6 month mark!

So, today officially marks the 6 month point in my service.  I left Chicago exactly 6 months ago, which equates to one quarter of my service here.  Pretty crazy to think about. 

So, my birthday was on Sunday and I was prepared for it to be a regular day, but there were a lot of people who really made it a special day.  My coteacher told our classes (in Khmer of course, so I couldn’t understand) that it was my birthday and they raised some money and I got three presents from the classes.  It was really unexpected and extremely cute how the students presented the gifts.  I had just arrived at school and there was a group of girls standing near where I always park my bike.  I was talking to another student and they kind of waited around, then handed me the present, which was wrapped and had a card from the class.  The first gift was a wooden carousal that plays music as the Ferris Wheel of teddy bears revolves.  There is a windmill has four planks that read “Best Wishes For You”.  They were really cute about it and a few took pictures, so hopefully I will be able to put those up.  The second gift was a box with two pairs of earrings.  Khmer fashion is pretty centered around jewels and sparkles, so these earrings are really sparkly.  I have never really been that flashy with my jewelry, but when in Rome…. So I wore one pair on Monday and every female that saw them complimented me on how beautiful they are.  The last gift, which I think is my favorite, is a Mickey Mouse lamp/ night light.  It’s Mickey in a glass of ice cream. I put pictures on facebook of all of the gifts, so log on and check them out! 

My student Vida, aka Elvis Presley, also got me a gift.  I was concerned that he spent money on it, but he reassured me that he didn’t.  I know that he doesn’t have a lot, so I didn’t want him to spend what little he has on me.  One of his friends makes jewelry and keychains out of coconut shells.  So, he had his friend make a cross necklace.  The cross is actually the name “Jesus”. It is hard to describe, so hopefully I can upload a picture onto this blog to show you.  The other thing that he gave me is a keychain in the shape of Cambodia with my name engraved.  His friend has made a little business out of it and I would love to help him, so if anyone is interested in getting one, I have some visitors coming over soon(ish) and maybe something can be arranged.  While I would love to do a mail order thing, it probably isn’t the best idea because for one, things break on the way and also it may not go over so well with Peace Corps if I am working in a business. 

Darlene also came through and bought me a cake and brought it to my class on Monday, which was 11C.  I was not shocked to see every kid in that class when there usually are about 20 out of 70 on average.  The cake was made by our friends who just opened a western store (it’s a Khmer family) and are quickly adding on- a little café, garden and bakery are the latest additions.  They are a really great family and the boy who made it told me today that he put a lot of chocolate on it because he knows I like it.  The class really liked it.  Again, there are pictures on facebook of the occasion… I also met with Leah and Eddie, who are K2s who live in my province.  We went to lunch and ice cream and basically planned what we will do for International Women’s Day (which is March 8^th) and caught up.  It was a very relaxing birthday and again, the weather makes it so confusing because my birthdays are always really cold.  Time is totally standing here, but I have grown accustom to writing 2010 and saying “Kinyom mein au ma-pie bye chnam” which means I am 23 years old. 

This week really marked the beginning of my busy schedule.  I am meeting with English Club 5 times a week and the English Club on Mondays and Fridays.  It’s nice because the English Club at my school is really me calling the shots and settings up, but at the UME, the club is already up and running, I am just there for guidance.  I will be meeting with the club on Monday and discussing the readings that were assigned the Friday before.  We are able to have more in depth discussions about really important issues- health, environment, AIDS, etc.  On Friday, I will come in and work for one hour on a skill (this week it is the Do’s and Don’ts of using PowerPoint in a speech, next week is The Importance of Body Language in Public Speaking).  The second hour will be really general, open for questions, discussion, etc.  I am very happy that my projects (teaching formal class and the two clubs) are very different, so I’m not getting bored.  The next project, however, will probably be unrelated to teaching English.  Like I said, we are trying to start a project for International Women’s Day.  We want to have some girls get together and discuss their goals, options and futures.  We will probably focus on education and how to get to university and stay there.  It will also be a great way to plant the seed about our girl’s camp that will be over the summer.  Needless to say through all of this that I am super busy.  But, I didn’t come here for a break or to relax.  There’s a lot of work to be done here.  Some days are really tough, but that’s part of the job.

I am steadily making more relationships with my students.  There is probably one student a week who works up the courage and asks for English help or asks a random question.  I realized really early on that the high school is my way into the community and it’s going well.  There are some students who are still really scared of me, but I find myself not really being alone much when I am at school.  There is one student, Houert, who asked me today to help him learn how to teach.  He juts got a job teaching children English.  I could tell that he is really proud of this and we arranged a meeting for tomorrow to talk about techniques.  One of the goals of Peace Corps is to teach teachers how to be better teachers and focus on student centered learning.  I never realized that by teaching my students American techniques in the classroom that they will be able to carry them over.  I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence, but this boy Houert has a job as an English teacher and Vida (aka Elvis) is trying to get a similar job.  Just to clarify, most Cambodian students study full time (at a school like Net Yong) and then what they call part-time, which is at a private class and is paid for.  There are a lot of schools that are private where students come to learn after school.  So, they are trying to become teachers at those schools.  That is also a reason why a lot of kids ask me if I will charge for English Club and when one boy said he wanted to study with me, he quickly added, I will pay.  I constantly have to reinforce the “smot jet” (volunteer) status.  It is not the money but rather the fact that my schedule is steadily becoming more and more full.  I am literally exhausted all the time because of the workload and the heat.  But that’s the way it’s supposed to be. 

Two days ago marked the 7^th anniversary of the death of my host sibling’s father.  Because he was ethnically Chinese (his parents were from China) many of the traditions that we took part in I would imagine stem from his Chinese roots.  The day before, Huck told me to eat lunch at home (I usually eat at a stand on the way home from school) so I knew that I was in for a feast.  I got home from school to see a legit spread on the table and it was only 11:00.  My host sisters were cooking all day and we had some awesome food.  We started out with Fried Noodles, which are so good.  I had to pace myself because then we sat down to a feast of rice (obviously) chicken soup, mushroom and chicken stir fry and to my surprise, peas and vegetables.  I totally forgot about peas.  It’s weird how acclimated your body gets when you have changed climates, diets and lifestyle.  We ate then I napped for a little before going back to school with a completely full stomach.  Before the meal was the tradition, and I guess ceremony if you will.  The food was used as an offering to the prayer houses(my family has three, one outside, one right by the front of the house and one on the wall in the sitting room).  When everyone arrived (as in my host brother and sisters who do not live at the house), they lit incense and prayed for their father in front of the table full of food, incense and candles.  Again, check out the pictures to be visualize it.  So, basically, there are two prayer houses that they prayed in front of, in addition to the huge table of food, incense and candles.  They put the incense (they usually light three, five or seven at a time, but this time I noticed it was seven because it’s good luck and symbolizes family) in the pots in the two prayer houses inside then in a holder outside of the house.  I always wondered what that was used for because it looks like the thing that contains the holy water inside churches.  My question was answered.  As I was riding back to school and writing in my journal later that night, I was really impressed with how happy the event was.  I thought that it would be really sad because from the stories that I hear, he was very well liked.  “My father always cooked while my mother worked, which is opposite in Cambodia.”  The entire time, everyone was really happy and enjoying the company.  People always say that we should celebrate someone’s life, but I have never really seen that until now.  He thought that family was really important and you could tell by looking at his kids.  They included me in on the process and I was very happy to be there.  It was probably the first time that I didn’t feel awkward at a ceremony.  It was really intimate and personal. 

English Club is currently working on creative writing.  This is a difficult concept to get across because they simply don’t write for fun.  I was so happy yesterday because I had two students, both 11 graders, read each other’s story then give feedback and suggestions.  One of the students was Vida (Elvis) and the other was a girl (I don’t remember her name, Khmer names are tough) who has really come out of her shell recently and is opening up and speaking up more.  They felt really weird at first, but they sat together and talked about their impressions of the other person’s story.  It was really heartwarming to see because at first, they said that they wouldn’t be able to because they don’t know how to say it in English, but they tried and they did a really good job.  What I am trying to do is to have the students work more with each other instead of relying on me to correct and fix.  It was a great first step and I hope that things continue to move forward in this direction.  Some of the stories are really great.  We are planning on having a meeting where the parents, siblings and friends can all come to listen to the stories.  We will also make a book of all of the stories.  It is really a long project, but I want this to set the stage for what we will be doing, which is working on things over time and using each other to learn.  I can already see HUGE improvements and the students have no idea.  It is really a pleasure to watch the whole process.

That about sums up what is happening currently. In between running to class and club, I am trying to spend time with my family and friends in Battambang as well as plan future events.  My group of girlfriends are going to try to plan a trip once every two months (at least) to get to each other.  The problem is that we are all so far from each other.  Keiko and I are about 3 hours away, which isn’t bad.  But you have to travel through PP for most trips down south, so it’s another 2 hours to get to PP.  From PP, Jessica lives about 2 more hours to her provincial town then another half hour to her site.  Jacqueline practically lives in Vietnam.  If I were to travel from my site to hers, it would take about ten hours.  But our plan is to meet in other locations, so in February we will go to Siam Reap.  We are also planning some international trips, most likely Vietnam in April then Australia this summer.  It helps to plan these things because it gives us something to look forward to.  If we were at site with no trip on the horizon, it gets tough.  Plus, we will be able to see a lot of the country this way (actually the continent if we have our way…)

Well, I have to sign off now.  Hope all is well with everyone back home.  As for the weather, it rained for the first time in 2 months for about an hour yesterday and the day before.  The “cold” season (cold being about 70 degrees) will end in about two weeks with the beginning of February and the hot, dry season starts.  That should be fun to teach in.  I am still hot and it’s “cold”.  People are actually wearing winter jackets.  I have to admit that it is pretty chilly, but hopefully that means that I am used to the weather.  If not, I am in big trouble when the hot season comes around. 

"Mein scacroap diet Bong Kealan?"

This is my last post as a 22-year old. With the new age (since it didn’t really feel like a new year, I will use my birthday as a new start…) I have grown to be very patient here, but there is always room for improvement. My number one goal is to be a better teacher, however. My private classes and English Club come very naturally, but working within the confines of a ministry developed book poses its problems. Honestly, as a teacher, I have never learned more in my life.

I cannot emphasize enough how much of an emotional rollercoaster it is to do Peace Corps. The problem is that it doesn’t bad days happen that frequently (probably once a month or less) but when things come crashing down, look out, it’s not pretty. It literally comes out of nowhere. Today, for example, was an ordinary day, then all of a sudden, I was walking home in a sampot, having just reamed out my 11B class contemplating if I am even doing anything here. The ish really hit the fan this morning in my 10Q class when ONE student turned in her homework. Yes, 1 out of 67. I was so upset not at the kids who never do anything, but the kids who I know are really into learning English. There are about 10 kids in that class that are really promising not because of their skills, but rather their determination and perseverance. I said my piece to them about the need to due their homework and felt better about it. They probably didn’t understand because I was speaking fast, but those who did are the ones that I was really talking to- the ones who are the heads of the class and have a chance to do something with English. During training, we were told that scolding the students doesn’t work because they aren’t used to that, but to that I say, they aren’t used to anything that I do. Talking wasn’t working, so raising my voice a little let them know that I was upset. I wasn’t upset about the lack of attendance or the amount of kids that come late, I was upset about their lack of effort, and they knew how wrong they were.

11B was just a bad class to start out with. Teaching on Wednesdays from 2-4 is just recipe for disaster. The building is always really busy and the classroom is close to the roundabout, so the cards are always stacked against getting anything done in this class. They are really bright but they LOVE to talk. That wouldn’t be a problem (it would be totally welcome, as a matter of fact) but they refuse to speak English when I ask them to, and instead they have a bunch of side conversations. No one was really paying attention, so I threw my book down on the ground to get their attention. I tried sushing but that wasn’t working. Those of you who know me best know that throwing things is my favorite way to release anger. It worked, but after the break, they were doubled in noise level and when I walked around to check on their work, there were 3 students actually working on the classwork and the other 60 students were on their phones, doing other work or just talking in Khmer about other things. I am embarrassed to say this, but I totally lost it. I wasn’t yelling by any means, but I pulled out all the stops of a typical teacher rant. I told them that coming to class simply isn’t enough. They have to work for it. If you don’t want to learn, you don’t have to be here. American teachers say that all the time, but this is so true in Cambodia. If you skip class at OPRFHS, the attendance office calls home and you are in trouble, unless you answer the phone yourself. Nothing like this exists here (much like every other country in the world…) I am not proud of how I said what I said, but I was glad that I said it, I think that they needed to hear it.

I asked them if they wanted to continue the lesson or just cut their losses and head home. They wanted to stay and we finished the lesson, but there was tension, awkward is probably the best word for it. I apologized that the end of the lesson, but the students said that they were sorry for not working. I explained to them just how frustrating it is because I want them to learn English so bad (clearly, I left America for it) and when the students just sit there and don’t work with the teachers, it’s is really frustrating.

I left the class pretty embarrassed that I came at them like that, but I felt a little better. Until I realized that I locked my keys in my room, for the second time that I have lived here in Battambang. So, I started the 1.5k trek back to my house in a sampot thinking about what just happened. Maura, I have that really weird cramp thing in my foot that I had in Italy again, so walking wasn’t fun. I was supposed to get my bike and go to the post office to get a package for my friend and meet her at the bus stop while her bus stopped in the BB, but that clearly wasn’t happening. I felt a little better walking, but I was still upset. Here I thought that I was making some strides, then I have a day like today. I realized that my anger should be directed at myself. It is my job as teacher to teach the students. I need to make learning English as appealing and fun as possible. So, I got my wallet/keys and turned around and made the 1.5k trek back. Usually people make no notice of me here, but for some reason, there were a lot of people taking interest and when you are in a bad mood, it’s not fun to have an audience. When I got back to school, I ran into a girl from my 11B class, the class that I just let have it. She apologized again for the class and said that she doesn’t know why her class gets like that, but she knows how I feel. While we were talking, this boy David (that is his birth name) rode up on his moto and we got to talking. His English is unbelievable, but when he comes to class, he just sits in the back and sometimes participates. His dad is French and his mom is Khmer, but they are divorced, so he spends a lot of time in France. He told me the first time I talked to him that we are alike because we are both not Khmer. He is a really great kid and he always comes to class, but never really says anything. I asked him today why he doesn’t do anything during class and he said that he doesn’t want everyone to rely on him. I pointed out that I could really use his help to inspire the class to speak more and that way he can be useful in class instead of just chilling in the back. We were talking about how little the class talks when David said, “Cher, you don’t understand. Before you came, my class NEVER spoke, now they speak a little.” He probably didn’t know how much that meant to me because during that whole walk back and worth, I was thinking about how little of an impact I have made. It gave me some reassurance. The three of us got to talking about how we can improve the class. I tried doing groups in my 11C and 11D classes, but it never really took off, so I decided not the try it with 11B. David suggested that we should try it, but he offered to help. “Cher, I can help you to make the groups. I know my classmates. We will put the weaker students with the stronger students to help.” When I told him that I wasn’t sure because my other classes had no idea what I meant by group work, he said “Don’t worry, I will help.” It made me feel so much better because at the tail end of my walk, I remembered what I have always thought about these situations, that I cannot control other people, I will never be able to. What I can control is how I teach, and that is what I need to change and make better. These two students offering to help with the class understanding the vision was simply remarkable. This kid David has literally nothing to gain by helping me out with the groups, but he is doing it anyway. So, starting next week, we will be working in groups. We will probably have group competitions and it will be really fun.

After David left, I continued to talk to the girl, Chakriya, for another half hour. We began by talking about her class and it got way more personal and we were talking about her problems with her friends. She is a ball of fire and is really assertive. She is always happy and is a really reliable friend. She was telling me how important her studies are, but she thinks that it is also really important to be happy and have friendships. “You never know when you are going to die, so you shouldn’t waste time being mad or sad.” She is totally right. She works hard but also plays hard. She really impressed me with her maturity because girls are girls wherever you go, so those pesky, little fights happen everywhere. It was perfect timing to have this talk because Keiko, Darlene and another volunteer, Lisa, are in the preliminary stages of setting up Camp GLOW, which stands for girls leading our world. Our vision is to have girls from Keiko’s province (Kampong Chhnang) and Lisa’s province (Beantay Meanchay) come to Battambang for a weekend camp for girls’ empowerment. We will have guest speakers, self-confidence seminars and the like with all of the girls. We are in the very early stage, which is observation. We are trying to find a handful of girls from our schools that really show the qualities of a leader. Chakriya really embodied everything we are looking for and I was really happy after this talk. We are all really excited about this camp, but it will talk a really long time to plan and there are a lot of aspects that need to be sorted out. We will do it probably in Septemberish. Tonight, after dinner, I got a text forward from Charkriya. The text forwards are really cute. Sometimes it is a poem, sometimes a picture made of symbols like *, ~, ], { etc. This particular one was a forward. I really enjoy getting these texts because they always add a personal note on the end. The text was about being happy and how important it is to smile (how totally appropriate) and at the end, she said thanks for talking to me today. Although sometimes the students are the toughest part of this job, they always prove to be the best part as well.

It’s simply crazy how quickly things can turn sour. For those reading this, you probably think that I was upset about something so miniscule and I probably was, but Peace Corps is all-encompassing, so when something heads south, it really involves all facets of your life. But just as important is how quickly things turn back around. Here I was throwing a pity part in National Road #5, complaining about something so ridiculous, and these two kids completely turned around my state of mind. They have no idea that they did this, but they really found the positivity that I needed to reverse my thinking and now I have two potential projects to improve the youth of Cambodia. One of the most important things to remember is that we are trying to help Cambodians help themselves. I will not change the system, but I hope to change the student that will one day.

In other news, my schedule is insanely busy. I started my English Club this week. We had the tests on Saturday and I was kinda put off by how few students showed up, but the concept is totally new and probably really confusing for them. I gave the test to about 60 12th graders and of those students, I chose 13 students. There were plenty of kids who cheated, and I marked their papers and refused to grade them even. For 11th grade, only 8 kids came and the same was true for 10th grade. Not a coincidence, the kids who came were all from my classes. At first, I felt embarrassed that not that many kids came out, then I realized that these are kids who I teach 4 hours a week and they want more time. It was really touching when I got over the initial shock of not having a lot of kids. I set up this club to study with kids who are serious about studying. It’s more important to have the kids who have the dedication as opposed to the kids who are the best at English but don’t give a hoot about the club. We met for the first time Tuesday and it was a success. We all introduced ourselves and went over why there is a club. There were some ground rules- come prepared and ready to study hard, listen to each other, don’t laugh at each other for mistakes, no Khmer and most importantly, don’t be shy. There are some kids who are really coming out of their shells and it is a total pleasure to see. I have a wide range of students in the club, from 12B to 10Q, but I did this on purpose. I want the 10th graders to study with the 12th graders because it will really help improve their level. The 10th graders are so cute and were really excited just to be there. The only problem is scheduling. That is a really common theme here, especially in the schools. The students hardly have free time because all of them have regular class, private class or work. What we ended up coming up with is 5 meeting times per week- one for each grade separate, 10th grade and 11th grade then we will meet all together once a week. The only time that we could all get together is on Saturday night. I don’t really want to “work” on the weekends, but this is really important too, and I want them to all come together at least once. I also want to instill really early on the importance of the students running the club, so the weekends that I am not there, hopefully they meet and get some work done. Saturday night for me is like any other night (I know hard to believe that my college days are over…) so it won’t be a big deal when I am around to give up my Saturday evening, because we all know I’m not doing anything anyway…

I will start working with the English Club at the UME (University of Management and Economics) on Monday. The way that the club is set up works perfectly for me- it is student run and the group consists of ten small groups and they have a theme for the week (AIDS, environment, etc) and they read about the topic then make a PowerPoint presentation in front of the club. I will be meeting with each group once a month and I will have 2 open hours in the American Corner, which is funded fully by the US Embassy and has a library, computers, essentially the resources that are really rare at any other school. When I met with the man who runs the English Club, I originally planned on meeting two or three groups per week then having one open hour to anyone who wanted help, but after some twisting of my arm, I agreed to two hours on Friday, one hour for open correction or question and answers and one hour of a public related speaking skill (for example, week one will be Do’s and Don’ts of making a speech and using PowerPoint.) Between my regular teaching hours (16 per week), English Club (about 10 hours per week) and the UME English Club (another 4 or 5 hours per week), I have a really full schedule and I for sure have my work cut out for me. But, I didn’t come here to have a two year vacation; I came here to do some work. I am happiest when I’m really busy and thoroughly enjoying what I’m doing. Besides today’s actions, I have been really happy and things have been going well. Those moments will happen, it simply comes with the territory. When you are really emotionally invested in something such as this, it tends to have a greater effect when things come up.

As for my family life, I have created a monster in Chun Lai. I gave him Jolly Ranchers and he is addicted. Every time I come out of my room, he is standing there and he says “Mein sca-cro-op diet?” which means “Do you have anymore candy?” We ate the last of the candy tonight, so we will most likely go back to regular. He is still as cute as ever and has been making many comments such as “Chun Lai doy-ka bong Kealan” which means “Chun Lai is the same as Kealan”. He usually says these things when we are “journaling, eating or playing. Chun Liap is equally as cute and she is growing so fast. She is ready to walk and has taken a few steps already. They are really fun to be around and though sometimes it is difficult to live with too children, our relationships are really growing. Even the other day, Chun Lai came into my room early in the morning and crawled under my mosquito and into my bed. He just wanted to play, but I told him that I needed to shower, go back outside and wait. But there was a cockroach on the ground, so he said “Kinyom klight!” and I told him not to be afraid, I will be out there soon.
One more note about teaching here: everyone is really worried about the semester exam, which comes out of the “English for Cambodia” book, which is not the best. It is difficult to strike a balance to cover what will be on the test but also making it fun. I will figure it out though, that’s what this whole thing is about. Mistakes will be made. It’s actually a bad sign, I think, if I am not making mistakes because that means that I am not taking any chances. This is pretty unchartered territory and it’s important to remember that mistakes usually bring progress and growth. You just figure it out as you go and it all seems to work out, somehow.

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year everyone! I just got back from a week long sort of vacation all over Cambodia.

It all started the day after Christmas. I came down with a pretty bad fever and sore throat. It is pretty common for me to have throat issues if there is a change in season. It was a pretty crummy feeling to be so far from home during the holidays and then to get sick on top of that. I called the medical officer and went into PP. Everyone was there celebrating Christmas and it was really fun to get to see everyone. My original plan was to stay in Battambang for Christmas then travel to Kampot in the south. But since I went into PP for medical, I just decided to travel to Takeo to see my training host family in Takeo, which is 2 hours south of PP instead making the 6 hour trip back to site. I spent a few days with my training family. I was really refreshing to see them and it was a great escape. I was surprised at how at home I felt. Keiko and I were joking that Takeo is our stomping ground, so it was very familiar to go back. There were a few changes that I noticed immediately. First, it is harvest season and my host family is part of the vast majority of Cambodians that are farmers. They were harvesting rice and I was able to see the process. The fields were stripped of the crop and my family hired a man to come and essentially pound the rice grain against a table to separate the rice. This is the table that my host sisters ate on in the kitchen when I lived with them, but for harvesting, they moved it outside. The table is made of really thin planks so the rice falls through the cracks and creates a pile on the ground. Needless to say, there was a lot of rice around the front of the house. The second huge difference was that upon my arrival, I wasn’t greeted by five children sprinting down the lane, only two. The other three were studying English. Liney, the oldest who is in 8th grade studies at school and takes private classes at night, like most Cambodian students. But her sister, Lineat, who is 7, hasn’t started English at school (they don’t start studying English until 7th grade) was at a private class with her cousin, Jan Bo, who is 5. Just to be clear, my host family lives right next door to my host uncle, so the kids are really close and essentially split the time between the two houses. Although I technically lived with three host sisters, I feel like my two cousins were around just as much. Lineat and Jan Bo, the two younger ones are taking a class called English for Children, which is really great that they are starting out early. Learning English is so important for children because Cambodia is supposed to be the next up and coming country out of Southeast Asia. Learning English opens the door to much better jobs. For instance, Cambodians that work for Ngos make much more money than other jobs. In addition, bank tellers need to have some sort of background in English and that is a good job because there are so many banks all over, in the countryside and in the urban areas. Once they all came back from studying though, I was reuinted with my original posse, consisting of about 10 Cambodian kids all under 12.

I spent my time with my host family and was able to see a few other volunteers who were traveling there. There is a volunteer living and working in our training village and I was able to see him a lot and see what is happening at his school. Also, one of the Peace Corps language coordinators lives in Angtasom (the name of the village) and she has an amazing house and amazing family. We were invited over there two nights in a row to eat pizza and hang out. She rents rooms out to travelers, so we ended up just staying there at night. There was a family from New Zealand staying there and the dad gave me two wooden bats that he had a bunch of tennis balls. It was really nice of him and will make a great addition to the growing amount of equipment.

I went to Kampot, which is in the south on New Years day. A bunch of volunteers were there and we were all able to celebrate with each other, which is always really refreshing. We are all pretty isolated and far from each other, so it is really enjoyable to relax and get some reassurance that we are all in fact, going through many of the same things. It’s nice not to have to worry about lesson planning or grading papers and such. From Kampot, a group of us went to Rabbit Island, which is a small island off of Kep. We had to take a boat there and we stayed in little huts that didn’t have electricity most of the day and only cost $7 per night. The bed bugs bites that I discovered on the way home were not a surprise at all. We basically laid out and relaxed. The pace of life is pretty slow in Cambodia and it is even slower on the island. No one was in a rush to do anything and we were really able to enjoy each other’s company and not have to worry about much. The island is pretty small and there are a lot of Khmer people who come during the day to swim and then leave at night. There were some tourists, but it was never really flooded with people. The whole trip was pretty inexpensive considering how amazing the view is and how much fun we had.

I had to travel all the way from Rabbit Island yesterday and it was not fun. Rabbit Island is about 4 hours from PP and then BB is about 6 hours from PP. I had to stop in PP to get the H1N1 shot, which took about an hour and I couldn’t get out until 3:15 which means that I didn’t get home until 9. I accidentally left my phone with my friend Jessica on the island, so I had no way to communicate with my family, so I just sort of showed up at the house at 9, right before bed. While I had an amazing trip overall, I am really happy to be back to my schedule. I realized that I really enjoy having a schedule and plans. Being spontaneous is really fun, but I prefer (especially as a Peace Corps Volunteer) to have a purpose to every day.

I taught class today and I was really happy to be back in the classroom. I think I am making some progress with my 11C, but they still have a long way to go. We decided today to have two sessions of the test to get into English Club. It’s tricky because the students are always in class. They are so busy. American students are too, but because teachers hold private classes outside of class time, it’s tough to find a time that works for everyone. I think it will work out though.

I started my day off today with Dunkin Donuts coffee sent from my mom for Christmas in the French Press mug from Matt and Katie and it made a huge difference. I also felt like such a teacher sipping some coffee while talking. Starting the day with a cup of coffee makes a huge difference. I always thought that those commercials were super lame, but it’s so true. I also had a Carmello from Curt and it is simply unreal what a chocolate bar can taste like when you haven’t really had one for almost 6 months.

As for what the next few months look like, I will be really busy at school and at the university. I will probably have little trips on the weekend, but I will probably staying really close to Battambang for a while due to lack of funds and due to how much work is unfolding. We have in-service training in February in PP, but that is about my only plan until Khmer New Year, which is in April. I will be taking a trip somewhere, most likely Vietnam, with some friends. Besides that, I am just flying by the seat of my pants. While I was really happy to take a break from Battambang for a while, I was even happier to get back to site and resume what I am here to do.

Santa Claus is coming to Battambang

Hello family and friends! I hope that everyone had a really great holiday season! I am posting this on Christmas Eve, after teaching my 11D class. So, Merry Christmas to those back home! This is going to be a loooong entry, to brace yourselves!

Tomorrow, for Christmas, I will be celebrating in a rather unorthodox way. I only teach one class on Friday, which is 11B from 7-9. Those students are really great, so I decided to have a one hour Christmas party from 7-8 and then let them go an hour early. We will eat candy and listen to Christmas songs then I will then rush across the street to get wireless to call Maura on skype and talk to my whole family at the Annual Christmas Eve party at the Waldron’s. There are so many new babies, I cannot wait to meet them!!! It will be really great to talk to everyone. Although I am not homesick, I wish that I could magically appear at the house for the party then head back here. But, clearly that is impossible, so I will do the next best thing, which is to call and talk to everyone. Thanks goodness for technology!

I was able to go to my first wedding on Friday, December 18. Wedding season takes place during the dry season, usually. Cambodians are, generally, very superstitious and many of the traditions within the Buddhist religion here in Cambodia are dependent on the lunar calendar. A perfect example is weddings- the time of year you get married in depends on the year that you are born. I have heard my host brother Manlee talk about his star sign a lot- he is a rat and his son is a pig. The first time he mentioned it I was really confused as to why he kept calling Chun Lai a pig. So, therefore, someone who may have to get married during the rainy season or the hot season because of the year they were born in. So, the wedding that I went to was the daughter of one of the teachers at my school. Now, you are probably confused as to why I was even invited, but weddings are very open, so therefore the bride’s father invited literally every teacher at the school. The first time I talked to him was when he handed me the invitation. It’s also a really big deal to have foreigners at weddings, and that was very clear when I walked in with two other teachers and the former school director. Traditional Khmer wedding clothes for women are really extravagant and colorful, but I haven’t really had time to get any clothes made for the occasion. My host mother makes wedding clothes, but she has been so busy lately, I didn’t want to ask her to take time out of her busy day to make some clothes for me, but at the same time, it would probably be insulting if I went to another tailor. As for the invitations, in America, it is pretty much standard to send a save the date a few months in advance, but engagements here last only a few months on average, so there is not much notice. I got the invitation maybe on December 9th and the wedding was on the 18th. I knew that it was going to be weird, but there are few encounters these days that aren’t. The wedding started at 11 and we arrived around 11:15. I noticed right away that the room was divided into males on one half and females on the other half. I walked in with three middle aged men and didn’t know what else to do, so I sat with about 9 middle aged men. It became very obvious that not only was I one of about 5 females on the wrong side, but I was the only westerner. I also was one of the only women without wedding clothes. It’s important to note that wedding clothes for men are pretty standard. My coteacher wore the same thing he wears to school. Formal occasions for women here seem to be so stressful. They have these beautiful, elaborate dresses with updoes that must take hours and loads of make-up. Like most Asian countries, most people usually apply skin-whitening lotion daily. I often talk to my family about how my view of skin is just the opposite of theirs- I want to have their skin and they want to have mine. It’s funny how at first I didn’t understand how they can want so badly to change their complexion, then I realized that I am the same, it’s just that I pay of lot of money and spend a lot of time to make my skin dark. I was accidentally using a whitening face wash and my face looked really weird. So, the makeup that the women wear makes their skin look very light. I have a picture in my most recent facebook album of a girl about my age going to a dinner dance party. It is a prefect example of what dress up looks like here. Besides the clothing, there really weren’t that many differences in weddings. Granted I did not attend the actual ceremony but rather the reception. The reception is much the same in Cambodia as it is in America. They cut the cake, throw the bouquet, everyone eats a lot and drinks even more. There was a band and a DJ. Cambodians know how to have fun. While it was really awkward during the meal, the men did not waste much time drinking. Because of my Irish heritage, I can appreciate the rush to drink as much as possible, I have been there myself a few times. It is a very strange position to be put in because it was a Friday afternoon and I had a private lesson with a student at 2, so clearly I didn’t want to drink before that. In addition to that, half of the boys from my 11B class were working the reception, filling up ice and handing out drinks and beer. I drank Coke through the meal and it was obvious that the people I knew there (the teachers) did their fair share of drinking and man, they were so much fun. I haven’t really been able to get to know them personally because it has been at a school setting, but we were able to put our guards down and have some fun. Three of the teachers got on stage and sang karaoke and one even did a duet with the singer of the band. Cambodians love music and love to sing. So, once the meal was over and everyone was mingling, most of the teachers came over to talk. I was rather taken aback when I realized that many of the teachers who aren’t English teachers can actually speak English. As is the custom in Cambodia, you always do a little cheers before you drink and clink glasses with everyone you are with. All of the teacher who came over to say hi and chit chat were cheersing my Coke, then one teacher took an ABC beer and filled me glass. It’s tough to strike a balance between not really wanting to take part in the festivity of drinking without coming across as condescending or awkward. So, I though that one beer would be ok. So I drank my one beer and had a good time with the teachers. A few of them have students that I teach and it was really great to get to know them. We left around 1:30 and I was dropped off at home. I went to the basically deserted school and met with the student that I have been working with. A few teachers were at the school when I finished tutoring Elvis. I don’t think they taught- I think that they came to school just to continue hanging out. I talked with them for about ten minutes and they asked a lot of questions about me. Here is verbatim the conversation I had with a teacher:

Teacher: Are you married?
Kealan: No.
T:Why not?
K: I don’t know, I haven’t met anyone that I want to marry.
T: How old are you?
K: 22.
T: Well I have a son who is 25 years old and he came back from Malaysia to marry you. He is very tall and very handsome.
K: Oh really? Well, he probably doesn’t want to marry me, I don’t think.
T: Are you drunk?
K: No, I only had a half of a beer.
T: I think you had 5.
K: Nope, only one.
T: How long will you stay in Cambodia?
K: 2 years. But I must go home now.

This teacher is a Khmer Lit teacher and is a really nice teacher and was one of the first to talk to me and try to make me feel comfortable. The previous conversation was all in jest, not putting pressure on me in any way. He has a really contagious laugh and seems like the life of the party. I am really starting to pick up on the fact that many of the teachers, as well as the students, are starting to get used to me being here. In addition, they are realizing that I will stay here for a while. There was another Peace Corps volunteer who worked at my school maybe 2 years ago, but he was never at the school and kept to himself. He left after one year and it seems like he didn’t really have much to do with the school. They really don’t talk about him ever, so I take that as a sign that they must have been disappointed in his distance from the school. At first I was sort of upset that the teachers weren’t really trying to talk to me more, because Cambodians are so friendly and they want you to feel comfortable. I realized that it could have something to do with the previous volunteer and the way that he interacted with his colleagues. It makes me happy though that they are starting to go out of their way to talk. I have definitely noticed that there are a few teachers who always laugh and joke around with me. I think that it’s really important to have a relationship with the other teachers because one of the goals of PC is to teacher the other teachers student- centered learning strategies. There is no reason why I can’t be friends with the teachers too. I spend most of my time at the school, as do they, so the personal questions about me, my family and background make me happy.

I have two more weddings coming up. I have one on the 26th for a teacher’s daughter and then my host cousin, Makara, is getting married on the 27th. I told my host brother Huck that I feel so strange at those events because I don’t know anyone and I don’t know what to do. He told me that people get so happy when they are able to share a holiday with a foreigner. About two months ago, I went to a festival with my host mother at her brother-in-law’s house. I was pretty miserable, but the man who held the festival told my host mother that he was so happy that a “barang”, as we are called, came to his ceremony. It reflects really well on the family if a barang (which is the Khmer word for French, but Cambodians use this word to describe anything from the west) tries to take part in the service and is respectful. So, this is probably why people want me to come to their parties and events. It’s fine with me, they are super fun.

Life at home is going really well. My host brother and I get along really well and he is learning so much English. My room is really great and I have my daily and weekly schedule pretty much set. I am really independent and come and go without guilt or a barrage of questions (unlike at my training host family). But at the same time, I feel very integrated here. I spend a lot of time with my host niece and nephew, Chun Liap and Chun Lai. I always sit outside at the table and write in my journal every other day. Chun Lai, my 3 year old host nephew, usually sits with me and shares my iPod. Last week, he asked Huck for an old notebook that he now uses as his journal and we sit together and journal. Clearly he does not know how to write, but I think he sees me doing it and he wants to write, too. While we are writing, he usually pauses once in a while and asks (in Khmer, but I have translated…) “Sister Kealan, what are you doing?” I responded “I am writing in my book. What are you doing?” to which he responds “I am writing in my book, just like Kealan.” The first time he did it, it broke my heart. We usually chill together before dinner then for an hour after dinner. We have been playing this one game a lot recently. I like to call it the “wear a bag on your head while the other person tries to knock it off with a balled- up bag”. He loves that game. At 8:00 on the dot I retire to my room and usually go to bed shortly after. Am I embarrassed that my three year old host nephew stays up later than I do and wakes up earlier than I do? Maybe a little. We have a good time, though. The girl, Chun Liap, has downs syndrome and is very attached to her mother and father, but there have been a few times lately when we are playing and her parents try to take her away, she cries. She cannot really speak, but she does say “ba”, “be” and “by”. She always makes a point to say “ba bye” when I go into my room or go anywhere near my bike. Even when her mom takes her to bathe, she says ba bye. She is so cute and I really like to have kids around because it takes the stress away from not really being able to communicate. Chun Lai talks to me a lot and sometimes I understand, sometimes I don’t. But I listen to him talk and usually we just play. It’s a good stress reliever and it’s really great to come home and be greeted by smiling Cambodian faces.

I talked to my school director on Tuesday about starting an English Club for more advanced students. He was all for it and gave me total support. The plan of action is to have a test on January 9th for grades 12, 11 and 10. Of those grades, I will most likely take the top ten and start a club of about 30 kids. While I feel horrible that I will be turning some kids away, it is simply impossible to have a club with all of the students who are interested; there are about 1,000 kids in each grade. I am going to continue my office hours and work with any students who ask for help. My Wednesday sessions with Elvis Presley now include James Earl Jones and Horace Mann now. I think that more kids will ask for more help once they realize what I mean by having free time and wanting to work with them. The club will most likely meet 3 times a work during lunch and we will do more hands on activities such as student run discussion, writing assignments, peer revision, public speaking, etc. It is impossible to do some of these activities in class because either the students don’t understand what I am talking about or there is just not enough. For instance, in my 11D class, we read a little one page passage about education in Cambodia and I spent about 45 minutes explaining words from the passage that the students didn’t understand. It will be fun to be able to work with students who are able to do more accelerated activities. I have also been in contact with the University of Management and Economics (UME) about working there. I decided that I didn’t really want to teach and because Eddie and Darlene (two other volunteers who live in Battambang) are doing workshops, I agreed to work with their English Club. Working with them at the UME will be different than at the high school because the UME English Club is totally student run. I have to completely create this club from scratch at my school, but the club at the university has already been created the club. I will just offering some assistance in the way of correcting the students. The way that the club is set up at the university is the club consists of about 30 students, but because they can’t all meet at the same time (Khmer students are SOOOO busy), they broke the club into 9 groups of 3-4 students. I agreed to meet with each group once a month and hold one open hour a week for any of them to ask questions. That way I will be working with the club for 13 hours a month, which is reasonable, and I will be able to work with them all. This will all start after the new year. Between the two clubs and teaching, I will have my work cut out for me. This will keep me very busy for a few months, until I have that under control and then I will start something different, probably apart from teaching, maybe a sports team? Who knows. Weekends will most likely be my only free time, but I will probably find something really quickly to fill up that time.

The other day, I came across a blog and the person who wrote it was basically making fun of Khmer students trying to speak English. I want to make one thing clear: the only person that I intend to make fun on this blog is myself. I understand that I came into another country- they have their own culture, values and traditions, who am I to undermine them? I have a few skills that I am trying to carry over into this country to help further the development that is just starting here. There are some things that I are very different that I want to share with you, but I think it’s really important to keep in mind that I am not here to change their culture, rather I am here to embrace it and share mine. When I get back to America, I will want to share what I learned about Cambodian people, traditions and culture with you. The goal is to create friendships by realizing how similar we actually are instead of identifying differences and exploiting them. On the surface, we may seem different, but after five months, I can honestly say that people are people wherever you go. Likewise, on the subject of the students- it is so difficult to learn English when Khmer is your language. Khmer people are very laid back and have simplifying down to an art. While English is very complicated with tenses, subject-verb agreement and so on, Khmer language makes everything so simple. What I mean by simple is that in English we tend to throw in a bunch of extra words, but in Khmer, you get right to the point. For instance, in English, a common questions is “Do you have any water?” but in Khmer you ask, “Mein tuk at?” which very directly means, “Have water not” or as we would say, “Do you have water or not?” And the response is either “Mein” which is “have” or “at” which is “not”. The fact that the students have any sort of skill at speaking a language as complex as ours is a testament to their determination and hard work. I was really upset by this post because I know how much I struggle with learning Khmer. The mistakes that the students make are ones that in the end are really difficult to grasp. Instead of ridiculing the students for their mistakes, I think we should be praising them for their progress (which was a vocab word for grade 11 this week).

Have a great (and safe) New Year! I will be heading down to the beaches of Kampot with my friends to bring in 2010! Miss you all!

Teaching, teaching and more teaching

As you have noticed, I did a little updating on my blog because I realized that this is probably the main form of communication for a lot of people, so I think that you deserve a more personal blog.

So, things are in full swing with the school. I am teaching classes and private lessons. I went to the university to see when the English club was meeting, but they told me that they are having elections for officers, so I should check back in soon. I was really happy to hear that because I am not sure that I would be able to offer the time and effort right now that would be needed to start an English club. Peace Corps put us in touch with a place that donates books in PP, so I have been working to get some books in the library. I will probably start an English club at my school soon, too. My classes are going really well and I can tell that the students are starting to get used to me being there and especially the way that I talk. Cheating is still a huge issue (I will go into more detail later in this post) but I can see the progress the students are making in their English. My 11B and 11D classes are doing really well and are starting to get really into the classes. My 11B class was annoyed that we were playing a “boring” game, so we have been doing a lot more stuff with individuals in front of the class. When we played two weeks ago this one girl stood up and was really upset and was saying something in Khmer about the other team cheating. I made a class rule that I didn’t care if they protest and trash talk each other, but do it in English. We yesterday when the class played Slap the board, the whole class was SOO into it. Kids who have never participated before were all about it. I was so happy when the same girl stood up and was saying how the other team was cheating again, but this time in English. And the other students told her to sit down and be quiet in English. It may not seem like a big deal, but when you see your students so invested in the class, it makes class that much more enjoyable. 11D does not have nearly the level of English, or confidence that 11B has, but they have the determination. They are really enjoyable class and I can tell that they are improving. 10Q is really tough because it is a remedial class, but I can see huge improvements already in their ability and confidence. There are some kids who really don’t care about the class and don’t do anything in class, but that’s ok, I can’t let that overshadow the great progress some of the driven students are making. 11C is my problem class. They don’t really come to class that consistently and they are always talking and no one really pays attention. I have started the dread the class because the other classes are doing so well. On Tuesday, which is my really busy day, I was contemplating just not going to class. It’s really tempting because it is not a big deal at all, teachers do it all the time here. I decided against it, especially after my friend Keiko pointed out that class gets cancelled so often that it’s not fair to the students. So, I went to class and there were not a lot of students there at all. I was having a pretty good day, so I decided that I wanted to start fresh with this class. The first half of the class was actually pretty good, and then I learned during the break that every class is like that: all of the teachers don’t like teaching them because they are so noisy; one teacher flat out refuses to teach them. Is class cancelled all the time? Maybe, I don’t know. A lot of students didn’t come back for the second half of class, but the ones who stayed are the ones that are actually into the class. There is one student, Susan B. Anthony, who is really good at English, but she is always with a group of girls that just want to talk during class. Well her cronies weren’t there and she was all about the exercises. We played Win, Lose or Draw at the end of class. I acted out commonly used verbs such as listen to music, ride a moto, take a shower, etc. They really liked it and it was genuinely a really enjoyable class. There is a group of boys that never really participate and have no idea how to speak English. Every time I call on them, they say in Khmer that they don’t know or they can’t answer. One boy actually spoke up during class and tried to guess the verb, he was wrong, but it made me happy that he tried. He always takes notes and has been to every single class and while I get really annoyed with most of the class, I realized that there are about 10-20 students in that class out of 70 that work really hard and want to learn. As tough as it is, I can’t let those students overshadow the ones with good intentions. I also learned that while some students appear to be lazy or disinterested, they sometimes they are just really lost.

On Mondays, I only teach one class, 11C and it’s at 9. Sopheap (my Cambodian coteacher) and I are pretty much used to each other. Although we lesson plan together, I basically come up with it (he has zero experience with it) and I do the bulk of the lesson and grammar is his forte. The way that grading works in Cambodia is that for every subject, there is a monthly test. This is where the cheating comes in. These tests have a lot of weight on the grade, so they do anything they can to get a good grade, except study that is. I told Sopheap that I wanted to come up with the monthly test with him after I saw one test that had nothing to do with the class at all. So, on Monday, during the break, Sopheap hands out a take home monthly test to the students. Now, I had no part in this, so I was a little annoyed (I was already annoyed because it was 11C and they were being obnoxious). I read the test and it had nothing to with the anything we have been talking about, and the essay was about air pollution and most of the students had to ask what air pollution was, even the best ones. I tried to just let it go, but then I saw Sopheap circle all of the answers for a student, which clearly means that she will give it to the rest of the class. I tried to teach the second half of class, but everyone was working on their tests (some students were even doing other students’ tests). I was about the announce to the class that the next test I saw was going to be ripped up when I saw Sopheap tell a student the answer to a question. I had to maintain my composure for the rest of class, all the while contemplating how I was going to handle this one. My decision, essentially, is that I want no part of the grading. I assign homework and correct it, but there are no grades for homework, so I will continue to correct the homework that the students want to do. I realized that I am probably on my own with fighting cheating. Why did I come to Cambodia? Not to take on cheating, that's for sure. My main assignment is to teach Cambodian students English and Cambodian teachers strategies to teach student centered learning. I did not come here to remodel the entire school system or the ideals that are so ingrained within them. Anyway, who am I to declare that cheating is so immoral? It would be a blatant lie to say that I never cheated. My goal is to have my students be the best at English that they can. While I would really like the students to do their own tests, this is a battle that I will lose every time. Homework is something that will help them and the truly dedicated students do it. I have added incentive into doing homework, saying that no homework= no games and I usually put stickers or stamps on the homework- they LOVE anything shiny or colorful. I want to curb cheating by doing essays instead, but they have never been taught to write an essay. This is something we will have to work up to. I decided then and there that I wanted nothing to do with the grading system. I will continue to teach the way that I have been and maybe Sopheap and I can come up with another way to test the students instead, but Sopheap will handle the grades. I will correct the homework and work with the students as hard as I can, but when the students take a test, they cheat. On the homework assignments they don’t, for the most part, but they are starting to understand that the homework is there to reinforce. The tests are not really helping. I would rather write essays or have the students talk. It may sound like a defeatist attitude, but it’s so exhausting to fight something that is a part of the classroom. I decided that for the sake of my mental health and the fact that maybe it’s not my place, I decided that is a battle that I do not want to fight, because I will lose every time. I don’t think that my coteachers agree with me, so I won’t force the issue. I am still new here and I don't want to burn any bridges or get on anyone's bad side. Those of you who know me well will know that it is really tough for me to disagree with something, but not take a stand on it. I will just try to come up with different ways to test the students instead of the typical tests that they are used to.


As for the weather, it is supposed to be winter, but it’s so hot still. The temperature today is 88 degrees, but feels like 91, according to weather.com. We had like 2 weeks of weather that was not really warm (like 50s or 60s at the lowest, I never wore more than a long sleeved shirt) but now it is so hot again. Everyone says that it will be cold again in January and maybe February, but I’m not so sure. March and April are the two hottest months, so I will be going to Vietnam with my friend Jacqueline for about 2 weeks during Khmer New Year. Right now is the height of wedding season. I have one tomorrow (a teacher’s daughter at my school) and then two more coming up on the 26th and 28th for another teacher’s daughter and my host cousin Markara. I haven’t been to one yet, but they are supposed to be a lot of fun. They usually last about 2 days. There will be a lot of people there and it will be fun to get to know the other teachers a little better and to see my host family.

When I don’t teach, I try to get out into the community as much as possible. I spent a lot of time in my room when I first came to site, and I realized that I needed to get over the awkwardness and put myself out there. I have a few places where I consider myself friends with the families, so I try to maintain contact with them. There are so many people here, it’s tough to remind people that you are here to say. They are pretty spread out throughout the city, so it’s good that I have a friend close by when I am running errands. I try to mix it up and go to different places, but I have really developed a schedule and I am really happy with it. The time is literally flying though, it’s weird that it’s almost Christmas. It still feels like summer to me. We laugh about how weird it is when you are away, how time stands still. Well, it really stands still when the seasons don’t change. The seasons here are hot and dry, hot and rainy and not as hot and dry. The rain is the difference. Don’t think it will be a white Christmas for me…..

This blog does not represent the Peace Corps or the US government.  The thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are mine and mine alone. 

Happy Human Rights Day!

Hello everyone!!

The weeks are simply flying by now and I really love it. I have been so busy recently and I love it. My schedule is really filling up because I have obligations to the school (which is basically teaching 16 hours a week), tutoring during free periods and in the mean time, I try to make as many connections as possible.

The students are slowly starting to get used me and are starting to become less afraid of me. Many students are starting to approach me to practice English and one boy has asked me for extra help. We have been meeting in the library. It breaks my heart to hear this kids back story (he is from Kampong Cham, a province VERY far away) and he lives at the wat. Now, Khmer people don’t really read for pleasure, so it made me so happy when, during our first lesson, he asked me to pick out a book for him so we could read together. We read a story that was probably at a second grade level, but there aren’t many books and the levels literally vary from beginner to College physics. So, we have met twice already and will meet again tomorrow. I told the students that I am in the library during my free periods and they are more than welcome to come for extra help but it is a concept that is so foreign to them that they don’t really understand. Hopefully word gets around really soon and more students come to learn during their free periods. In the meantime, this student, his American name is Elvis Presley, has really made an effort to learn English because I think that he knows that is his way out of poverty. That is truly how it is over here, some things are just so depressing, but it makes me happy that he is taking his future into his own hands and is doing everything he can to be the best student he can be. The next battle is finding and applying for scholarships.

Darlene, Eddie (a K2) and I met with the University of Management and Economics during this week. They have been asking us for a while to get involved. The issue with having meetings is that usually people are really pushy to get you started on a project. My question is what’s the rush? I have only been in Battambang for about a month and a half, so I don’t see the point in just diving into any and every project that comes my way. So, we met and Darlene and Eddie both agreed to have workshops coming up, which I will help them with. I decided to become involved with the English club. I want to spread out our tasks and what the club is doing is really great. The students are really involved with the process and they do things such as public speaking practice once a month. So, I will spending my time with those students while helping Darlene and Eddie with their workshops.

Today was Human Rights Day and school was cancelled. Darlene and I spent the day around Battambang. We started at “the spot” which is the Khmer run breakfast that serves Western food and we have become friends with the family. Next, we set out to find coffee. After asking around and getting lost, we were able to find Vietnamese coffee!! That’s so huge because I have been drinking instant coffee, yuck. We went around BB and took pictures to send home. Next, we went to an orphanage about 5k from town. One of my students lives there and she met us near the New Market and took us there. It’s always really tough to tell who is doing something legit and who is doing something shady. The children were so polite and Sothea, my student, showed us around. There is a Canadian man who is working on a new project at the orphanage. Basically, they are building a hotel in the back and the children will run the hotel. They will be paid and are currently being paid to build it. They all seem so happy there and it is a really great way for them to make money. Many either don’t have parents or have parents that cannot afford to raise their children. The children who live there have a much better chance at success because the orphanage has a big role in getting these kids to college. It really was a great place to be and I cannot wait to start doing stuff there. Simply playing with the kids and maybe teaching them English. It is outside of BB, but it is so beautiful. Cambodia kids really find a way into your heart. It makes me happy that I found something that I will be doing in my spare time.

I have to go with Darlene to see our friends dress, she is going to a party tonight and her brother has been working on the dress for weeks. They are a Khmer family that opened up a shop in town that sells western goods. Darlene and I go there to chill with the family and practice speaking. They are a lot of fun. Hope all is well and I miss you all!!!

Kealan

This blog does not represent the thoughts or opinions of the US government or the Peace Corps. This blog represents my thoughts and opinions alone.

PP and Thanksgiving

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone. As it is my favorite holiday, I was a little bummed that I missed it, but I was able to celebrate, so it was a good day.

First, I didn’t really have class last week for a few reasons. I went to Phnom Penh last week to pick up my friend from the airport. Sadly, her dad died and she had to go home. I was able to go with two other friends (we got special permission from Peace Corps because we aren’t allowed to leave our provinces for another month) but they thought that it was a good idea. All four of us live in different provinces, so it was really great that we could all be there for our friend. She had no idea that we were coming and we made signs and I bought silly string. When she came out of the airport, we weren’t really paying attention because she was the first person to come out, so we held up our sings and yelled her name and she was so surprised. We looked like typical obnoxious Americans, but we were so happy to see her that it didn’t matter. We spent the night in the guest house, doing what we always do when we are in Phnom Penh, eating all the western food we can get our hands on. We bought a fudge cake in the shape of a pig (pretty perfect) and nearly finished it, as well as eating two huge bags of Cheetos and Ruffles. I woke up at 6 am and got sick because my stomach just is not used to eating that much anymore, especially eating that much western food. We really went over the top and I was happy to get back to my diet of rice and vegetables.

When I got back to Battambang, I napped at my house, showered and headed out to the guest house Peace Corps arranged for us. The reason was for language training, but it was also a great chance for all of us to be together on Thanksgiving. We didn’t do anything special on Thursday, but we had a feast at a restaurant in town. We were able to get a turkey (not easy in Cambodia) and pies. We watched football (reruns that Darlene had of UTexas games), ate a lot and hung out. A bunch of K2s came and we had a really respectable crowd. We also invited the Khmer staff to come- all four had never eaten turkey before and loved the food (mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole were also served). They were really happy to be there and it was really nice to share it with them. They were really confused by football and we tried our best to explain it, but all sports sound really weird when you try to explain them. We also learned the word for turkey, which is “moan barang”. Barang literally means French, but Khmer people use barang to describe any western and moan is chicken. So the word “moan barang” means western chicken, pretty funny. Thanksgiving was overall a really great day. It really made me miss home, but since it is a day to reflect on all you are thankful for, I realized that I am most thankful for this opportunity. I mean, not many people can say that Thanksgiving was spent studying Khmer with a great group of people in an amazing country, working with some of the most motivated students in the world. I miss American definitely, but being here and loving what I am doing trumps that. Plus, America, my family and friends will always be there, but this chance won’t.



Language classes were really a lot of fun. The group was all of the volunteers (K3) from Battambang, Pursat, Beantay Meanchay and Kampong Chnang. We sat around together, asked the LCFs for translations of things we heard all the time but didn’t know what it meant, but it was really great to be able to learn from each other. One volunteer, Lisa, has really excelled at site with Khmer. She was so helpful explaining when to use many things, not just how to say them. We also learned a few things to use in class, which will be fun. It was really useful overall. Language during training was more along the lines of learning what they thought was useful, but now we have a much larger interest and impact on the lessons because we have personal experience with the language.

For the next month, I will continue teaching, trying to make connections and maybe starting some other projects. Christmas Eve marks the end of what we call “lock down”. Lock down is essentially the restriction all Peace Corps volunteers face of not being able to travel freely outside of their province. So, on Christmas Eve, exactly 3 months after swear in, I will be traveling to PP to celebrate Christmas with my friends. The truth is that it really won’t feel like Christmas. It is still really hot here (I have my fan on right now) and it doesn’t feel like the holiday season. I think that these two years are really going to feel more like a really long summer break, which is ok. Teaching is really great, although my 11C class is not really behaving. The other three classes are amazing. I am trying to stray a little from the book and do more student centered activities. With my 10Q class, we are going to do a little project on planning a trip to another country instead of doing the lesson that’s in the book entitled “A trip to England.” It’s pretty awful and is so restricting. I would rather have the students do something more productive than listen to a stupid dialogue about Mr Kim Neak’s trip to England. They aren’t used to thinking outside of the book, but they are really liking it. The students show up fairly regularly and I can see that they are getting braver. Their comprehension has already improved and they are having fun. They LOVED when I taught them “what’s up?” I compared it to what they say in Cambodia and they were laughing at my Khmer, which is ok, because I want them to see that I don’t get embarrassed when I sound stupid speaking Khmer. I try to do one activity per class that requires them to think outside the box, but sometimes it’s like pulling teeth. They still cheat a lot and some students come to class and just sit there and don’t do anything, but I think that will change. I have already noticed some students who NEVER said anything before are loving participating. There is one boy in 11C who was always really shy and just sat there, now he is always the spokesperson for his group and is always trying to speak in class. I don’t know what the reason is and his English needs to improve a lot, but I am really happy to see this kid work so hard and actually enjoy the class now. I can’t wait until I get visitors and they see class, it’s just so different. Every aspect of class is just so different. The kids are so much fun though. One girl drew this little picture at the bottom of her homework that had some flowers and mice and it said “Teacher (heart) me”. In America this would be very strange, but Cambodians are so affectionate that it isn’t. I am going to use that as my bookmark.

I had a break through with Chun Lai, my host nephew. I knew that this was going to happen sooner or later, but I am very happy that it is happening, finally. His sister, Chun Liap (confusing, I know) has downs syndrome and is afraid of men, but is always laughing at my when I am really silly. She is really afraid of Huck, my host brother. I know that Chun Lai sees that Chun Liap likes me when I do silly stuff to her, but it wasn’t enough. When I was gone, Chun Lai asked Huck where I was and then last night the break through finally happened. I was outside writing in my journal when Chun Lai was playing with his mom and sister by throwing his toys in a box. I clapped when he made one and he loved the attention. So his mom went inside and every time we have been alone together, he literally runs for the hills, but not this time. He kept throwing his toys and I kept clapping and we would laugh, then he handed me a toy to play. We played for probably 5 minutes until we were called inside to “nyum bye”, eat rice. I went inside and Chun Lai started crying. I haven’t really seen him that much today, but maybe tonight we will play again. It makes me so happy that when I stopped trying to be his friend I actually became his friend. I have been buying him cakes and stuff, but it never worked. I tried to color with him, he wasn’t interested. Even when I gave him peanut butter, he thought that he was going to choke and was scared he was going to die. But I think the break through finally happened. It is a pretty huge weight lifted off of my shoulders knowing that he isn’t petrified of me anymore. It seems really minor, probably, but being viewed as this tall, scary, weird girl who can’t really speak living in your house isn’t fun for anyone involved, specially for me and Chun Lai, but I think we conquered that issue.

I hope that everyone is doing well and I miss you all!! Have a great holiday season and think of me sweating my butt off in front of 70 Khmer students when you complain about the cold! If it is below 70 here, people wear winter coats and I think I am starting to get that way too…..

This blog represents my opinions and thoughts only. This blog does not represent the opinions or thoughts of the Peace Corps or the US government.