Disclaimer

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

Sunday, November 28, 2010

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.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

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.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

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

Monday, November 8, 2010

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.