Disclaimer

This website reflects my own personal views and not that of the U.S. Government nor, more specifically, the Peace Corps.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

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

Saturday, August 28, 2010

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

Saturday, August 21, 2010

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

Thursday, August 5, 2010

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