Peace Corps is HARD!

This past week was a milestone for a few reasons.  First, it marked the one-year point since leaving my house in Oak Park on July 21^st.  It was also Darlene’s 50^th birthday and the 60^th anniversary of diplomatic relations.  All three of these events made for an awesome weekend in Phnom Penh.

The story first starts with something that I should have done a long time ago- getting wedding clothes made.  After I was asked to come to a gala thrown by the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, I realized that the time had come. My host mother was thrilled when I asked her to make me an outfit; she has been wanting to for a long time now.  We went to the market to buy fabric, which essentially entails three parts- the fabric for the sampot (the traditional Khmer floor length skirt), the outside see-through fabric for the shirt then the fabric for inside.  I chose to do it right, which means to pull out all the stops and my host family was there for every step of the way.  I chose an entirely red outfit and my family approved, saying that red looks beautiful with my meat, which I suppose means my skin.  The next step was to choose the design for the shirt.  Chun Lai, my 4 year old host nephew was really into the whole process and sat with me while I leafed through the countless magazines to choose the style that I liked.  Every picture that he saw, he asked me “Sro line te?” which means “Do you love this?” It was fun at first, but then I told him that I loved them all, but that wasn’t good enough.  Thus we created a new game I like to call “Do you love this?”  Simple enough.  I finally chose the style I liked, but asked my host mom to make the sleeves not to puffy.  Over the next few days, my host mom, host sister and one of her employees cut, sewed and applied glitter to my outfit.  I was given specific instruction on how to wear it (aka how to zip it correctly and hide the zipper) and basic information about my sampot- essentially don’t get it wet! That last part made me nervous because I live in the tropics and sweat more in one week then I ever have in my entire life.  Regardless, the night before I left for PP, my host mother made the final touches and we packed it in my bag after I woke up at 5:30 the next morning.

I have found myself in quite a routine here.  One days where I teach or have other meetings, I wake up at 6, shower, eat my breakfast and drink my coffee while reading then I head out around 8:50 to teach or work on my health project.  When I go to PP however, it is a little different.  I buy my ticket at the hotel across the street the day before for the first bus out, which is at 6:30 which means around 7:00 Cambodian time.  I wake up, shower, get dressed and ready, then walk across the street to eat gwee-tee-you, which is basically noodle soup, with coffee.  The girls that work there also work for my host mom, so they are always into where I am going, why and when I will come back.  After I pay my bill, I stand on the side of the highway and wait for the bus to come get me.  I usually chit chat with some of the villagers around me and get on the bus.  It takes about 5.5 hours, so I sit back and relax as best I can.  Sometimes it isn’t so easy, but the ride is beautiful and I almost always travel with Darlene, so I have a buddy to pass the time with.  It was also Darlene’s birthday, so we were in high spirits once we entered the city! We check into our guest house and relaxed until we went to the Peace Corps Office to get our money.  The new PC group had just gotten in that day so we were able to meet a few.  They looked really overwhelmed at tired, so we tried not to overdo it.  

We showered up and went to get foot massages at a really great spa.  There were four of us- Darlene, Jessica, Chrissy and myself and before long we were laughing and speaking Khmer with our masseurs.  They told us that Khmer people believe that those who have moles on the bottom on their feet are destined to travel and live far from home.  Two of us did, including myself.  We had a blast at the massage and went to get Italian food for dinner, which is always a hit.  We sang happy birthday and headed back to the guest house.  

The next day was all about preparing for the gala that night.  We went out early after breakfast at the market in search of purses.  The first market was a bust but we ended up finding really great wallets that doubled as clutches.  Darlene and I went to the market to get 3,000 reihl (75 cents) manicures and pedicures.  We had a little time to relax, then it was time to prepare for the gala.  We showered and got ready and it took about 5 minutes to figure out the zippers and latches and everything.  We walked downstairs to take pictures and the staff of the hotel was loving our outfits.  When we walked outside, the entire block came outside to look at the American women in Khmer clothes.  We went to Raffles, which is the most expensive hotel in the country and were directed to the ballroom.  The Ambassador (Carol Rodley) greeted us outside the room and directed us in.  It was obvious that we were the only Americans in Khmer clothing.  After the national anthems and a video about relations between Cambodia and America, we sat down to our dinner, which was out of this world! We had steak! It has been well over a year since my last steak, but it was so good.  The Marine Pacific band played during dinner and the Ambassador requested the Happy Birthday song for Darlene, so she stood up and everyone sang happy birthday.  Two former ambassadors came over to talk, as well as many former Peace Corps volunteers and we had to rush to eat our food between the mingling. We went across the room to speak to our country director and along the way, Jessica and Chrissy were stopped by the Minister of Education to comment on Peace Corps and our clothes.  We took a lot of pictures with many of the workers.  We met so many people, and so many people commented on our clothes, which was symbolic of American- Cambodian relations.  One former ambassador told us how he worked so hard to get PC into Cambodia during his time in the Embassy, but the first group came two months after his post finished.  Another ambassador, who is the one who opened the American Corner at the UME, which is the university I work at, commented how glad he was that Peace Corps finally came while he was Ambassador.  Many Khmer women commented about how they felt uncomfortable in their clothes, but when we came, they felt better about it and thanked us.  At the end of the night, our country director offered to take us home, but it took us about 20 minutes to walk 20 feet out the door because people kept approaching us.  It wasn’t a long event, but it was one that was so much fun to be a part of.  I always knew how important Peace Corps is to diplomacy and international relations, but I never realized just how important it is.  The people who talked to us were Cambodian diplomats, teachers, lawyers and American marines, diplomats, journalists, etc.  I was really proud to be there to represent the Peace Corps side of it.  Likewise, I was especially happy to tell the story of my outfit.

 Close up of my shirt

Jessica, Darlene, Chrissy and Me

 Darlene and I with former Ambassador Joseph A. Mussemeli

The group with our country director, Jon Darrah

 

We were wiped out after the party and headed back to the guest house.  We ended up just going to sleep.  Darlene and I decided to head back on Saturday morning instead of staying.  “Let’s quit while we are ahead.”  We had a fantastic weekend so we bought our tickets for Battambang, ran some errands and headed back.  It always feels good to be back.  I ran into a tuk tuk driver I knew right when I stepped off the bus, then saw a moto driver whose daughter lives in Chicago, chit chatted with a group of men near my house then my host sister saw me and offered me a ride on her moto.  My backpack was heavy, but due to the no moto policy, I finished out my walk.  

This weekend was a lot of fun, but it was a rarity.  I always considered myself lucky to be placed in Cambodia, especially a former volunteer at the gala told me about how during his tour in Zambia, he was exposed to rabis and had to travel 12 hours just to get to the nearest phone.  I have to travel about 20 inches to my purse to get to the nearest phone.  Regardless, it was a weekend to be thankful- for my health, for my placement, for diplomacy and international relations, my friends and family (both real and host).  Now it’s back to “real life”.