Day 66- Sometimes it's More Important to Not Say Anything

Without any more holidays, these past couple weeks have been pretty low key. I have been working in the office a lot, finishing up my part in a couple projects. One thing I hadn't noticed since I have begun my internship is what kind of impact I am having at COCD. It can be difficult to see when you are in an office all day and only working on smaller tasks. However, just last week I was talking with my supervisor and she told me they had started the interview process for a new position. I got really excited at the sound of that because one of the first tasks I was given when I started as an intern at COCD was to screen the resumes for those potential interviewers. My supervisor Kimna told me that my work was extremely helpful in making the interview process run smoother. Even though it's not a huge impact, this was the first time I could actually see what role I have played at COCD so far and it made me feel good about myself and about my efforts in helping out the organization.

About a week and a half ago, I had the opportunity to travel out to the Kampot province again; this time for an overnight stay. I started working on a project with COCD's Executive Director, Mr. Pola, to implement a preschool in one of the communities in the Kampot province. For this visit, we were checking out location options and speaking with local authorities to see what their specific needs are. Unfortunately because of my limited communication abilities in the Khmer language, I mostly observed and followed along.

The language barrier can be frustrating many times because it can feel like you are wasting your time and other people's time. However, it is definitely a motivator in wanting to learn the language. Also, sometimes we all need to take the time to just SHUT UP and take in our surroundings and to just think. I love socializing and chatting with people, but I think it's important to take a step back from that world every once in a while. 

At one site location we checked out there was a bunch of children getting ready to attend an English class. The class was free for all ages, taught by a young local woman my age, 21. I spoke with her briefly to learn that for many people in this village, this is their only opportunity to learn English and she volunteered to teach it because she thought it was very important for everyone to at least know the basics of the language. Most, if not all of the students were children, some as young as 2 years old. They asked if I wanted to stick around to help with the class and I definitely did but unfortunately it was getting late so I wasn't able to. :(

The boy smiling on the far right kept standing near me when i was walking around the school site. I could tell he wanted to tell me something. Eventually, Thy asked him if he wanted to speak English with me and he immediately started reciting the alphabet! He also told Thy that this was his second day of class so I was very impressed he had learned the English alphabet so quickly. Can you guess his age? I was thinking maybe 8 or 9 years old. He is 13. 

What's hanging out with Khmer people without some karaoke, right? Actually no one from our group got up to sing but still... Mr. Pola had a couple favorites but said he couldn't sing without his wife haha :P

Here's a group shot at dinner with Thy (on the left), Mr. Pola (on the right), and other COCD Kampot province staff.

Before heading back home at the end of our visit to the province, we ran into a couple guys whose moto got stuck in the middle of a gravel road. They had a pretty hefty load with them (as you can see there is a RIDICULOUS amount of stuff attached to this little motorbike) so Mr. Pola, Thy, and another staff member from COCD hopped out of the car to give them a little boost.

I don't have very many photos, selfies, whatever you want to call them, of me but whenever I am with my friends out on the weekends I almost always manage to get a few! 

Day 60: Two Down, One to Go

I think it's crazy to think about, but I only have a month left of this adventure. If I had known how much this trip would flip my world upside down I would be sticking around a lot longer. Most expats living in Cambodia are here for 6 months, 12 months, or longer! My meager 3 months just doesn't seem to compare in the grand scheme of things. But if anything, it has helped me appreciate and enjoy every moment and to make the most of each day, no matter what challenges or hurdles I may face.

This week has been full of many of those challenges and has given me a new perspective on my life here and my life in general. I've had to use a lot of patience, courage, faith, and open-mindedness in situations that have been full of uncertainty. I've also had to realize that you have no control over the world around you, but only control of your own actions. It's so important to be honest and to not hide the truth from yourself or other people. Being honest won't necessarily make life easier but sometimes doing the right thing can also be the hardest thing.

Sometimes I forget how old I am. I'm 21. I am so young but I sometimes feel like I have lived through many lifetimes; traveling to Thailand at age 16 for 10 months, living in Corvallis on my own for 3 years of college, and now jumping on a plane to live in Cambodia for 3 months. There's nothing more I want though than to have the chance to share my life adventures with other people. I feel so honored that so many people back home are with me every step and following me on this new adventure, even if you can't physically stand beside me in my everyday life here. 

My first 3 years at Oregon State University were amazing and challenging and I started to get used to the comforts of consistency and familiarity. But being in Cambodia has reminded me how I felt 5 years ago while studying abroad in Thailand. I am in love with adventure and there's just no feeling quite like it. I feel totally accepted, and happy, and alive! At this time in my life I feel like the uncertain lifestyle of travel, trying something new, and meeting new people is what I am meant to do. 

For the next 30 days I will live this adventure and not hold back. But I want you to know that you all are what keeps me motivated and I am so incredibly grateful to be supported by such benevolent people who encourage me to fly!

Day 53- I Had to Steal Some of These...

Pictures are here! If I had a good camera I think I would have no problem with putting up pictures all the time but I don't. And not only do I struggle with posting them, I also struggle with taking them. A bunch of these photos are actually not mine... Don't worry, I asked permission first for most of them :) 

The Thursday before last, the night before Halloween, we had a Halloween themed dodgeball night and this was the crew. I'm towards the front in the yellow... I was a lion (rawr)

(Photo courtesy of John Munger)

A better look at my costume... Not the best picture but I had the face paint, my hair was perfect for the mane and everything! I made my ears out of a toilet paper roll and paint and a tail to match :)

I spent my Halloween visiting the Pursat province, about 3-4 hours north of Phnom Penh. I was with my internship organization, COCD, while they had a meeting for a new project proposal. After the meeting we trekked through the jungle a bit to look at a potential project site and I have to say that was quite the adventure. I'm surprised I made it out (mostly) unscathed. 

 
On Sunday November 2nd I joined a group of 60 expats on a hike around Koh Anloung Chen, an island not far from Phnom Penh. The hike was about 7 kilometers which isn't too long but it was a beautiful little island.

Our tour guide, very friendly guy!

  (Photo courtesy of Sujash Ghosh)

So they told us that there would be fruit snacks on the hike... when I think of fruit snacks I think a little bag full of fruit flavored gummies, but nope they meant fruit for a snack. Ol' natural

The beautiful sunset we watched sitting on the return raft trip from the island.

For the 3 day water festival holiday last week I joined a crowded van full of teachers to the beaches of Sihanoukville. The beach is only about 4-5 hours away but because of traffic it took almost 10 hours to get there. Here's a view of the wonderful traffic we sat in and again, i am so surprised we got out as quickly as we did. 

 (Photo courtesy of Nick Simpson)

But we made it! And this was my view the next morning sitting in the guesthouse that I stayed at the first two nights, literally no more then 10 steps away from the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand.

I think one of the most amazing feelings is standing in the warm, tropical sea water during a rain storm. It rained quite a bit while we were at the beach but it didn't stop any of us from enjoying our vacation time. The guy sitting on the left, David, is one of many new friends I made during this trip.

 
Every day was full of relaxing, playing in the water, frisbee, football (soccer), volleyball, card games, and wonderful company :)

 (Photo courtesy of Marta Marland)

Back in Phnom Penh after a holiday on the beach, and there were still more holiday celebrations around town and around Independence Monument. 

So the last thing I did during this holiday vacation was visit one of the killing fields, Choeung Ek. On Monday I joined another friend who hadn't been yet and we rode down together for the day. When you arrive, you are given a headset to listen to as you walk around the memorial. It was very sad and surreal. The Choeung Ek Memorial Site is one of dozens of mass-murder sites throughout Cambodia. There are still many mass graves untouched in the area and when it rains, clothing, skull fragments, and teeth can be seen on the ground throughout the site. At one point my friend and I were walking and had to tip toe around because of all the teeth we spotted on the ground. It's so hard to believe that such a thing could happen, and DID happen. You can see in the photo below that this particular mass grave in the image contained the bodies of 450 victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

This part of the Choeung Ek is one of the most well know and horrifying places ( and you may not want to read on).  Dozens of women and children were found in this mass grave and when it was first discovered, there was body fragments splattered on the tree next to it, seen from behind in my photo. It was later learned that the soldiers would beat children and babies against the tree before throwing them in the grave.

 

The skulls of victims from the Khmer Rouge genocide. 

 Below you can faintly see my friend, Mervin :)

Day 49- I'm Not Ready for the End of this Adventure, But I Don't Have to Be

I have reached and passed the halfway point for this amazing adventure and the first thing that comes to mind...I am not ready to leave. So much has happened in just 6 and half weeks. I have learned so much about Cambodia, about this beautiful culture, about working and living abroad, about COCD and working in a non-profit organization, and about myself. This experience is changing my life.

This is not a countdown though. I'm not thinking how many days I have left but instead I am going to think about now and what I can do to make the most of every moment. When it comes to my internship with COCD, up to this point I have been easing into the office culture and finding my place. Now I am going to use this time to focus and contribute as much as I can to support the staff and the clients. Also, I have two big goals I need to cover: 1.) Learn as much of the Khmai language as I can, 2.) learn how to cook some Khmai food. I'm sharing these goals with you all so you can hold me accountable! I can do this!

There is one very personal thing I want to share about what this trip has meant to me so far. My home back in Oregon is wonderful and I love and miss all my friends and family so dearly. At the same time, I have never felt more accepted and happy in my life then how I feel here on this adventure. I have met some wonderful people who have made me feel incredibly loved and fulfilled. Some things in life are meant to be and I KNOW I am meant to be here. I feel as though I have found a place where I belong and this trip is definitely going to have a huge influence on what happens next in my life after I graduate from Oregon State. I still don't have any idea what those plans will be though. I'm just going to have to wait and see!

So as usual, lots of exciting things have happened in the past week. Within the past 8 days I have:

- dressed up as a lion for Halloween dodgeball (rawr)

- joined some of the staff from COCD on a full day visit to the Pursat Province to observe a meeting and discussion about a new project proposal

- ate some fried crickets, worms, frogs, AND TARANTULA!

- hiked 7 kilometers around the Anloung Chen Island with a group of 60 people 

- went on a 3 day trip to the beautiful beaches of Sihanoukville

- Joined a van full of teachers to the beach, and on the way, got stuck in the most ridiculous 40 kilometer (24 mile) traffic jam you can image. Somehow we managed to get out of it in about 4 hours (doesn't sound all that bad but there was definitely potential for us to be stuck there for days)

- spent a couple nights in a hostel literally ten steps away from the Gulf of Thailand waters

- Made some new friends with people from all across the world (Spain, England, Cambodia, US)

The past week there was another holiday here in Cambodia, Bon Om Touk, also called the Water Festival. This holiday is a very exciting, popular celebration here in Cambodia, with 2 million people flocking into Phnom Penh this year just for the occasion. The festival involves boat racing, fireworks, carnivals, and other festivities. This is the first time though in 4 years that the Bon Om Touk festival has resumed. It has been canceled the last few years because of a horrible tragedy that occurred in 2010. 378 lives were lost here in Phnom Penh in a freak accident. With over a thousand people gathered on a footbridge, something sparked panic that rippled through the crowd. Many deaths were caused by suffocation from being crushed under the stampede of frightened people. It's an awful tragedy and I'm sure a lot of caution was taken this year.

Here's a link to an article about the 2010 event if you would like to learn more about it: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/23/cambodia-stampede-phnom-penh

I took this holiday opportunity to do some traveling outside of Phnom Penh instead of sticking around in the city (my trip to Sihanoukville). But I am back for the weekend so we will see what the next couple days have in store for me!

I'll make sure to have pictures up of this past week in the next couple days :)