From Sister Kea!

This morning class was canceled again, so I thought that I would take the time to update everyone on what has been happening….

I have been in Battambang for almost three weeks and I can feel myself falling into a schedule, which I am very thankful for. After swear in, we sort of venture off on our own and have to figure stuff out, which has been very exciting, but also very awkward. Here is what my daily schedule looks like: (sorry for the disorganization, but I am just typing whatever comes to my mind…)

I wake up at 6, shower and eat oatmeal in my room. I bought some brown sugar and cinnamon at the drink shop that has a lot of western food, so I add that to my oatmeal. I usually throw in some bananas, which are 25 cents for about 12, so it’s a cheap and healthy breakfast. I leave my house at 6:45 and get to school at about 6:50. The flag ceremony starts at 7:00, but because of the amount of rain water at the school, we have been skipping that. Whenever it rains, there is an enormous amount of rain water that collects around the school, it’s actually really gross. Some classes were canceled on Monday because the first floor of most of the buildings (there are 5 main buildings and a few more in the back) were flooded. The class that I was observing was on the third floor, so I was still able to observe. There are three periods at my school, from 7:00-9:00, 9:00-11:00 and then 2:00-4:00. So I rotate observing the three English teachers. I am hoping to figure out my schedule next week and start teaching the week after that, but I am taking my time. There is no rush and I want to make sure that I do this right. It looks like I will be teaching two 10th grade classes and two 11th grade classes. Of the classes that I have observed, many of the students have asked me some awesome questions when I introduced myself to them, such as “what are your goals while you are in Cambodia?” and “what is the best way to learn a language?” It makes me really excited when the students take an interest into learning English and I can’t wait to start teaching them. In between the morning and afternoon classes, I eat lunch at the school canteen. I chose my spot to eat at everyday. There is an older woman and her two daughters who run the stand. I usually get noodles and eggs and have become a regular. Part of the difficulty in moving into a new place as an American, especially in such a big place like Battambang, people try to rip you off (I would too if roles were reversed). I am also trying really hard to make a few really great connections, so I decided to eat lunch there everyday. I also have my usual fruit lady, the guy I go to refill the credit on my phone, an electronics store I buy things from and take other volunteers too as well as two women in the market- one sells fabrics and the other is a tailor. I stop by to see them as much as I can. If they become familiar with me, it will help me integrate into the community. So, back to the schedule, I eat lunch with those women and then head back to my house to wash some clothes, shower, read or pick up my laptop to head to the University to get internet. After observing the 2:00-4:00 class, I head back home and write in my journal and write a letter to Maura in the journal and hang out with my family. We usually eat dinner around 7:00 and watch tv together (either popular Khmer shows, the news, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Amazing race or last night we watched some competition from the U.S. from 2001 where huge men smash cinder blocks, it’s pretty funny to see my family react to that….) I head to bed around 8 and take my third shower of the day, read and then head to bed. It sounds like a really boring schedule, but it is the schedule that I decided would fit me the best. There are many curveballs that are thrown into the schedule though. Such as the fact that there is some sort of exam for the teachers today and tomorrow, so classes were canceled today. So, I did a little laundry and got internet. I will probably go to the market a little later and some little stuff to add to my room, or just walk around and try to meet people or talk to those few people that I know. Instead of getting upset about these curveballs, I think the best way to handle it is simply roll with the punches and make the best of the situation. I will try to get as many errands done today as I can.

I have had many “Peace Corps moments” in the past two and a half weeks. For instance, I was having one of those days where I was second-guessing my presence here, in the sense of “do I have what it takes to make a difference?” because I felt like I haven’t done anything. I was sitting in a tenth grade class that I won’t be able to teach, but went anyways to try to meet the students. I was sitting there contemplating this when a boy named Thon turns around and strikes up a conversation. Most of the students at the school are either super confused why I am even there or too shy to say anything, so this kid strikes up a conversation. After talking for a few minutes, I find out that he has 5 siblings and is from Svay Rieng and lives in the pagoda with his siblings and has been there for 8 years. He also said that he works on English with one of the monks. He told me that I observed one of his friend’s classes and he said that he was so excited that I came to his class because he thinks speaking with foreigners is really important. He has a friend that as able to talk to a foreigner and his pronunciation improved so much, and that’s what he wants. When I asked him what he wanted to do for a living, he told me that he wants to work for an NGO, which I didn’t expect. When I asked him which one, he said that he wants to work for one that helps women and children who are victims of domestic abuse. He really brought me back to reality and I remembered why I am here.

In addition, I have been upset at how little Khmer I have been using. I had an epiphany the other night when my cousin (who calls me sister Kea, it’s really cute) was trying to speak Khmer with my and I was too shy. Well, when I tell my students that they shouldn’t be shy about speaking English, I am a huge hypocrite because I am shy about my Khmer. So, I decided to become shameless about using Khmer and it has been great. Darlene and I went to the market to buy some fruit, but then we realized that we don’t know how much we should be paying, so we went to visit our tailor friends (the two women who work next to each other, one is a tailor and one sells the fabric). We talked for about 5 minutes about how much we should be spending. They don’t speak any English and loved that we came to them for advice. We went back and talked to the fruit lady (“our fruit lady” as we call her now). Also, my host mom is really scared that I am unhappy and that I don’t like the food. While I was journaling last night, I had a 20 minute conversation with her last night about my family and America. We also talked about how happy I am here. I think that she feels a lot better because she has been stressed out about it.

Yesterday was a really great day at school. I went to my usual ladies to eat lunch (the spot had to be moved up near the buildings because the back of the school is literally underwater). When I walked up, they told me (in Khmer, of course) that I am going to be so unhappy because she didn’t have noodles today! Would rice be ok? I go there not because she is the world’s greatest cook, although the food is good, but I go there because I want it to be part of my schedule. I guess I have become a regular, with a usual, which is really fun. They call me “net crew” which is Khmer for female teacher. It’s very respectful and I think that she loves the fact that the American eats there. Whenever kids walk by that she knows, she says, come eat here, sit by the American teacher. It’s really fun.

When I observed the 2:00-4:00 class, which is grade 11, one of my favorite classes that I have seen, my coteacher could only teach for an hour because he had to go to the Provincial Office of Education for a meeting. So, I stayed with the students and just talked to them. We talked about a varied of things- how old people are in America when they get married/drive, all about my family, seasons in America, what I do in my free time, why I came to Cambodia, food, the fact that I am not married and don’t have a boyfriend- they told me that they didn’t believe me that I didn’t have a boyfriend. It was really fun to informally be able to talk with these kids. We just hung out for a while and headed home. I decided that is a class that I really want to teach because I really like the students. Their English is amazing, but their desire to learn the language is what really makes me want to teach them

Keiko sent me a text today that every time we take a step forward, we take two steps back. When class was canceled today, I was pretty annoyed because I didn’t understand that today was canceled too, I thought that it was tomorrow. So, after thinking about it for a while, I decided that this is the way things are- I will never get a schedule letting me know when class will be in session. I can either get upset at everyone and be unhappy with it, or come to terms with it. I am not going to change the education system here in Cambodia and that’s not why I am here. The things that I can control are my interactions with the people here and what happens in my class, so that is where I plan on making my mark. I can set a good example, which is what I am doing, but I realized early on my limitations, and I am very glad that I did.

Sorry that the last post was really bad, but I tried to make up for it with this one. I was sad when I saw that there were no comments (that was a shocker Mom!) but I realized that when I make a really bad post, people aren’t going to comment. I hope that I made up for it on this one!

This post does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of the Peace Corps or of the United States government. It reflects my thoughts and opinions alone.