P'tea T'mai! (New Home!)

Last Saturday, we found out where our permanent sites will be! I will be living in Pearaing, a district town in Prey Veng province in the south of Cambodia. My province is small- only three volunteers were placed there beyond the volunteer who is already living there- and putatively the poorest and most densely populated in all of Cambodia, but don't let that fool you. It is beautiful: filled with palm trees and a lake, extremely green from all the rain it gets, with the added bonus of being a repellent for tourists!

The view just accross the street from my house

On Sunday, I left Takeo with the other two volunteers who are in my province to meet up with the current volunteer who lives there to hang out for an evening before going to our respective villages in the morning. We met up for dinner and all was going smoothly until the end of our meal, when a rat darted out from the kitchen, was chased around the restaurant by a dog, bounced off a leg of our table and was clutched by the dog, who thrashed the rat around in his mouth as we stared on, horrified... Luckily, Taylor, the other volunteer, did not seem too pleased with this chain of events, either. I think we all would have been a little more freaked out had she reacted as if it were a perfectly normal occurence to see a rat mauled in the middle of a restaurant...

View of the lake in Prey Veng. Yes, the lake is beautiful, but more importantly, it is a congregation spot for mosquitos, so my room is mosquito free!

In the morning, I met my new host father and traveled back to Pearaing with him from the provincial town. Before we went to my house, though, we stopped at the school so that I could meet the school director, at which point I was ushered in to a monthly staff meeting of all forty or so teachers who work there! I met the three English teachers, and the "English Monitor" who also teaches grade twelve. My school director speaks fluent french, and my dad speaks a little too, so that will be a huge help as an intermediary when my limited Khmai is not enough.

Then was lunch. I went to my vice school director's house, and was greeted by many who I'd just met at the school during the staff meeting. We ate shark fin soup, shrimp curry, and a dish with octopus in it. I explained that I'd never eaten shark before, which everyone thought was pretty funny. Shark fin soup is a delicacy here, but also a source of controversy because of its rarity. Not wanting to be rude, I did eat it, and must admit, it was delicious. The shark meat is cut into strips, and you cook it by grabbing it with your chopsticks and dipping it into a boiling soup over a single burner for a few seconds.

The guy in the tan on the far right is one of my co-teachers, and the man to the left of the kid in the yellow is my new "boc" (dad).

I really like my new host mom and dad. It's only the two of them, since all three of their sons are grown, so the house is much quieter than where I currently am, but I think I can grow to like this. My host dad has kind of a terse air about him; if you aren't talking directly to him, he's sort of staring off into the distance with an aloof look on his face. At first, this sort of intimidated me, but I've realized it's just his "neutral" face, and just as quickly transforms into a warm smile. My host mom thinks I'm hilarious. She pretty much just laughs maniacally at everything I say or do, which works for me since making a spectacle of myself is mainly how I've been able to endear myself to most here in Cambodia: "She's drinking a coffee!"; "She likes rice!"; "She's going to bed!" Apparently I am a great source of entertainment.

Right now is Pchum Ben in Cambodia, a Buddhist celebration which lasts about fifteen days and honors ancestors. The second day I was at my host family's house, my mom and I went to the wat to donate food and money to the monks, and socialize, by which I mean, I was stared at unabashedly by most in the room. Staring in Cambodia is not considered rude, unlike in the states. Many have never seen a foreigner before, so to them, I am kind of shocking. Thus, it's okay to stare for a couple of seconds... Or an hour.

This little boy didn't find me too intimidating to jump right into my picture, though.

Here is my new room; notice the fan, and the real mattress!

And now for something completely different!

Check out this picture we laminated and put around our market to educate on the purpose of the trash bins we've installed. Designed by one of the volunteers, the blurb at the top says "Love the Environment," and the one at the bottom, "Love yourself." :)