Welcome Home!

Kampong Cham will be my home for the next two years. It's the third largest provincial town in Cambodia, it runs along the Mekong River and the King is from there as well. I still have to bike two hours from my village to get there but it's totally worth it...especially since this place has milk shakes, mozzerella sandwiches and pizza baguettes. Yes, it's almost like being in heaven.

Halloween in Phnom Penh...and then some

I know I'm about a month behind posting photos from Halloween (and Thanksgiving just passed) but i couldn't pass up the opportunity to post these pictures that I took when I last went to Phnom Penh for a week long teacher training workshop. All in one week we celebrated  Halloween, the King's fathers birthday (which is a national holiday) and one of my friend Kate's birthday. Needless to say, all the time that we spent there was all put to good use. :) 

Eating at a fabulous dessert shop with my awesome lady friends.

It was a requirement to have our shoes off in order to sit here. We did not mind one bit.

At one of the pubs we hang out at in Phnom Penh which is called Paddy Rice. Apparently everyone was wearing the same shirt because if you can drink three Guinesses than you can win a shirt. I'm sure the owner regretted that idea as soon as he realized that we like to take on challenges...and win!

Yup even the girls take on challenges.

I love this group photo of us!

It's not Halloween if you don't have your face painted.

Happy 90th birthday to the King's fathers birthday!

And Happy Birthday Kate!

P.S. those cakes were by far the most delicious cakes i've eaten while in Cambodia. Thank you libby for baking them.

Fried Water

There are so many things I am thankful for since I have been living at my permanate site. To name a few, I am thankful for a host mother who cooks really delicious meals and who likes to cook me vegetables and feed me all sorts of fruit, my counter part Vanny who is becoming one of my closest friends here, that there are some volunteers who live close enough for me to bike ride and visit, and that we live near a provincial city that serves western food. I've also lucked out with having such a great group of volunteers to work with and that my family and I really get along. But one of the biggest things I am thankful for is that I live by a beautiful and desolate area that have a natural spring with warm water. It's called Tuk Cha, which is translated to fried water. On one of my first weekends here we took a sunday bike ride to this area which was about an hour and half away. I love little near by get aways. I'm sure i'll be biking out as often as I can.

My friends katy and sam jumping into a small pond when we were on our way to tuk cha.

We took a wrong turn and ended up crossing the creek when we didn't have to.

Tuk Chaaaaaaa!!!

Nothing better than having a picnic with some dragon fruit, bread and some other fruits.

My counter part and Kamar tutor Vanny.

Sam, a peace corps volunteer who has been here for a year. Great friend to have live near my site.

Num bai is how you say eat rice in Kamar which is just another way to say lets eat!

After our sweet day at tuk cha we rode our bikes through the soy bean fields. Riding our bikes in this complete remote area felt so free. <3

How Many People Can You Fit In A Vehicle?

Okay, so the thing about transportation in Cambodia is that you can either travel by a bus, a van taxi or hop on the back of a moto. Due to Peace Corp's policy, volunteers are forbidden to ride a moto due to how extremely dangerous it is. This totally makes sense, especially since Cambodia does not really have a reliable ambulance transportation system and drivers never really slow down when driving down the main roads. It can be both exciting and horrifying when riding along. It depends on how you want to look at it. One of the cheapest and fastest ways, especially on a limited volunter budget, is by to taking a van taxi. However, even though it's a cheap way to travel there is still a catch...I like to call it, "how many people, chickens and bikes can you fit in a van?" The highest number of people I've counted while riding in a van was about 22 people. That's about average, I think they overdo it when they start putting people on the top of the van. Either way as crowded and hot and sweaty as it can get, it can add more to having a fun and exciting experience. I've met some interesting people and and have used the opportunity to practice my broken Kamar. I might as well help the time pass especially when mostly everyone in the van is looking at me with such intense curiosity. :) 

 On this one particular day, they added an extra person in the driver's seat. Can  you guess which person is driving?

 This lady was really sweet. We talked about her family and her home.

 My friend Erin, who is a health volunteer close to my site, also took the opportunity to teach them about dental hygiene and other health information.

I'm still amazed by this. I think my luggage is in there...somewhere.

Trying to Keep Up...

It's been a while since I've posted  a blog. Things have been a little hectic at my new site. Here's a recap on what's been happening these past few weeks:

My teaching schedule is starting to pick up.  I am now teaching at least twenty-two hours a week to 7th, 11th and 12th graders.

 I'm also startig my Khmar tutoring sessions where I'll hopefully be improving my language skills with my one hour lessons everyday.  

I've been brainstorming with my counterpart on ideas and clubs that we can get started.

I'm also training for a half marathon that will take place in about three weeks.

I've also been traveling on some of my weekends to the provincial town, Kampong Cham.

One of the volunteers who is about a two hour bike ride away, needed help with one of her projects so I, along with some other volunteers, rode our bikes and helped her paint her clinic.

 I have also been doing a ton of reading and researching on teaching skills and other resources.

And then I have also been spending time with my family and workng on getting to know them better and  vice versa.

Needless to say everything has been going great. I've been adjusting well into my new home. I have a great support system from my fellow volunteers who live in my provincial area. They're an active and athletic bunch so that kicks ass! I do have my occassional moments when I feel homesick but talking to my family and looking at photos from back home helps ease the pain a bit.

The pictures that I uploaded for this blog are photos from the home I lived in while I was living in Takeo. I haven't taken to many pictures of my new home so I figured I'd bombared you first with what my homestyle was like at my other site.  

This was my bedroom. The only reason why it's nice and clean is because this was my last day and had to move most of my belongings out. My bed is also missing the mosquto net that I had hanging.

This is where most of the delicous meals I ate was cooked on.

The kitchen

The stairs to the second floor. The one with the door open was my room.

The living/gathering/tv/storing room. The windows on the top lead to the bedrooms. The far left one is mine. My host father is also a moto mechanic which is why there's a line of motos to the right.

One of the buddhist temples my family kept. Most families in Cambodia has at least one temple in their homes adorn wtih flowers, food and other decorations.

My two host sisters in the middel along with their cousins.

This is where we sat and gathered almost everyday. It's our little spot where we eat, drink, talk and sleep.

On my last day there my host family and I exchanged some gifts. I was touched to see how beautifully wrapped they were. They gave me a few clothes and accessories which was all very sweet of them.

I gave my host sisters a bubble kit and I was happy to see that they started enjoying it right away.

For me this was probably one of the best ways to enjoy my last day with my host family.