one volunteers, there must of been at least twenty other people on this island. We had the whole island left to ourselves to stay up late at night, build a bomb fire, jump in the water and not have a care in the world.

Jill and Andrea giving the thumbs up.

This was one of our rooms in our sweet bungalow

Even though there was no sun and there was a storm coming through it did not throw us off from having a great time. The water was not to cold, the waves were not to strong and at night I got to see the most amazing things ever. The bio luminescent algae, it's like seeing lightning bugs but underneath the water. The algae gets excited every time you splash the water and then they light up. It was beautiful.

Thank you Rabbit Islands for making this a memorable trip. We definitely plan on being back. <3

The Bioluminescent Group! <3<3

Just taking a stroll...

The count down for our last few days at our training has begun. In order to embrace our last moments here, my language instructor and the other members in my group decided to take a break and just go out for an enjoyable bike ride.

The view from sitting inside the market

My friends, Amie and Bruce sitting around drinking some delicous coconut juice.

Behind the curtain is a bed where some of the people who work here can lie down and rest if they want to.

This is our ming (aunt) cutting up some coconuts. She is a very loving and caring woman. Her spot was the hangout spot for all of us trainees. She cooked some of the most declious food and her coffee wasn't to bad.

A few of the children that we got to meet on our bike ride adventure.

Corey talking with the children and trying to use his best kamar.

My language group, corey, bruce, amy and vanny.

My wonderful language instructor, Vanny, teaching a little boy how to

After riding our bikes for a bit we came across a group of children where they offered us some jack fruit.

It's sweet and juicy and you have to pick out the soft parts using your fingers. It's a little hard to eat but they are worth eating once you're able to.

I'm definitely going to miss riding my bike in Takeo. Any hidden back road that i have taken to either bike or run through has always amazed me with it's breath taking and beautiful site. It's nice to see that i'm not the only one that feels that way...i'm sure the cow is enjoying his view as well.