I realized that I have not really updated you all on my work here. Granted, there isn't a ton to update you on, but there are a few small things.
Mostly work is pretty slow here. I'm always terribly excited when I am given something to do or there is a meeting that I can tag along to. I think the reason why it's been so slow is because our office is going through somewhat of a transition period. Our new director has arrived, but the old director is still here for a little while more. Perry is quite new as well and I was kinda foisted on him, but hes a very good sport about that. David, who was my primary contact before I came out here, has his office at the Embassy so I don't see much of him on a day to day basis. Plus, he is really busy and is more on the administrative side than the technical side, which is part of the reason that Perry got stuck with me. We have a very limited number of technical staff in the office and they all seem to have their own pet projects and it is proving to be a bit difficult to get a slice of any of them.
That being said, it has been discussed that I will be taking a good bit of responsibility for the CQI project (Continuous Quality Improvement). I'm not certain on all the details, but this will involve working very closely with the data management team of NCHADS (National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology, and STDs) and going with them on their site visits. Basically, they go out to sites and analyze data to see how the country is doing on key indicators that have to do with Care and Treatment of HIV. The CDC has yet to get their hands on this data, so this is a way to get it. Also, NCHADS said that they lack a lot of the technical support necessary to do this and so they have discussed giving me my own team to supervise as I supposedly have the technical expertise. Not so sure about that, but it sounds good, right? There are only two problems with this: 1) NCHADS uses STATA (a statistical software package) which I don't know how to use and CDC doesn't have it (and is having some issues getting it) and 2) The project does not currently have any activity so I haven't really been working on it. I'm waiting for NCHADS to determine when they are going out to Pursat but it could be awhile.
While I'm waiting, I try to make it a point to ask people for work, but usually that means that I get to review a paper/presentation/training/cooperative agreement for proper English grammar. Now, while this does keep me busy for approximately 15-20 minutes, it wasn't really what I meant. However, last week, I asked Prateek (our USAID strategic information guy) if he had any work and he finally gave me something useful that I can sink my teeth into. He is working on compiling the Annual Progress Report (APR) which is a document that we send to PEPFAR headquarters detailing our previous year's achievements on our country's indicators. He asked me to compile the CDC portion and he has been on leave since last week. I have spent the last couple of days going through spreadsheets of data trying to figure out which numbers should be included for which indicators. It is challenging because the spreadsheets are not usually formatted in any particular way and some of them are mostly in Khmer. But I'm having fun doing it because its finally something that has just been given to me and its a bit of a number challenge. I like those.
So in completely unrelated, but interesting, news- I'm trying to decide which moto I want to buy. I'm pretty sure I want a Honda and the Wave series is looking pretty good. Will update more when I actually buy a bike. Perry just bought a Dream and he is going to show me how to ride them. I know the basic concept...I just need to practice. :)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
So many things, so little time...
Well, I have been informed that my Aunt prints out my blog to share with my 97-year old Grandmother, which means I probably should censor myself somewhat, but I'm not going to. Sorry, Grandma. :)
Anyway, I'm sorry that I have been a bit remiss in writing on my blog, but I have a lot going on here and sometimes its hard to figure out how to write about all of, but here I go.
A little over a week ago I went on a scavenger hunt with Perry and his children. Their school, the International School of Phnom Penh (or ISPP as us locals call it), puts on the "Fun Rally" every year apparently. We went with his two younger girls (Ellie -5 and Jessie - 8) while his wife went with his oldest daughter (Sarah -12). It was a lot of fun because we got to see a lot of things in Phnom Penh that you probably wont find in the tourist book. Like, did anybody know that there was a really old kite museum in Phnom Penh that is filled with ancient Khmer kites? Yeah, I didn't either. But my favorite part of the day (and this will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me) was when we went to the orphanage. The Missionaries of Charity (a Catholic order of nuns established by Mother Theresa) has an orphanage in Phnom Penh and apparently a hospice of sorts a bit outside of Phnom Penh. We donated a bag a rice at the orphanage and got to play with the kids for a couple of minutes. I will say more about this a little later.
Not only do I play with orphans, I also hang with prostitutes (yes, Grandma, you read that correctly). Last Wednesday Perry and I went out with one of our government funded partners, PSI (Population Services International), on their risk behavior and condom education outreach program. They go to places in Phnom Penh in which local men can pick up indirect sex workers like beer gardens, barbeque's, and karaoke places. I know, they don't sound like your typical sex shops, do they? My personal favorite is the karaoke places in which you walk in and there are separate rooms (kinda like a brothel) that have TVs and couches set up and you pick which karaoke girls you would like to be in the room with you from a lineup of Khmer girls. Perry took me into one in Battambang and they must have thought he was really kinky for bringing me with him. Anyway, we went out with PSI and they showed us what they do. They had a famous Cambodian rapper at one of the barbeque's rapping about how condoms are like raincoats and body armor (I can't make this stuff up if I wanted to!). It was hilarious and I ended up hanging with the rapper and his posse for a bit because we share a common interest: Reggaeton! I was so excited! Once PSI was done taking us around, Perry and I were a little disappointed because we didn't really see many sex transactions. The places that we went too could almost be family friendly. So one of our other esteemed coworkers, Prateek (he works for USAID but we work together on everything), decided to take us to a "sexpat" bar. It is exactly what the name sounds like: a bar with scantily clad hott cambodian women draped all over old, ugly white men. I was the only white woman in there and I was chatting up the girls. Again, I think they thought it was weird that I was in there with 2 Americans (although Prateek is of Indian descent), but Prateek told them that I was with him. That must have made it look weirder, on hindsight. Anyway, the girls were really nice, and I felt bad for them more than anything. They really were just trying to make a decent living. So we talked to them about condom use, because really that has become my life.
Thursday night I went to a party at the Assistant Defense Attache's house. Yep, I hung out with the Army guys. That was actually awesome because Jay, the Assistant Defense Attache, it Latin and he had some pretty good music. His wife was speaking to me in Spanish, which I loved, and she said she would help tutor me. Excellent. Not only that, but the Defense Attache is a COLONEL! I was inordinately impressed by meeting a colonel in real life, much to his and his wife's amusement. His wife is super funny though so we got on great. My favorite part of the night, though, was when one of the army guys came up to me and asked me if I had been in the military. Here is what the conversation went like:
Army Guy: Have you ever been in the military?
Me: No, why?
Army Guy: Because of the way you carry yourself. You seem to have a lot of confidence and you are really fit.
Me: Don't you mean fAt?
*Awkward silence while Army Guy tries to decide how to get out of that one*
It was really funny and I was quite flattered actually. Good night, all in all.
So Sunday, I went back to the Missionaries of Charity orphanage. I told the Sisters that I would and asked if they needed anything. I brought them some formula and diapers, which they were terribly pleased about. Least I can do since I live like a queen over here. I don't really know how to describe the orphanage. It was fun and sad and hopeful all in one. The kids there range from little toddler (its hard to really tell their age because of size and malnourishment) to maybe about 6-7. The older kids seemed to all have special needs. There is this one little girl who is just a ball of sunshine and you barely even notice that she doesn't have arms past the elbow or legs past the knee. No hands or feet. The kids love having someone come to hold them and would start to scream if I had to get up to grab a Kleenex. Clearly, they have some abandonment issues. I held this one little boy for almost the entire time that I was there. He was quite malnourished and listless and I have a theory that holding him will help. I fed him too and the nun's were quite impressed with how much I was able to get him to eat. He pretty much just laid his head on my chest the whole time (he was facing me) and didn't hardly move. It was sad. Clearly, I'm going back.
So looking back on this past week, it appears that I have quite the motley crew of friends. I hope I didn't shock you overly much, Grandma! :)
Anyway, I'm sorry that I have been a bit remiss in writing on my blog, but I have a lot going on here and sometimes its hard to figure out how to write about all of, but here I go.
A little over a week ago I went on a scavenger hunt with Perry and his children. Their school, the International School of Phnom Penh (or ISPP as us locals call it), puts on the "Fun Rally" every year apparently. We went with his two younger girls (Ellie -5 and Jessie - 8) while his wife went with his oldest daughter (Sarah -12). It was a lot of fun because we got to see a lot of things in Phnom Penh that you probably wont find in the tourist book. Like, did anybody know that there was a really old kite museum in Phnom Penh that is filled with ancient Khmer kites? Yeah, I didn't either. But my favorite part of the day (and this will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me) was when we went to the orphanage. The Missionaries of Charity (a Catholic order of nuns established by Mother Theresa) has an orphanage in Phnom Penh and apparently a hospice of sorts a bit outside of Phnom Penh. We donated a bag a rice at the orphanage and got to play with the kids for a couple of minutes. I will say more about this a little later.
Not only do I play with orphans, I also hang with prostitutes (yes, Grandma, you read that correctly). Last Wednesday Perry and I went out with one of our government funded partners, PSI (Population Services International), on their risk behavior and condom education outreach program. They go to places in Phnom Penh in which local men can pick up indirect sex workers like beer gardens, barbeque's, and karaoke places. I know, they don't sound like your typical sex shops, do they? My personal favorite is the karaoke places in which you walk in and there are separate rooms (kinda like a brothel) that have TVs and couches set up and you pick which karaoke girls you would like to be in the room with you from a lineup of Khmer girls. Perry took me into one in Battambang and they must have thought he was really kinky for bringing me with him. Anyway, we went out with PSI and they showed us what they do. They had a famous Cambodian rapper at one of the barbeque's rapping about how condoms are like raincoats and body armor (I can't make this stuff up if I wanted to!). It was hilarious and I ended up hanging with the rapper and his posse for a bit because we share a common interest: Reggaeton! I was so excited! Once PSI was done taking us around, Perry and I were a little disappointed because we didn't really see many sex transactions. The places that we went too could almost be family friendly. So one of our other esteemed coworkers, Prateek (he works for USAID but we work together on everything), decided to take us to a "sexpat" bar. It is exactly what the name sounds like: a bar with scantily clad hott cambodian women draped all over old, ugly white men. I was the only white woman in there and I was chatting up the girls. Again, I think they thought it was weird that I was in there with 2 Americans (although Prateek is of Indian descent), but Prateek told them that I was with him. That must have made it look weirder, on hindsight. Anyway, the girls were really nice, and I felt bad for them more than anything. They really were just trying to make a decent living. So we talked to them about condom use, because really that has become my life.
Thursday night I went to a party at the Assistant Defense Attache's house. Yep, I hung out with the Army guys. That was actually awesome because Jay, the Assistant Defense Attache, it Latin and he had some pretty good music. His wife was speaking to me in Spanish, which I loved, and she said she would help tutor me. Excellent. Not only that, but the Defense Attache is a COLONEL! I was inordinately impressed by meeting a colonel in real life, much to his and his wife's amusement. His wife is super funny though so we got on great. My favorite part of the night, though, was when one of the army guys came up to me and asked me if I had been in the military. Here is what the conversation went like:
Army Guy: Have you ever been in the military?
Me: No, why?
Army Guy: Because of the way you carry yourself. You seem to have a lot of confidence and you are really fit.
Me: Don't you mean fAt?
*Awkward silence while Army Guy tries to decide how to get out of that one*
It was really funny and I was quite flattered actually. Good night, all in all.
So Sunday, I went back to the Missionaries of Charity orphanage. I told the Sisters that I would and asked if they needed anything. I brought them some formula and diapers, which they were terribly pleased about. Least I can do since I live like a queen over here. I don't really know how to describe the orphanage. It was fun and sad and hopeful all in one. The kids there range from little toddler (its hard to really tell their age because of size and malnourishment) to maybe about 6-7. The older kids seemed to all have special needs. There is this one little girl who is just a ball of sunshine and you barely even notice that she doesn't have arms past the elbow or legs past the knee. No hands or feet. The kids love having someone come to hold them and would start to scream if I had to get up to grab a Kleenex. Clearly, they have some abandonment issues. I held this one little boy for almost the entire time that I was there. He was quite malnourished and listless and I have a theory that holding him will help. I fed him too and the nun's were quite impressed with how much I was able to get him to eat. He pretty much just laid his head on my chest the whole time (he was facing me) and didn't hardly move. It was sad. Clearly, I'm going back.
So looking back on this past week, it appears that I have quite the motley crew of friends. I hope I didn't shock you overly much, Grandma! :)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Karaoke bus, "Bonsai", and Reggaeton!
I'll just start off by updating my previous post- Ive made friends now. Lots and lots of friends. You just need to go out with one person and your list of friends will grow exponentially. Its been pretty nice cause Ive got to visit a couple bars, some restaurants, and the Russian Market because I now have friends. My friend from Hope has been really great about showing me around and I met some really cool people through a guy that I work with. Also, I went on an Embassy sponsored trip and I met some single Cambodian girls that work for the Embassy who are going to be my new best friends.
So let me tell you a little bit about that trip. This past weekend was a 3 day weekend as we had Columbus day. The GSO in the Embassy sponsored a trip to Sihanoukville, Cambodia which is a major beach/resort town here. Its right on the Gulf of Thailand so its gorgeous there...reminded me of the Bahamas. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I left the memory card to my camera in my laptop so I don't have any pictures, but everyone else on the trip has tons so I will steal those and post them soon. We drove down on Sunday in a bus and let me tell you a bit about that. First, the bus has a flat screen tv so I assume we are going to watch a movie on the way down, right? Wrong. It's like 8 am in the morning and here are the Cambodians busting out the beer and the *Karaoke* DVDs. It was awesome! We are driving through scenic Cambodia and they are belting out songs in Khmer at the top of their lungs. They even had some english songs and of course, I joined in. That's right...they call me Celine Dion! I think I sang "My Heart Will Go On" like 10 times. Everytime it came on, they kept handing the mic to me. When in Rome, right?
So we finally get there (we had to stop every 30 minutes because people kept yelling "Bonsai" which is a slang term for bathroom, including the GSO who had to pee like every 10 minutes...way to go Paul) and we spent the night at the Sokha Resort there. Its a 5-star resort. Google it if you dont believe me. Its gorgeous and they have a full service spa so I took advantage of that. I was treated like a dessert (buffed with sugar, brushed with yogurt, wrapped up like a fruit tart, and then kneaded like dough). It was 2.5 hours of bliss.
That night we had a grill-out at the beach and it was probably the most fun Ive had in a long time (besides the Karaoke bus, of course). It is definitely my favorite time in Cambodia so far. The AGSO brought a boom box (literally from the 90's) and hooked up his I-POD too it. As I was the only other one with an IPOD, we took turns DJing. He basically had rap music and I had the Spanish Reggaeton, salsa and merengue. My favorite part of the night was the first time I turned on the Reggaeton and the Cambodians went WILD for it. It was a crazy dance party and they loved the Reggaeton. So here I am, on a beautiful beach in Cambodia, playing Reggaeton and teaching the Cambodians how to dance dirty, like the Latinos. :) They took to it like fish in water. There are actual videos. I also taught them the Cupid Shuffle for the heck of it. And they returned the favor by teaching me how to dance traditionally Khmer. So now the local staff at the Embassy all think I'm a good dancer and singer. Just some of my many talents... :)
The next day we went for a boat ride, supposedly to this island with a beautiful beach. We stopped at this little hut for lunch where they had a bunch of chickens with little chicks, 2 grown dogs and 3 puppies, a pig, and a cat. These poor animals were terribly malnourished, especially the dogs, one of which was nursing the 6-day old puppies. So instead of eating my lunch, I gave it to the dogs. I tried to give some of my beef to the cat, but he was really picky. He wanted the prawns. So I would eat a piece of meat and then give one piece to each of the dogs. They were my best friends. I think I ended up giving them a whole human serving a piece. They ate well that day because then we gave them the left-over rice too. We ended up not being able to go to the island though, because the water was too choppy and we were in the crazy boats like they had in Peru. So we turned around and headed back. Then we got back on the Karaoke bus and drove back to Phnom Penh.
All in all, it was an awesome trip and it only cost me about $70 (excluding the spa). I met a lot of great people, including the GSO and AGSO who were 2 really cool guys. Both former military, of course and lots of fun. Also, most of the people who were on the trip were Cambodians (out of 30 of us, only about 4 were American) so I got to interact with the Cambodians a lot. They are a lot of fun. Ive been here less than a two weeks and already Ive made it outside of Phnom Penh. Im also going to the provinces of Battambang and Banteay Meanchey tomorrow and thursday with Perry for some work related business. Less than a month and I will have travelled almost the entire country. This is the life! :)
I love Cambodia!
So let me tell you a little bit about that trip. This past weekend was a 3 day weekend as we had Columbus day. The GSO in the Embassy sponsored a trip to Sihanoukville, Cambodia which is a major beach/resort town here. Its right on the Gulf of Thailand so its gorgeous there...reminded me of the Bahamas. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I left the memory card to my camera in my laptop so I don't have any pictures, but everyone else on the trip has tons so I will steal those and post them soon. We drove down on Sunday in a bus and let me tell you a bit about that. First, the bus has a flat screen tv so I assume we are going to watch a movie on the way down, right? Wrong. It's like 8 am in the morning and here are the Cambodians busting out the beer and the *Karaoke* DVDs. It was awesome! We are driving through scenic Cambodia and they are belting out songs in Khmer at the top of their lungs. They even had some english songs and of course, I joined in. That's right...they call me Celine Dion! I think I sang "My Heart Will Go On" like 10 times. Everytime it came on, they kept handing the mic to me. When in Rome, right?
So we finally get there (we had to stop every 30 minutes because people kept yelling "Bonsai" which is a slang term for bathroom, including the GSO who had to pee like every 10 minutes...way to go Paul) and we spent the night at the Sokha Resort there. Its a 5-star resort. Google it if you dont believe me. Its gorgeous and they have a full service spa so I took advantage of that. I was treated like a dessert (buffed with sugar, brushed with yogurt, wrapped up like a fruit tart, and then kneaded like dough). It was 2.5 hours of bliss.
That night we had a grill-out at the beach and it was probably the most fun Ive had in a long time (besides the Karaoke bus, of course). It is definitely my favorite time in Cambodia so far. The AGSO brought a boom box (literally from the 90's) and hooked up his I-POD too it. As I was the only other one with an IPOD, we took turns DJing. He basically had rap music and I had the Spanish Reggaeton, salsa and merengue. My favorite part of the night was the first time I turned on the Reggaeton and the Cambodians went WILD for it. It was a crazy dance party and they loved the Reggaeton. So here I am, on a beautiful beach in Cambodia, playing Reggaeton and teaching the Cambodians how to dance dirty, like the Latinos. :) They took to it like fish in water. There are actual videos. I also taught them the Cupid Shuffle for the heck of it. And they returned the favor by teaching me how to dance traditionally Khmer. So now the local staff at the Embassy all think I'm a good dancer and singer. Just some of my many talents... :)
The next day we went for a boat ride, supposedly to this island with a beautiful beach. We stopped at this little hut for lunch where they had a bunch of chickens with little chicks, 2 grown dogs and 3 puppies, a pig, and a cat. These poor animals were terribly malnourished, especially the dogs, one of which was nursing the 6-day old puppies. So instead of eating my lunch, I gave it to the dogs. I tried to give some of my beef to the cat, but he was really picky. He wanted the prawns. So I would eat a piece of meat and then give one piece to each of the dogs. They were my best friends. I think I ended up giving them a whole human serving a piece. They ate well that day because then we gave them the left-over rice too. We ended up not being able to go to the island though, because the water was too choppy and we were in the crazy boats like they had in Peru. So we turned around and headed back. Then we got back on the Karaoke bus and drove back to Phnom Penh.
All in all, it was an awesome trip and it only cost me about $70 (excluding the spa). I met a lot of great people, including the GSO and AGSO who were 2 really cool guys. Both former military, of course and lots of fun. Also, most of the people who were on the trip were Cambodians (out of 30 of us, only about 4 were American) so I got to interact with the Cambodians a lot. They are a lot of fun. Ive been here less than a two weeks and already Ive made it outside of Phnom Penh. Im also going to the provinces of Battambang and Banteay Meanchey tomorrow and thursday with Perry for some work related business. Less than a month and I will have travelled almost the entire country. This is the life! :)
I love Cambodia!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
"Cambodians are like Spider-Man..."
Well, I have been in Cambodia for a week now. I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. The people are really nice so far so thats been really good. I have yet to make a lot of friends whom I can hang out with after work. I'm actually not quite sure how to go about doing that. Most of the Cambodians my age or older are married and have kids and I havent found a big ex-pat scene yet either. Most of this stems from the fact that I still dont know where anything is in the city as of yet, but I'm managing.
Work has been slow up till now. They have a reluctance to assign me to anything yet as the current director is leaving quite soon and the new director has yet to arrive. They are waiting for Dora, the new director, to arrive so that she can figure out what to do with me. I've been trying to go around and find work for myself, but its rather difficult as the office staff is quite small and most of them are out a lot. The only other American here in our office is quite new himself (he's only been here a month) so its a big transition period right now. Perry, the new medical officer, has asked me to figure out the prevalence and number of HIV cases in all the different provinces, something you would think they already have. Turns out, its all based on assumptions and estimates. It was quite fun trying to track down all the appropriate numbers, but I managed. Needless to say, Ive spent a lot of time reading documents to try to familiarize myself with the programs here.
I met with the ARSO (Assistant Regional Security Officer) yesterday, which was my first foray into the US Embassy. I have one word for the Embassy- Fancy. I got an Embassy badge, which is quite useful as I can now go into the Embassy at any time for any reason. They have an ATM and a small library which were my personal highlights of the tour. Anyway, back to the ARSO. He wasn't near as scary as the RSO guys in Lima, so I did appreciate him much more. However, he did strongly suggest that they put bars on my apartment windows, even though I'm on the second floor, because the "Cambodian's are like Spider-Man, they don't need any suction cups to climb walls here." They are also installing a new door in my guest bedroom as the one that's there now would be demolished with a good kick of my flip-flops. I'm also getting a lot of new deadbolts. I feel like I might be living in a prison because of these things, albeit a very pretty one. Please refer here for pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059801&id=11401382&l=5a25db480b Turns out my shower leaks horribly as well. They were supposed to fix that today, so I'll have to see about that. All in all, the apartment management is extremely accomodating because I am the first American from the Embassy that they have been able to lure in so they want to keep me and have me spread the good word. They are even trying to find me a rocking chair...yep, thats right, a rocking chair. :)
I have had a couple of Cambodian meals now and I have to say, I'm not terribly impressed. Perhaps I have not been going to the right restaurants. Yesterday, we went to lunch and I ordered Fried noodles with combination pork. Now, we weren't quite sure what "combination" meant but I decided to go for it. Turns out that wasn't such a good idea. Combination apparently means that they throw every type of seafood available in with your pork. Now we all know that I don't eat seafood and here comes my plate piled high with big ole pieces of squid and other indiscernible seafood entities. I was shaking my head no the whole time and the waitresses didn't quite understand what I was so appalled at. Luckily, the nice Cambodian lady next to me spoke English so she translated that I was not expecting seafood and that I just wanted pork, so they brought me out just pork. Crisis averted.
Well, I should probably go back to work now. I'll leave you with this thought about Embassy security from my boss: "I never understood why they would put 30 minute doors into 5 minute walls..." I'll explain later.
Work has been slow up till now. They have a reluctance to assign me to anything yet as the current director is leaving quite soon and the new director has yet to arrive. They are waiting for Dora, the new director, to arrive so that she can figure out what to do with me. I've been trying to go around and find work for myself, but its rather difficult as the office staff is quite small and most of them are out a lot. The only other American here in our office is quite new himself (he's only been here a month) so its a big transition period right now. Perry, the new medical officer, has asked me to figure out the prevalence and number of HIV cases in all the different provinces, something you would think they already have. Turns out, its all based on assumptions and estimates. It was quite fun trying to track down all the appropriate numbers, but I managed. Needless to say, Ive spent a lot of time reading documents to try to familiarize myself with the programs here.
I met with the ARSO (Assistant Regional Security Officer) yesterday, which was my first foray into the US Embassy. I have one word for the Embassy- Fancy. I got an Embassy badge, which is quite useful as I can now go into the Embassy at any time for any reason. They have an ATM and a small library which were my personal highlights of the tour. Anyway, back to the ARSO. He wasn't near as scary as the RSO guys in Lima, so I did appreciate him much more. However, he did strongly suggest that they put bars on my apartment windows, even though I'm on the second floor, because the "Cambodian's are like Spider-Man, they don't need any suction cups to climb walls here." They are also installing a new door in my guest bedroom as the one that's there now would be demolished with a good kick of my flip-flops. I'm also getting a lot of new deadbolts. I feel like I might be living in a prison because of these things, albeit a very pretty one. Please refer here for pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059801&id=11401382&l=5a25db480b Turns out my shower leaks horribly as well. They were supposed to fix that today, so I'll have to see about that. All in all, the apartment management is extremely accomodating because I am the first American from the Embassy that they have been able to lure in so they want to keep me and have me spread the good word. They are even trying to find me a rocking chair...yep, thats right, a rocking chair. :)
I have had a couple of Cambodian meals now and I have to say, I'm not terribly impressed. Perhaps I have not been going to the right restaurants. Yesterday, we went to lunch and I ordered Fried noodles with combination pork. Now, we weren't quite sure what "combination" meant but I decided to go for it. Turns out that wasn't such a good idea. Combination apparently means that they throw every type of seafood available in with your pork. Now we all know that I don't eat seafood and here comes my plate piled high with big ole pieces of squid and other indiscernible seafood entities. I was shaking my head no the whole time and the waitresses didn't quite understand what I was so appalled at. Luckily, the nice Cambodian lady next to me spoke English so she translated that I was not expecting seafood and that I just wanted pork, so they brought me out just pork. Crisis averted.
Well, I should probably go back to work now. I'll leave you with this thought about Embassy security from my boss: "I never understood why they would put 30 minute doors into 5 minute walls..." I'll explain later.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Cambodia life...day 1
So I got into Phnom Penh airport late last night. Luckily, the US Embassy sent someone to help arrange for the proper visa and he pretty much handled it all. I followed him around like a puppy and kept an eagle eye on my passport that he kept handing to different people. He pretty much kept cutting everybody in line, which was pretty funny to me. After that we went outside where David, one of my mentor's in the program, was waiting with his wife to pick me up. They were very nice and drove me to my hotel. I don't have much to say about the ride because I was so exhausted that everything was like a blur. Fortunately, they had already arranged hotel accommodations and David already had a cell phone and an Embassy welcome packet ready for me. They told me that the next day (today) a couple women from the office (Sokha and Bory) were going to come pick me up and take me to look at another serviced apartment to see which one I like better to live in.
So today, I woke up naturally at 7 am and couldn't go back to sleep. Decided to talk to my parents online for a while and update them on my life here. After doing that, I was tired again and went back to bed until 1 pm. I had to get up then and get ready for Sokha and Bory and they were here promptly at 2 pm. They took me over to the Garden mansion which is lovely and showed me the 2 bedroom apartment. I love it! Its really spacious and has 2 balconies, one which overlooks the pool. Across from one of the balconies is apparently where the Spanish Ambassador lives, which excites me (someone to speak Spanish with!!). Its brand new and they are willing to do anything to it that I would live. For instance, in the second bedroom, there is a door with a window in it that is not terribly secure, but they have agreed to put a solid door in for me. Also, they are going to get me a new desk, and it does have a flat screen tv in it. So, I'm living the high life. :)
After seeing the apartment, Sokha and Bory took me to David's house where we picked up his wife to do some shopping. We went to City Mall which was interesting in that it didn't have shops like American malls do, but more of stalls just set up wherever. Everything, of course, is way to small for me as I am a big, white, blonde giant over here. I'll have to find someone to hand-make my clothes. Some girls came over to me and were just staring and talking excitedly and Sokha told me that they were admiring my skin and that they really liked it. That was weird, but nice. I then ate a "fried chicken burger" at a "fast-food" restaurant. It was strange, and I expect that I may get sick from it, but c'est la vie, oui? They, then, took me to a Lucky supermarket which was actually a pleasantly surprising experience! They carry many American food brands like Kellogs, Post, Smuckers, Lays, Haagen Daas (although it was $12.50 for the small container), Kleenex, Ragu, Campbell's, Laughing Cow, Skippy, etc. I f0und many good things and am excited that I can find things that I like to eat.
Anyway, its about 7:12 here and I'm exhausted already. I need to go make some dinner (a PB&J) and then try to stay up till 9 pm. Thats my goal. Au revoir!
So today, I woke up naturally at 7 am and couldn't go back to sleep. Decided to talk to my parents online for a while and update them on my life here. After doing that, I was tired again and went back to bed until 1 pm. I had to get up then and get ready for Sokha and Bory and they were here promptly at 2 pm. They took me over to the Garden mansion which is lovely and showed me the 2 bedroom apartment. I love it! Its really spacious and has 2 balconies, one which overlooks the pool. Across from one of the balconies is apparently where the Spanish Ambassador lives, which excites me (someone to speak Spanish with!!). Its brand new and they are willing to do anything to it that I would live. For instance, in the second bedroom, there is a door with a window in it that is not terribly secure, but they have agreed to put a solid door in for me. Also, they are going to get me a new desk, and it does have a flat screen tv in it. So, I'm living the high life. :)
After seeing the apartment, Sokha and Bory took me to David's house where we picked up his wife to do some shopping. We went to City Mall which was interesting in that it didn't have shops like American malls do, but more of stalls just set up wherever. Everything, of course, is way to small for me as I am a big, white, blonde giant over here. I'll have to find someone to hand-make my clothes. Some girls came over to me and were just staring and talking excitedly and Sokha told me that they were admiring my skin and that they really liked it. That was weird, but nice. I then ate a "fried chicken burger" at a "fast-food" restaurant. It was strange, and I expect that I may get sick from it, but c'est la vie, oui? They, then, took me to a Lucky supermarket which was actually a pleasantly surprising experience! They carry many American food brands like Kellogs, Post, Smuckers, Lays, Haagen Daas (although it was $12.50 for the small container), Kleenex, Ragu, Campbell's, Laughing Cow, Skippy, etc. I f0und many good things and am excited that I can find things that I like to eat.
Anyway, its about 7:12 here and I'm exhausted already. I need to go make some dinner (a PB&J) and then try to stay up till 9 pm. Thats my goal. Au revoir!
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