Dead People LOVE Chicken

For those who don’t know Cambodian people love to celebrate anything they can so you pretty much sneeze and it will be a special day they actually have the most national holidays in the world however I thought I would have a heads up when they might occur. I come home for lunch and there is a party happening in my house and there is all these sprit house and tons of food I mean like my house was covered esp with fruits. Mean while im trying to figure out what is going on so I ask my host sister who is home for this event and all she can say in eng is everyone in Cambodia is doing this right now and im like okay but why? I get to the table to eat and there is all this awesome food that we never have including a whole chicken, which I didn’t think was even possible in Cambodia, was I was sooo excited to see chicken with out bones that I could eat! As the saying goes if you can’t beat them join them I might have no idea the reason for this day but I deiced to join in the festivities however I soon had to jet for langue class where I was having a test bummer. Naturally as soon as I see my lcf I ask him what the hells going on in Cambodia today and he is like o it is a special day for Chinese people it is a day to please there dead ancestors and for everyone in the family to meet so now I understand a day of the dead sort of the deal. A few mins later I talk to another Cambodian who then informs me that the Chinese people have whole chicken on this day so light bulb went off in my head and was like yea I had one for lunch why? The answer they believe that it is what the dead like to eat. All I can think is interesting you would think you would feed your dead family something they eat all the time and as far as I can tell its not chicken but never the less the dead like chicken and so do I so cheers to them for allowing me to eat it. Apparently the Chinese calendar is faster then Cambodian so this will happen for Cambodian people in oct. on a im not failing at life note I actually did good on my lpi test today this is a huge test I have to take at the end to be able to swear in I have to score a certain la level and im actually right their. I also went to the wat today as a peace corps group and we got to talk to the monks with translators of course and ask them things for those of you who know me what question do you think I could not wait to ask ill give you 5 mins to think before reading this next part hehe… give up okay so they went on how the old women in the village decide to become nuns later in life to server the monks so I had to ask why could women not be monks why must they take on the roll of servant the monk actually took some time to think this one though but basically his answer in old sand script it was not that way women were allowed to be monks before Buddha died because Buddha wanted to spread his way of life with everyone but after humans screwed it up and it remains till this day I don’t know how reassuring that answer is but at least this monk was honest.

Cafe

As a person who speaks very little of the native la I frequent the same places in hopes I am less likely to get ripped off not to mention it helps built connection with the community. There is one place in particular that I pretty much live at which happens to be the café by my lcfs house due to the fact that I drink coffee at least two times a day from them. Well since most of us volunteers frequent there we have made this place some what of a cool place to be and while in America you really don’t know if giving your money over to one place vs. another really matter or see the effects of you being there this is the opposite in Cambodia. Since arriving in my community this place now has added a roof and extended the restaurant. While in America it’s hard to say I was really ever a loyal costumer to any one places due to the fact there are no specials for the locals in America. The people who work at this place are so happy to have us as costumers they go above and beyond anything I could imagine and to think I don’t even tip them for instances they will run to another places and give us free snacks because they are so happy we are trying to learn Khmer they will sit and actually try to help us study and then today was sort of the kicker that has lead me to write this blog the lady who runs the place as I am paying pulls me over to the side because she has bought me a present a hair thing with fake diamond like things in a shape of a flower. What does one say to a gift from a lady who makes no money I was deff overwhelmed and couldn’t believe that some restaurant cared that much about the people who go their to invest money on a present. On another note today at lunch Lorie the girl who’s site I visited has lunch at my house and now my host mom is in love with her and has been asking me since I have arrived home where is she and telling the neighbors how much Khmer she knows and how pretty she is compared to me. I guess this is my fate since inviting someone who has been living in Cambodia for a year however I am glad that she also thinks my host mom deff speaks Khmer all crazy. I did my survey thing and I can say that the best question was by far do you think your meals are clean and how people’s perceptions were and reality was amazing. So I will tell you about one of my favorite house I went to anyways mind you we get taken to the barn to ask the question in this place is horse, cows. Chickens. ducks etc when asked do you think your meals are clean the answer very clean next question where do you cook ur food the man points right in the middle of the barn next to the horse. See I love the fact that his perception of clean and what health wise we consider clean is a lot diff I don’t know if that shows that as a health volunteer I might have to really dive in what a clean environment is or if they know and they choose to ignore it. Naturally things can just be normal in Cambodia so I will tell you about my brush with death while doing the surveys and no im not talking about the dogs. As me and my survey partner liz were walking all of a sudden a snake is passing by at first sight I was not to scared thinking whatever a snake however has it lifted its head like it was going to attack and I saw that it was a cobra I was like wtf and scream which according to our safety book ur not supposed to do however in my flight or fight moment I said screw that. As were walking away from the snake the lcf is like o a snake and looks at it and once we were down the road decide to let us know how dangerous it was I wish you could here the accent as he says this but ill quote and you can just imagine “o I think you very lucky if that snake accidentally bite you I think it would kill you in 15 mins” me and liz o really thanks for telling us that now me couldn’t you just get us venom from the hospital lcf umm not all hospitals have venom I know many people who die because of that. Then I think I went on how I would make him suck the venom out of me lmao but it really was a huge note to self how would I survive if I was attacked I still don’t have an answer bc there is no way the peace corps could get to me in under 15 mins which means death,

My life in nutshell

This has been an eventful week where to start okay well along with my host mom hacking fire wood with a sword she also apparently captures up scorpions so the other night im getting changed and I hear this hard knock which my host mom never knocks hard so I was like yea and she was all excited so I quickly throw on my srong and what do I see in her long thongs that she uses to start fires but a scorpion. I think my host mom is stating to get me she notices that I take random pics of geckos around the house and anything that I find interesting so she knew that I had to take a picture of it before she killed it by the way this thing was huge! On an everyday biases it’s a continual game of charades this was no different so I wanted to know where it came from the name of it in Khmer and once I got my host mom to understand that apparently it just showed up in the kitchen thank god she found it and not me bc I would have not even know what to do. My host mom has been bugging me why don’t I wear earrings so I told her that she should just get her lip pierced like me and now its our on going joke. My host family found out I will eat frogs so I have been getting that for lunch but she also found out I like French Fries that she makes by hand for me. This week in Peace Corps training its practicum week which means we get to put all our newfound knowledge to the test and roll with the knowledge we don’t yet have. As a health volunteer we had to go to some hospitals follow workers around still take technical la sessions teach a health lesson at the school and create a house hold survey and I thought my social research methods class was going to go to waste in life who knew. It has been really hectic with all these side projects going on well first ill tell you about this morning me and Helen both co teached with some of the eng kids on nutrition we came on this topic because we need something not to hard to teach in eng for the record I feel teaching any subject in eng to people are learning is a huge challenge and I really wish I could just do it in Khmer. Well the lesson went well played some games got them to understand you need to eat good things however I wish I had the la ability to better explain why we just split up things to eat into 3 groups foods that give you energy, foods that keep you strong, and goods that help you not get sick. We drew pictures and had them put them into groups and make different meals it was deff hard because we could not have to big of a vocab list but overall I think they understood and having no teaching training I think my group did pretty good. However I would say it was interesting to see how Cambodian’s in general learn you can really see how it is associated or connected with there way of life. For instances while in American schools it is always about problem solving ability and proving you can use what you learned all about the individual. Well naturally being American I try to provoke young minds helping them to think for them selves but this is a huge hurdle for Cambodia school age children they are all about the group dynamics they do not like to think outside the box or do something different from there class mates. Ex we played a matching memorization game but none of the kids would pick diff boxes so it took an exter 20 mins House hold surveys I am doing sanitation habits of food cooking, washing hands etc. however the kicker with this is I have to try to say my questions in Khmer there will be a translator with us aka an LCF but even when I say things right in Khmer people in this culture are not used to people knowing their la so I get looked at like I have 5 heads so I am never to reassured that what I am saying is being understood. Even though I have been hear for a month the neighbor hood kids have not tired of saying hello 500 times a day wait let me extend that to adults as well. I have a site interview today and then next Saturday I get to find out where this is awesome yet kind of crazy because I don’t know where it is but it will determines the rest of my life haha also new host family just has I am starting to get used to my host family I will be getting a new one. After class I have been able to play soccer with the local kids this has been fun but I have to admit im breaking all the Cambodian rules due to the fact I am the only girl that is playing with 30 guys o well. A few of the other volunteers are really good at yoga and started to give some time to do a group lessons I now aspire to do this crazy scissors move where you hold your self in air. Sigh the electricity has gone out so now it is lunchtime and im sitting in the dark with out a fan that’s life in Cambodia in a nutshell.

Awkward turtle

If you don’t know what awkward turtle is I think you should google it but the awkward part is what I will be focusing on. Granted for most of my time in Cambodia there has been a lot of awkward turtle however I would say the past two days have taken it to new levels. Cambodian people are very willing to let us as volunteers be extremely hands on which is interesting however sometimes its those moments when you know this has to be as another volunteer put it profoundly wrong. While its easy for me to change the things which might be considered rude in Cambodia but what about the other way around when they do something which is so rude in America well it makes it a lot more difficult to deal with and then its this huge mental block that has to be fought off. Due to the fact that I am a health volunteer i have to learn a lot of medical terms in Khmer but to prove that we learned enough of it this week the peace corps set up with the referral hospital in phey chore to go around and talk to patients which in the states would never happen because of hip laws. Besides feeling what we were doing was illegal it all so just felt extremely wrong to go up to sick kids and there family and try to speak in Khmer and say what is he/she sick with and the lcf made it extremely important that we got what they were saying so sometimes this was repeated. On top of that we do not have the langue skill to convey sympathy or condolences etc so I deff feel at times I had to have come off crude. A quick side note but there are no aids in hospitals hear so the family members must take off to take care of them which I would imagine to be stressful, so if I was looking at it from there prospective I would want to know why the fuck are these American bothering me. However that was not the case they were happy that Americans were taking interest in them. However most of us could not get over the fact of what we were doing when we tried to explain how wrong we felt this was the lcf told us to pretend to be Drs and keep asking anyways. In America being in a hospital is a very private experience not so in Cambodia rooms are opened with more then 2 people and some people are outside and its very okay for us to go up and ask them what in America would be very personal questions. Well after that instance how much more awkward could my life get in Cambodia I know I have told you on this blog numerous times how often I get called fat or ask why I am so fat but it went to a whole new level today ps I wish what I am about to tell you did not happen. After my morning bike ride and a nice afternoon I went and tried to spend time with the neighbors who instantly hang out in my drive way when no sooner do I sit down does my host mom go running off and everyone laughing I was still in my own world. Until I saw my host mom scurrying back towards me and in her hands she bought out a rice scale for me to stand on in front of everyone to see how taught (big) I really am of course I refused I was like I am a fat American I don’t need to know how much but then all of them went on it and then pretty much I was weight gang raped and they threw me up on the scale and im sure will have a good laugh at my America fat ass for a while. Then of course there is the random lunch in my host parents had and who ever they invited stared the whole time and whispered back and forth about me you know when you see a huge car pile up and you cant help but slow down and rubber neck it (look) well in Cambodia I am that car accident.

MY HOST FAMILY

I realized I did not get to give you much of an update on my host family since I am slowly getting to know them turns out they have 5 kids 3 girls 2 boys so I was not wrong about the two son part but there is girls to. I actually get to see one of my host sisters on weekends she comes home I think she goes to university she is really cool from the little I can talk to her I think all the neighborhood kids really look up to her they seem to get really excited when she shows up. I think my host mom wishes I new more Khmer because she try’s so hard to talk to me and I never have a clue as to what she is talking about in all honesty I think my host family has learned more eng from me then I learned Khmer hah. I do this thing where is say what I am about to say in Khmer in eng then say it and when I hear it I have to do the whole process so conversation is in slow time for me but this deff has made my host family hear far more eng. Today the Peace Corps set up something called a round table it was meant for families and volunteers to meet and ask questions it was more awkward then anything else. I don’t think either group wanted to ask each other stuff that we feel we should know like for me I have no idea what my host dad does to make money and why there is this lady who works in the house during the day while my host mom watches her soap operas? I tired some new Cambodian desert called jack theming I think something along those lines its basically cook bananas with some sort of goobie balls and a extremely sweet sauce cant say I was the biggest fan. Everyone’s host family main questions where why do you eat so little my host dad harped on that for a while o yea I guess I should mention the women did not come I think its that whole Cambodian male higher archie thing. The best part is everyone in Cambodia wants to over feed you but right after dinner at least in my neck of the woods they love to sit around and ask why I am so fat my host mom will even go and get someone who speaks in eng to just ask me that one question yes this makes me want to eat more rice. However as most of you know I am a picky eater pretty much a pain in the ass to feed and my host mom has to deal with me so for that I give her props. So my host mom is a trip for one bc she noticed that I don’t like how tiny the bones are in everything she will actually sit there and take my plate and cut off meat for me and when it comes to bananas she will peel it for me. She gets extremely upset about misquotes biting me so she goes on bug huts for me around the house esp in my room its deff amusing to watch on a down note bc of this I am not allowed to wear shorts it makes me to much of a target. I also have old clothes and they have rips and thing in them my host mom is quick to sew it up for me which is awesome bc I have no idea how to sew. Lately she has been asking me about my mom back home well not so much about her but she wants to know why me and my mom do not talk on the phone I don’t think she thinks I have parents but I finally convinced her I did and that my mom doest know how to use the phone it’s the only way I could translate it I tired a billion other things that did work so now if she ever meets my mom she might take her aside to show her how to use a phone lmao. In Cambodia people are ocd about there family and she has kids all over Cambodia and they all call each other a lot so the concept of me not calling home a lot is one she can not grasp. Have you ever seen someone who is kick ass with a machete well my host mom is I swear one chop and she chops wood like its nothing all I can say is bad ass. My host dad was in the military maybe and ex police officer but he actually knows how to read eng minus the annoying words with silent letters however I sometimes feel bad bc he can help more with my edu wise way more then my mom but I don’t want the inferiority to be there so I try to included her to. People kept telling him tonight that me and him look alike bc we both have the same type of face have to admit I don’t know what type of face that is but this seemed to make him happy and I just rolled with it like yea were related. I found out that my host family might be Chinese which doest really matter except my host mom version of Khmer sounds soo different and this explains why at least I know its not in my head that she speaks as if she is yelling haha.

Cambodia is in a State of PERIL

Okay so every Thursday is seminar day in chomp cham where I think we get told about all the things that will kill us or hurt us in Cambodia. Let’s see so far we had to learn about all the way misquotes will harm humans if untreated kill humans. Then there is parasites in all the meat and veggies and god knows what other food o by the way nigh soil equals human manour, which helps to carry lots of disease and parasites 411 Cambodia gets some things from Vietnam which uses this. Today it was all about land mines which according to the statistics I received today Cambodia has the 2^nd most land mines in the world Afghanistan is number one. O yea there is 3 times the amount of land mines then people in Cambodia right now wtf to that most are the tie boarder and a lot are where I am living right now. The best part of all in these informative sessions are how to treat and prevent o wait half the things they say are not due able in country for instances misquotes use your net wear deet (which by the way long terms effect of deet have been linked to parkson disease) and avoid misquotes funny bc I didn’t know I could tell misquotes to go away and they would listen. Its awesome when ever they recommended to use hot water lmao o really I could take a hot shower my host family must have a secret place they store that water. If I have a rash put anti bacterial soap on it and stay out of humid places humm pretty sure that cant happen in Cambodia. Hookworm are carried in dogs etc so you might not want to even walk barefoot in your house just to be on the safe side. If your family has a dog or cat try not to let it near you or touch you (no cats or dogs have any shots so most have worms fleas and various other things) I feel like I have seen weird things in the cats ear I have no idea what that could be. Land mines avoid area’s you don’t know considering I don’t know most places in this country sort of hard also found out that people steal the signs to warn people because the iron that hold up the signs get people 500 real. I think best comment today by medical staff don’t be alarmed if a worm comes out of your but you can wait till business hours to call. I know now you wondering how likely is this stuff ever going to effect me well us K4 are setting records a kid who was in my langue group got dengue and that misquote can effect up to 3 block radius I escaped that and I have no idea how. However to be fair seminar day is not all about death we also get to find out about the on goings of the week and what expectations must be met this week was about Permanente site we now have the knowledge of what safety must be met they have a list of 10 things that should be met however they informed us today that is not always possible and as long as they find a place that has 6 out of 10 its acceptable last time I check that’s 60 percent aka an F. I guess I just have to roll with it and hope that my site gets a 10 and I will just be happy that the peace corps is at least honest with us so if my site seems under par ill have a better idea as to why.

The dance of life

“Some people see not enough beauty in the world while others see to much” which one are you? Well in college I had that moment of realization that there is this force of life behind everything and it really was as simple as that moment in American beauty were he see’s the bag just floating how this transcends into my new Cambodian life is I see it even more so being hyperaware of the things people with in the culture are doing makes me see even deeper beauty in it all (a kid ridding a bike) it sometimes nice to have the power to look past the ugliness people carry with in them and go beyond that and then beyond that which for myself was hard to do in the united states. While I do admit my human faults of feeling irritated by people and want to disassociate with people and things that seem to not work with my way of life I now choose more so not to write them off instead look at them as a teaching for me (note I did not say teacher this is for the reason its important not to get to attached but to learn and move on) that’s some more Ram Dass wisdom. However this is easier said then done and I am constantly struggling with this in Cambodia for instances when do you give in to what culturally they want you to do and what you feel you should be doing? I am constantly reminded what a “good Khmer women” would do but being good does that really equal happy or does it lead to oppression? on the other hand what if they don’t see it that way and for me to bring it up basically ruins that whole ignorance is bliss sort of a deal. I guess it comes down to how many of you really would want to know absolute truth or go on being what I think I would call shallow happiness because we must realize that Americans are not a group of people we would label as happy and we have so much freedom I had a conversations with a biologist once about humans being an overall brute animal that are basic design of having a brain is to figure out what is wrong and try to fix it which does explain why we are not to happy once we figure something out but have to move on to the next issues were having. Anyways back on topic in Cambodia many of the women chop the fire wood do all the laundry by hand and in some families not mine thank god have the women of the family eat on the floor while the men eat on a table top if that is no a slam in the head how they culturally view women I don’t know what is. This week the Peace Corps gave us debrief on how women should culturally deal with unwanted sexual attention and if a rape should occur what to do. So this got me really thinking about what should I accept culturally or try to change being Americans has it benefits if I really shake things up I always get to whip out the phrases this is how we do it in America while at first I was hesitant to use this phrases now I realize they actually want to be more like us and if I don’t feel like arguing for 30 mins that ends it. Well never the less I will try to explain Cambodian social hierarchy and how one has to deal with things lets say you have an issues with someone you are work friends with however they are of higher standing then you well you can not be direct with them even if they do something wrong you must go in this weird about way almost like what I think in America would be considered gossip you tell someone and they work there way up the chain until it reaches the person of higher standing then you. I know your all thinking what happens if you tell the person directly? I will tell you in Cambodia that is called losing face which would make that person look bad and then hold a grudge against you and it makes life so much harder esp when you are a peace corps volunteer and need to work with a lot of men with big egos and people in high places. The reason I bring up losing face is that technically me rejecting a man could causes this to occur however culturally men are never supposed to be that forward but in the end it would not matter what some creeper man did is culturally right or wrong if they have the power I would be in the wrong so everything has to be handled just right or as a women I pay the price not saying this does not happen to male volunteers to bc it does but women have to fight it a bit more. So basically how does one ended up deciding what they will change in a cultural or just follow is an extremely hard task or at least for me it is a daily struggle. Naturally this is all from my view and I sometimes would kill to be able to talk to my host mom about this however I can barely say hello and thank you. All I say from observation although most people I meet in Cambodia are really poor and have a lack of freedom they always seem so happy with that all I can state is it hard not to see the beauty in the world when people and things around you always seem so positive.