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

When You're Yey, You're Yey

A yey, in her most simple form, is a grandmother.
But yey really is a different word from grandma. Yey is much more specific to qualities and personality traits.

Here are a couple of examples. One particular yey might not have all of these traits, but you can bet that she will have most of them.

1. Yeys are old. Really old. And if they're not that old, they LOOK really old.
2. Yeys have really short hair, or shaved heads
3. Yeys have leathery, wrinkly, sunken in skin
4. Yeys have no teeth
5. Yeys are constantly nyaming on some betel nuts and spitting, thus making it look like they are bleeding from the mouth.
6. Yeys are stronger than they look
7. Yeys have spent the entirety of their lives perfecting the Khmer squat, and can do it for hours every day.
8. Yeys don't need mattresses. They sleep on hard wood.
9. Yeys say whatever they want, whenever they want, and there's nothing you can do about it.
10. Yeys don't have to get any dressier than just a sarong. Also, yeys don't have to worry too much about covering their breasts.
11. Yeys have every right to smack around the grandchildren
12. Yeys don't need to follow any rules of personal space.
13. Yeys hit people that they like. If you are well-liked by a yey, expect smacks on your arms, knee, and buttocks very often.
14. Yey's will judge you for being older than 21 and both husbandless and childless.
15. Yeys are, in the most literal sense, survivors. They are all real survivors of a horrible genocide, and very often yeys are the glue that have kept families together and growing in the years after the end of the genocide.

More pictures from a typical bike ride 15k into Prey Veng town

Buses fly by every day bringing people between Ho Chi Min and Phnom Penh

The Khmer church supported by Korean Missionaries

See the water buffalo up there?

Hay stacks

The biggest brothel in town

This house collects garbage. I don't get it. But it always kills me to see the children playing around in it.

What you see when you arrive in Prey Veng town

The town

The shop with the overhang is where I eat almost every time I go to Prey Veng. Peace Corps volunteers call it the Sandwich Shop because they sell duck egg and tomato sandwiches.

Little Town, It's a Quiet Village

                Ever wonder what it's like for a Peace Corps volunteer to step outside their house into the midst of their village?

                Then I suggest you watch the opening village scene from Beauty and the Beast. It's a lot like that. Except dustier and hotter. And mostly in Khmer. 

                Now, if I had more time, and a lot more energy, I would make an awesome youtube parody of the song. Instead, I’ll just put the lyrics here, with a few changes, and you can use your imaginations and sing the tune in your head. The real song is titled Belle. Appropriately, I changed it to Diana.

If you’d like to try to follow along, listen to this video while reading the blog:

Diana

Diana: Little town it's a quiet village.
                Every day like the one before.
                Little town full of little people, waking up to say.
Man #1: Nyam bai! (eat rice)
Man #2: Nyam bai!
Woman #1: Nyam bai!
Man #3: Nyam bai!
Man #4: Nyam bai!
Diana:  There goes the seller with her tray like always.
                The same old bugs and snails to sell.
                Every morning just the same since the morning that I came,
                To this poor provincial town.
Seller: Hello Barang!
Diana: Hello Sir!
Seller: Where you go?
Diana: The school
                I just wrote the most wonderful lesson,
                About verbs and second conditional clauses...
Seller: That's nice. Wife! The baguettes! Hurry up!
Group of Market Ladies: Look there she goes that girl is strange no question.
                Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?
Woman #1: Never part of any crowd.
Man #3: Cuz her heads up on some cloud.
Villagers: No denying she's a funny girl that Diana.
Man #1: Bonjour!
Woman #1: Hello!
Man #1: Hello I love you!
Woman #1: Bonjour!
Man #4: Hello!
Woman #1: What is your name?
Woman #2: I need six eggs!
Man #2: That's too expensive.
Diana: There must be more than this provincial life.
Co-Teacher: Ah! Diana!
Diana: Good Morning! I've come to teach with you!
Co-Teacher: I’m finished already.
Diana: Class time just started. Have you taught anything new?
Co-Teacher: Not since yesterday!
Diana: That's alright. We'll teach...this class!
Co-Teacher: This one?! But you've taught it twice!
Diana: Well it's my favorite! Far off gazing, daring cheating, lazy students, with one good one in disguise
Book Shop Clerk: Well if you like it all that much, it's yours.
Diana: But sir!
Co-Teacher: I insist.
Diana: No really, that’s against Peace Corps policy…
Male Teachers: Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar. I wonder if she's feeling well.
Female Teachers: With a dreamy far off look.
Male Teachers: And her nose stuck in a book.
Villagers: What a puzzle to the rest of us, is Diana.
Diana: Oh! Isn't this amazing? It's my favorite part because you'll see.

                Here's where she does her homework. But she won't discover
                she learned something til I leave.
Woman #3: Now It's no wonder that the barong is a beauty, her nose has got no parallel.
Man #1: But behind that fair facade, I'm afraid she's rather odd. 
                Very different from the rest of us.
Villagers: She's nothing like the rest of us. Yes different from the rest of us is Diana.

I had kittens at my house for 2 whole weeks! It was the best! This one I named Sally

They moved next door after 2 weeks. It was da wurst.

Charlie!

Brownie (aka Mama Brown)

The rice fields during dry season

I took my camera with me one day for the bike ride into the provincial town...

... and these are some of the sights from that bike ride

It's about 15k (9miles) to the provincial town

I go there twice a week

waterlily