tourist vs a traveler

I once read an article on a tourist vs a traveler and it all came down to the tourist went everywhere always thinking how different everything was always feeling that they were missing things from home were the traveler saw everything so much the same. Now that I am actually living in another country I think I understand it a bit better and I would have to say while there are deff cultural differences in Cambodia to America the more I am here the more I see how much things are the same. For instances you still see little boys pick up sticks and start to play swords or girls dance around like there princess’s the ideals that we all want for a better life doesn’t seem to really change either just the access rate which we are able to achieve them. Tom I move to a smaller town or village rather for training my life in hotels is over for a bit it was fun and my roommate Sam (from Mississippi) are not in the same area I guess that’s just what the peace corps does they just slowly make you more and more isolated which I guess is better then just throwing you in their like I cant imagine this soon to be new way of life right off the plane. Today was a big day we got split into groups for villages and la classes now that la is in full swing and I realize all I have to know that’s the more overwhelming part of it all but I think people are right when they say its different when you immersed, for instances I always ice coffee (café duka goh) but never know how to say the milk so needless to say the process to explain I want milk takes seriously an exter 20 mins this has given me no choice but to be like wtf im learning the word milk if it’s the last thing I do. Khmer I don’t think has many complex sentences however the words them selves are just very diff from eng they have a similar thing to Spanish where you roll the R’s a lot. While learning the word milk is one thing it’s a whole other thing to listen and understand and then know medical terms which I am not so sure I know in eng for the peace corps this is know as (technical la) refereeing to your job. Sigh I really really wish Rosetta stone could hook me up I don’t know if anyone else knows how I could get a cds for Khmer but if so let me know. On a positive note I got my camera up loader so if I can get the Internet to work faster then at a snail’s passé they will be up. On a did that really happen note I think though my bags going all over the place at some point and time I got one of my sneakers stolen not the two of them just one so the question is do I try to get nike to send me the other one or just throw the one out. Until next time joom-reap-lah (goodbye).

Gender Norms

well it turns out that i have to try to forget everything i have learned in women stuides lol aka the sex's r not equal well at least not in cambodian standards. today we had a 2 hr class on how to act like a girl humm am i able to do that? well turns out i can never been seen alone with the opposite sex or people in town will think we are in love and getting married and if this happens with more then one man you become the town bike. a girl always must be in a big group home be for dark and as for drinking and smoking all bad things. pretty must a girl must be fully covered clothes wise even a long dress means you are with child so i dunno how to deal with that your kness must always be covered even while sitting. you must go out of your way to make your host dad feel like the man of the house. so i have i guess agreed to be pretty submissive however i think this enivorment while hard to deal with may open up doors for teaching aka i plan to set up some class to have people define gender and see what happens at the end ill let you all know how that goes once i get into my real villiage but for now i will take all of these rules with a smile =)

Life AS A CAMBODIAN

so its been a few days since i first steped food off the plane went from the biggest city to a smaller providence. I am told this is the most well off providence and the prime minster grew up here. on the way here we stoped at this little road stop where i got vitnam ice coffee which is amazing!!! its with this sweet milk instead of sugar... i also got to play with tranchla spiders and then i ate one and i ate a cricket so me and my gecko eat the same food jkjk. i would say spider is better it taste like a will textured cheese doritos you all can think about that the next time you pop a bag open lol where the cricket tasted like greses like i dunno werid meat that was deep fryed in a cheap way so needless to say i dont think i will be having them as regular snacks! but i did try it i have some crazy pics to prove it bc i know luis will not belive me haha. it occured to me today that i suffer what i made up a name for called spanishitis i know you all want to know the sysmptoms here it goes when ever someone doest know what im saying in eng i hope they speak a few words in spanish hopping that it makes a diff like that there is no other la besides the two i want milk in coffe okay you dont know milk how about leche still no? lol so i have to stop this bc it is sad that i do this. today if rained but the whole group had a pick up game of soccer it was pretty sweet good time all around tom i go into town and get clothes bc i am finding out how strick the dress code is in cambodia apparentlly the color red equals sexual i always thought in asian culture it ment good luck and they dont wear dresses or shorts the list cuold go on so yea need to fit into the culture so tom i go and get stuff made. so yea money around this place is intreisting to say the least umm like 20 bucks is like carrying around 100 dollar bills 2 dollars buys u like a 3 course meal no lie and 4 bucks is what you pay at a tourist place. ill try to keep you all updated i leave for my other site soon

3 DAYS OF TRAVLE AND IM MADE IT TO CAMBODIA!!!!

Just arrived this morning and have been supper busy ever since I am so tired i could pass out on the key board so this will be quick and I hope I get a chance to upload the pics for you bc pic r worth a 1000 words and this way I can pass out haha. Just went over a lot of general stuff and medical I get my shots tom I hope they can do them all at one time. After logistics and what not of what the peace corps wants etc we got to explore the capital before we move into our training sites where ill have no internet. Saw some really cool buildings and cultural stuff this place is just so pretty I hope all of you get the chance to visit. site update I could not find my camera uploaded thing I think I might have put it with my big bags which the peace corps took for us to put on site so you will all have to wait sorry about that.

Digging to China

Growing up I think I tried numerous times to dig to china I believe it was with a stick no less lol as if it was all going to happen, in my adult life I always wondered one how many kids in china tried to do the same thing and why it seemed so possible to do? Well now I am on a plain to china while I am not exactly digging my self there I am still supper excited to get a night to spend in china!!!! Ps there is a staircase on this plane ill try to get a picture. After china I will be going onto Cambodia the good news is that I am now in a new stage of the Peace Corps a trainee which is pretty exciting everyone in the k4 group (Cambodia group 4) has been awesome staging is going to be long and hard but I am really happy that I get to do it with such a great group of people. Once I get into Cambodia I will have limited access to internet for the first 3 months so my blogs might stop I do have a cell phone once I get to my site however I don’t know how much that will cost ill try to keep you all posted as much as possible. Apparently I also have to get my blogged approved by the Peace Corps because it could effect how the country perceives the program and to make sure you all know that anything I say has nothing to do with the Peace Corps it is only my thoughts and does not reflect the Peace Corps. I am still flying and can say when people come to visit it is a long ride I feel like its been days and have found out in. not even first class but one up from economy they have beds it might be worth to spring for that life style. Since today was my last day in country and tonight last hot shower or running water for the shower I will fast in china and all the awesome things they have like the U.S.A. on another random note this adventure and talking to people in the same boat has really helped me see how much each family is going though the same thing with volunteers leaving etc and how much roles change throughout ones life it brings me back to the first day of school or the first time one sleeps over at camp and you know as a child you are so sad to leave your parents behind and they tell you everything will be okay however for volunteers it is now the opposite we have to convince everyone else it will be okay. Some people’s parents stayed in the same hotel and said their goodbye today and I have to say more parents were crying then kids and if I remember I think I was the only one crying when I was dropped off at nursery school not my mom haha just shows how life takes a 180 on you when you least except it. My visit into China reminded me so much of nyc (time sq touristy part) soo many 7/11 it was funny also everything was in eng which I would never have guessed. I took some shots of random diff… n a pack of ciggs they actually have pics of an x-ray with lunge cancer. I also must admit the media brainwashed me a bit in regards to china….i figured it would be this militant place and they would hassle u about everything they don’t even make u fill out a declaration form it was pretty sweet. I had a awesome meal then back to my hotel.

MY LAST WORDS BEFORE I LEAVE

So while I am packing and trying to figure out what to bring and what to leave behind it occurred to me I don’t have the option to really choose everything in life. On that note I would like to say to everyone how much I appreciate them and all the stuff they have done to help me get where I am today. While I wish I could pack all of you in my bag I cant so instead I will have to carry all the words of wisdom and advice I have received though life and hope that’s enough. I don’t know how many of you think about random things about life you know the stuff that keeps you up in bed but I often do… lately it has been how odd is it that so many people make you who you are and so many of life events and experiences have shaped most of us. Just to think that if only one little thing in my life was different would I be heading to Cambodia who knows? Because of this questions it has given me time to examine my own life and maybe me bring this up will bring you to the same place anyways I have been trying to pin point what point of my life was perhaps the most important that lead me to who I am today. I know the next thing you are all thinking is can you really say just one point and that’s true as well it’s a bunch of small things that add up to the big ones as of right now I guess I don’t have a major life event I guess maybe Cambodia will be it! Instead of ending this entry with love you miss you thanks for everything all I would like to leave you with a quote from my favorite movie from waking life “our biggest mistake is to believe were all awake when were really just asleep in life’s waiting room” this can hopefully not only help some people who are sad about me leaving but to help them to think about their own life.

FAQ post leaving

Since staring up my Peace Corps adventure there are a few questions I get asked a lot and I figured since I have this blog ill try to answer all of them.

1) Where are you going? now I can tell you Cambodia but throughout the application process I had no idea.

2) Did you choose to go there? no I was willing to go anywhere.

3) Where will you be staying in Cambodia? I have no idea for the first 3 months ill be with in a main area with the rest of the group. After the 3 month however I get stationed in another location where I will not be with as many Americans.

4) What type of housing do you get put in? I will be living with a host family (with my own room go figure I have to live in a 3^rd world country to get my own room jkjk) I don’t know who that host family will be yet.

5) How is the living condition? In Cambodia there is no running water so that means bucket showers and I believe there is only electricity at night from Vietnam. As far as the Peace Corps goes they have somewhat strict standards on making sure every volunteer is living in a safe environment.

6) What will you being doing? Community health on education of preventive disease while on the side starting up some sort of after school program which as of right now I am thinking soccer.

7) Does the peace corps give you money? Yes a small monthly stipend for living but I am a volunteer and one of my main goals is to assimilate into the culture so having to much money is actually ineffective because then I look like a rich American tourist. Naturally thought there are other amazing benefits to being in the Peace Corps that monetary value could never match.

8) Will they give you shots, malaria pills and other meds to keep me from getting some rare disease? Yes I get to be pined and prodded once I get to staging.

9) What kind of disease can you get while in Cambodia? High on the list dungy fever, Japanese ensphilistes, tuberculoses, and various parasites.

10 Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps? There are many answers to this one lets see to travel get a new found perspective, to give back to humanity, to help me get a job in the U.N one day etc.

11) What kind of food and clothes can you wear in Cambodia? Food everything from things like bugs to chicken and pork and of course top on the list rice! And more rice! Clothes nothing to sexually reveling aka no mini skirts and tank tops more long skirts and collard shirts.

12) What the weather like? Hot humid rainy just think of all the Vietnam movies Hollywood has out and think along those lines.

13) Do you know other people going friends? No this is more of a solo thing I have been slowly finding people in my group going but none of them I knew before I applied to the Peace Corps.

14) THIS ONE SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF MY LIST What will Luis (my boyfriend) and your mom do while your gone what do they think etc? Well as for Luis he has been with me long enough two years in a week to know that I am a free sprit who just wants to change the world and I am just meant to do something like this so he supports me and yes where staying together while I am away. While I am gone he has a lot he wants to do aka music, medical school, live life to the fullest. As for my mom I am 23 and trying to make my own way in life and seeing how limited I am with advancing my self etc in American I think she is happy with it maybe just nervous that ill be gone for two years but I think most parents feel like that once there kids get older and are around less.

15) Will people come and visit? Can I have people visit? Do I get days off? Yes to all of them a lot of people naturally want to visit Cambodia and when else in life do most people have that excuses except to come visit me =) I get days off but I do not plan to come back to American until I am done for one I have to pay for the flight and two I think for my own state of well being I need to stick out the cultural difference in Cambodia with out going back and forth.

Peace out Dv shelter

AHHH IM DONE WITH WORK!!! This was my last shift at work at the dv shelter it's a sad yet happy feeling to be done bc on one hand its awesome to see clients go on and really grow but on the other its still work and there is alot issues working in such a crazy type of job. As i slowly get my life in order quit work cancel gym member ship and a few other things it's a sure sign that my American life in ending and my Cambodian life is beginning. I think im also done ordering things online aka amazon can stop getting my full pay checks lol jkjk but really im addicted to that site for those who don't know you know they have like transportation agreement with jobs where they take money right from you paycheck be4 tax's and buy your train ticket i wish amazon would do that for me lol. however these next two weeks r going to be jam packed bc i want to just go on adventures around ny and the us be4 im gone for a few years.

T MINUS 18 DAYS TILL I LEAVE

I am not much of a blogger so let me say this is one of my first try's at becoming a cool kid and having my own blog jkjkj. I will try to keep in touch with everyone back in the states as much as possible though i may have limited internet access. Before i forget let me pre apologize for me having limited eng skills aka my spelling i will try to have luis correct my post for me so you dont have to bear but at some point like right now you will. I am in the mist of packing up my life its hard to shop for another culture when all i have is american summer clothes to choose from i wonder how daisy duke shorts would roll in cambodia im guessing not to well. Anyways alot of people might not know exactly what im doing in Cambodia so will try to give a short description since what they gave me was a 24 pg booklet no lie....health agent i will be working in the local community centers hospitals some times schools to prevent disease thought education. Some Facts about cambodia health care system 1 out of 200 new borns die most people in smaller areas dont have hospitals and prefer more of a mystic type dr. Due to the Khmer gov political ideals most hospitals were shut down and destroyed and many DR'S killed (the gov belived basically drs were a cause of inequality making the lower class suffer) this was type of ideals is what lead for the cue de ta with in the communities and throughout the country because of lack of money most hospitals close down at 12 in the afternoon so the medical professionals can go to work in a private hospital to make ends meet. there is a very high rate of many disease such as tb aids etc so i will have lots of work a head of me on top of that i will be the first group though the peace corps to be sent in to do health work so there will be alot to figure out along the way and from the readers point of view some good stories! for a side project i will try to start some after school activity im thinking soccer but i will see bc i need a chance to better get to see what the community would like vs what i would like. thats something that will be an on going struggle for my self is really taking a step back and realizing things from a multicultural aspect aka not the american perspective i am so used to.