lately

Happy 50^th Anniversary, Peace Corps!

It’s been a busy few weeks; I had a meeting in Phnom Penh to help work on the PCV newsletter. When I came back to site I had enough time to do all my laundry and then I went on a family vacation with my host family! I came back and had a few more days of work before heading back to Phnom Penh where I am now for a meeting this week.

Khmer family vacation…quite an experience! 16 of us went down to Kompong Som to visit the beach and spend a few days hanging out. K. Som (also known as Sihanoukville) is about 550-600km from Battambang, a loooong drive. We packed up the car and left the house at 6am. After plenty of stops to pee on the side of the road and a quick lunch in a ditch along the side of the road to eat lunch (we brought the rice cooker and plenty of food was packed) we arrived at the market in K. Som around 5pm. We bought some seafood other things for dinner and then had them cooked right in the market as it was closing. From there we drove around to look for a hotel for the night. Once at the hotel the bathroom was used to wash clothes, dishes and of course bodies. Everyone settled in for the night after a long day…only to wake up at 4:45 to cook more rice. We spent the day at the beach, feeding monkeys on the side of the road and looking at big snakes.

The next morning we were up early again and this time hitting the road to go to neighboring Kampot where we ate lunch near a creek and I ate durian. Andrew Zimmern is a wimp, durian isn’t bad at all, then again I did eat it at the peak of durian season in the province that is known for its durian. After lunch we went to a zoo. Let me tell you this was the most depressing collection of animals I have ever seen, it was pretty sad and I was not upset when everyone was hot and we moved on quickly. From there we drove to neighboring Kep to splash around in the ocean a little bit more. After the beach we drove to Phnom Penh and while some people stayed with family for the night, I went to a hotel with my host brother and his family. I had a hot shower and it felt amazing after so long in the car and all the sand and salt from swimming.

We spent the morning in Phnom Penh, mostly shopping. It was really interesting to be there with my host family. I feel like I’ve been in PP so much with friends lately it was nice to not run around on my own and just go where my family wanted to go. In the early afternoon we packed the car back up and started the trek to Battambang. Only about 300km home but it took quite a while and we finally got home around 10pm. After a quick bucket shower and unpacking my stinky, sandy clothes I slept verrryy soundly.

The next morning I went to work and it was really good to be back and settle into my routine again. My bread lady was definitely glad to see me. I came home and decided against a nap and did all of my laundry and refilled my water filter. I was exhausted and had another night of great sleep.

It poured the next day, a welcome relief from the hot days we’ve been having. I spent the next few afternoons visiting with various people in the village that I try to see at least once a week and then packing to head back to PP!

I’m pretty exhausted but it will be nice to spend some time with fellow volunteers. Vacation with my family was definitely trying at times, being with so many people none of whom spoke English, but it was a great experience and one I’m definitely glad I had.

I hope everything is going well at home! Send me updates!