So, as many of you know, I went back to Amurrka for a couple of weeks with the main purpose being my brother's wedding of which I was the best man for. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and I couldn't have asked to be part of something more beautiful. In fact, I was asked to be a part of it... I mean, I would hope I would be invited to my only brother's wedding. Okay, off topic. So, I won't get too deep into the nitty gritty of all of the amazing things I had the opportunity to do, see, eat, watch while I was in the States, because well, that'd be outright cruel for the few PCV friends in Cambodia that read this blog. The point is, I had two major "oh shit" moments while on vacation ("on vacation" is right, and I'll get to why that is absolutely relative and applicable to my point in a minute). Each moment lasted around 20 minutes.
The first:
I was driving back from seeing my brother and sister-in-law off to their honeymoon. I was driving my car back on a practically empty freeway going somewhere between 75-80 mph. I had some Daft Punk playing over the speakers, and the only thing I could think was, "Damn. Damn. This is so fantastic. I've never appreciated driving like this. I didn't realize how much I would miss this. Iiii'm not sure I wanna go back.
The second:
I was bitching to myself about having to lug back eight times as much stuff back home. It was then that I realized that I used the word "home". I was vacationing. America was a vacation for me. It was at that realization that I knew I was actually looking forward to comimg back...home. It's not just a place where my stuff happens to be, it's where I work, live, have the majority of the friends that I see most often.
Most of the people I've talked to who have been here for awhile and even those who have been here just as long as I have say they're so surprised everytime someone comes back from the States. But, to be honest, I feel so right about being here. Don't get me wrong. When my Close of Service (COS) comes around, I'm probably not planning on sticking around. I'll be excited to get back to the U.S. Now, though, I'm here, and I've got an amazing support group. My friend Sarah came over to me and rested her head on my knee while I was typing this, telling me how she gets so sad on the last day of these reunions. She said, "I feel like I've known you my whole life." For those of you who don't know, Sarah lived in Tucson for 10 years, so we've had plenty to reminisce about. Anyhow, it's comments like that that just keep me excited about ther and now rather than a year and a half from now. Needless to say, I'm in a good place.
p.s. Go Cats! (basketball)
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
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
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
Sunday, December 5, 2010
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
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
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.
-
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.
-
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
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.
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.
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