Sorry that it has taken me so long to respond but these past few weeks have been a total blur. I will attempt to fill you all in on what has happened since I last blogged…..
When it came time for site announcement, the Peace Corps staff took us outside to the parking lot, where they outlined the entire country with chalk and rocks. They put bamboo sticks around the country with a sign that said each site. The staff in the middle called out a name and we were handed an envelope and when we opened it, we read out loud our province and school. We then stood on top of our site until all of the names were called. I probably didn’t do a justice to how cool this process was, but it was really awesome when we finished and the country was filled in with all of us next to our sites.
We had a few days in
There will be five of us in BB province and two of us in BB provincial town, which is basically the capitol of the province. Darlene will be teaching at the teacher training school across the street from me and is the closest volunteer to me, which is awesome because she is such a great person. She is a professor at
We went to visit my school with the principle the next day. In short, my school is the Khmer version of OPRF. They have amazing facilities, but don’t really know how to use them. They have a science lab, but they are unsure how to take care of it, so that will be one of my tasks. There are about 4,300 students at my school and my classes will have around 60 students in them. My biggest class at Seton Hall had less than 40. But, I wanted a big school so that I would be able to do secondary projects and I know that I will be able to. They have a soccer field, as well as 3 volleyball courts. The back of the school floods during the rainy season and there are facilities are students to eat in between classes. The school has also just started building a human resources lab, which will have computers. I think that it is safe to say that I have one of the biggest schools with many opportunities to work with. The way that it works when I get to site is that I will observe for at least one month and then I will start teaching but my other projects will most likely have to wait a few months until I can assess what I think the school needs, as well as wants and what I can actually do, because some tasks just won’t be possible to complete in two years.
As for BB, there is definitely a western influence, but not as much as there is in PP. PP has a mall, as well as restaurants that serve pizza, Mexican, etc. and BB doesn’t have that much. Sometimes PP can be a little much when it comes to the international influence, but BB strikes a good balance between being Khmer and being a big city with many foreigners. According to my counterpart, there is a large amount of Australian, French and Swedish volunteers in the city. Also, BB was the only place that I have seen that has two things that are common in every city that I have ever been in- a garbage truck and construction. BB is very different from Takeo in a few ways. One, there aren’t as many rice patties and the people allow the vegetation to grow. Also, it is easy to tell the French and Chinese influence. The architecture seems very European in the city and the people look more Chinese in BB than anywhere else that I have been in the country. I was only there for a few days, but I can already tell that I am going to really like it up there. I will be very far from the group of friends that I have made here, but Siem Riep (which is home to Angkor Wat) is only a few hours away and I know that people will want to come to see the great city of
As for training in general, we just finished week 6 out of 9, so we are almost there. Next week consists of a lot of language, week 8 is testing our language and packing and week 9 is swearing in. We swear in September 24th and then head out to site and the real work begins. The posts will come more frequently then because as the K2s have told us, we are going to be bored to tears since they keep us so busy during training. Lock down is for the first 3 months, which means that I won’t be able to leave the province, which is ok with my, because my site is pretty awesome, I won’t want to leave. My address will be changing soon, but I will post closer to swear in so there is no confusion.
Overall, I can honestly say that I am as happy right now as I have ever been in my life. There are bad days, but that is life. Sometimes I need to take a deep breath when I feel overwhelmed and remember why I am here. The frustration passes easily when I realize that life is meant to be lived for the moment, and this chance is one that I would never have if I stayed where everything was familiar. I am lucky because I found some really great people here to help me through and all of you back home who push me forward without realizing it. The letters that I receive literally make my day every time, so thanks to those who have sent them. So thanks for all of the continued support, it really means the world to me.
Also, Mom, all of the staff and other trainees were so jealous of that mammoth of a package. It is most likely a PC record…..
This blog does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of the Peace Corps or the
3 comments:
You are doign so well!! I am so glad that you have such a great attitude-but that is you..you always stay positive and make the most of your situations. You have allot of love and support from all of us at home and we love to read youg blogs and keep up on what you are doing next as well as the stories that you tell. I am keeping an eye on Kieko and Jacqueline and if Darlne has a blog let me know what it is so I can keep an eye on her too. We love you and are so proud of you.
keeks.. it has been day 3 of practice and ur name has been mentioned twice already. i know your laughing out loud now but seriously, im thinking u may be mentioned once a week for the rest of the season at this rate. (all good stuff though) except oh wait u were mentioned in with our lil kristen mishap last yr. lol the other ones were.. he said i love keeks attitude, she always said 0-2 u should never strike out cuz the pitcher wont throw a strike and if she does ull hit it! and then he said something along the lines of u not being afraid 2 step up n try one of his drills even if u were unsure cuz ur a leader. way to go keeks! leaving a legacy and all.. i need 2 figure out this skype thing 2 talk 2 u but im waitin 4 a letter.. if u didnt 4get ! =) miss u
I love reading your posts. Obviously your Mom not only did a good job packing that gigantic package but also packing good sense into all of her children. I'm glad you're so happy, all of us are thrilled to hear it. The PC is lucky to have a Waldron.
Hugs,
Robyn (aka "The Dog Lady")
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