Settling In

I've been home in Cambodia now for 2 weeks so I guess it's time for an update. I arrived safely home on May 26th. I had a stark realization of how much the economic crisis has started to affect this area when only 15 people boarded my flight from Seoul. While we all enjoyed being able to spread out for the 5 hour flight and snooze, a part of me felt very sad the entire time. This flight is normally packed full of travelers and business people. The hotels, restaurants, drivers, tour guides, and souvenir shops are all starting to feel the strain as less and less people have been traveling. Everyone is tightening their belts knowing it's going to be a year or more before things start picking up again. I hope it happens faster than that, but for once I'm not optimistic.  

I spent the first week home just getting re-acclimated to life in a developing country after all the comforts of the States. I was jet lagged for a few days and would almost immediately fall asleep by 6:00 pm. Thankfully that cleared up after a bit and I was back to my old self. My trusty bike had 2 flat tires after 6 weeks of no use, but I walked her out and had her patched up so we are back in business! We've been zipping around town getting things for the house, buying groceries, going to the gym, hitting the market for fruit...old friends finally reunited! :) During my first week, I was also able to meet up with my host mom, sister, and baby sister. We had a fun reunion and I had a great time sharing the gifts I'd brought back for them. My favorite purchase was Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls for the baby. She looked so cute and knew they were for her right away. She'd forgotten me while I"d been gone but after about 10 minutes, she remembered and we had a great cuddle session. My host mom was excited so see me and immediately tried giving me food...something about mothers, they always need to feed you.  

The next week, I headed to down to Phnom Penh to attend the wedding of fellow Peace Corps volunteer John and his Cambodian fiance (now wife) Muoy. I met up with Peace Corps staff and volunteers in Phnom Penh and we rented a small bus to take us all out to the wedding. The wedding was in one of the most rural villages I've ever been to. We spent about 3 hours on small bumpy muddy roads and also crossed the giant Mekong river on a ferry in the middle of a storm. When we finally arrived, all the boys were kicked off the bus which was transformed into a changing room. All of the American women stepped off the bus transformed into Khmer women as we donned our traditional garb. We got lots of good-natured laughs from the locals who appreciated our effort. John and Muoy have been my partners in the navigation of cross-cultural relationships and all the good and stressful times involved. I'm excited for them as they move to Phnom Penh and start a new life together.  

Yesterday my friend Sam and I went out the school where we will begin teaching in July - Jay Pritzker Academy. I picked up all my curriculum and met with my future students on more time. I'm excited about getting started with my work and being busy again. In all honesty, I'm also terrified of those 25 soon-to-be 3rd graders! I've never taught elementary school before so perusing my teaching books caused a minor panic attack. I know it's going to be a fun learning experience but a challenging one as well. The kids are adorable and so eager to learn...I hope I meet their expectations!  

I still have about 3 1/2 weeks until I start working. I'm having to create new projects to keep me busy. Mainly my day revolves around a couple hours at the gym and pool, an iced tea and internet at my favorite cafe, and then home watching episodes of either Lost, Brothers & Sisters, or 30 Rock. Not much excitement in my days, but I'm storing up relaxation for when my life gets busy again. I'll updated again after school starts and hopefully post some pictures of my school...it's one of the prettiest places here.

Home....for a bit!

Once again I've been a complete slacker on blogging and have a lot to update in one! I did so well for the first few months/year and then as things became less new and exciting for me, I likewise thought they would be less new and exciting for those at home and slacked.

My last post was in January.  Since then I have finished Peace Corps, toured Vietnam, and arrived safely "home" to Tennessee. 

Finishing up Peace Corps was hard as there were many goodbyes to be said - not only to my host family and community members but also to fellow volunteers. It was an emotional time for me as I taught my final classes, went on a last outing with some students, attendwd weddings of friends, hugged my host family, and jumped on a bus. There are so many things that I left behind that I will never be able to experience in the same way again. My hammock is now hanging empty upstairs in my host family's house, my gecko friend Charlie is busy meeting new girls, and I'm sure the spiders have comfortably settled into my now vacant room.  Even when I go back  to visit, it will never be the same.

                                                              

After final Peace Corps farewells in Phnom Penh, I headed to Vietnam with a few buddies. Along with the normal sightseeing, we indulged in things like movie theaters that we had been without for two years! We watched Marley and Me and Bride Wars (come on...beggars can't be choosers!) and snacked on fluffy, buttery popcorn. We spent a couple days at the beach, a night on a boat, crawled through some tunnels, had clothes tailored, and generally had an amazing time just being...anonymous

Now I find myself sitting at "home" missing my home. It's a strange feeling and one I'm growing to accept as a new constant in my life. One home is always going to miss some aspect of the other. Here is my family, there is a future one. There are my new friends, here are my old. One set of parents there, one set here. It's a mix that in a weird way, I love.

Big changes have taken place in the States while I've been on the other side of the world-both general and more personally within my family (like the joyful addition of my first nephew-Jack). I'm learning to adjust to those changes while preparing myself for my own set of new adventures. I'll be in the States through May 25th at which time I will be returning to Cambodia. When I closed my service with Peace Corps, I knew I wasn't done with Cambodia and she certainly wasn't done with me. I accepted a job as a 3rd grade teacher at an NGO-run school for Cambodian children. I'm excited about starting a new life in Siem Reap town and experiencing Cambodia in a way that's a bit different from my previous 2 years there. 

I hope I'll have enough time to see all of you that wish to meet up while I'm here. Please e-mail me at sarahlnorton@gmail.com and I'll do my best to make my rounds! 

Wrapping things up...

I apologize for the absence of blogs recently. I've sat down to write a blog several times in the past couple of months but lacked inspiration...I still don't have anything profound to say, but I decided it was definitely time to do some updating!

Christmas this year was unexpectedly one of the best Christmases I've ever had. My fellow Siem Reap volunteer, Autumn, and I met with a missionary group in town and spent time celebrating with them. We went to a church of service on Christmas Eve (complete with a children's play!), watched Christmas movies all night, made a big breakfast the next morning, watched more movies all day and then made a big turkey dinner in the evening. I had a great time smiply being with people and sharing the holiday. This will definitely be a Christmas I will always remember.

This past weekend, we had our final Close of Service Conference in Phnom Penh. It was the last time all of my group of volunteers will be together at the same time but fortunately the mood was light through most of it. We spent a lot of time simply going over the final reports we have to write, medical exams we must go through and all the other things we have to finish before we can go home. Our official close of service date is April 4th but due to all the paperwork and medical exams, Peace Corps is spreading out our final dates over a month. We will be leaving in groups of 10 or so throughout the month of March. My closing date is March 13th. I plan to travel for around 10 days in Vietnam with a friend and should be home in mid-April...whether I will be staying home or not is still a question I have yet to answer! As soon as I know, i'll let you know! :)

The next 2 months are going to busy as I have a LOT to do before I'm ready to go. Last week I packed up and organized some things in my room but still have a loooong way to go. There are couple of projects at school to wrap up including a Cambodia map we are preparing to paint. The end of February I will be back in Phnom Penh where I am presenting a paper at a TESOL conference....and then it will be packing, goodbyes, and leaving. The goodbye part of my service has crept up a lot faster than I ever anticipated! There were many days when I thought my two years were never going to end, but now here I am!

Elections

It was a great feeling to fill out my absentee ballot, knowing that it would get there, be counted, and help my voice be heard....even from Cambodia. Explaining to my host family and friends that I could actually vote via mail and no one would destroy my ballot or change it was interesting. Elections here went more smoothly this past July in the past, but there were still glitches with opposition party candidates being left of ballots, assisnations...."normal" stuff for here. There have been several editorials in the newspapers here comparing the relative ease of U.S. elections compared to here...interesting to read.

I was also surprised by how much some of my friends and coworkers actually knew about the U.S. elections. I was watching a debate at home (my host family got cable!) when a cousin came over and started telling me all about Obama's and McCain's policies and why he liked Obama better. My co teachers also had their opinions about it. If the election had been left to Cambodians, Obama would have won by a landslide....left up to Americans, he still did! Sophal was excited "his man" won and there were small celebrations all over town. It's one thing to hear about the international impact of the U.S. election and another thing entirely to see and talk to people in a developing country that are depending on change as much as Americans are.

I was proud to be an American that day.....proud to know that I was particiapting in something that so many people around the world can only dream of....speaking my voice, choosing a leader, and transitioning peacefully.

New School Year

School has finally gotten started agin (although we are currently on a week-long holiday)! We've been in classes for 2 or 3 weeks now and I've already had several interesting experiences...

1. Our school is in the middle of a building frenzy. We currently have 3 buildings go up so the school is a buzz with pounding, yelling, trucks rolling through, cement mixing...it's a mess! Trying to keep the student's attenion is so hard! I have to constantly pull my eyes away from the construction going on too...very distracting. I took a few pictures the other day of the construction of our new two floor building. I love watching construction work here...notice the supports, lack of safety equipment, and style of tools...

2. My students are horrible about doing homework. It's usually not their fault, however, as they have responsiblites at home and a long commute to school. 2 hours of English a week is not really sufficient for them to learn...well....anything....so I'm trying to convince them that doing homework is good. So we started a little competition between the boys and girls to see who does more homework by April. We'll see if it works...I definitely saw a lot of faces in class light up...especially among the girls. I'm rooting for them!

3. I had an interesting conversation with one of my co teachers the other morning. He said that one of our office workers will be the new District Education Officer starting next year when the current one retires. I really like the man so I'm excited about him...he'll be a great working partner for the new volunteer that will come in October. Due to the corruption that prevades every part of government, including education, the teacher had to pay a $7,000 bribe to get the job. My co teacher explained that this is why the District Ed Officer then has to take bribes from teachers because he/she has to pay him/herself back for the bribe the paid....and the circle continues. I was also told that teachers did not receive their salaries last month because all the money went to support the military effort to protect a temple at the border of Thailand. I thought this was interesting and asked my friend in the next district...her teachers were paid. Makes me wonder what reeeeeally happened to the salaries for the teacehrs at my school....

4. Sometimes in class....I just have to laugh at myself. I'd just washed a black school skirt (I wash them as rarely as possible!) and was wearing it to teach one more morning. I erased the board and tossed the erarser (a small square pillow basically) on the floor in front of me. I stupidly didn't look before I tossed it and it landed in a pile of red chalk dust which this exploded in a little red cloud all around/over me....the skirt is in the wash again and my students got a chuckle. :) I have fianlly accepted my roll as village clown!

Tis the Season!

While those of you in the states are busy baking pies, cooking turkeys and starting on Christmas prepartions, we in Cambodia are just drying out from rainy season! If you are an international news watcher, you probably saw there was a "tropical depression" sitting over Vietnam for about a week. They got heavy flooding in Hanoi....and we did too! It was definitly not as bad here, but rainy season lasted about 2 weeks longer than it should have. On some roads, it feels like I"m riding through layers of melted chocolate! It hasn't rained in the past 2 days so I'm hoping the rain is done and the roads will start to dry. The cool weather (high 70s to mid 80s) has finally arrived...it feels good to grab a jacket in the evenings!

This is also the season for weddings and special ceremonies. On any given day, I can see at least 2 weddings and 5 pagoda fundraisers (hence the confusion in the story below) in my village. My host mother told me they will go to 30 or more weddings this month! I went to my friend Duong's wedding early last week and had a great time spraying silly string and getting all dressed up!

After the big religious holiday, Pchum Ben, at the end of October, there is a special time of fundraiser ceremonies for the pagodas. Families will hold what is called a "Bon Kathen" at their house or a pagoda. People who are invited give gifts of $1-$3 along with incense and candles for the family to take to the pagoda. It's a way for Buddhists to gain blessings by assisting the works of the pagoda. The other night I was invited to a teacher's ceremony at her house. My co teacher drew a little map for me, I got dressed up and set off. I saw a ceremony on the road where I was supposed to go so stopped and went in, gave my money, sat down to eat.....and then realized I was at the wrong house!!! Probably one of my most embarrassing moments.....the family was so nice and new I was confused though no one said anything. I finished up, got on my bike and coninuted on to the correct ceremony....which was another 1/2 kilometer down an awful road....ankle deep mud awful. By the time I got home, I was tired, dirty, and royally embrrassed. My host mom was delighted to see me though....she had been scared the whole time that I would fall in the mud on my bike. I had a few close calls but made it home with only dirty feet and wounded pride. I called a friend to share my embarrassment and laugh it off.....his comment after a good laugh "hey....at least you got a double dose of good karma." :) And that's how I will forever remember that night....not an embrrassing mix up but "double karma night."

On a more serious note...

I've let most of August pass me by without a post. The past few weeks have slipped by with easy living. I've been in town working at the People for Care and Learning center in Siem Reap town. I've had air conditiong, cable, and access to a kitchen...it's been a dream. I'm ready to wake up though. I've been missing my village, my cuddly baby sister, my mischevious little brother, curling up in a sweat puddle with a good book, and my students who tip their hats to me as they pass on their bikes. I find it strange that I'm homesick for my second home.

The point of the blog today, or rather the thing that prompted me to write, happened on my way back from lunch. I watched the Democratic National Convention this morning, cheered on Hillary, sat down in the cafe and caught up on some news and then started feeling really restless...it's the wanderer in me. I headed out for some cheap Indian food for lunch, stuffed myself, packed up the leftovers and headed home with my take-away box of dal and butter naa swinging as I skipped along. I was walking back to the cafe (where my housing is while I'm working in town) and passed by a small market area where there's a little barber stall...basically a shack with a chair and a mirror. In the chair was the skinniest, weakest, tinniest little boy with the largest malnourished swollen belly I have ever seen. Swollen bellies aren't uncommon here, but the size of this one was. Suddenly my scrumptious Indian lunch seemed shameful. The skip in my step became a slow lumber as I continued my walk back.

Sometimes here, I feel so useless. I'm teaching school to get a few kids into universities so they can get better jobs....that's great. I recognize the enormity of that endeavor alone as I've seen some of my students moving up and on. But for the most part, my students are nourished, clothed, and educated. They are the ones that have already made it up and out if only a little. But what about that little boy in the barber seat? What about him? What about all the kids in my village that are starving? I want to feed them all, hug them all, tell them it will all be okay....but who am I to say it will be? I could feed them a meal but where will the next one come from...and the next..?

Cambodia is developing so much. Already in the past year and a half it's changed by leaps and bounds....but there's still so far to go. Phnom Penh is booming. Siem Reap is in a building frenzy. But little of that actually reaches out to the villages where the sun and candles are the only providers of light, where rice fields are plowed by oxen and planted by hand, where kids drop out of school before the 7th grade (or never even go), and where little boys walk around looking 6 months pregnant. How long does it take a developing nation to develop? Too long.

I'm heading to bed now. I'm going to snuggle up with the world and hope it really will be okay.