Misquitos, Monks, and Me

So by now I have been living in Cambodia for a little over a month, yet some days it feels like I have been here much longer than that. Days are long, hot, and intense, for the most part. At my village, I am in bed by 7:30 pm...no kidding. Many other trainees can agree to the same; we are simply exhausted. Although the heat doesn't bother me, it has taken some toll on my sleep cycle. About a week and a half ago I broke down and bought a fan for my room. Although I bargained it down to $9 from $10 (which was a LOT for me to break out on my budget), somewhere in my mind I knew I was getting ripped off. As I power walk home with my new fan in hand, I rush to my room dripping in sweat eager to position my new fan. As soon as I plug in this thing, it vomits one of the blades. As I sit in a pool of frustration and sweat, I am thinking all kinds of profanities. I am especially glad I don't know this in Khmer. Not only does it spit out a blade, it is bouncing up and down. I return back to the market where I got it from with my teacher whom I told I wanted a refund (this is the angry Westerner in me)...LOL but sadly this didn't come with a receipt. The man fixed my fan, and proceeded to ask for more money for fixing the knowingly broken fan he sold me. (I can now think about this situation and LOL, but at that very moment i was H O T, and I am not referring to the weather). Anyway, by the time I get home I plug in my fan to see that it works this time; well, almost. It has a rotating head that is supposed to stop if you adjust it to, but right now I am glad I can sleep a little better at night.



Speaking of sleeping at night, I will inevitably have some teeny tiny little creatures sleeping with me...yes, in my bed...and this is how I got Dengue fever. Despite the heat, I always sleep in pants, socks, and a thin long sleeved shirt. I do this to try to protect myself from bugs that my mosquito net can't, but apparently that wasn't good enough. I also load on DEET- the repellent we were given. But these bugs out here are mighty persistent...they seem to find that one little nook on my foot or finger that has little or no repellent on it. These are the most clever and determined bugs on planet earth! For some reason they target us "barangs" because I never see any bites on my family members; I have concluded that they are simply immune to everything in this environment. But I have successfully recovered from Dengue (although there are 3 other strains I could possibly get) and giardia!

For those of you who aren't aware, the majority of Cambodians are Buddhists. So naturally, we as volunteers are surrounded by monks and a frequent visitors of the local Wat. About a month ago, I met this monk who is a professor at the Buddhist University in Phnom Penh...I can't begin to speak on how worldly this monk was because I could write a book, but I will tell you this: Somewhere in our conversation he asks me where I am from in America. I tell him I am from California. He then asked specifically, and I replied "A small town called Danville outside of San Francisco." Turns out he had not only been to San Francisco, but had spent 3 months teaching and living in Modesto! (For Northern Californians reading this you can see why I was so shocked). Aside from that, he lived and studied 8 years in Sri Lanka on a scholarship, as well has visited many other cities in the US and abroad. In a nutshell, he's a very highly revered monk not only in Cambodia, but abraod as well. Last week at my permanent site visit, I met the head monk at the local Wat in my village and he, too, was very welcoming to me. He even invited me back later that day to help teach English to his class. To me, I thought one of my biggest obstacles would be the interaction and integration of me with the monks in my community. Because of my own religious beliefs as well as all the customs I am expected to abide by (ie bowing and speaking to the monks in their specific language) simply as a visitor at a Wat I was not exactly excited nor did I have a clear plan on how I would successfully reach out to them. I am glad I was proven wrong!

Sidenote: I would like to apologize if this post seems like I'm rambling. On several occasions about 2 and half weeks ago I attempted to draft posts, but each time I was successfully interrupted by one thing or another. This has been saved/retyped like 5 times :/

Anyway, it's hard to believe that I only have 2 more weeks of training left! Where did the time go? (A few weeks ago, I was not at all saying this LOL) I am actively trying to get mentally prepared for my transition in a few weeks to my permanent site. I am moving to a smaller village than the one I am currently training in, have to readjust to new people, environment, and family, as well there's no internet cafe in my village :( My new family is much different from my current one. My mother is Chinese Cambodian (there is a large base of Chinese Cambodians) and my father is a native Khmer man. I have a little sister who is 13, and a brother who is 20 (although I did not meet him) that studies at a University in Phnom Penh. They do not live on a farm, there are no coconut trees, but my room has tile floors (YEEEEEAAAAAHHH! this is the ultimate luxury for me!)

I think what is dynamic about the PC is that no two people have the same experience; no matter if they are in the same country. Some of my friends placed at different sites here have rural permament sites like mine now or even more rural than that. On the other side, some people live in larger more modern homes with Western toilet seats, shower heads, multiple bedrooms, and bathrooms in their rooms (this is only a few people, but still..) All the while, all of these amenities I am fine living without. I think I will always have a good workout in washing my clothes, though. I washed my clothes before I got here to the cafe, and I didn't even finish. I think I picked the worst day to "boa coa owe" (wash clothes). It has been raining on and off and the clothe lines are filled with ants- big and small. I still have two big bags to go...just pray it doesn't rain between now and the time I get home because I need my clothes to dry by tomorrow (I'm down to one pair of undies, a few shirts, and my sampots lol) FYI- Sampots are traditional Khmer (long) skirts that we wear as teachers and people in the community. I bought my fabric in the market, and my mom made my sampots for me; although this is something you would rarely see worn in places like Phnom Penh or Siem Reap since they are more Westernized.

I think last post I mentioned "nom" which has like 80 different food references, but mostly sweet. I find it so funny that was really is "nom" or cake to us Westerners is called "nom barang". Barang is what Khmer people refer to as foreigners. It was originally in reference to the French settlers who came here a while back but now is just for everyone who isn't Khmer. I also find hilarity in one of the young monks telling me, "I've never spoken to a real foreigner before..." Haha...anyway, for those of you with Facebook you can look at my profile to see that I have really transformed into a pcv...but remember to look at my older pics, too, to see what I look life in real life haha!

Until next time..."lee high!"