Diana At the Crossroad: December 2012

Previously, I did a post running through one of my busiest days of the week.

Now, here is a run through of a day when I'm not really busy.

6:03	I naturally woke up, but refused to acknowledge that, because it’s Wednesday and I don’t teach Wednesdays.
7:31	I finally got out of bed. My room was heating up like the oven it is. And my mosquito net was like an oven within an oven. I sat down at my computer and checked emails and facebook.
7:53	Morning bathroom run. Then I changed in some yoga pants and a loose T-shirt. I brushed my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail.
7:59	I grabbed a tea bag and an oatmeal packet and went downstairs. I took out my small gas stove and boiled water. I took sugar from my host family’s stores. I carefully sifted through the sugar trying to avoid the ants. I knew I probably scooped up some ants anyway. But the good thing about ants is that they float, so even if I do put ants in my tea, I can pick them out when I add water. I ate my oatmeal- raisin and spice- at the table, and then took my tea to the hammock. I sipped the tea and watched the birds, and listening to the fish jumping in the pond behind our house. Then I did my breakfast dishes, and brushed my teeth.
8:36	I left for the library.
8:43	I arrived at the library and found it full of WAY too many students. Children were crammed into the room poring over books. All the shelves were in disarray because the student librarian helper couldn’t come today. So I jumped right in picking up after the students, putting books back, picking up fallen stacks of books, and moving books back into their right places.
9:20	The bell rang, and the students emptied out, thank goodness. I used this time to take pictures of the library for a fellow PCV, who is also doing a library project and wants to see examples. My librarian helped me out, pulling every book out of the desk and pointing out things I’ve missed. I chatted it up with her while we did this. I told her about the monitor lizard I saw at my house yesterday. She had never seen anything like that before. I showed her a picture, and she couldn’t believe it. I also whined about how nobody ever tells me when there is a school holiday. Like yesterday, when I arrived at school and 7AM to find the entire 12^th grade building completely empty. We laughed about how Cambodia has so many ridiculous holidays- the most in Asia! No new students came to the library. For the last 10 minutes or so, I read my book Music and Silence by Rose Tremain. And then I closed all the bookshelves and stacked the chairs.
10:00	I left the library. On the way off school property I bumped into my most reliable co-teacher, Rithy on his moto. He stopped to say hi. I told him that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am riding my bike to Pea Reing to celebrate with another PCV. He asked about the holiday, and I tried to explain its importance to my culture. I tried to make it sound exciting, with the whole family coming together and eating the most delicious meal of the whole year, but I’m afraid I didn’t do it justice. It’s hard to describe Thanksgiving. I told him I should definitely be back in time on Friday to teach the afternoon class with him. We parted ways.
10:17	I arrived home and sat down with my host sister for a few minutes. I told her about my Thanksgiving plans. Keke came over to sniff the baby. I said “KEKE come here,” which he did and my sister was amazed, exclaiming that the dog knows English. Well, of course he will come because he knows that I’ll actually show him a little love and rub his ears.
10:20	I went upstairs and sat under my fan. I caught up on some emails involving plans for the Create Cambodia Arts Festival project. I emailed committee members, and one of our partnering organizations.
11:03	I sat and thought about what I should eat for lunch… I decided on a bag of Korean noodles, given to me from a Korean volunteer who live in Prey Veng town. The Korean volunteers pity me because they make twice as much as I do. I accept their pity because I often get free food out of it J. I also decided to make one of my boxes of chocolate pudding.
11:06	I made the noodles and the pudding at the same time. I quickly ate my noodles because I was excited for the pudding. It was good. I also shared with my 2 house sisters and my niece. My niece particularly liked it. My host sister said she prefers jello. I put the rest in the fridge.
11:49	I washed my dishes.
12:00	I grabbed my book and went out back to the hammock. Now that I’m about 80% finished with the book, it’s starting to almost get interesting lol.
12:47	I went upstairs and realized I forgot to check my bible verse this morning. I read through it (But now thus says the Lord, he who created you. He who formed you. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are mine). Then I wrote “redeemed” on my inner wrist. I contemplated that word. What does it mean? You can redeem a prize. Or you can redeem yourself after doing something foolish. So it’s like God brings us back up after past foolishness. I dig it.
12:55	Now, for the thing I quite literally can’t wait any longer to do… laundry. All 6 pairs of pants/shorts I own are dirty. My hamper is overflowing. I take about 2/3 of it downstairs to wash today. I also take my ipod and put on Relient K’s album Five Score and Seven Years Ago. I fill the family’s big bucket with rain water and powder laundry soap. Then I add the clothes. I scrub each article of clothing individually with a wooden scrub brush, as well as in between my fists. Then I wring out the soapy water and place it back in the hamper. After I’ve scrubbed all the clothes, I empty out the dirty water, and fill it back up again, and throw the clothes back in. Then I repeat the scrubbing and wringing out again.
1:53	I deem my clothes clean enough. I go upstairs to hang them on the line.
2:03	Sweating from doing laundry, I go to my room to sit under my fan to find.. the electricity is out again! NOOOOOO!!!!! Instead, I go downstairs to eat more pudding.
2:13	I wanted to get my computer and go bring it to the hammock, so I went upstairs to get my computer. By the time I got it, it started raining. So the hammock was out of the question because I’d get wet. Instead, I just sat down on the upstairs porch. I just sat and watched the rain. I watched my sister and my niece pull in the freshly harvested rice, that was laid out on tarps in our front yard drying in the sunlight. I watched the road, with the motos and trucks and tractors and ox carts go by, many trying unsuccessfully to protect themselves or whatever they were travelling with dry. It ends up just being a short, light rain.
2:37	I got my computer and brought it out to the porch. I watched 2 episodes of Glee. I hate the show, but in the Peace Corps you have time to watch entire seasons of TV shows you don’t even like. I have so many issues with the show, which I’d love to whine about if you’re interested. But I’m in love with the actor who plays Mike Chang. He’s like a manlier version of K Pop stars who can actually dance.
4:06	I convinced myself I have no excuse to not go running today. So I dragged myself into my room and changed in basketball shorts and sneakers.
4:12	I set my ipod timer for 46 minutes and went off on my run. I am grateful that it is cloudy but it is still so HUMID. I feel super slow today. But I’m listening to my carefully selected half marathon playlist, so it helps. I mouth all the words, and occasionally play air drums as I’m running. It helps keep my mind off the fact that I can’t breathe. I run a ways on a dirt path through the rice fields. Some of the square fields are already harvested, but plenty aren’t yet. I try to take in the dark green color of the tall stems. After all, I will very likely never see rice fields at this stage again. On my way, I pass a duck farm and the stench makes me want to die. I also pass a few farmers. At this point, they know me and see me out here almost every day. At first they were bewildered by what I was doing, and would stare at me or make slightly rude comments as I passed. But after some time, and after explaining what I’m doing and why I do it here in their rice fields, they are used to me. They smile big at me and wave when I run past them, and ask me if I’m exhausted yet. It’s cool. There’s a river at the end of the dirt road, so I have to turn around and run back to the highway. I still have 12 minutes left, so I run for a ways on the highway, which is less pleasant because of the trucks beeping at me, and the people on motos pointing and laughing as they drive by. Rithy passes me on his moto. As he’s passing, he waves and I hear him say “oh” so surprised. I look down and realize that I have a really really impressive sweat stain covering 90% of my shirt. Plus, I know my face is beet red. From here I run all the way home, and run into the driveway just as my alarm goes off. I figure I ran almost 5 miles? But maybe that’s a generous number, I don’t really know. I chug a whole bottle of water downstairs while my host family gapes at me. They ask me “how far today??” I tell them “8 kilometers.” They laugh and shake their heads, basically saying “gurl u crazy.”
5:05	I take a bath and love every second of it. Bucket baths with rain water are not bad when you’re this sweaty.
5:17	I got dressed- back into the same pants I was wearing today. My freshly washed clothes aren’t even close to dry yet. I lament over the fact that I cant turn on my fan to dry my sweaty clothes.
5:27	I opened my door to go downstairs and eat dinner, and the color of the sky literally takes my breath away. I don’t know why, but everything was gold. There was a golden yellow light that went beyond the sky. It turned the trees gold and the houses gold and the ground gold. It was beautiful. I sat down at the table with my chair facing out so I could watch the rest of the sunset. I watched the colors change from gold to dark blue to black. By the time it got to dark blue, the mosquitoes were out so I tried to quickly eat my dinner of stir fried chicken and ginger. The past few weeks, there has been a RIDICULOUS amount of mosquitoes. Literally, there are clouds of them that form around you in the evenings. I finished just as it got dark.
5:47	I turned on my headlamp and sat down at my desk. I began work on some grant applications for the Create Cambodia festival.
5:53	YES!!!! Electricity came back! I continued with my work, but this time without my headlamp.
6:39	I put the grants away and started this blog. The mouse that lived in my room keeps coming next to me to check out my garbage. I scare him away by moving my foot every time he comes back. He’s so tiny, unlike the rats I used to have. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful my vast rat problem has turned into a tiny mouse problem.
7:31	I got sick and ran to the bathroom. Then came back and blogged more.
7:57	I changed into my PJs- basketball shorts and a t-shirt- and brushed my teeth for the night.
8:04	I stopped to talk to my host brother. He asked me why I wasn’t sleeping yet. I said… because it’s 8:00. He laughs and says oh, I thought it was 10 already. Then I told him I’m leaving in the morning for Pea Reing. He tells me that might be a problem because they are supposedly closing the road because Prime Minister Hun Sen is passing through. We decided I can probably get by anyway if I pretend I don’t speak Khmer. I told him I do that all the time anyway if I’m passing by police in town or in Phnom Penh. They are never confident enough in their English to stop me or to ask me anything.
8:19	I discover the mouse is now travelling UNDER my paper flooring. I’m not even mad. I’m impressed. I didn’t know that was possible.
8:21	Another episode of Glee. Nothing else to do in Cambodia at 8:30 at night. Then I turned out the light and crawled into my mosquito net and watched an episode of Modern Family.
9:32	Finally, I read until I fell asleep.