2 Months, 2 Things

I'll be homeward bound in 2 months.

2 Things I can't wait for:

1. Places of interest being open past 6PM
2. Proudly telling people I am a RPCV- Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Not former. Not ex-PCV. Returned.

2 Things I don't want to leave:

1. Being surrounded by nature- looking out of my window and seeing rice fields instead of a parking lot, cooking, eating, and generally hanging out outside, etc.
2. Helping take care of my baby niece Solita, and watching her grow and learn

Here are some more pictures from the Peace Corps/KOICA day trip to Kampong Cham

Rubber trees ad jumping!

Climbing Phnom Sryee

Wat Nakor

These are pictures of Solita when she was just 5 days old! Now she's almost 8 months old!

Happy In My Village

                No matter what kind of fancy, expensive, delicious places I go to, I am always happy to come home to my village. And I realize how very cool that is. Okay, so the actual travelling to my village is something I dread, but once I get home, that’s exactly how I feel- like I’m finally home. And this time was no exception, when I finally came home after our Close of Service (COS) conference.

                I had such a great day. It was so simple, but I just enjoyed being in Cambodia, and being in Prey Veng. I really do love the here and now.

                Here are the types of things that make a PCV happy, all based on stuff that occurred today.

• Good food. Not necessarily American food, but just food that you want to eat. For lunch, I made myself a mean grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. That was a treat because I just came from Phnom Penh and brought home a few supplies to last a couple days. Then for dinner my family made a delicious meal of fried pork, potatoes, rice, and mangoes. Mmmmmm.
• Small successes. Like being able to adapt a letter to the Provincial Office of Education in the Khmer language with minimal help from a Cambodian counterpart.
• Good lessons. Okay, so the 10^th grade students might not have learned that much from my lesson today. But they came to class- the only class that bothered to stay this afternoon. They participated despite the heat. They asked questions. They joked around with my counterpart and me.
• Onkoy Laing “sit-play” time. I spent time with my sister and two nieces after lunch. My 7 month old niece beats her hands like a drum every time she sees me, because it is like our special game. Later that afternoon, I sat on the grass in a circle with 4 of my favorite female students. We were supposed to study music, but only those 4 showed up, and for today we just preferred sitting and chatting. We sat there for 45 minutes teasing each other and throwing blades of grass on each other’s laps.
• Gifts. I brought bottles of kool-aid and a couple movies dubbed in Khmer for my host family. Kimla especially liked the sweet blue kool-aid and my sister immediately put Tomb Raider into the DVD player (which was also a gift from me and my family). My sister bought me 2 cans of coke while I was gone, because they know how much I like it. Also, while I was teaching my 10^th grade class, one of my 11^th grade Honor Society kids came over to the window and tried to discreetly call me over (not discreet at ALL! haha). She handed me 1 kilo of heavenly fresh avocados. Her grandfather visited her last weekend from Mondulkiri, and she asked him to pick up a kilo of avocados just for me, because she knows how much I love that treat.
• Contact from overseas. Even just a simple hello in an email or on facebook can easily make my day. Extra points if you actually care enough to make skype happen. Early this morning I went over to the amazing new gas station a couple miles away that has WIFI. The WIFI even works sometimes too! There’s nothing better than seeing the faces of the people you love. Technology rocks.
• Relaxing time. Time to sit in a hammock with a good book, or with new awesome headphones and a broken ipod. After lunch is a great time to find a place in the shade, and chill out for a short time. I watched that weird looking orange and yellow lizard climb the tree. I counted the fish jumping in the pond next to me.

When these things all come together, the other stuff doesn’t matter. Like having no electricity all day. or my computer dying. Or taking a bath in the dark, dumping mosquito larvae all over my body. Or hunching over a bucket scrubbing laundry for more than an hour in the hot sun.

I wouldn’t be in a position to take the good things if I also didn’t receive the frustrating-at-times things.

I hope tomorrow is this good!

Click here to see a video of my students and I dancing and singing a Khmer song

teaching my honor society

I went to a local fortune teller.

She said I was going to marry a rich black man only 3 months after the day I met her. This was almost a year ago now. I think she was wrong.

Sam and I took a day trip to Kampong Cham with the Prey Veng KOICA volunteers

tuk tuk

pizza! and pasta!

I make friends with cats everywhere I go <3

Hahaha. Clearly the only ones who know how to take pictures are the 3 in the middle. And that girl all the way on the right. Work it, gurl!

The pagoda on top of Phnom Bro

what? lol.

The Finished Library Project

Outside the library

                A little over a year ago, many of you will remember that I started work on a library development project at the high school. I saw that there was no library at my school, and even the system for lending out textbooks was disorganized and flawed. More importantly, I saw that students had nothing to do when teachers were absent from class. Many students would just leave school out of boredom, or they would horse around in the classrooms.

finished library

                I proposed the idea of a library to my school, and to Peace Corps, and after much planning and budgeting, I proposed it to you- my supportive friends and family in America. So this blog is to let you know exactly what your money went to, and to thank you from myself and from my village for your donations.

The librarian Rothavy, updating the inventory list

                The first thing we did was to organize the collection of old textbooks from the last 40 years. We got rid of unusable textbooks, and organized the ones still in use. After that we cleaned out an old classroom being used for a storage room and painted it with bright welcoming colors. We even painted a big world map outside the library, which students visit on a daily basis to see how many countries they can recognize and see who can be the first to find Cambodia.

The Librian's desk

                About 35% of the funds went to bookshelves. Good strong bookshelves are so important, because they need to outlast Cambodian elements including rats, snakes, spiders, leaking roofs during monsoons, termites, dust, mud, and more. We bought sturdy glass and metal shelves with sliding doors.

Stools for the 7th graders to see

                The rest of the funds went toward books and office supplies. We also received book donations from local people and local organizations. We now have well over 1000 books, covering a wide range of topics in both Khmer and English.

The English, Dictionary, and Khmer History sections

                I spent many weeks organizing the books in the library, and creating a system that is easy to follow and easy to sustain after I’m gone. Books are organized by language and by topic, and placed in sections based on colored stickers.

The sections chart

                With the help of counterparts, we furnished the library with tables, desks, and chairs. I decorated the walls with library rules, charts, and maps. Then finally, I gave 2 teachers and 10 students helpers training on running the library.

The Library rules in Khmer and English (yes with my baby-ish Khmer writing)

                Now the library is open 5 days a week, 2 hours each day. On average, about 30-40 students visit the library each day. The most popular books are the Khmer fiction books and the English animal books. There is also a borrowing policy. Students in grades 10-12 can get a library card for the year, and can borrow one book for 2 weeks at a time. Every day an average of 6-8 students borrow a book from the library. There are 2 librarians, and both work very efficiently 5 hours each a week. They have told me time and time again how wonderful it is to see Cambodian students actually enjoying independent reading. They admitted to doubting me from the beginning, but are thrilled to say how wrong they were.

A Library Card

                I could not be more proud of the students and the librarians as I completely step back and let them take over the library. This project has turned out even more successful than I had dared to hope. This library will be catering to students and teachers for years to come. Thank you so much to all the people who generously donated, who trusted in me as a project coordinator, and who cared about these students on the other side of the world. 

The Return Table for students to put their books after reading

A thank you sign to all the counterparts that helped and continue to help on this project

English Fiction, and English Geography

They love the Khmer storybooks

A very very special thank you goes out to Arlene R., Barbara G., Carol F., Chelsea W., Daniel B., Debra L., Diane C., Donna B., Erica G., James and Betty L., Jess B., Joan P., Joseph B., Kaellen H., Kitty C., Kathryn F., Pamela P., Rene W., and Thomas L.

None of this would have been possible without you.