Disclaimer

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

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

He's Going the Distance

He's going for speed. Actually, he's going for completing the race.

This upcoming weekend, I'll be competing in the Village Focus International - Siem Reap International Half-Marathon...Yes. That is the name of the event; I will be running the 10k. I was originally going to run the Half, however, recovering from the soft-tissue infection in my right shin prevented me from running for a good 6 weeks. I can't say that I'm anyone's competition as my goal is simply to finish the race.

This weekend is actually pretty big with the international community. Most hotels and guest houses get booked up and Pub Street (the popular tourist street) gets overrun with bike/run participants and many tourists who have come simply to watch.

I just looked up a respectable time to run a 10k. Dammit! Everybody is way too nice.
Example responses to some girl who is running her first 10k (like me):
"Jenny (not actual name), simply finishing the 10k is respectable"
"Jenny, I agree with everyone above. Not everyone can run a 10k!"
"Great job on competing in a 10k, Jenny! You'll do fine! Even if you finish last, you finished!"

...not the answers I was looking for.

Either way, it's true. I just want to finish. I'm thinking it will be a 6k run and a 4k hobble with my hand to my side because of some unfortunate cramp. A recent professor of mine likes to say, "You've always got something extra!" Let's find out if that's true.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Monday, November 14, 2011

I Forgot to Take the Rest of the Photos or My Family Came to Visit Part II

Day 5:

We traveled on the 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh, where Scott and Dad got to observe many of the effects of the flooding on the side of the highway including many families who had relocated there in make-shift awnings. When we got to Phnom Penh, we didn't really have much time to do anything, so we went off to the Peace Corps office first to meet Sarah, and then we headed off to see Central Market (its Khmer name translates to "New Market" hmmm) and Sorya Mall, where we bought some things. Afterwards we tried to catch a glimpse of the Royal Palace, which is exactly what we got: a glimpse. We got there 7 min after the gates closed (23 min before they kick people out). It was nice to see, though, as was the National Museum. We went for Indonesian food that night and got some ice cream at Blue Pumpkin. We called it an early night.

Day 6:

6 hour bus rides? Let's do more!!!! We woke up early to catch the 4 hour bus ride to Kep, where we got some pate sandwiches and enjoyed a bit of the Gulf of Thailand. After a nice dip in the sea, we took a nice 2k walk over to the crab market, which was pretty neat. It's always fascinating to watch people fight and yell over flopping fish and shimmying crabs. After that, we took a nap and then came back to the market to eat one of the most delicious meals I've had in this country: fried noodles with crab on top, large prawns ("lobsters"), and really good fried fish. When we got back, we (Dad and I) tried to watch "I am Number Four", and we both fell asleep within 5 min.

Day 7: We started of today with a little bit of rice and pork and then headed to the caves (a Killing Cave [which means that the Khmer Rouge used to commit mass murder and do mass burials there], but the bones were moved to the museum in Phnom Penh) in Kampong Trach, Kampot. They were really amazing to see. Many of the formations of the cave look like different parts of various animals. After our hour tuk tuk ride back, we took a much needed nap, then headed to lunch for fresh boiled crab; it was absolutely delicious, but way overpriced. We got on the internet for a little and read a bit until heading back near the crab market to eat some pizza and pasta, which was pretty yummy. We ended up finishing the movie tonight (Thanks for watching it twice, Scott!).

Day 8: 3 hour ride back to Phnom Penh (bus was movin') was alright despite some major stomach cramps. They were intense. It felt almost the same as when I had a kidney stone 2 years ago. Not fun. It came and went for about an hour and a half, but eventually, it went away. Once we got to the big city, we dropped our stuff off and then took a nice walk to The Shop to meet Aaron and Jane for lunch. I had met both of their families, so it only made sense for them to meet mine! It's nice to meet people's families to see where they came from. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to pick our stuff up and head to the airport. I dropped them off inside the airport and they said some sweet words to me. It was very sad to see them go, but it was enough to remember that they made it all the way out here, and even though it was for only a week, it meant so much to me. Thanks, guys! Also, the DQ I had after helped take the edge off.

Welp, that was my visit from my dad and brother. It was fabulous, and I look forward to meeting other people's families as they come in and out of the country.

Talk to you soon,
Garrett

Friday, November 4, 2011

Surprise in Southeast Asia or My Family Came to Visit (Part I)

Day 1:

So, I'm hangin' out at Suvarnabhumi (BKK) airport waiting to pick up my dad and Fred, a good family friend. Yet, about 10 minutes before leaving to pick the two of them up, a good friend of mine says, "Enjoy the surprise..." and signs off of Gchat. Hmmm That's strange. Maybe they mean the camera I was thinking they might be getting me. Yeah. That's probably it. 10 minutes before they come through to the waiting area, where all the eagerly waiting families and business people waiting to meet their loved ones or business contacts are, I think...maybe my brot....nah. 10 minutes later, there he is. God dammit. They've fooled me the whole time. My brother and my dad show up. Fantastic surprise! Absolutely fantastic. We chatted a bit and then got some much needed 2 hours of sleep, before waking up at 5:25a to prepare for the shuttle to the airport followed by the 4 hour bus ride to the border.



Day 2:

We ended up meeting a good friend, Lainie, and her father, in Poipet. Lainie attempted to convince me that Poipet is still cool. It was never REALLY cool, my friend. Attempt attempted. Maybe next time! After that we bargained with a taxi driver to rent out the taxi to my town in the middle of nowhere, we greeted my host mother and a couple of the bankers, then set down and sweat for a good while while trying to change the plane flights and hotels; the travel restrictions on Bangkok forced us to adapt our vacation completely to Cambodia (which I think actually ended up working for the better). We exchanged some gifts, saw my bathroom (I think they both thought it was the best way to bathe. I'm definitely not being facetious), then went to the market. They got to try a new fruit, jackfruit (they liked it a lot), which has a fun story. Quick digression: back in the day, the U.S. Navy was in this area of the world and loved the fruit so much they made a chewing gum out of it. Can you guess which one? Juicy Fruit. They also got to try "prohut" which is a sort of blended meat...ball. Khmer meat balls, let's call them, except there is a beef kind, a fish kind, a tofu one, etc. After that, we went back to the house and my host mom served us lok lak (which she's never served me before...that was nice). Lok lak is beef with an oyster/beef sauce served with an egg on top (typically) and all on top of tomatoes and onions. The sauce that goes with it is called "dtuk merihk" (pepper water), which is basically pepper and msg with a squeezed lime. Good stuff. After dinner, Host Mom, gave me a new fan AND a lawn chair to sleep on (don't get excited...it was a pretty crappy lawn chair, even by Cambodian standards). She was tryin' to impress. Unfortunately, my extra mosquito net only went so far to the ground. I had to duct tape myself in.



Day 3: The next morning we woke up and went to my favorite restaurant (one of two in the town) and I got to share the glory of "bai sai(k) j'rook" (rice with pork) and "mee soup" (noodle soup). We traveled next to the health center to meet the staff there and show them around the place. Two seconds after sitting in the health center director's office, one of the staff offered to drive us to Sway (rather than having to flag down a taxi [and pay for one]), which was very generous of him. When we got to Sway, we met up with Rachel and Maddy. We took the 9:30 bus to Siem Reap and got there swiftly in an hour and 30 min. We checked into the Goldan Banana hotel (so swank), and I was able to bargain the price down of a "Superior" room by $18 to upgrade as the hotel wasn't booked. We went down to the market and explored, got to do some more bargaining, try new fruits, dragon fruit and rambutan, walk around the town a bit, then head back to the hotel to do some a/c relaxing. For lunch, we ate at "Psah Chas" restaurant and had fried rice with beef, a pumpkin potato tofu curry, and fish amok. Later that night, we went out to eat at Chamkar, a vegetarian restaurant with all locally produced foods. Both were delish! We called it an early night as we had to be up at 4:00a to catch the 5:00a tuk tuk to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat.



Day 4:

We woke up way early to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Our tour guide there was very knowledgeable and his English was pretty good. It turns out, he was a monk and has trained many tour guides and teachers to speak English. It was absolutely magnificent to see the temple and walk around it. It's just amazing how much detail went into the walls, from armies of monkeys to Hindu gods and goddesses. We were there for about 2 hours before heading back. I think we were there for the right amount of time, as we were happy to get back to the hotel when we did. We were gone for a total of 3 hours. Back at the hotel, we got our complimentary breakfast which was comprised of 2 eggs (any way you want 'em), hot bread (w/ butter and jam), a fruit cup (with dragon fruit, papaya, pineapple, and a mango [MANGOES!]), and coffee (or tea) and orange juice. The rest of the day we did much of nothing as we just got to relaxing, had Indian for lunch, then eventually met up with Kyle (a volunteer who lives in the town) for a drink and picked up il Forno for dinner (eggplant parm., pizza nepoletana, and a bolognese pasta). We called it an early night this time, too, as we had to get up early (5:30a) again for our 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh.