Outreach Project (Exclusive Breastfeeding/Weening Porridge)

So, to begin this post, let me inform you of how much of an idiot I am.

About a month ago, I told my health center director that I wanted to do an outreach project at the health center (to his delight) directed towards pregnant woman and new mothers with infants between 0-12 months. The first to step (also leading to the first [and the only significant one, really] mistake) was to get the word out about this. Without recruitment, how can anyone know to join a team they don't know about. However the last part is false. I'd be hard-pressed to find someone in a 5k radius that doesn't know about the only barang (foreigner. literal translation: French person) in a 20k radius. Solution: I went through the market, the places I eat at, and of course, my place of work and told many, many people to spread the word. Strangely enough, I was surprised when the first person asked, "What time is this at?" Of course, the first answer to come to mind was "Oh. It starts at 6:00a." <---why I'm an idiot. To explain why I'm an idiot let's seek reasons why in ascending importance: 1) It's the beginning of the rice-harvesting season, so many people are going to be busy. 2) No one wants to wake their (insert explitive here) up at 5:30 in the morning to come see the crazy male foreigner talk to them about breastfeeding.

6:00a : I'm the only awake person at the health center. No pregnant women or new mothers.
6:30a : The one staff at the health center wakes up. Now, there are two people, minus patients.
7:00a : My counterpart shows up, and how nice of him, he brought me breakfast. Now, there are three people. All hosts, no contestants.
7:30a : I finally get to the 4th level of Snake on Campaign Mode.
7:55a : Two pregnant-looking women show up to the health center. I just assume they're there for a quick fix of amoxicillin.
8:00a : The two pregnant-looking women begin to leave. Wait... "WAIT!!!!! COME BACK!!!"
8:15a : Two more people show up (I better start preparing the veggies)
8:30a : Thirteen mothers/mothers-to-be, three young teenage daughters, one husband, and seven infants
8:32a : Let's get this show on the road

Moral of the story: Be prepared with the correct answer when people ask what time they should show up. The funny thing is, it seems it's more for my own well-being. People still came, but I just happened to wake up a little earlier.

Anyhow, here's how it went down:

I and three health center staff set out about ten chairs (in conjunction with the built in benches) and after I was sure more people weren't coming, I introduced myself and why I was here. I dispelled some myths about breastfeeding in America. In Cambodia, most people assume all Americans are rich and use formula to feed their babies. It was to many surprised face to explain that many women in America ACTUALLY breastfeed. Whoa. "Awt dtei. Gay bahn brap knom ta menu dey(ng) au nou Amerik prahr masao." "No. They told me that people in America use formula (powder)." "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm from there, and that's not true." After a lovely info session, I brought everyone into the "kitchen", where I explained why simply feeding rice porridge to your infant is not enough. I had some vegetables (pumpkin, potatoes, eggs, carrot, oil) on display, and explained that you can dice and boil these babies and add them to the rice porridge for a much more nutritious (and tasty, if I do say so myself) meal. Before I move on, let me note that while I asked for small cubes, I may have miscommunicated something along the way. I only say this because there was a huge pile of julienned vegetables. Not before too long (maybe 30 min), the weening porridge was complete. I laddled out thirteen bowls-worth of porridge, and the result:

CHNEING! Delicious!

::wipes sweat off of face:: (for two reasons, also in ascending order:)

1)I was nervous they wouldn't like it
2)I just biked 3 miles to grab my dSLR since I ran out of good batteries for my point-and-shoot. Oops. Looks like I left my dSLR batter in America. Wow...


Time for execution (with people actually there): 2 hours

Needless to say, I've learned a lot about how to improve next time around.

Enjoy the pictures:




Talk to you (or see you) soon,
Garrett

Bike Racing and Delegating

First off, let me tell you how awesome the Angkor Wat International Half-Marathon and Bike Race was: Awesome. Seriously, though, I had a very new experience this past weekend. I've never really been a part of any mass athletic competition. It really puts into perspective where you lie on the scale of dedication. On a scale of 1-10, I believe 4 would be an appropriate place for me at this point in my life. And, I'm absolutely okay with that. It's not a 1, and I don't have to put out the effort that says I stand in the middle or closer to having to be absolutely serious about it. On to the race: It was a 30k (18.6 mi) race through some of the ruins and area surrounding the Angkor Watt temple. I finished 20th out of 295(?) with a time of 1:05:55. I'm really pleased with my time, but it's absolutely nothing compared to the intensity of one of the volunteers who raced 100k (62 mi). Crazy! Props to you, Bill. So, by having registered to race, I was able to walk through Angkor Watt, and see the temple. And by able to, I meant that I had the ability, too. As you can imagine, I wasn't exactly in the mood or state to walk-play around all of Angkor Wat. I wanted to go back, take a shower, and take a small nap. So, today, I woke up early to grab a tuk-tuk (moto-driven carriage) back to Angkor Wat to try and get back in to see the sights. Well, when we got there, it was 50 min into the race, so of course, we wanted to see who out of our friends was going to finish the half marathon first. Now, don't get me wrong; seeing everyone finish what they'd been trainjing for for weeks/months was exhilerating. There's nothing like rooting on your friends who are accomplishing a very physically tasking experience. What I'm getting at, though, is that I still didn't visit the temple. Famous temple. Cambodia. $20 to get in for a day, normally. Few opportunities in your life time to see such a site. Yup, I didn't go. I did however get to watch the sunrise, seeing the details of the temple from afar as I waited for the race to begin. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

Delegation:

I've come to realize that the importance of my position here is less in the actual teaching of simple health practices and more in teaching those who have no plans to leave my site how to teach those simple health practices. For the Community Health Education Volunteers, the key word is "sustainability". I can teach one thousand lessons on how to wash your hands, properly treat water, protect you and your family from mosquitos, what to do if you have severe diarrhia, and how to make weening poridge (is that how you spell it? Google "define" says porage, but I don't believe that for a second), however, once I leave maybe one family will have taken something out of it, which is great. Maybe others will catch on. But potential isn't the purpose of me being here. Needless to say, I plan on getting the cellphone numbers of the few Village Health Support Group (VHSG) members so that I can begin working with them. So, now you might ask how delegation comes into this. It's fairly simple. I meet with this VHSG on a weekly basis, teaching them how to effectively communicate the right information, so they can combine it with their respect in the community along with their knowledge of the culture and language and apply to more effective health education "seminars." I believe I will end up acting more as a coordinater of sorts, setting up the time and place, the topics, and the support and itinerary required. It sounds like something I may have done in college. Amazing how those things can have real-life applications.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

I Saw a Dime Today

Do you remember those sarcastic remarks your friends would make when you would tell a very bland, boring story? "Dude, guess what?! I found a quarter on the ground!" Well, guess what, I found a dime (Rachel had it in her purse), and I almost peed my pants it was so exciting.

A Potential Beginning

So, as I've waited around doing, what I believe to be, much of nothing in this village (of which I wouldn't be lying to say I've been content with it), I asked my health center director if he would be interested in starting a guppy farm/series of information sessions about them. His answer, "Yes. That is very good. I will buy the water jar. You will have it in a month." Note: It would not have sounded that elequent in English. As well, he now wants me to get started on a more immediate project in the mean time (the guppy project won't be able to be put into full effect until February or March, at least, on account of breeding the fish). So, I think I'm going to have an information/cooking session on exclusive breast-feeding and nutrition for new mothers/weening poridge. Essentially I will need three things: A Khmer counterpart who plans on sticking around this village for awhile; to get the word out to expectant/new mothers; to have those expectant/new mothers bring a vegetable/some rice/pots/stove/water. Nothing is as effective as teaching someone to do it themselves with their own local materials. I plan on executing this great (sounding) project for early December just before I come home. I won't lie; I would very much enjoy coming home with some stories of productivity.

A few more things:

- U of A lost to USC, but I don't blame Nick Foles. You did well, Sunshine

- I am distracted on my sadness and disappointment of the outcome by Oregon State's loss to Washington State. This is Washington State's first Pac-10 win in a 10-15 game losing streak? Yeah... embarassing. I laughed plenty. (you can correct me if I'm wrong)

- The Three Musketeers is a really fun/fast read. I recommend it already, and I've still 158 pages left.

- Thanksgiving is soon. This will be my first Thanksgiving not in the country that celebrates it. Kinda strange to think about, but I don't feel too detered by it as I will be spending it with many people who have celebrated it just as I have the past 23 times.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

p.s. Cellcard (one of the cellphone services) has hundreds, maybe even thousands, of banners all around Cambodia that say $2 + $4 = Cellcard. Hmmmm, I persistently hope for a banner that will say "...= $6." However, I think I'm just giving myself false hopes.

-

Today is a Good Day

So, today I got a text from my Khmer tutor, Rath, who was also an LCF (Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator) during my training, that he was free at 3:00p - 5:00p to teach a language lesson. This bode particularly well for me, because that gave me the notion that I could potentially have a solid lesson every week as he could only really teach me on the weekends, of which you never know where I may be (i.e. Battambang for IST [Inter-service Training])! Anyhow, he drove on his moto over to my town (he lives 25k away in Sway [the provincial town]) and we had sort of an introductory lesson to figure out where my skills where at post-training. That went well, I learned a some useful words for going fishing, and now, we, potentially, will be having lessons Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, which bodes well for me as I've been needing some more "stuff" to do in my life here. By the way, do you notice that I, Garrett, have been using a lot of commas in this blog, nonetheless through the entirety of my life, if you've known me long enough? Or at least long enough to muster through that sentence. Okay, seriously, though; enough of that. I'm sure my misuse of commas and semicolons are making some poor stranger cringe. Anyhow, the point is: I have something new to add to my agenda/look forward to.
All I can really say, is that right now, I have a really great set of friends (PCV/Khmer) that keep me goin' when things start to slow up. I also have a (expletive deleted) ton of movies and a good set of 600+ page books to keep me busy. Hope things are keeping well. Use plenty of silica-gel packets, and I'll see a good portion of you in 5 weeks.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

This "Shift"button sucks

I don't think I've ever used such an awful keyboard in my entire life. Why these buttons are so hard to press, I'd rather not ask. However, the one question one might ask is why there might be giant wax sculptures of dinosaurs, Disney characters, elegant forest/jungle animals, and one character from World of War Craft, I'm pretty sure, are in the middle of the most (almost) northwestern province of Cambodia. It's like a side attraction on the side of I-10 on the way to Texas, headed east, or somewhere on Route 66. Needless to say, it's an experience one should experi...well, okay, maybe should just picture in their head about what it might be like. Will there be pictures eventually? Absolutely. Will I get them on here in an expedient manner? Probably not. Anyhow, that's about the only interesting chapter in the story of my life at the moment. This month should be a pretty laid-back one until Thanksgiving, which I very much look forward to. I haven't had the opportunity to see everyone all at once since Swear-in, so it'll be nice to gather together everyone and potentially eat some pretty satisfying food. Okay, that's it for me, now.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

p.s. Even though Arizona lost to Stanford, the rankings still state: #1 Oregon, #6 Stanford, #18 Arizona. And that is pretty awesome for the Pac-10. We'll just forget about Washington State, who's the ugly red-headed step-child of the Pac-10 family. Sorry, Cougs.

The External (Health) Battle

I've realized something recently.

I have had absolutely no (except for a cold that lasted a day) internal health struggles. Yup. That's right. I haven't had diarrhea, a fever, or Dengue Fever. What an immune system! However, what I haven't had much luck with is the external health battle.

- bug-bite turned infection on my ankle (which gave me considerable trouble walking)
- falling off of my bike before even getting to training
- cutting myself with glass (notice these two would probably happen anywhere)
- contact skin dermatitis from strange plants on my left eyelid (not fun)
- contact skin dermatitis from strange plants on my right arm
- etc...

Some of you could just agree that I'm a clutz and physical injuries are bound to happen to me, but I swear, my skin just doesn't like this country (or DEET).

Hopefully my body will grow used to this place and then again, maybe not.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

p.s. I just potentially found a temporary tutor. Whoo! I will be happy to have an actual tutor rather than relying on myself as I have the past 5 weeks.

Power

So, I'm sitting on my bed, charging my iPod, listening to iTunes and am connected to the internet. How? Because I have power once again to my computer. I can't explain how happy I am to have the ability to chat on Skype for more than an hour and fifteen once every week or two. Awesome! Thanks fam. It is well appreciated. Now, I just need to look for a surge protector...

So, what's new. Well, my town definitely flooded. I had to walk calf deep in water to get water to fill my filter and watched families walk waist deep to get to their homes. Did I say this already? I don't really remember and am too lazy to go back and check. Anyhow, after about a week and a half, I can take a shower and not immediately dirty myself with gross stagnant rain/dirt/fish water. I had fish swimming in the back of my house...

Things at the health center are going well. There seems to only have been one case of Malaria and no cases of Dengue over the last year, so, it appears doing a guppy farm and mosquito-prevention workshops close to my house are out of the question. 20k bike rides, here I come. Basically, how this works, is I have to order giant jars for water, and travel 80k to a buddy's site to get 20 fish in a bag...odd, right? Then, I put them in a few ginormous jars of water and wait for them to get at it. Within weeks? months? I'll have hundreds of little mosquito-eating fish. This is just an idea, but it's one method of killing off mosquitos that like to breed in the stagnant water in peoples' homes in Cambodia, and other mosquito infested countries for that matter.

Okay, my fingers are tired... perhaps another blog soon. Hopefully I can load some photos of my previously flooded home soon.

Talk to you later,
Garrett

Chatting with America

So, I got to Skype with Kim and Michael (and see Erica and Marcos?) today. Definitely the highlight of my week, seeing as the back half of my house did actually flood, a lot. I went to fetch water for my filter...thigh high! Anyhow, it's nice to see missed faces and know I'll be seeing them again 8 weeks from Thursday. I wish upon my laptop charger to get here faster. As my friend, Julie pointed out,--and as it's true, it's worth noting-- it's been a good experience living without my laptop for the past 3 months. I learned that I can read a lot more than one should in one day, for me at least, and there are other forms of entertainment, like watching the fish swim in your flooded back portion of your home. But, come the time I get my charger in (thanks fam), I'll be very glad to continue my Bond marathon, the other bagillion movies I now own (thanks again fam) and start House and Battlestar Gallactica.

Anyhow, life is good. Life is wet, but good. It didn't rain yesterday or today (knock on wood) thankfully, so we'll see how that continues. November is inching its way in which means Battambang, friends, Thanksgiving...all at once!

Hope things are well. Talk to you soon,
Garrett

p.s. I know what you're thinkin': 'Garrett, how can you claim to say you've learned an experience of living without technology while you seem to post something once-twice a week?' You're right. I probably should be holding my tongue, but lets face it. I enjoy communicating with people. I'm checking my peace corps phone: sent txts: 1602 received: 1464

News of the World

So, you really don't have much to do on a lazy Sunday when it's constantly raining. So, I cashed in and went for another day's worth of internet usage. So here are some important things happening around the world:

-G20 Summit in Seoul

-Several cases of miners dying or being trapped in China, Ecuador, and Chile.

-The 'energetic' Iranian president's trip to Lebanon and his 'impassioned' choice of words against Israel.

-al Queda being pesky and needing vasts amount of unnecessary attention

-Hundreds of thousands of classified documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan leaked online

-Serbia continuing not to recognize the independance of Kosovo. Oh, the Balkans. Such strides for freedom, yet many countries stubborn and unwilling. I should know. I'm part Turkish.

Well, that's about it. Hope things are going better in your life than the mining conditions around the world. I hope these events mark some sort of change in standards of working conditions.

Seriously...69 days of living that far underground? Some serious human strength, courage, and endurance.

Talk to you later,
Garrett

Rain and Gorillaz

I think some houses in my village may completely flood if this rain keeps up.

Pay no mind to me or my house though. I'm on level with the road. However, there's not much to say or do for the houses down slope. One of the houses that I normally pass by going to work is normally rather...dry? Yeah, no. Not anymore. I think if this 17-24hr rain keeps up, they might need a boat to get home. No joke. It's a good thing their house is on stilts.

I, however, have a large plastic basin and my water filter pot catching a continual three drops of rain from my ceiling. My friend, Phanna, is going to help me with that this weekend, as that involves going onto the roof of my room/studio/complex thing.

The title says Gorillaz, and that's because I've been listening to the collection on shuffle. Good choice of developing country rain music. I think that should be a new genre. What do you think? I'm listening to 'Spitting out the Demons' from the 'Feel Good Inc EP.'


P.s. Has anyone been following the Iranian president and his visit to Lebanon? ...yeah. I don't think I need to say anything to get my opinion across on him.

Hope all is well
Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Things I Would Be Embarassed to Like in the United States, but Somehow, Now, Get Giddy About When I'm in Cambodia

1. Justin Beiber (sp?) - yeah, I know... but when "Baby" comes on MyTV or at a dance club, I just feel no inhibition to just blurt out the lyrics at the top of my lungs.

Okay, maybe that's the one thing, but there are so many things that just go underappreciated in the world.

1. Good Nail-Clippers
2. Quality soap without bleach-like whitening chemicals
3. Conditioner
4. Micro-fiber eyeglasses cloth
5. Mattresses
6. Food other than rice
7. Shaving cream
8. Driving...
9. Hugs/Friends
10. Unlimited texts/calling plans

oh..

11. amoebic-dysentary-free ice

Yup, so this is just a small list of things that you never really appreciate until you don't have access to the good sh...good stuff.

oh,

12. Good Loufas

What Site is Like the First Week.

Here it goes - So, I arrive around 5:00p a week ago, today, and am shown to my room, which interestingly enough is bigger and nicer than my room during training. I have a bed, a desk AND a chair. Pretty shnazzy. It fits all my stuff nicely, and I sleep well. So, here's my typical day thus far: I wake up around 5:00a, promptly to fall back asleep hitting the snooze button on my phone at least three or four more times before actually getting out me bed around 5:40a. I put on some shorts, stretch, and go for a 2 mi. run, which I don't get stared at as much for anymore, now that I've established it as a routine and it's not so weird to see the foreigner run and not seem to be running AWAY from anything. Needless to say, people don't run for exercise here. Anyhow, when I get back, I take a bucket shower, get dressed in slacks and a polo or dress shirt and head to my breakfast lady (yup, i've established that, now), then, to the health center, about 2k away, where I observe (what I'll be doing for the first 3 months) from 7:30a - 11:30a. It's usually pretty slow, so on down time the staff will teach me new words or how to write Khmer...I can write 'village address,' now. After work, I'll ride home, take another bucket shower, change, then head off to have the most delicious tomatoes I've had on this Earth (I think I can rightfully say that, now.). I know, Garrett likes tomatoes?! You need to taste these... Anyhow, after lunch, I'll head to the market, maybe buy a thing or two I still need (i.e. plastic basins for washing my clothes and a stool), and introduce myself to the merchants/villagers. Around 2p, I've exhausted my ability to speak Khmer understandably, and will head home. There, I'll read for about four hours, watch a movie or go on the internet (twice a week). However the latter won't be happening until I find a replacement for my charger. Seriously, after getting my internet set-up on my laptop finally, and testing out that I can Skype WELL in rural Cambodia, my laptop charger blows a fuse. What are the odds. Hopefully, I'll have found a solution in a week's time. Anyhow, around 6:30p my family?/cook?/not really sure how she's related will make dinner for me. I'll chat for about half an hour, then it's back to reading or a movie...again, when that's an option. Around 9:00p I duck out 'til the following day begins. Well, that's about an average day so far. It's amazing how much free-time I have here. Another PCV friend who's been here a year told me not to worry about it so much, and that there first three months are really just to observe and learn how to survive on your own. So, here I am, surviving. On a side note me attrition, my buddy, James left at the beginning of the week for his own reasons. I'll miss him for sure, but look forward to seeing him in December when I'm back for a good 10 days. A few others left. We started, technically, with 55 and now, we're down to 48. Amazing how that's happened. Hope things are well. Talk to you soon, Garrett.

PCV and Kickin' It

I swore in on Thursday, September 23rd, becoming a Peace Corps/Cambodia Volunteer. The ceremony was an hour with two speeches from the volunteers, one from the CD, one from the U.S. Ambassador, and one from the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia. There were translators for English to Khmer, but not the other way around, so you can imagine that with two months of language training, I was a little lost and kinda gettin' sleepy. Anyhow, it's over, and now, I have a hat...way cool. I'm enjoying it here, and thankfully, I have nothing to do today except figure out what I'm gonna do today. Oddly enough, I think I've hung out with the K3s more than the K4s this week... I move to permanent site, tomorrow. I'm excited to move to 20hr/wk 5 days/wk schedule.

Hope all is well,
Garrett

p.s. I finally got a hold of the MUSE show. AMAZING. Keep it up, guys.

Iowa at Arizona

This is pretty much the coolest thing:

I'm sittin' along the Mekong River, listening to the Iowa (9) at Arizona (24) game live online. Not only have I had the opportunity to do this, but I got to hear half of "Fight, Wildcats!" and the first 6 chords of the MUSE opener from the 2010 POA Marching Band. I won't lie, I freaked out a little bit. All I know, now is: I get to listen to games on Sunday mornings (keeping my fingers crossed that the internet phone that I bought off a K3 will work at my site). Go Cats!

I was reminded to tell you that I'm not alone in listening to this game. Brenda and I have been listening to the game since the 2nd quarter (when we were finally able to get audio [we'd been following along by GameCast on ESPN for the 1st quarter (in fact, we tried watching the game on ESPN on our TV in the hotel, but of course that network felt it more beneficial to air Formula 1 after numerous times announcing that the Iowa at Arizona game was to be aired next)]).
Talk about hometown/alma mater pride!

End Score:

Arizona 34 Iowa 27

I think Brenda would agree with me that we felt a mixed bag emotions including: excitement, disappointment, suspense and finally, relief.

Go Cats!

Limbo

So, I left my training village today. It was a little emotional, but mostly awkward. In Cambodia, touching isn't usually deemed appropriate, so there wasn't too much hugging going on. A handshake, yes. It was fun though. I took pictures every member of the family (that's a lot) and received some old photos from one my host sibling's wedding, who by the way I didn't realize was actually my sister until last week.

So, this next week will pretty much consist of chilling out, dealing with some formalities and just pretty much having a grand ol' time. The Star-Spangled Banner Quintet met together for the first time today, and it sounds pretty damn good, I have to say. We really didn't have to do much to blend together. I guess we were just meant to sing together. Not a comment you might hear me say, but I'm just excited that it will go well. Apparently, if you sound decent enough, the American Embassy asks you back for a four-day vacation to sing again during July 4th. So, keep your fingers cross.

Anyhow, I'm excited to meet up with my current Volunteer friends along with us soon-to-be Volunteers and do some dancing and hangin' out. I'm excited to buy some needed things:

-weights
-guitar
-harmonica?

those are my only requirements in town.

Hope things are going well on the homefront.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Cambodian Photo Gallery

Fancy meal provided by Peace Corps

The Health Center I will be at in Banteay Meanchey

Birthday in KC

About 10 of us rode into Kampong Cham today for Sarah's birthday. Yup, I'm gettin' up there on biking distance. I rode 23?k to get here, so we'll see if I can get up to 30k for my permanent site. Not a big post today, because I wouldn't want to be too anti-social, you know me.

So, basic info:

I'm reading Gai-jin and am 260 pages into, and only have just shy of 1000 pages to go.

Anyhow, yup, that's it. Life's good. Language is good. Friends are good.

p.s. I'm singing the National Anthem of the U.S. of A. at swear-in (with others). When asked at one of the seminar days who should sing, about 1/3 of our group wrangled me into it, so here I am. I don't want to sing the boring one melody, so I'm going to attempt to teach the SATB version. We'll see how that goes.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Sourng (pronounced: Soouhn(g))

So, I had the afternoon off, so I thought it'd be a good idea to bike to the next closest ...city? Yeah, it's a city compared to where I've been living. It took me about 22 min to bike here, so let's hope that I rode 30k, 4? 7? I don't know. Anyhow, I found this little internet cafe. And by internet cafe, I mean a little shack with a computer and a fan for .75/hour. Good deal, I think.

Update:

I bought an internet phone off of one of the K3s headed home, so I will be able to get on the internet probably once or twice a week, so if you want to Skype, just let me know.

My tickets are purchased for the US, so I'll be home the afternoon of the 16th - early morning, the 20th. December, that is.

Anyhow, my time is almost up on here.

Talk to you soon... I swear in two weeks from tomorrow. Crazy.

Garrett

O.M.G.

So, tonight, I had a hot, yes, hot shower... I...can't really explain in words how that feels, but after a month and a half of cold bucket showers, yeah. Give me a moment...

(moment)

Okay, phew. We're good.

p.s. I would just like to note that (with the help of some directions) I managed to get my self all the way across Phnom Penh in a tuk tuk all by myself. Small accomplishment, really, but you gotta take 'em one at a time.

Night,
Garrett
or
G-Money, apparently.

Pictures

Andrew and Matt looking bored.



The Market





Mooan Fight (Mooan = Chicken)




Dave, just casually lookin' out over the endless rice paddies.

Some high school students presenting our projects

In Taboung Kamoun, Kampong Cham at the market.

Soccer at the high school.

Things that Suck but that I'm Getting Used to

Written on August 31st, 2010.

- Doing Laundry: So, picture this: A plastic basin and an iron one. One is filled with soapy water and the other “clean” water. One pair of slacks, one collared shirt, one button down, four undershirts, four pairs of underwear. Time it takes to clean all: 1hr 15min – 1hr 30min. Why? Because it is all done by hand. Sometimes it takes two hours to dry, and sometimes, it takes a day and a half because it rained twice. This leads me to the reason why I hate laundry, the cause of it.

- Mud: Cambodia is a pretty dusty place. When it rains, it rains. So, when it rains, it gets really muddy. The “fenders” on my bike only work if you only pedal so fast to simply move the air around the tires. Needless to say, I get mud on my clothes very often, and if I wear flip flops, it just worsens the matter. Maybe I shoulda bought those Chaco flips. Anyhow, this leads to laundry.

- Refilling my Phone with Money: It’s amazing how fast you go from having $8 on you phone to $0.34. What can I say, I like texting. I checked my phone today: sent: 364; received: 308. That, and calling America is expensive. It may seem cheap at $0.20/minute, but those minutes rack up quickly. Somehow, a phone call to home is never just 5 minutes… I really shouldn’t be complaining about this anyway, because it’s my fault. That goes for wearing flip flops, too. Your fault, Garrett.

- Allowing Odd Creatures to Live in my Room: So, you would think, “$)&@()&$ GET THAT SPIDER OUT OF HERE!!!! Yeah, at first maybe, but now, I can only think when I see a spider web with silk wrapped flies, “Thank you, spider, for keeping those pesky flies out of my face.”

- Living Far from my Friends: Yesterday, I was pretty upset that I didn’t have friends to grab some coffee or beer with after class (because there was no class and this is “not” training) and it’s nice to reconnect with Westerners about your frustrations with the day I’ve been here a day and a half, and –I know that that isn’t a very long time to assess anything—now that I’ve made some Khmer friends with the bankers, my host mother, the coffee lady, the police, and the health center staff, I think that I’ll be alright. I actually had a conversation with the coffee lady completely in Khmer. I found out she has three children, one who’s studying in Phnom Penh, a sister that’s a nurse in California. Aside from the outreach activities she does, she makes her living selling make-up and coffee (odd combo). See, this post ended up pretty naively optimistic.

Anywhoo, that’s it. The next time I blog again, I’ll probably be an official Peace Corps Volunteer. I think I’ll actually miss training…a little? Nah.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Just East of Poipet

Written on August 31st, 2010.

So, I live really freakin’ close to Thailand. You can even tell in how much spicier the food is here. I would describe the town in three words: green, dusty, beautiful. Green: because it’s situated between endless rice paddies. Dusty: because it’s situated on National Road 5, the main way into Thailand, so there’s a lot of dirt in between. Beautiful: because this town is awesome.

Three reasons:
one; I asked a man if the shop he was chillin’ at had iced coffee, and he said it didn’t but that a place just across the street (and when I say he said it was just across the street, I mean he just point and said “ughho hkyuhh” if that’s the way you spell that). When I couldn’t find it he had someone run across the busy street and help me do so. When I got to the coffee shop and introduced myself to the woman working there (who by the way got a chair out and made the usual set-up for when it was busy for it was not at all busy, and in fact seemed to be going about her day-to-day chores), it turned out that she was one of the four Village Health Support Group (VHSG) members. To those who don’t know, the VHSG are usually a small collection of people who do not work for the health center that help with village health outreach activities, sometimes just on their own. So now, Pauli, accent on the i, are friends. Maybe I will be able to do some outreach activities with her.
two; the health center that I’ll be working at for the next two years used to be a district hospital, meaning, it’s HUGE! They serve about 2,000 people per month, 3 communes, 27 villages and 21,690 people total. What that means: I’ll be riding my bicycle a lot. There are 12 rooms, 16 staff, vaccines, injections and medicines for TB, Hep B, hib, Tdap, Polio, ?, and ? I couldn’t understand because it was in Khmer. There is an entire communal house-type-thing situated 30 - 40 meter from the main building for people living with Tuberculosis, masks and all. There’s also a small building for outreach activites, one which I was able to observe from outside about malaria. The health center staff are all very, very friendly, and one of them actually speaks pretty okay English. This health center also has a post-natal resting room. This is VERY odd for a health center in Cambodia. In fact, everything I just said is very unlike the rest of the country. Most health centers have maybe 4 rooms with about 6 staff, maybe 7. I feel very spoiled. This place actually does 81 outreach activities quarterly (27/month), a mix between preventative and promotive. It seems the biggest issues in my town are malaria and TB. CRAZY!!!!! I don’t think you, the reader are really getting an accurate representation of Cambodia. Maybe you should read someone else’s blog.
three: my housing situation is pretty bomb. I live with just my host mother in the main house, and in the guest house (yeah, she owns a guest house) lives many of the bank staff who live there during the week, then go back home (to Battambang it seems most of them are from) on the weekends. They are all very friendly and play volleyball, so score. Did I mention that the bank was next door? Did I also mention that the bank is the one that the Peace Corps uses for transferring our monthly allowance. Score, again. P.s. the size of my site is a medium district town.

It seems I have electricity 24/7, so I will be able to Skype more easily with you. It looks like I’ll be buying an internet phone, which costs around $100. Then for about $5/month, I can get unlimited internet usage. It works via USB.

Well, that’s about it,
Garrett

Where I Will be Living for the Next Two Years

So, we're waiting with anticipation in the Provincial Teacher Training Center (PTTC) for the announcement of where we are going to be living for the next two years of our lives. We have no clue where we're going, nonetheless what it means when we find out. I mean, we've only been here for a little over 5 weeks. So, after nonchalant threatening messages about how we might be disappointing the country of Cambodia should we deck out after a week at site, they take us downstairs to an equally-sized room with a map of Cambodia and its provinces drawn in chalk on the floor with hollowed bricks with sawed off bamboo sticks indicating where each of us were going. Our names were written on 52 envelopes with the contents inside our future. The first names gets called (don't you enjoy the anticipation), and they are going too... Kampot!!!!!! WHOOO we all clap in excitement. The next envelope is drawn, and they are....also going to Kampot!!!!!! After about 5 or 8 more people, my name is finally drawn, and I walk to the center of the room, becoming increasingly nervous as the next two years of my life are the belly of my envelope. I open it up, I think, it must be Svay Rieng, it must (not because I was banking on that province, but because I just had a feeling.) be. The results:

Banteay Meanchey!!!!!!

Just look at the map at the bottom of the page. My first though: "Holy ... that's far!" So, I will be one of the furthest volunteers North. My site is literally a 20k bikeride from the border of Thailand. How freakin' sweet is that, minus gambling, traffiking and corruption known in border towns. Awesome. I'm not in the border town, but pretty much the next thing East.

Housing Situation:

-Livin' with a 50 year-old woman, who rents out the extension of her house to staff from the nearest bank.
-I will have electricity, so I will be able to respond to e-mails and Skype more often than I would have thought.
-The health center that I will be working at used to be a District Hospital, so my HC serves 3 communes, 27 villages, and 27,633 people.
-The local high school is 1k away

That's about all I know. I will be visiting this week to my permanent site at Banteay Meanchey, so I will have pics that will hopefully be posted by my parents when they get my SD card.

People in my Province:

- Absolutely stoked! I am friends with and/or really like all the K4s and K3s in my site. My buddy, James is in Siem Reap which is the next province over, so that's pretty ballin'. Go Cats!

So, that's that. I don't have much more.

Books I've Read Since Here:

- Eat, Pray Love (Thanks, Terra)
- The Quiet American
- Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdaine (sp?) sorry, Tony.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Practicum and Korean Pop Music

Monday

- Health Center Visit

I went to a four-room health center with the 5 other Health Trainees. We switched off between the different rooms: Vaccination; Pre/Post Natal Care; Consultation; Pharmacy. In the Pre/Post Natal Care room, there would be about 5 or 6 expectant mothers in the room waiting to be debriefed on their weight, heart-beat and position of the baby, and when they should come in to be tested for HIV or the results of such a test should they have already had the blood test administered. Blood Test in Khmer: Bpee Tee Cheeum; Blood Results in Khmer: Lah't'paul Cheeum. Mind you, all of this was going on in the same room with all pregnant women present. This was basically a taste, an idea, a representaion of what life will be like in the next 2 years.

Tuesday

- Household Survey

I and Alan surveyed 10 houses on water sanitation and water storage. Out of the 10, 4 made less than 5,000 riel/day ($1.25) and 6 made slightly more than that. It also was not very consistent on a day to day basis. 8 out of the 10 had no bathroom and 4 had no bathroom or toilet, which means they went in the backyard. You did a hole, you do your business, you cover it up, hopefully. Out of these 10, there were instances of Dengue, several cases of fever, temporary blindness, and pains from recovering stomach surgery. All of these people mind you, were very welcoming to our coming and our questions. It's amazing how much information that we would consider "personal," the Khmer people were willing to give at the drop of the dime. It may be a difficult and scarey, at times, way of life, but, nonethess, it IS their way of life, and they seem to be content in it.

Wednesday

- Nutrition and Pre/Post Natal Care

nothing special, just a lot of information on the above and interesting traditional rural Cambodian beliefs like:

- The beginning part of a woman's breastmilk; the yellowish stuff. Some women believe it to be "bad" milk and will squeeze it out for 2 or 3 days without the baby getting the most important part or being breastfed in general for that period of time.

- When a woman goes from pregnant to not, she goes from "hot" to "cold," so her body must be warmed, on bamboo bed, over a roasting fire, for 3 days.

Thursday

- Teaching Health (in English) to High School Students

Absolutely the highlight of my week. Getting to talk about diarrhea and laugh about it with 15/16 year-old kids. Definitely brought me back to middle school days. It was great though. I taught them about how to make oral rehydration salts and how and how often one should wash their hands. They were receptive and responsive to everything, and I know for sure is that I will absolutely find the one highs chool nearby and attempt to start a Health Class and Health Club.

Friday

-Household Survey Debrief

s.e.

Saturday

- PARTYYY!!!!

The high school kids through the trainees a party with Big Cola, curry, and bread. We danced to some really "hip" Korean pop-music and some traditional Khmer songs as well. It was a lot of fun, and for many of us who never thought we had the moves...oh, we were the center of attention, now.


So, that was this week. We had our site placement interviews, and when they asked why I wrote down that I wanted to be near a border town, I told them it was because I wanted an easy escape. But really, I'm interested in the cross-culture swapping and duel-language ccommunities. I'm from Tucson, of course I know what it's like... Anyhow, they start asking me odd questions about if I understand the stigma of border towns in Cambodia and if I would be comfortable being there knowing some of these bad things were going on. It seems many of the other trainees also had very specific questions asked of them. So, maybe I know where I'm going. maybe I don't. I find out on Saturday and leave on Sunday to visit for 3-4 days. I'm really, really ecstatic about that. I'll meet my host family and have the opportunity to get an idea of the layout of the village, that way I'm not surprised when they drop me off a month from now. A month from now! I've already been in Cambodia for a month, and that's an idea that's hard to grasp, yet, going to bed and waking up early the next morning literally half way across the world seems so natural, now.

For all the POA kids, my brother tells me that the show is great, so I'm excited to check it out on facebook before I head back to the village life again. I hope everything is well.

Send me mail!!!!!


p.s. if you are thinking of sending me a care package, be sure to add US Embassy somewhere in the address, as one of us has already had an issue and almost got taxed $100. Cool well

The word of the day is: "Ch'long Tonlay" - my phoenetics

it means "delivery" Like delivering a baby.

The literal translation: "To Cross the River"

See ya later, and get some good rest,

Garrett

Where My '93 Camry Went

So, I was hanging out in Kampong Cham Town, and everywhere I look are 1990's models of Toyota Camrys. Who'd have thought that that's where my car went. I figured it got dismantled and sold for parts in Tucson.

Anyhow, I've been in the village/commune of Chop in Taboung Kamoun (sp?) District in Kampong Cham Province. My village is pretty much what you might dream of when thinking of Cambodia. I often ride through forests of rubber trees on dirt roads on my PC issued bicycle. There's a small market where I go for breakfast everymorning and pay about 4000 CR which equals about $0.94. That's a full soup with chinese noodles, beef and veggies AND an amazing iced coffee with condensed milk. The food is absolutely amazing here. I know I miss food back home, but I think it will take a month or so for the novelty to wear off. Now, you may be thinking, "Wow! Garrett, your life is great. How's the weather?" It's fucking hot. Yup. I sweat almost constantly, but I'm okay with that, because I like where I am.

My Day:

I wake up at 4:30a to the sound of dogs, roosters, and birds in my rafters. I get back to sleep for maybe an hour, take a cold bucket shower, visit the squatty potty, then head of to breakfast around 7a. From 730-1130 is language. Then, lunch with the family. From 1-5 is technical training. The TEFL guys have visited a classroom and made lesson plans, and us Health volunteers are visiting health centers, referral hospitals and the like, discussing the Khmer Rouge and the effects it had on the health care system (and the educational system took its toll as well). 5-7p dinner and attempting to speak with my family in Khmer. At the beginning of the day, I think, "Wow! Garrett, you've learned so much," and then at dinner I think, "Damn...you not nothing!" So, it's going to take awhile but progress exists, and you can feel it throughout the other Trainees. We're all in Kampong Cham tonight and then visiting a Peace Corps Volunteer in their permanent site to give us an idea of what life is like outside of KC. I'm personally going to Sva-Rieng(sp?) which I'm very excited about. I've spoken to about 4 PCVs already, and they make it out to be their little slice of heaven...or Cambodia, rather. So, that's where I'm off to tomorrow through Sunday.

As to the other volunteers, I met this great guy, James, who oddly enough graduated from the U of A with me (almost). I was SURE I was the only one, but I guess not. He definitely works the transition lenses. It's a good thing, James. I like it.

So, here I am, with Travis, sitting in "Smileys" yup...smileys, rushing to write our blogs before they kick us out; they closed 36 minutes ago. Tomorrow is an exciting day, as we have no obligations except to have a good time. It's really exhausting, this training. I study the Khmer language for about an hour before I completely conk out around 8:30p or 9:00p. Isn't that crazy... I go to bed before 9... Anyhow, I miss all of you, and I hope life is treating you well. I head to the big town tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to mail out my letters. I think I wrote about 8, but then again, those are the only addresses I have, so if you want me to write you and you haven't given me your address, then write me!

Anyhow, I love and miss you all, and hopefully I'll have more pictures up on here soon. I'll try taking more, and then send them to my parents, because loading anything here takes FOR-EV-ER! So, maybe in a month...yeah, I know. Sorry.

Okay, that's it. Off to the rural wilderness of Kampuchea tomorrow.

oh one quick point:

Hospitals:

-you might often see pigs or chickens running around these opened-door facilities. visiting rights, well, you can always visit, because privacy isn't as much of an issue here than in the States, and the birthing room looks like something that well, you'd just have to see it yourself. It's not bad; it's just different. That's a perspective a friend taught me that is doing me well here, and if you are reading this, your charm is on my phone. It (the hospital) works here, and clearly it isn't the facilities that's the issue, it's the basic knowledge that one simply needs to seek care to stay well, and there are services that are available for almost everything and for very cheap. It's really quite amazing what the hospitals here can offer patients. This will definitely be a long road to travel down. I found out that I will most likely be working at the Health Clinics from 7:30a-11:30a, and the rest of my time will be working with my co-partner to slowly gain the confidence and friendship of the people around me and explain the benefits of things like washing your hands, putting guppies in your cisterns or simply going to get HIV tested at the local health clinic. Many vaccinations for children here are free, but not many seem to know that. The problem is, many people here simply don't know why they should get vaccinated. What are the benefits? Is it even a thought? I've been getting a lot of psychology "training" here, and it's going to be a long haul. However, I think all of the Health Volunteers (Trainees) are very ready to do what's needed.

Sorry if I sound too optimistic. That's all. I love you and goodnight, because it's night here.

A'ron sus'sadei!,
Garrett

Pictures

Along the Mekong

Kampong Cham

It’s Saturday, which means that I’ve been a Peace Corps Trainee for approximately 6 days, now. It definitely doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. Truthfully, it’s been about 5 ½ because of the time difference, but that’s what you get for traveling into the futuurrreee. Anyhow, I’m chillin’ out in my hotel with my roommate, who hunts tigers. We just decided to call it quits for the night on studying vocabulary, so I thought I might share some phrases/terms with you:

Joom reap sooa – Hello (formally)
Niak soksaa-by dtae? – How are you?
Kñom soksaa-by, awkun. – I am good, thank you.
Jo niak vwin? – And you?
S’raa – Alcohol
Pbuk – Drink
Deuck sot – Bottled Water
Deuck g’aa – Ice

Ordering Food

Kñom dtrou kaa niyam sai’(k) moan ch’muy bai chaa hi-nang pbuk dteuk sot

- I would like to eat chicken with fried rice and drink bottled water

La’a-na, awkun chrei

- It was very good, thank you very much.

Anyhow, this has been my life for the past few days in Cambodia. We’ve been up to our ankles in cross-cultural, language, and technical overviews and trying new foods (I want to say that I’ve had at least 3 new fruits and tried 2 new proteins. Don’t read this part, Kenny. Sorry in advance. I’ve eaten tarantula and crickets. They’re surprisingly very very good. La’a na. I believe we find out our host family village placements for PST (Pre-Service Training) on Monday. We’re getting split up into three districts within the province of Kampong Cham. So, we’ll be cut exactly into thirds; 18 people each. And to further cut the groups up, we’ll be with even smaller groups of 6 with an LCF (Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitor, who are local Khmer people, some of whom are teachers, and all of whom are really cool people). I’m looking forward to seeing who I get placed with within the district more so than the district I am getting placed in itself. I’ve gotten to know all 53 other trainees names and have had a substantial conversation with a majority of them. The age demographic ranges from 21 – 50. Everyone has different backgrounds, a decent amount who have taught English in Thailand, China, Japan, etc.

Things I learned today –

- how to take a shit on a squat pot
- how to pee at night when you can’t get to the bathroom
- how to tie a mosquito net
- how to wash my clothes
- how to shower
- how to behave respectfully at dinner
- how to eat dinner
- how to ride and maintain a bike
- how to mistake 10,000 CR for 20,000 CR and feel really dumb after contesting that I was still owed change. 10,000 CR is about $2.50, which goes a long way here
o Breakfast today – 2500 CR or $0.62
o Dinner tonight – 3300 CR or $0.75

Needless to say, the USD goes a long way here. I have a lot of basic life skills that have been blessed by running water and electricity to readjust to. I won’t be fully immersed in it until Tuesday when we all move in with our host families. It’s pretty exciting I have to say. We’ve all been living very comfortably in hotel rooms (not the hotels you would expect in the States) for the past 3 nights here.

Tomorrow’s Plans

- Choose a bike and ride it around
- Unpack all of my luggage to repack for the next 9 weeks
- Hang out
o Sundays are our off days, which will most likely be spent with our host families and doing laundry

There aren’t any written plans/assignment/specific duties for the Health Volunteers to perform, rather basic bigger picture ideas such as capacity building and mother and infant care at this point. All 18 of us really are the beginning of this progam. I feel like we have to set the bar high for the K5 Health Volunteers in 2011.

The infant mortality rate is about 10% (I think), and the maternal mortality rate is definitely between 4-5%. That’s ridiculously high. Basically, because “health clinicians” are only paid about $40/month, they don’t have the incentive to keep 24 hour health centers, so new mothers don’t have the needed pre and post natal observation periods. It’s on the right track, and hopefully in the next 10-15 years, it will be closer to what it needs to/should be. Basically, if NGO funding ceased, many health centers would simply become walls that encased what once used to exist. The Khmer Rouge was pretty harsh to this country, so I’m very excited to get this project underway. The language is coming along and so are the friendships; I was walking with another Trainee and we discussed how natural life seems in this country. It’s simple and beautiful. Mind you, this was conversed over a 20-25min walk along the Mekong River in what Arizona would consider a torrential downpour and what this country would consider a light rain. I wish you could all experience what it is like to live here, to be surrounded by nature and people, unobstructed by technology and a fast-paced society.

Talk to you later,
Garrett

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

As I take a quick break from my conversation with Sam, I turn to the right and hold avast and see a land engulfed in greens, blues, and deep tans. The land is covered in lucious grasses, paddies, and large bodies of water. The plane landed, and as I stepped off to grab my luggage (which the airport attend in Hong Kong so nicely told me that it may or may not have been put on the plane). All of us were greeted with open arms and wide smiles, excited to see the 4th group ever to arrive in Cambodia for the Peace Corps. So, they're taking my luggage, and I won't see it again until Sunday, so of course I want to find my Chaco's. I find them, I put them in the bag, the bag rips open as I zip it shut (thank Buddha [I'll have to do that a lot while I'm here :)] for duct tape. We get on two busses and ride to the Peace Corps headquarters. We're greeted again by many PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) and the many staff at hq, including Jon Darrah, the Country Director. We were served rice, vegetables, dragon fruit, apple-pears, curry soup with chicken feet and congeled blood, all of which was very delicious. They actually had spaghetti and meat sauce on the table. Maybe this was for transitioning into the food culture should there be someone who wasn't ready for it? Needless to say, I didn't go for the spaghetti.

I had an opportunity to talk to the health extension training coordinator, who was Cambodian, and told him that we would be very good friends. I learned that I will be frequently riding my bike 10-15km to nearby villiages...whoo! I am going to be so in shape; I can't be sad about that.
So, after chatting and eating, we were brought into a room for a brief introduction to Peace Corps Cambodia and all of its staff and helping K2 and K3 PCVs. So, now I know I will be getting 4 shots:

- Meningitis
- Hep A
- Japanese Encephalitis
- Pre-Exposure Rabies
- Typhoid

I know, that's 5. I honestly don't remember which I haven't started yet...

So, we get into groups. I'm with one of the K3 PCVs. She was extremely helpful in answering many question.

We explored the markets of Phnom Penh, where we drank coconut juice straight from the coconut. I also bought a new "North Face" bag for $8 to hold my stuff which my ripped bag currently cannot anymore. We went to a watt (which is a Buddhist temple), saw a lot of monkeys and weaved our way through traffic. To give you an idea; there are absolutely no pedestrian rights, and it's actually safer to slowly walk through traffic than to dart across. We end up at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents' Club) . I had about 5 beers and shared calamari for $3. How awesome is that? After that we went to dinner and had traditional Khmer food:

- curried soup
- ginger beef
- small SPICY peppers
- white melon soda (which tastes like caramel)
- other stuff

Okay my time is running up, breakfast is being served, and my computer is running out of juice.

Last statement:

- I woke up and opened the curtains, and I'm definitely still in Cambodia.

(unfortunately this internet conneciton is too slow, so I'll post the next time when I can.)

Talk to you later,
Garrett

Staging

Okay,

For those of you who are either reading up on Garrett or just the experiences of a Peace Corps Trainee:

Arrived in the San Francisco airport at luggage terminal 10.

- I texted a fellow Invitee where she was at
- She wasn't where I thought she would be
- Turns out she was with the 4 others waiting for me at luggage terminal 3...on the OTHER side of the airport.
- So, I lug around 4 pieces of luggage allllll the way to the otherside and off we go to the Hotel Kabuki


12:00 - open registration

- filled out paperwork
- mingled with now fellow Trainees

2:00 - 7:00p - "Ice-Breakers"

- anxieties and aspirations
- skits based on Peace Corps Expections
- break
- more "ice-breakers"
- logistics on travel to Hong Kong/Phnom Penh
- group leader meeting (I'm one of 6 that just keep tabs 'til Phnom Penh...then my duties are relinquished

7:00p - dinner

- barbeque meat sandwich
- clam chowder
- Kenyan beer

8:30p - walgreens


aaaand that's about it so there's my trip so far.

Itinerary:

SFO - XHK: 1:20p (Tuesday) - 6:10p (Wednesday)
XHK - PNH: 8:55a (Thursday) - 10:30a (Thursday)

yup...

that's about it. hopefully I'll be able to post once when I'm in Phnom Penh. I use the language once for a reason. Apparently the internet isn't so...available in Kampng Cham, where my training hub is. So, I might be able to update once every two weeks or I might not get to post at all. So, maybe by the time I post again (at a more frequent rate), I'll be immersed in the language and doing okay at it.

Peace Corps Cambodia sector guestimates:

33% - Health
77% - Youth Development/English Teaching Teacher Training...combinations.

I'm probably way off, but that's the way it seemed when we were introducing ourselves.

Attrition:

We began with 57
We now have 54

- 1 wanted to continue, but due to a broken limb is (hopefully) being relocated to a new PC assignment in the next month or so (I'll miss you, Tammy. You were pretty cool for the short time I got to know you)

Talk to you later

- Garrett

Packing

So, in the traditional fashion of PeaceCorpsJournals.com:




BEFORE:




AFTER:





It only took an accumulation of 6 weeks (when I was notified of where I was going) to gather all the materials needed for my travels and organized in an efficient manner, for that matter.

After a couple send-off parties and one more to go, I feel fully supported by all of my friends and family, and I am ready to head out on this adventure. Let's just hope there aren't any bumps in the road. i.e. my bags weigh more than 80lbs together (let's cross our fingers).

I have two full days left until I embark to Cambodia (Kampuchea) on my Khmer jouney. The thing I look forward to the most: meeting everyone else.



Final Packing List:

Bottoms

- pairs of lightweight pants [scrubs] (4)
- dress pants (3)
- bathing suit (1)
- shorts (3)
- athletic shorts (2)
- warm-up pants (1) ...haha "warm-up" pants... ugh
- jeans (1)
- pairs of socks (15)
- pairs of underwear (15)


Tops
- neck tie (1)
- baseball caps (2)
- t-shirts (9)
- polos (4)
- dress shirts (5)
- sweatshirt (1)
- raincoat (1)

Shoes

- sneakers (1)
- dress shoes (1)
- slip-ons [top-siders/flip-flops] (2)
- sport sandals [Chacos]

Electronics

- laptop and charger (1)
- portable speakers (1)
- iPod (2?)
- iPod armband (1)
- pairs of headphones (2)
- shortwave radio (1)
- rechargable battery charger (1)
- booklight (1)

- light meter (1)
- Speedlight SB800 Flash [I didn't consider the 1070...that model was too controversial] (1)
- Male to Male PC connector for Flash (1)
- Voltage Converters (5)
- headlamp (1)
- waterproof watch (1)
- batteries (a lot)
- cameras (3)
- Mamiya C330 Medium Format Camera (1)
- Nikon D80 Digital Camera (1)
- Nikon Coolpix L22 (1)
- memory cards (2)

Miscellaneous

- towels (2)
- pillowcase (1)
- sheets (2)
- books (4) [Gai-Jin/Anna Karenina/The Three Musketeers/Anthony Bourdain: Medium Raw]
- English-Khmer/Khmer-English Concise Dictionary (1)
- toiletries
- toothbrush (1)
- toothpaste (3)
- Q-tips (2)
- shampoo/conditioner (2)
- unscented deodorant (2)
- razorblades (16)
- sun screen (2)
- Benedryl
- Gold Bond (1)
- nail clipper (1)
- contact solution (2)
- contacts (186: 180 singles + 6 monthlys)
- pair of prescription glasses (2)
- pair of sunglasses (1)
-pair of clip-on sunglasses for prescription glasses (1)
- leatherman (1)
- 120 film (12)
- metal waterbottle (1)
- Ziploc bags (a lot)
- pair of scissors (1)
- photo book of family and friends w/ US/Japan/Iraq addresses (1)

- credit card (1)
- chessboard (1)
- stationary (1)
- pens (4)

Luggage

-rolling duffle (1)

- medium-sized suitcase (1)

- Timbuk2 waterproof messanger bag (1)

- backpack (1)

Gifts for Host Family

- postcards (6)
- candy (2)
- Arizona-type figurines (2)
- stuffed-animal monkey (1)

Try not to cry...

http://vimeo.com/1223290

Independence Day

"Good morning. In less than one hour, planes from
here all around the world will launch the
largest aerial battle in the history of mankind...
Mankind; the word has new meaning for all of us now.
We are reminded not of our petty differences but of our common interests
Perhaps it's fate that today, July the Fourth, we will once again
fight for our freedom. Not from tyranny, persecution, or oppression,
but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. From this
day on, the fourth day of July will no longer be remembered as an
American holiday but as the day that all of mankind declared that
we will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight.
We will live on. We will survive."

-Devlin, Dean and Emmerich, Roland. Indepedence Day (1996).




Happy 4th of July!


This day, sadly, will be my last 4th of July spent in the United States of America. Fortunately, I'm spending it with friends and family.


Enjoy the beer and barbeque.


Talk to you later

Garrett

17 Days and Counting

So here I am, sitting on my couch, looking at these funny symbols that constitute an entire communicative system for the country, or kingdom rather, that I will be living in for the next 27 months.

So, this is what has engulfed my life for the past three weeks, not including work...

Sua s'dy! Niak soksaa-buy dtay? - "Hello! How are you doing?"

To give you a better idea of where I'm going:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGiyUWQQ_kA

Yup, about 44 in. of rain more per year than in Arizona.


Maybe I'll see some of these:



and maybe I'll see some of this:





Time will tell, and I'll be sure to update you with as much as I can as often as I can.



Here's a list of vaccinations required before/given:



before:


-MMR

-Hep B

-Tetanus

-Diptheria

-Polio

-H1N1




given:


-Hep A

-Japanese Encephalitis

-Rabies (if needed)

-Malaria medication (may cause hallucination)



Talk to you soon...



Garrett

Good-byes and Hellos.

It has been an interesting past couple of weeks: weeks of discovery. You never really recognize the strength of the friendships you currently have until time and fate (circumstance) threatens to pull you away from them like clock whose ticks grow lowder and tocks race closer to the hour of reckoning. Maybe it is because we take the friendships we have and situations and circumstances we've been given for granted when we are able to settle back into life's comfy brown leather couch. You tend to looks past its slight tears and minute flaws. It just becomes a brown leather couch the more and more you sit on it. As I've noted these circumstances of life in my head, I feel a need for much more active appreciation; an active appreciation of all of my surroundings: objects and people. So, as time creeps closer for me to embark on my journey, I grow closer to those I love and appreciate, and oh how I appreciate them so much more. Just the other day, I was at a sort of "send off" party for my friend who's leaving for Central/South America, when I noticed my friend Kristi had the same bag as I had recently ordered online. I asked her about it, and instead of continuing on with her conversation elsewhere, she took the time to explain everything about it to me. Not only was she excited about her bag, but she was excited to share it with me. It took me aback. I, and everyone else, know that she is an amazing caring person, but it takes moments like that for you to realize how lucky you are to have the friends that you do. I'm leaving for another country and so is one of my friends, and together we realized that it is not a sad event but a happy one. All of my close friends are leading their lives to very exciting places.

On the other end of this odd spectrum, I have for some reason barraged and been barraged by countless posts/messages/statuses on facebook about, from and to all of these new people who I am soon to meet. Never have we met face to face. In fact, we have barely known eachother's names for more than a week, I'd guess, yet we are all so excited about this new adventure half-way across the world, that we cannot contain that excitement and feel the utmost need to ask the most ridiculous of questions: "Should I buy the $52 English-Khmer dictionary or the $14 concise version?" How often in your life do you ask that sort of a question to someone you barely know. I can tell you; it's at the moment when life not threatens, but gives you a sm...big push into a scary, exciting, adventurous, unknown path filled with 600lbs cat fish and sting-rays with 14ft wingspans. Now, that is a path you don't head into very often. But, it's here, and I'm ready for it, and, so it seems, is everyone else joining me.

Official

It is now official. I have received my invitation and sent in my letter of acceptance to the Peace Corps Placement Office.

I will be a Health Education Extension Agent in Cambodia.

Staging:

San Francisco: July 20 - 21st

Pre-Service Training:

Cambodia: July 22nd - September 30th

Peace Corps Volunteership (fingers crossed)

Cambodia: September 30th 2010 - September 30th 2012

Talk to you soon.

The Beginning

So, as many of you who know me understand and many who don't do not, I am not currently in the Orient. I am in the United States awaiting such an adventure, such an opportunity.

So, let's start from the very beginning:

2009

January

- I begin my application for the Peace Corps

June

- All of my recommendation providers complete their online recommendations for me (thanks, guys!)

July

- I am contacted by my recruiter stating that he would like to meet with me in person, if at all possible, to conduct an interview.
-I arrive at the LA Regional Recruiting Office and my interview begins. Before our conversation ceases, my recruiter states that he would like to nominate my for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Eastern Europe (that part was my guess). The stipulation is that he would have to continually have to pull my file so that it is not tossed aside due to the economic condition of our country and the availability of programs.

August - January

- Severe doubt sets in about whether or not the Peace Corps is for me. I wonder why I should be teaching English to citizens of third-world countries. Am I impeding on deep-rooted cultures that should be left alone. What am I to accomplish?

2010

February

February 7th:
- I have an epiphany that these countries request help from the Peace Corps, not the other way around. I realize that not only are these projects real issues that need tending to but that I am ready to do what is needed

February 11th:
- I receive a call from my recruiter notifying me that he is officially nominating me for Water Sanitation Extension in Central/South America departing August 2010

March

I receive my medical packet.

March 7th - 21st:
- I complete a rigorous amount of medical and dental tests and procedure including the extraction of 8 viles of blood. Medical Packet is sent in.

March 31st:
- Medical packet is received by the Office of Medical Services (OMS)

April

April 7th:
-Dentally cleared!

May

May 27th:
-Medically cleared worldwide!

June

June 3rd:
- I follow up with my Placement Officer (PO) about some updated materials requested only to have that followed by, "What have you done to prepare yourself for the Peace Corps?" An invitation was now in the mail for "Water Sanitation/Health Extension" for Southeast Asia departing July 20th.


I am currently awaiting my invitation to come in the mail. I am thinking that it will arrive either tomorrow or Wednesday. My guess: Cambodia. Why? Because the Peace Corps Wiki says so, and it's pretty accurate.

So, now you are up-to-date. The only thing I have left to do aside from await the opportunity to call my PO and say, "WHY, YES! I WOULD LOVE TO SERVE IN THE ORIENT! It's only my dream to do so." is figure out whether or not I can return to the U.S. in December for my only brother's wedding. So, let's cross our fingers on that one.

"Yet half I seemed to recognize some trick
Of mischief happened to me, God knows when--
In a bad dream perhaps. Here ended, then,
Progress this way. When, in the very nick
Of giving up, one time more, came a click
As when a trap shut--you're inside the den!"

- Robert Browning

--I'm really going to the Orient...