Disclaimer

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

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Health Manual: Complete

After 5 months of hard work,
many contributions between 18 people,
165 e-mails,
247 pages,
and countless hours and text messages on the phone,

the Community Health Education Manual for Peace Corps/Cambodia is complete.

It turned out really well. It only took 6 different times "finalizing" after finding small imperfections like a single indentation and (in the beginning) missing page numbers in the Table of Contents!

Overall, I'm very proud of all of the people I worked with on this. I'm also much less stressed! I'm just excited to hold a copy of it in my hands!

Just thought you should know!

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

p.s. There are already K5 volunteers who have received their invitations to come to Cambodia. That's absolutely crazy. It's like middle school; We're becoming the new 8th graders.

Working Towards a Half Marathon or I Made it 1 Kilometer

So, I've decided that today is the day that I will begin working out again. I've decided that I would like to work towards running the half marathon in December at Angkor Wat (same event as the bike race I did last year). I got out my new iPod (another story), stretched, filled my body with water, and went off...

I made it one kilometer before having to transition into walking for a little. I'm actually a little surprised I made it that far at all! Nevertheless, I have plenty of work to do. It's a good thing that I have 7-8 months to get there.

The best part about all of this was that I still had people (despite 4 months in the beginning getting used to it) trying to ask me questions while I was running with my iPod in. I actually had some children follow me 50 meters. They're lucky I had to turn left into the market, otherwise, no hello! And they are so disappointed when one doesn't respond to the infamous "Hello! ....HELLO!!!! HELLLO!!! HELLOOOOO!!!!! HELLO!!!!" For some reason, they also think that the thumbs-up thing is a popular thing to do. Nope. That ended awhile ago.

Anyhow, I'll be at it again tomorrow. I hope you realize I'm simply wrote that sentence in order to guilt myself into actually running tomorrow.

Hope all is well.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

On That Note: The Rainy Season Has Begun to Begin

I'm not sure if I can safely say that the rainy season has begun, however, it has rained pretty hard the past two days. The rainy season doesn't really begin until the end of May/beginning of June, but it's comin'! This is great, as it's getting really, really, really, really hot. My skin has become the color that a pastry should be when you take it out of the oven! I find the rain cathartic, so it's been very pleasant to listen to music/watch a movie/read a book in my room while listening to the rain pour down and the thunder shake my room.

Last night, my family served me this rice that looks like it's speckled with bits of red streaks. It turns out that this is the most expensive rice in Cambodia. Apparently it has natural healing abilities. I was very grateful for the rice (and the tasty fish and egg/onion omelette)! My friend, Phannah told me that this rice is sometimes difficult to buy as Cambodian people would rather sell it to Thailand and get the most value at it as it's not an item to really be bartered with.

That's about all.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

A Small Explanation Missing: The Meaning of Water Festival

The Meaning of Water Festival:

There are two differences to note:

1) Thailand and Laos celebrate Water Festival along with their New Year (which is the same time as Cambodia), yet all three have similar practices.

2) Cambodia's Water Festival means something COMPLETELY different.

Since the New Year (which takes place in the middle of April) in this small SE Asian clump is so close to the beginning of the rainy season, both Thailand and Laos call it Water Festival. They splash you with talcum powder and water to signify a fresh start and the hopeful beginning of a very wet rainy season.

Though Cambodia takes part in these practices, they celebrate their Water Festival in November, which signifies and glorifies a 12 century naval victory led under King Javayarman VII. It is also a thanks to the river.

Hope that helped.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Water Festival in Vientiane, Laos

There is rioting in the streets. Child and adult, foreigner and local alike have taken to the streets with (water) guns and buckets, pales and Super Soakers, all ready to attack at any given moment and at every available opportunity. It is Water Festival in Laos, and we happen to be back in capital, Vientiane for it.
We started in a minibus with 15 other people headed to the bus station and at every corner, there were children and other locals with buckets, Super Soakers, and hoses waiting for us. The windows on the bus were open. Oh, we tried to shut them, we did. But, for some reason, they just wouldn't close. It was as if someone had planned that... Every small town we passed through children and adults alike were tossing pale after pale of water on to the bus (thankfully, we could close the windows at this point). When we got to Vientiane (from Vangvieng), all hell had broken lose and havoc had been reeked. The streets were filled and traffic was held up. It was at this point we all realized that we should probably put everything of value in our bags (thank god for that waterproof Timbuk2 bag). We were pretty wet by the time we got to the third guest house and thankfully we were able to get our stuff safe and sound. Well, as safe as you could get in our situation (i.e. there's no lock on this door). Some of us went out to find food, and by the time we found it, our clothes were absolutely soaked. We had some brick oven, wood-fired pizza. Trevor actually made the pizza that he and I shared. I was really impressed. He apparently worked at a pizza place for awhile, just up until coming here.

The best part of the day was while three of us were relaxing in the room, perusing on the internet, and the other two came barging in sopping wet demanding we come with them. We said, "Nah! It's okay, come get us in a little bit." 10 minutes later... "COME, NOW!" So, we did. Little had we realized, there was a stage set up, flashing lights of all colors and varieties. People were dancing in the streets and by the stage. There was a fire truck spraying water (the guy was holding it between his legs) into the crowd. I was really glad I saved that waterproof bag I bought back in Vangvieng.
Happenstance is a wonderful thing, but if you should ever decide to come visit Southeast Asia during the dry season, do it during Water Festival. Yes. Transportation will be more expensive, but it is well worth it.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Tubing Down the Nam Song River (Readers [Mom] Beware!)

The small town of Vangvieng in Northern Laos is a magnet for tourists from every corner of the world. The reason: tubing down the Nam Song River, a tributary of the Mekong River (I think). For 55,000 kip (or $6.87) and the down payment of 60,000 kip (or $7.50), which is insurance on bringing back your inner tube (you get it back as long as you return before 6:00pm or else you get fined 20,000 kip (or $2.50) from your down payment, you can rent the spare tire of a tractor and get a free tuk tuk ride down to the river. Once you get down to the river, you are immediately met by plenty of fellow foreigners and a bar ready to hand you a free shot of whiskey and a buy one get one free bucket (Yes. A bucket of alcohol). That's a pretty good way to start off a very, very "safe" trek down the river.

As you float down the Nam Song, you are greeted by what cannot be accurately depicted in a photograph. It is something you need to see for yourself, so I will merely try to explain it in words. As you float down the Nam Song, you are greeted by giant wall (almost obelisk-like) of rocky mountain covered in patches of green with visible caves towards the top. The river is wide and the mountains are daunting, yet beautiful. You cannot believe the romanticism that you are living in.

There are about ten or eleven bars lining the river. About every 100m, a local (or fellow tourist) will throw a half-filled water-bottle tied to a rope to your inner-tube (sometimes getting close to hitting you in the face) so that you can get reeled in (literally) to the bar. The moment you get there men are treated with Lao bark-treated whiskey or shots of whiskey from bottles filled with snakes, scorpions, or other creepy crawlies and the women are treated to a free drink "for sexy ladies". While tubing down the river, you are constantly deciding when the right moment is to left you back completely onto the tube as at times the water-level is extremely low with rocks sticking just under the surface. Meanwhile, you are being barraged with streams of water from Super Soakers (purchased in the town) by fellow tourists.

The most fun (and most dangerous) part of the ride is all of swings, slides, zip-lines and other contraptions laid at the crux of each bar. The average zip-line is about 20 ft. above the water with the tallest approximately 35 ft. Of course, this I could not pass up. It was absolutely thrilling, and I would do it again. I have heard this "the tubing" (the "gift shop" t-shirt to buy says, "Vangvieng: In the Tubing") is a rite of passage for backpackers backpacking through Southeast Asia. There was also an inflatable "blob" which you jumped onto and stopped at the very edge until someone inevitably jumps into the middle and sends you flying into the river. Now, all of these things are of course very dangerous as there have been a few reported deaths in the past five years. We were very careful (we were very careful, Mom). My fellow companions were filled with worry in the hours leading up to the adventure as we witnessed many hobbling and ace-bandaged tourists. One only had one shoe.

At one point, we met up with a group of travelers (who most had just met only 20 minutes earlier) from Canada, Sweden, Norway, and the U.S. (Phoenix to be specific). We ended up together for the last leg of the trip and met up at a restaurant in town and spent the next part of the night together. All in all, the trip down the river was an unforgettable one and hopefully, one day I'll return.

These pictures were NOT taken by me as I was not confident of the water-proofness of my purchased bag. It was a good decision; the money got wet.

Hope all is well (as I am in one piece),
Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Oddly, When I'm On Vacation, I Upload More Pictures

A view of the mountains from the Vangvieng Town

Fellow PCVs Trevor and Lindsay on our hike spot a hot air balloon

Along the Nam Song River

A villager in Vangvieng

On the way to Vangvieng from Vientiane

A shrine in the capital, Vientiane

The streets of the capital of Laos, Vientiane

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Meeting People from Around the World

So, it's fun to meet people from around the world in your town, wherever that may be. It seems it may be a novelty to be able to say "I met this guy from Nigeria today!" However, after traveling a lot around Cambodia, meeting people countless people from countless places. At some point, they're no longer South African, Thai, or Lebanese; they're just people with fascinating stories and interesting this to say. I recently met a bloke from the UK who served as an aid worker in Pakistan and before that, in Haiti. He had a myriad (Yes. "Myriad" can be used in this way) of tales to tell, but he was more curious about commonalities and habits in the U.S. along side wondering what I'm doing here in the Peace Corps and what my future goals and aspirations. It's a very simple idea, but these basic conversation with myriad people (I tried to switch it up) about what our lives are like make us better, more knowledeable, more prepared people in so many ways. You begin to realize that the world isn't just like Tucson or Phoenix or New York or Los Angeles. It's something far far greater when thought of as a whole with its brilliant differences and countless theories about how life is and should be lived. So, the next time you're out in town or traveling, go talk to someone new and learn something you didn't know before. Gain a new perspective. Talk to you soon, Garrett