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.