The Bigger Picture

This last week has been a whirlwind of teaching, sightseeing, and getting to know my Cambodian hosts on a deeper level. I have mentioned before about the devastating effects of the Pol Pot regime during the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1975-1979. While I do not want to dwell on the negative, I would like to include one last part of this picture that I experienced and relate it to how and why I am here today.

On Sunday I visited Choeung Ek, or what we Westerners have deemed to be the Killing Fields, with two of my housemates. In a previous blog I spoke of the Toul Slang Prison, which the Khmer Rouge used as a location in Phnom Penh to hold and torture citizens. After being held in Toul Slang, men, women and children would be trucked southward about 15 kilometers to Choeung Ek, which was previously a Chinese cemetery. Here, nearly 9,000 people were murdered by blunt force and then tossed into mass graves, one of which contained nearly 450 bodies. A visitor to Choeung Ek will find it hard to believe that this place was once a site of genocide; it is serene and peaceful with beautiful trees and deep green foliage. However, a quick walk reveals numerous depressions and mounds in the soil, with fenced areas indicating the locations of the mass graves. In the middle of the site, there is a tall glass memorial that showcases the thousands of skulls and bones that were discovered in the mass graves at Choeung Ek; the victims' clothes are also on display. My visit to Choeung Ek has changed me as a person, not only because of my experience here, but also because I had the opportunity to see and discuss the site with two native Cambodians whose parents and families were deeply effected by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1979, the relief effort began as foreign aid was finally able to help the huge numbers of surviving Cambodian refugees who had been displaced for the previous four years. My grandmother, Charlotte Knaub, was one of those aid workers; she bravely provided her assistance as a public health nurse at the Khao I Dang refugee camp along the Thai/Cambodian border in 1980. It was here that she met my current host, Dr. John Naponick, who was also located at Khao I Dang as a coordinator of over 40 private voluntary organizations. Charlotte and Dr. John have managed to maintain contact over the past 30 years, and it is because of their aid work during the Khmer Rouge recovery period that I am able to be here in Phnom Penh today.

Fortunately, as a person visiting what was the heart of a tragic past 30 years ago, today I see nothing but hope and kindness in the eyes of every person I have met during my travels here. The ability of the Cambodian people to overcome adversity can be seen when I chat with my students about their hopes after graduating university, speaking with my tuk-tuk driver Dara, and getting to know more about my housemates and their families through broken conversations in English. Last night I went to the Olympic Stadium for another round of dancing with 5 of my housemates. It is at the stadium when I feel most at home, because when I look around at all of the people, I know that smiles, laughter, and dancing all demonstrate a universal meaning no matter where you are in the world: happiness.

I just ate what????

As I spend more time in Cambodia, I become more and more amazed at the differences in the type of food consumption from America. This past week, I found myself in several strange circumstances surrounding food so would like to share them. We went out to dinner to celebrate one of our house mate's last night in Phnom Pehn. I have eaten out for lunch and breakfast and lunch many times here, but usually eat in for dinner as we rotate cooking every night. My first feelings of confusion arose when the servers brought out two plates filled with raw meat, raw seafood, uncooked vegetables, finished off with a freshly-cracked raw egg. My initial reaction was to politely starve that night; however, I became relieved when the servers then brought out a gas-cooker and placed it in the center of the table. In most Khmer restaurants in Phnom Penh, it is seen as the norm for the diners to cook their own food- which actually seems like a novel idea to me!
While everything was cooking, the servers then brought out a plate of cooked beef strips with sauteed veggies. Keep in mind the lighting in the restaurant was dim! I asked someone what it was, and they replied, "beef with eggs." Seemed like a safe bet to me, so I dug in. I thought it was very good and took several chopstick-stabs of the dish until I noticed a perpetual crunch that seemed odd. Upon closer inspection, I found that I had just eaten several mouthfuls of not only beef, but also fully sized, whole tree ants (nice and crispy!) accompanied by their pearl-sized ant eggs!!! These ants were about 1-inch in length and contained wings and all. The mind is a funny thing- upon realizing what I was consuming I immediately grew extremely nauseous and lost my appetite. However, prior to knowing what I was actually eating, I was in blissful state of ignorant insect consumption.
After that incident, I have become more weary of how the Cambodian views of delicacy differ from my own. Last night, for instance, the girls set to boiling eggs after dinner. I was full from the mounds of fruit that one of the girls had brought back from her mother's farm (mango,coconut, pineapple, mangosteins, etc.-mmmmm!) so declined when offered an egg. Turns out that the eggs were not your run-of-the-mill boiled eggs, but were actually carefully selected based on the criteria that the ducklings inside them were nearly fully developed! I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a duck fetus inside of one of the eggs as my roommate Leak chomped merrily away at what she said was one of her favorite treats.

Other observations:Rice is eaten at every meal and hardly any food is kept inside the house but is rather brought fresh everyday from the outdoor markets. I ventured to the market the other day with my housemate Sandap and was somewhat taken aback to see many of the sellers squatting on the tables that they sell the raw meat from with bare feet in close proximity to the products! One thing for sure is that freshness is guaranteed- when Sandap purchased three small eels they were all fully alive until our vendor battered them on the head to make them just still enough so that she could behead them in one swift chop. I have decided that I enjoy the food more when I don't see its origin!! Keep in mind that my descriptions are coming from my skewed American view and that while some of them are enough to make one's stomach churn, they are viewed as perfectly normal in the eyes of Cambodians; my roommates explained the disgust they felt when just thinking of of a cheesy pasta dish that they once tried!

Just a note- I am not able to put up any pictures :( The only reason I could the first time was because I borrowed a person's laptop that accepted my camera memory card, and that person has long gone back to the U.S. However, I will definitely post many pictures with descriptions upon my return to the U.S. on June 25th.

"Initiation" to Cambodia

Hello from 103 degree heat!!!
Two nights ago I received what my hosts have deemed an initiation to Cambodia by undergoing my first (and hopefully last) bout of food poisoning. I went to bed with a stomachache and woke up nearly every hour with vomiting and diarrhea. In the morning, it was all I could muster to crawl down the stairs and tell my roommates that I was very sick and needed to borrow one of their cell phones to call the school and inform them that I would be unable to teach that day. I am so thankful for my housemates, as they nursed me back to health by making me drink coconut juice and eat rice porridge, as hard as it was to take anything in my body for fear of immediate disposal! They also went to the pharmacy and purchased Oral Rehydration Solution, which is mixed with water and is made of sugar, salts, and nutrients that replenishes your body after such a loss in hydration. By mid-afternoon yesterday all of my symptoms had ended except for body aches and a fever, and I slept for most of the day. This morning I awoke feeling like a whole new person! It is amazing how resilient the human body can be. After examining what I ate the night prior to my sickness, I realized that a fruit drink one of my roommates gave me at dinner contained melted ice, which is usually made from tap water and is not safe for a foreigner like myself! My Cambodian hosts ensured that I would experience some sort of food poisoning sooner or later while visiting here, so I am glad to have this experience out of the way!

I was back to teaching today and enjoyed it once again. The number of students has been actually quite smaller than what I was told when I first signed on with the program (from 6-10 students) because my teaching time conflicts with some of the students work times; however, I am almost glad for this because I have been able to ask students what they would like to learn specifically and provide more individualized instruction. For most of my lessons, I have been emphasizing speaking and pronunciation. My Khmer students have a most difficult time with the English sounds /sh/, /th/, and /ch/.

I encourage everyone to check out my program's website at www.chances4cambodia.org. Here you can see the profiles of the students I am teaching, as well as watch an interview with Steve, the program director who set me up with my position. If you click on the Projects-Help In education-Finance link, you can see a picture of the school that I go to to hold classes. In two weeks, Steve has offered to take me to the Prey Veng province. Most of my students grew up there; it is one of the poorest places in Cambodia and will be helpful for me to see where my students are from and learn more of their background.

First Day of Teaching

After feeling really nervous and anxious for the past 3 days, I finally taught my first lesson today and absolutely loved it! As it goes with teaching, I was worried about not having enough to do, but ended up not getting to half of the activities I had planned and ended up radically changing my lesson to suit the abilities and needs of the students. I get to use a fairly nice classroom with a whiteboard(nicer than Wilson Hall, because it has windows!) and I am teaching university students who are enrolled in the Chances for Cambodia program. These are students who have received full scholarships to attend a four-year university in Cambodia; they come from very poor families but were some of the brightest students in high school and would not be able to attend college without this program. Accordingly, the students were all very motivated and eager to learn. The hardest part is learning their names, as the pronunciation of the Khmer language is a real challenge for me! Yesterday I walked home from the school to see how long it would take. This was not such a good idea because even though it was only 25 minutes, the 100-degree heat was too much for me and I ended up with a heat rash and symptoms of dehydration!

Today, Leak (one of the girls from the house) helped me get to school by calling a moto but made me do the talking(like taking a taxi on back of a motorbike). Last night, The girls helped me draw a map to show to the moto driver, as well as helped me learn the key phrases I would need use to talk to the driver ( turn left-right, stop here, as well as "How much"" and "that's too expensive!) If you do not know exactly where you want to go in Phnom Penh, chances are you may end up on a path to nowhere, as the moto drivers tend to just keep driving until you tell them something. You are also expected to know how to barter the price for everything. Every time I try to say something in Khmer (actually pronounced Kah-my, much to my surprise), the girls laugh at my awkward pronunciation. I have found that the only way I can produce the correct sounds is by plugging my nose to make a nasally sound- something that really got the girls rolling on the floor laughing after I tried it last night. Care to learn?

These are some of the phrases that are written purely as they sound to me (Khmer uses a totally different system of writing, so there are no corresponding letters!)

Hello- johm riep sua
Can you please take me to... sohm juhn k'nyohm t'ai...
Left- chvang
Right- s'dam
stop here!- chop tee-nih
How much? t'lay pone maan?
Thank you -ah gohn

Hello everyone!
I am writing from an internet shop that is within walking distance from my house. The internet shops here are basically a room full of single cubicles each with its own Dell computer; it only costs 1000 riel (25 cents) to use a computer for an hour. I am starting to adapt to the lifestyle here and am really enjoying getting to know my Cambodian roommates. Two nights ago, I was able to experience dancing at the Olympic Stadium- basically like a football stadium only contructed out of cement steps. Hundreds of Cambodians walk around the top oval of the stadium, and there are various speakers and "dance instructors" stationed around playing many types of both classic and popular music. Everyone gets into rows and tries to follow the moves of the leader for a 25 cent fee. Very fun atmosphere! I wish we had something like this in the U.S. As usual, I received many stares as I was the only foreigner.

Yesterday I was able to visit the National Museum. This is a beautiful place that houses many of the ancient artifacts and artwork from the 6th-13th centuries, mainly sandstone statues of Hindu gods. Today, I visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. This visit was unsettling and completely opened my eyes to the horrendous events of the Khmer Rouge, which was a modern-day holocaust that occurred only 31 years ago. The museum is located in the Toul Sleng Prison, which was a high school that was converted into a prison by the Kampuchea Democratic Party to torture and kill people during the Khmer Rouge. While visiting this site, the torture rooms and prison cells are left as they were, along with photos of the many victims that lost their lives there. I encourage all of you to Google the Khmer Rouge- it is a tragic event in our history that most of us ( at least myself) are unaware of. Estimates of civilians killed during this period range from 1 to 3 million people. Sadly, many of the leaders and soldiers of the Khmer Rouge have gone unpunished and are still living freely in Cambodia today.

On a lighter note, I have decided to take the volunteer teaching position with the program Chances for Cambodia. I start tomorrow! I will have a class of 20 university students and will teach Monday through Friday from 11-2. I am a little nervous because I do not know the student's level of English, so I am just planning a variety of activities that I will be able to use depending on what I find! I chose to pursue this opportunity over the paid position because I can stop anytime in June when I wish to travel around the rest of the country.

Now that I feel comfortable getting to the internet shop on my own, I will try to keep recent updates. I really appreciate your comments, as they remind me of home. Ah khon! (Thank you).

More pictures

My hosts, Dr. John and Dr. Theary; the other picture is of an alleyway that I ate my first Cambodian breakfast of rice and egg for $1.00. The family that ran the cafe said I was the first foreigner to eat there. Most families make their living by setting up little shops or selling food outside their homes.

First set of pictures

Made it!

Hi everyone!
I arrived safe and sound two days ago and have already learned and experienced so much! It has been somewhat overwhelming so far to adapt to such a new climate and culture, but I think with everyday I will start to feel more comfortable. The hardest obstacle is overcoming the heat- 100 degrees with 80 percent humidity has turned me into a sweating machine. I am staying in a traditional Cambodian house, which is very different than anything I have ever seen. In Phnom Pehn, most houses are more like apartment buildings in the U.S.- there are many "houses" within one large building, with a very small width and depth but at least 4 stories high. The ground floor consists of a small living area and kitchen, and then up incredibly steep flights of stairs are many sets of bedrooms. I am on the third floor of the house, in which I have my own room. It is very hot in the house, but I do have a fan. There are 6 other girls (they are all medical students in their 20s) living here, as well as 3 men who are all relatives of John and Thierry, the people who own the house but live in another house in the city nearby. Most of my Cambodian roommates speak a little English, enough for me to communicate with, but it is challenging for us to understand one another!
I have been touring the city on the back of a motorcycle (moto). The traffic system is exciting to say the least! Most people zoom around on their motos, honking and going any direction they wish with no adherence to lanes or stoplights, and many of the busy intersections are not controlled! It reminds me of a combination between the video game Frogger and skiing on a cattrack at Big Sky during a busy time. There are no crosswalks, so to cross the street one must stare down the traffic and cross slowly, hoping that the motos and cars swerve around you (which they usually do!)
Besides the traffic, the people have all been very kind and the food is most delicious! My new favorite is called chek bai, which is a cooked banana wrapped in rice. All meals have been fresh and very inexpensive. Today I met with a British man who is running an English teaching program that I can teach for starting on Tuesday. This would be a volunteer position teaching Japanese university students here on scholarship conversational English from 11-2 p.m. for the next few weeks. I also have an interview for a paid teaching position on Monday, but I like the flexibility of the volunteer position so I will have to decide which opportunity to pursue after I interview on Monday. I will try to keep everyone updated, but it has been difficult to gain access to the internet. I will also try to post photos!

It's a holiday in Cambodia...

Hello and welcome! I will be traveling to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia for six weeks to explore a new region of the world, teach English, and throw myself out of my comfortable yet predictable Bozeman bubble. I will be in Cambodia from May 12 to June 24, and I hope to use this blog to share my experiences and adventures for anyone who is interested (ok, probably just my mom).

I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to stay with family friends of my Grandma Char's in a house in Phnom Pehn, which is the capital city (population about 2 million). Luckily, I'll be living with a dynamic duo of an American and Cambodian doctor, so I will be in the best hands anyone could ask for. While in Cambodia, my main goal is to teach English as a foreign language; however, I'll be happy as a clam just making it to Southeast Asia in one piece and surviving the ubiquitous culture shock I am likely to experience the first week. I feel so lucky to get to learn about Cambodia first hand, and I know just enough to know that I don't know anything at all about this land and people that I will soon be encountering. Wish me luck!