Recap, 45 Things

I have 2 days left as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Here is a recap of all the things I listed on my "__ Months, __ Things" series. Plus, I'm still trying to catch up with pictures.

Things I can't wait for in America

1. Grass
2. Toilet Paper
3. Snow
4. Wearing my hair down
5. Clean feet
6. My bedroom Walls
7. My mom
8. WIFI
9. Chicken Parm and burritos and all other SMOTHERED food items.
10. Driving a car
11. Singing at the top of my lungs while driving a car
12. Cushioned seats and couches
13. Ovens
14. Leopold, the best dog in the world
15. Christmas lights and trees
16. Trash cans and garbage trucks
17. Not being famous
18. Dr. Pepper
19. Printers and scanners
20. Wifi
21. Getting your own seat on all modes of transportation
22. Wearing sweatshirts
23. Wearing sneakers
24. Deoderant
25. Meeting new members of the family, including 3 nephews and a sister-in-law
26. Finding out what the Harlem Shake is
27. Radio
28. Nice roads
29. Musical Harmony
30. My violin
31. Church
32. Schools with discipline systema and teacher accountability
33. Rat/fire ant/gecko/tarantula – free houses
34. New York City
35. Plumbing
36. A real mattress
37. Breakfast foods for breakfast
38. Carpet
39. Dairy products
40. Delivery
41. Barbeques
42. Drinking from the tap. And taking showers with my mouth open.
43. Places of interest being open past 6PM
44. Proudly telling people I am a RPCV- Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Not former. Not ex-PCV. Returned.
45. Now maybe this is far too general, but I can't wait for the future. I mean that I can't wait to start this next chapter of my life. Up to this point, every couple of years could be neatly organized into "chapters"- Peace Corps, College, etc. The next chapter is starting, and I honestly don't know what it's going to all be about. I have some ideas, some of which could potentially make me very happy. I guess I'll figure out over the next few months where this chapter will lead me.

Things I don't want to leave in Cambodia

1. Palm trees
2. Afternoon naps
3. Making my own work schedule
4. Sting and Samurai sodas
5. Korean Pop
6. Getting clothes made by tailors
7. My honor society students
8. Speaking Khmer
9. Hammocks
10. Being famous
11. Being called Teacher like it’s my name
12. Monkeys
13. Beer with ice and a straw
14. Students standing in respect when I enter a room
15. Vast green rice fields
16. Pink and orange sunrises and sunsets over the vast green rice fields
17. Nom Pow and Jayk K’tee
18. Super cheap hotels
19. Elephants
20. Cambodian Iced Coffee
21. Detail manicure/pedicure for 50 cents
22. Tuk tuk rides
23. Reading and writing Khmer
24. Cambodian Rice
25. Half a can of soda in a bag with a straw
26. Having visitors and being a tour guide
27. Going to bed at 8:30PM
28. Having time to read a few novels a month
29. Yeys (grandmas) touching my butt
30. My adorable 7^th grade groupies
31. Mangoes
32. My “ladies”. My coffee lady. My phone card lady. My nail lady. My sugarcane juice lady. etc
33. My bike. It’s crap, but we’ve been through a lot together
34. Shootin’ the breeze with my host sister or brother
35. My very good friend Rithy
36. The Korean volunteers and missionaries I’ve made friends with
37. My little Khmer church
38. Each individual student’s laughter
39. Bartering for everything
40. Eating on the floor
41. My sisters and brothers in Takeo and Prey Veng
42. The way Khmer people WANT to sit and listen to me play music and sing
43. 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
44. Helping take care of my baby niece Solita, and watching her grow and learn
45. Being a volunteer. In this life, every day I wake up with an opportunity to make a difference in peoples' lives on the other side of the world. It's never easy, but on the rare occasion when something goes right, it's the best feeling in the world. Here, I have time for others and for making a difference. I don't have to worry about work getting in the way because it IS my work. I know I'll always find ways to do what I can for this world, but I know it will never be in this way ever again. 

This is from a "Planning Your Future" workshop

I didn't teach the workshop, I just coordinated it

Student volunteers from the Royal University of Phnom Penh taught the workshop

40 Students in grades 11 and 12 came

They learned about university, the different types of major, studying abroad, making goals, etc.

One activity was a board game similar to Life

In the game they had to make decisions, and then see where "life" took them

They got really into it

One morning I woke up and found this spider on my trunk. It's bigger than my hand.

This is my school

Buildings and classrooms are lined up on the right and left hand side of the middle dirt road

Some buildings are concrete

Some are wooden

At the end of the dirt path is a basketball court, the flag, and the school office.

My Village Then and Now

                Here I am, closing out on two years. Tomorrow is my last day in the village. A lot of volunteers blog about their feelings at this point. I’m not ready to do that. So instead, I’m just going to talk about how my village has changed since I've been here.

               

                If Diana from 2 years ago could time travel and see my village now, it would be nearly unrecognizable. When I arrived here, an older volunteer said something to me about how whatever volunteer was put in my village would have to be a really strong volunteer. My site was joked to be the armpit of Cambodia. But now here I am two years later, thinking about the possible future volunteers who will come to my village. And I think they are going to be quite comfortable here!

So, here is a list of some major differences just in my village

Place	Before	After
The road to school	It was dirt and dust (mud ankle-deep in the rainy season) and always filled with potholes	A paved road!
The “taxi station” at the fork in the road	Dirt.	A tiled park. Flowers are planted in the middle, and there is a painted statue of a woman harvesting rice. The kids come here every evening to try out their new roller skates!
Bridges	Old, rickety, wooden bridges that constantly had nails and such sticking out	They are building 6 new concrete bridges
Tela Mart	The closest one was 15k (9miles) away	A new Tela just opened 4k away. Not only does it have air conditioning, but this one even has FREE WIFI!!! Sometimes.
Houses	Almost all traditional wooden	New concrete houses are popping up everywhere!
Market	Open air, dusty/muddy. And the fruit and vegetable section didn’t have a roof.	They covered the entire market with a roof, so that rain can’t ruin the dirt pathways in the market. Rumor has it that they will also make a concrete floor soon.

My provincial town, Prey Veng, has also seen some incredible changes.

Place	Before	After
The roads	Half dirt, and half really poorly paved/rocky roads	ALL paved roads
The Riverfront	Dirt.	They tiled a long stretch of the riverside, and put benches. They even just recently installed trash cans all along the riverside.
Road to “Monkey Island”	A bumpy dirt road in the middle of nowhere, only accessible during dry season.	A new road that actually allows cars to cross, that will also be accessible for more months of the year.
The Park	A decent tiled park in the middle of town.	They planted new flowers and trees, and even installed a sprinkler system!
Government Buildings	Old and falling apart	Many different government offices now have new buildings, some of which are even more than 4 stories high! There is also a new post office.

And these are just the differences I’ve noticed!

Now, some people would say that these improvements are political. That they are only happening because the current Prime Minister is trying to gain some last-minute support before the election next month.

And to that I say- I’m not allowed to have an opinion. Ask me again next week.

As always, here are some totally unrelated photos from a few months ago

Leah and Garrett riding and elephant in Mondulkiri

We rode elephants through the jungle for about 2 hours

We were guided by the natives, who actually have their own language and culture, separate from mainstream Khmer.

Our destination was this hidden waterfall

Leah went swimming!

So did Saeed and Garrett! And me too!

Garrett and Leah

One of many model-shots. Thank you Garrett lolol.

HOTTuh!

Diana: Should I jump off the waterfall?

Everyone: No.

Diana: You know, now I have to just because you said I shouldn't

And I did it repeatedly until I got a good enough picture

Diana and Leah getting sunburn

Garrett and Leah getting sunburn. And looking good while burning!

After the afternoon at the waterfall, we had to go find our elephants. That's right! We let them roam free, and then we had to track them! We hiked more than 1k until we found them! Surprisingly, finding 2 elephants in a jungle isn't as easy as it sounds.

Then we took the elephants for a bath!

Such a happy elephant!

And then we headed back

Through jungle, and then the coutryside

Only stopping when the elephant had to poop..

Or take a drink 

White n' Purdy

This parody of a parody is about my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia. It jokes about being known as "the pretty white foreigner" in my village. At first that may seem nice, but when people never seem to be able to look past your skin and value you for something deeper, it can be very frustrating. But what's life without a sense of humor, eh??
For a more comprehensive explanation on the idea of 'beauty' in Cambodia, see my blog post http://dianaatthecrossroad.blogspot.com/2011/11/beauty-is-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Anyway, enjoy! No one will understand all of it, besides other Peace Corps Cambodia volunteers, so if you don't understand you can at least enjoy my flow.

By the way, I wrote this over a year ago. Just never got around to posting it.

Lyrics:
They see me wearing my helmet
I know they’re all thinking I’m so white and purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Can’t you see I’m white n’ purdy
Look at me I’m white n’ purdy
I wanna race with the nationals
But so far they all think I’m too white n’ purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
I’m just too white n’ purdy
Really really white n’ purdy

They all just watch and stare at me
Their very own American PCV
Cross the road, I practice my Thai Chi
Keep your Angkor, I’ll have a cup of tea
My rims never spin to the contrary
You’ll find that they’re quite stationary
How many manuals can you carry?
I think I’m gonna build them a library
My facebook page is all totally pimped out
Got people liking all my faces
Dengue fever is in all these places
Our MO has seen countless cases
I got a fear of markets and toothless yeys
Though I’m thinking my fear is just a phase
They’re teaching me to live out all their ways
Wear their clothes and avoid sun rays
Water buffaloes are number one
Buy a sweet shirt for just muy mun
Sure, Khmer weddings are lots of fun
No I don’t wanna meet your son..
The first word that I learned was chewy pong
I call everybody that I know “bong”
Just like my students, I gotta jee gkong
14 months more, man that doesn’t seem long
Check out my sarong

They see me wearing some long sleeves
I know in my heart they think I’m white and purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Can’t you see I’m white n’ purdy
Look at me I’m white n’ purdy
I’d like to wear a tank top
Although it’s apparent I’m too white and purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
I’m just too white n’ purdy
How’d I get so white n’ purdy?

Use a bucket for bathing
Although I’m taking a break from shaving
You must never get tired of waving
My followers in a hoard never leave me bored
Shopping online for trips I can’t afford
I’m not a fan of bittergourd
For the last time I’m not a barang
I friggen love my host mom, why so many words for “nyam?”
Goin’ for a run through the rice field
Runnin’ like hell from their rabid dog
Grins and stares come from them all
They’re just waiting for me to fall
Yo, I got myself a tuk tuk
In my hand, I got a cold tuk-a-luk
I spend my nights in my net with peanut butter
Nyam nyam hope no one sees me get freaky

I’m purdy in the extreme, whiter than sour cream
Got my finger nails done and toes done
And even my eyebrows shaved
The only question I ever thought was hard
Was do I joom reap sua, or suas’die
Spend every weekend at the Tela Mart store
Loving Cambodia to my very core

They see me dao laing
They laughing
And buggin’ their eyes cause I’m so white n’ purdy
Just because I’m white n’ purdy
Just because I’m white n’ purdy
All because I’m white n’ purdy
Holy cow I’m white n’ purdy
I wanna tan on the beaches
But oh well it’s obvious I’m white and purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
Think I’m just too white n’ purdy
I’m just too white n’ purdy
Look at me I’m white n’ purdy

Our rented room in Mondulkiri

The Nature Lodge has little wooden houses to rent instead of hotel rooms.

It's beautiful!

The garden bathroom

We got the family room, which had an upstairs loft

Our house

peek-a-boo!

Horses just chillin out at the Nature Lodge

Home sweet home. for 3 days.

Our view

I spot a kid!

The vine is hugging the tree

The native people to this area have their own style of living, and even their own language

One Month, One Thing

Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is.
I have one month left here in country.
Actually, less than a month.
And only 2 weeks left here in my village.
But anyway, we have reached the end of our countdown.
In a future blog post, I will recap the whole list, but for now, here is the last one.

One thing I can't wait for

1. Now maybe this is far too general, but I can't wait for the future. I mean that I can't wait to start this next chapter of my life. Up to this point, every couple of years could be neatly organized into "chapters"- Peace Corps, College, etc. The next chapter is starting, and I honestly don't know what it's going to all be about. I have some ideas, some of which could potentially make me very happy. I guess I'll figure out over the next few months where this chapter will lead me.

One thing I don't want to leave

1. Being a volunteer. In this life, every day I wake up with an opportunity to make a difference in peoples' lives on the other side of the world. It's never easy, but on the rare occasion when something goes right, it's the best feeling in the world. Here, I have time for others and for making a difference. I don't have to worry about work getting in the way because it IS my work. I know I'll always find ways to do what I can for this world, but I know it will never be in this way ever again. 

The following pictures are from an in-country vacation I took with some fellow volunteers.

Kratie Province, visiting the endangered fresh water dolphins

Out on the boat

See 2 of them?

tuk tuk

Prey Veng Vixens

Typical Transportation. Just climb over the bags of mangoes and try to find a place to park your butt

Now this is a waterfall in Mondulkiri Province. It's small because we went during dry season.

This is how awesome people hike