Quick Update On Days 4 and 5 in Cambodia

I managed to steal some internet! I am at the "training hub site" in a hotel. We are here I think until Sunday. Sunday night we move in with our first host families. There will be 3 or 4 other volunteers in the village I am in (i dont know where yet) and one LCF or Language and Cultural Facilitator, which is a Cambodian here to help us and teach us. This hotel does have a tiny bit of wifi. I couldnt get it to work yesterday, but I got it today!

So things have been very different since leaving the capital.

I am covered in mosquito bites

toilet paper is a thing of the past

my bed is infested with ants

i made out with a bug the size of a bird

cold showers are WONDERFUL

I have found whole chicken feet in my soup

and whole fish

ok ok good things now

Today we had a "basic life skills fair", where at different stations we learned how to do different things like set up the mosquito net, spray clothes with special bug spray, set up a water filter, how to use a 'squat toilet', how to rinse using a bucket, how to take a bucket bath, how to get to the outdoor bathroom without flashing your neighbors, how to hand wash clothes and hang them to dry, and how to eat with a cambodian family without horribly offending them.

we got our bikes today. mines a city bike and it has a bell AND a basket :-D

we went to the market to buy some Cambodian Professional clothing, called Sampots, as well as Sarongs (the wonderful invention that brings you to the outside bathroom without flashing everyone), and this scarf thingy.

I have learned a few more Khmer phrases, including what is your name? my name is diana. how are you? im fine. i have diarrhea. food (is actually NOM like lolcats!), rice, it's delicious, it's delicious a little (which actually means its bad), and maybe a few other things. but not really. we still havent had a language class. I think our first one might be tomorrow?? I hope. 

We play soccer in the evenings with other trainees and some teachers. it is a BLAST and I don't do too horribly bad. I made the cambodian people laugh a lot when i played goalie for a bit because every time the ball would come near me i would scream CHEWY PONG!

Khmer people are HILARIOUS! They have a wonderful sense of humor.

I played hide and go seek in the market with five little boys.

And that's pretty much a summary of the last few days.I'm learning a lot, but I am still AMAZED with how little I know about these people and how much I have yet to learn.

Pictures

1. Right off the plane at Phnom Penh airport!

2. A building in Phnom Penh. Probably something important. I dunno what.

3. A tuk tuk. They are actually not usually filled with tourists, although this one is. And in case you were wondering, 6 or even 7 Peace Corps volunteers can fit in one tuk tuk.

Welcome to Cambodia

I hope that this post is somewhat coherent. I've never been so exhausted in all my life.

Staging happened! In San Francisco. It was pretty much what I expected; a lot of paperwork and sessions, masked by cheesy ice breakers and creative short projects. I was pleased to find though that I was comfortable and found some people I enjoy talking to.

I went into class clown Diana mode. When Diana is in a new situation, she like loses her filter and just makes really bad jokes about everything. I think it's to make life seem less awkward. But I think it was okay. Some people humored me :-P

Many of us went out to get Mexican food after staging. Delish!!!! I had a giant burrito! Then, despite all I had said about wanting to tear up San Francisco, I went back to the hotel and was out like a light in no time.

The following morning we piled onto buses, to the airport, and then to the gate. Our plane was delayed! So we passed the time with some card games and I played some uke and guitar.  I called my mom and dad and emily one last time to say goodbye and A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EMILY!

hahaha I just fell asleep on my laptop. So I'm going to put this away and finish in the morning.

MORNING: Hi, this is blogging, take two.

So first we flew to Tokyo. That was about 10 and a half hours. Lucky for me (not) I wasnt seated near any of the other Peace corps volunteers. I was nicely sandwiched between two Japanese men. But I wsas talking to one who was very nice and told me a little about Cambodia because he lived there for 4 years. They showed awful movies on the plane. Both guys next to me slept nearly the entire time. I literally sat there staring at the back of the chair in front of me for 10 and a half hours haha. I have no idea how I survived.

We were in the Japanese airport for about 3 or 4 hours. I tried my first strange food. It was like... dried crab. But whole crab. Shell and all. and you eat it like a chip. t was very strange. They glazed it with some sort of sweet coating, but it still had an extremely fishy taste too. Not my favorite.

The flight from Tokyo to Bangkok in Thailand was 6 hours I think? Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well during that one. I don't know why, but I had really sharp pain in my stomach the whole time and i was very uncomfortable. I guess we'll blame the plane food? Or how about that crazy crab? Or maybe you're not supposed to eat a mass amount of gummy bears on an empty stomach. Who knows. But I'm better now.

The little piece of Bankok that we saw was so cool! The airport was very contemporary. We got into Bangkok at abour 11:30PM and we were exhausted. So we piled into buses and went to a hotel that Peace Corps so nicely provided us for the night. Some people went out for food, but I was too exhausted. The hotel was BEAUTIFUL! Probably one of the nicest I've ever been in. Only weird thing was that there was a large window between our bathroom and our room lol. creepy! Oh, btw I forgot to mention I've had a roommate this whole time. It's been fun.

After sleeping for like 4 hours, we had to get up again to go back to the airport for our final flight to Cambodia. Again, that flight was delayed. But thats okay cuz there was free wifi in the airport! The flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh was only an hour.

When we landed in Cambodia I was so excited! Everyone was saying "welcome home!" and that felt weird but exciting. Our group of volunteers is called K5. The K4s have been serving in Cambodia for a year. Many of the K4s came to meet us in the airport and cheer as we came through customs. It was a good time.

We loaded most of a luggage into a truck and said temporary goodbye to that. We will only have access to our large bag once a week during training. Thats alright, I can live off essentials for a while. I think.

Then we packed like sardines into two buses and went to two different hotels in Phnom Penh. The hotel is pretty decent. There is air conditioning and something like a shower lol. Which reminds me... Cambodia is HOT! like really hot! Like hotter than Africa and Haiti was. So humid! And we have to wear long skirts and blouses. Should be fun.

We settled into our  rooms, then got back on the bus to head to the Peace Corps office in Phnom Penh. They fed us a Khmer lunch, which was pretty good. The rice was delicious! There was some sort of egg thing. That was good. There was musy eggplant. That was alright. And there was like a fish curry. That was interesting. The vegetables were very good (you heard me right, mother). And there was some fruit. I'm not too sure how I feel about dragonfruit. I think I like it? It's almost like a really mild kiwi. Its not my favorite, but its okay I guess. They also had this spiky grape like thing. I forget what its called. That was delicious!

Then it was time for business and we went into the conference room for introductions and such. We met the new Country Director, Penny, and our Medical Officer Joanne, and everyone else that I dont remember. Joanne gave us like an hour rundown of important medical stuff; everything from how to cross the street and not die to how to kill mosquitoes using and electric tennis racket that the peace corps provides haha. We got our medical packets too.

Then we separated in separate groups for a mini tour of Phnom Penh led by a K4. My group was scheduled to get our vaccinations first. There were two rooms doing the vaccines. One was Joanne's office and the other  was 2 Cambodian Doctors. I was the first one in the Cambodian office haha. I don' think they were ready for me? Becuase they seemed very confused and almost like they didnt know what they were doing... They were like arguing with each other in Khmer and running around putting stuff together. They tried talking to me, but even though they spoke okay English it was so hard for me to understand their accent. I'm sure I'll get used to it though. So I got three vaccinations. Typhoid (SO PAINFUL) Rabies (OOOOUUUCH!) and... something else. I forget.

After my group was done we went on our Phnom Penh tour. We took tuk-tuks (carriages pulled by a moterbike) to the Central Market and we just walked around there. They had everything there like textiles, electronics, jewelry, toiletries, etc. We exchanged some money. Here, american money is pretty much accepted anywhere, but they don't use coins for smaller change. They use riels. So when buying small things its easier to have riels on you.

Then we to another Tuk Tuk to a bar where we met up with the 62 K5 and like 25 K4s. We hung out there for a while introducing ourselves and talking. The K4s were so nice and so happy to have us there. We were happy too.. but exhausted. I promised them we were more excited than we were letting on lol.

We had to sign up earlier in the day for "dinner groups" that were each going to get a different kind of food. Italian was all filled up.. so I went for Indian food! For Vinny and Emily lol. It was good. I just had chicken curry. It was very tasty and satisfying, and so was the company, but I was beyond ready for bed. Finally we were able to go back to the hotel at around 9 and call it a night. And thats when I fell asleep on my laptop.

It is now 6:18AM. Our call time is 7:25. I think its basically more orientation stuff today. who knows.

So I survived my first day of Cambodia. How do I feel you ask? Overwhelmed. Really really overwhelmed. I am so lost here and I have no idea what I'm doing. I have so much to learn. I look at the K4s and I worry that I won't be able to get this whole Peace Corps Cambodia thing down as good as them. I think its best for me to just take it one day at a time. We've been asking tons and tons of questions about what our service will be like, and its a lot to take in. It's better for me to just tackle one day at a time.

So day two, here I come.

You make it hard for me to leave

I don't know if this is actually their plan, but my friends and family are making it nearly impossible for me to leave for Cambodia in 5 days. I knew it would be hard leaving but I thought I was mentally prepping myself for this for a while. And to be honest I haven't really felt like sincere full out sadness about leaving until the last few days. So either its just finally hitting me, or my loved ones are showing me what I'm leaving behind and how crazy that is.

This whole summer has been nearly perfect. It was one of the best summers I've ever had, even though its been so short.

Yesterday was my Bon Voyage party, and I don't even know where to begin to explain it. We have never had so many people in my house before. Cars were parked up and down the entire block. Family came in from all over the place. I had family in from Jersey, Massachusetts, and even Hawaii! I am blessed with an amazing family who may not always understand my decisions, but will always back me up anyway.

All kinds of friends stopped by or stayed to hang out. I saw friends that I haven't seen in 2-3 years. Honestly, I really didn't know I had that many friends. I guess you never realize all the people that you can impact in your life. And wow, are my friends supportive or what? Many came with the sweetest, most thoughtful gifts. I can't even list all the things, but among them were music, photos, slideshows, books, movies, etc. But the gifts meant nothing compared to some things people said to me and what was written in their cards. My friends believe in me and they are proud of me, more than I ever knew.

Oh, and there was this one teensy surprise for me at my party. My favorite singer/songwriter... Julia Nunes... was hiding behind my tree lol. Ok, heres the watered down version of the story. Basically, my friends from college got together and contacted Julia and her manager. They explained their limited budget and asked if Julia would come play a show... in my backyard haha. Well she agreed. And she popped out from behind a tree and I screamed like a little girl. She played for the whole party. I got to play and sing with her. And then the coolest part was she stuck around for a little while to hang out. She let me listen to her CD that she is still working on that no one has heard yet! It was incredible! We sang for her too, a little bit of classical vocal stuff.  I still can't believe that all of this happened, and I can't believe what amazing friends I have.

The whole day was completely overwhelming. I wanted to spend hours with every person there to let them know how much they mean to me, but with so much going on I couldn't. It was nearly impossible for me to even keep track of who was here, who was leaving soon, who was on their way, etc. I hardly ate anything all day, but all the craziness was worth it. I never dreamed I'd have a support system this big.

So then why wasn't I able to sleep last night? Why was I up tossing and turning for hours? Trust me, its not because I wasn't tired. I was exhausted. All this love and attention is just making it harder and harder to leave. Leaving would be so much easier if everyone left me alone the last few days before I left. Truthfully, I'm scared now, which is something I haven't been before. I'm scared of not being able to find the happiness that I have found here. And the other thing is the amount of pressure that I feel right now. Of course this was not intentional, but with so much support inevitably comes expectations. I don't even know if I'm going to be good at this Peace Corps thing. Plenty of Volunteers don't even finish training, let alone the whole 2 years of service. I am gonna try and I am going to do my very best, but I really hope that's good enough and I am able to live up to even half of what my friends and family say they believe I can do. But it would be really awful and embarrassing if after all this, I'm home in 3 weeks.

While lying awake last night I did a lot of thinking about the twists and turns my life has taken and how God has provided. My life is proof that God makes you go through changes, and sometimes those changes cause more pain than you'd ever imagined. But God always will give you the strength and circumstances to get through it. And on the other side, you will be a much stronger person. As many know, just 4 years ago I was in a relationship that I thought was it. Even though the boyfriend was emotionally abusive, I loved him deeply and was 100% sure that was the path my life was going to take. Then it ended. I was not ok for what felt like forever. I had put everything that I was into this one person. When he was gone, I was completely empty and I didn't see any more purpose for me. A line from a Relient K always helps me understand what happened. It goes "You said I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse. If the burden seems too much to bear, remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there." And its true. God placed these people, one at a time, in my life. Slowly they dragged me up from my depression and built me up into who I am today. And last night I realized that I am more full than I have ever been. I have way more love for these people than I ever had for my ex boyfriend. And its true. I am stronger than ever. I never would have the guts to do something like the Peace Corps, had I not gone through what I had to go through. At the time, I thought it was the end my life, but on this side, I realize that it was all part of Gods perfect plan.

And now here I am again, moving on to something different. And it hurts everything within me. And part of me is saying "God, really?? I just found my niche here and I'm finally happier than I have ever been!". But from experience I know that God will always give me ways to make these changes and then glorify him.

So friends and family, thank you for everything. Whether you've known me since birth, since middle school, or just a few short years, every second I have spent with you has been a gift and has shaped me into what I am today. Knowing that you are responsible for shaping me, I hope you are proud of what I have become, and I hope you know of your right to share in every triumph I have made and will make, because without you it would be impossible.

I am going to Cambodia and I am so excited. I'm ready to work hard and learn as much as I can about the people and about myself while I am there. And then you know what? Before we all know it, I will be home. I will have amazing insights and experiences to share with all of you. I am excited to see what the future brings, not just for me, but for all of us. Welcome to the first day of the rest of our lives.

And here's to my welcome home party in October, 2013!

Packing Fail.

I'm not even close to being done packing and I already have over 80 lbs of luggage. Geeehhhh what do I doooo?

I was afraid I'd have this problem.

Allow me to use this blog to try to diagnose the problem.

I have one suitcase that has about 50lbs in it (which is the most you can have in one suitcase). In that suitcase is all my clothes, a bag of toiletries I'll need on a daily basis, my shoes, towel, sewing kit, a binder of movies, and ziploc bags. Hm. 50 lbs seems like its a lot for just that stuff. Did I pack too many clothes?? maybe. Ok, Let me go through my clothes and try to consolidate...

20 minutes later: I got rid of 8 articles of clothing. I also put back a pair of flip flops. I decided 4 pairs of flip flops are excessive. So now I have 1 pair for the shower and 2 to walk around it. I would get rid of all the flip flops and just buy there, but I'm a size 10 shoe and something tells me its going to be near impossible to find shoes my size in cambodia. With the new room in my suitcase I was able to fit my hats (i put 2 back though, leaving me with 5. i like hats), a pencil box, my headlamp, and deet. I guess that's slight improvement.

I have a small suitcase that I was going to use to put most of the rest of my stuff in. I just weighed the suitcase. It's 6lbs. Is that a lot for a small suitcase? Maybe tomorrow I'll look at kohls and see if they have a miraculous giant suitcase that weighs in at like 2 lbs.

-I have a bag of toiletries I have to take. That's 6 lbs there.
-I have a box of church-y stuff. I need that because I'm my own pastor, worship leader, and devotion leader over there. So there's another 5 lbs.
-Those are the bigger things. Then I have a bunch of small things I have to throw in the suitcase. Let's say that theres about 10 lbs worth of paper, sunglasses, belts, drink mixes, address book, backpack, water bottle, and glasses.

Now here's the part where it's going to start to hurt.
-I have 8lbs of books I wanted to bring to read...
-I have 10+ lbs of printed music I wanted to bring to practice/study/find comfort in.

10 mins later: I now have 6 lbs of books and 8 lbs of music. Apparantly Handel's Messiah weighs a lot haha. It was sad to put that back. I really should take my Music Theory textbook out of the book stack, but I don't want to! I wonder if I'm the first Music Major to go on to do the Peace Corps. Probably not, but I would love to know how past people coped with leaving music study for so long. And if I'm debating doing music again after the Peace Corps, I can't allow myself to get too rusty.

I'm the worst Peace Corps packer ever. I swear I'm not materialistic. I just.. have packing issues? I dunno. I'm leaving this for the night though. I will re-evaluate in the morning.

I have started packing! Movies galore!

Staging is in 15 days. Time to start moving on all this packing and purchasing of essential items.

Today, I bought many necessary items.

And I packed... movies! One of the things I purchased was a disc case that holds 96 discs. So far I have packed:

Nightmare on Elm Street
Platoon
Edward Scissorhands
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Ed Wood
Don Juan DeMarco
Nick of Time
The Ninth Gate
Chocolat
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Finding Neverland
Secret Window
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Pirates of the Carribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Shrek 2
Shrek the Third
Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
High School Musical
High School Musical 2
High School Musical 3
Juno
Bean the Movie
National Treasure
Anchorman
The Iron Giant
Holes
The Incredibles
Haunted Mansion
Freaky Friday
Marley and Me
The Phantom of the Opera
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Finding Nemo
Ice Age
Happy Feet
Up
Mean Girls
Matilda
Bruce Almighty
A Walk to Remember
Rat Race
August Rush

TV shows I have packed are:

Degrassi Season 1
Degrassi Season 2
Family Guy: The Freakin Sweet Collection
Spongebob Squarepants Sea Stories
Spongebob Squarepants Lost at Sea
Spongebob Squarepants Tales from the Deep


One of the things I told me friends and family that would be a really sweet gift was their favorite movie/TV show. I still have 34 slots available in my movie case!

I'm missing some weird ones. For example I have Shrek 2, 3, and 4, but not the first one. Same with the Lord of the Rings. I have 2 and 3, but not the first one. I also sadly only have the first 2 seasons of Degrassi.

Music is also a cool gift, and that I guess you could say I've already packed. I have my new sturdy laptop, and I have already filled it with most of my music. If you have a favorite CD, artist, song, piece, composer, performance, playlist, etc, that would be a really cool thing to give me.

Wanna know how people really feel about you? Join the PC.

Even more interesting than your own reaction to a Peace Corps invitation is the reaction of your friends and family. You can be sure that some reactions will surprise you, both good and bad.

There are the inevitable old friends who you are surprised to see that they haven't even tried to reach out to you to say congratulations, good luck, goodbye, anything. Everyone knows that when growing up, your friends change and lets face it: as close as you were in high school, its probably not going to last. ah well.

There are friends and family who became so emotional over the fact that I am leaving that it just completely caught me off guard and shocked me. I guess sometimes I just don't realize how much I mean to people. It still baffles me sometimes, but maybe that's my own insecurity getting in the way of me knowing that I will be missed. There were even family members who I only see a couple times a year who surprised me. I know they care about me, but I guess I never realized how much.

Then there are family members who are completely against the whole idea. They tell me it's a bad idea, that I can't do it, and I should quit before I even start. I have learned to actually almost take this as a good thing. To a lot of family members I am still a little girl who needs protection from older bigger people. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't need protection in the Peace Corps. But I am not a little girl anymore and I am smart. I am smart enough to take care of myself and seek out my own protection from the resources I have available. As I've grown up, graduated high school and college, my family has told me to dream big, follow my dreams, and that I can do anything I set my mind to. I guess this isn't exactly what they had in mind, but I think they will come to realize that this is the right thing for me to be doing right now. Anyways, as much as I wish they would see things the way I do, their protectiveness is flattering in that I know it's just because they don't want to risk anything bad happening to someone they care about. I get that..

Finally, there are some friends, acquaintances, and family members who are so supportive, and THAT is a surprise. I have friends, who before this I had never had a serious conversation with in my life, sit down with me and tell me how proud they are of me and how much they look up to me for what I'm doing. Wow. I've had tons of people contact me asking me questions about the Peace Corps and how they too can look into getting involved in something like that. Good news Peace Corps, I'm already working on the Third Goal! lol. I'm sharing the experience I haven't even had yet on the homefront.

Anyway, I thought that was all interesting.

21 days left. Then San Francisco for staging. Then Cambodia. I have to change my location on Peace Corps Journals soon. cool.

Packing/ shopping for necessary items is not going well. If you see me, please drag me to a store or make me sit down and do all the things that I need to do. Cause to be honest I'm having trouble getting of the couch and turning spongebob off. lol

On a completely different note, I put up a new video on youtube the other day. It's a video of the Ukulele Ensemble at college that I started playing an arrangement I wrote of Bizet's Habanera. Of course there is a comical twist. Enjoy.