Official & Have Awesome Shirt to Prove It!

A week ago, 59 Americans starved for cheese, air conditioning and anything but rice descended upon Phnom Penh for five days of fun and our official Swearing In as Peace Corps Volunteers!

Though the days were marked with great trainings, the real focus (sorry PC Cambodia!) had to be the food. Fellow trainees and I had been planning these five days of western food with great care. Priorities included Mexican, Italian, good breakfasts, cheesecake and in general all types of food that we won’t get for two months after we move to permanent site.

Eating delicious western food!

With our goals aligned, we pursued these ends to great success.  Some (ahem, Chris) may have suffered the ill effects every single morning of dairy products on their system, while others were quite able to eat a pizza, and then a cheeseburger, and then a chocolate and caramel tart and wake up refreshed and ready for more come daylight. Sorry husband! J So worth it though, no?

CHEESE!

After four days of cheese and more cheese, the time arrived for our official swear in as volunteers.  For the momentous occasion, fellow trainee friends and I had “wedding shirts” made.  These special occasion shirts are a bright or white color and made of the most uncomfortable polyester fabric imaginable, and covered in sequins and all manner of sparkle.

You know you want a shirt just like these!

They are, put simply, awesome.

So donned in these beautiful, albeit uncomfortable Khmer clothes, we took our solemn oath and became the official fifth group of Peace Corps Volunteers to enter Cambodia.  You can read an official news report here! I’m famous!

After one more day in Phnom Penh (and a few more meals centered around, what else, cheese), we backed our bags and bussed it to our new permanent home. 

I haven’t dived deeply into our permanent home due to a desire to play it safe, but know that we’re in the same province in which we did our training, living in the provincial town. Because I work in analogies, imagine this:

• A province is to Cambodia as a state is to America.
• A provincial town is to Cambodia as a state capital is to America.
• A district town is to Cambodia as a “larger” town is to America.

We live in a provincial town, though of the 25+  provinces in Cambodia, our provincial town is not the largest, nor the most modern or populated.  It IS the most populated, modern city in our province, but many other provinces- like Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is, or Battambang, also in the North, near Thailand- have much larger provincial towns, with commodities similar to Phnom Penh.  Commodities meaning western food, access to reliable travel out of Cambodia and the like.  Our new home has two small universities, a teacher training center (where I work), two high schools, many primary schools, and one “western” food restaurant- called GFC, where you can buy fried chicken, fries, and something resembling pizza and burgers (though the pizza apparently has no cheese and comes with small shrimp. Hrmmm...)

But the kicker of permanent site is our home. Our abode is nothing like either of us expected when we joined the Peace Corps.  As a married couple, the amazing Peace Corps staff works incredibly hard to ensure we have a small semblance of privacy.  They worked wonders for us.  

We are living in a small home on the same land as our host family’s home. Yes, we have a separate home/building all to ourselves.  This gorgeous home has a gas stove, “running” water (we still bucket flush, but WOAH! A shower head!), a refrigerator and even a washing machine.  

We also have a small room for guests with a separate bed, and our own common room space with a small television.  

In PC, there’s a term for this- “Posh Corps.” It took Chris and I a few days to adjust to the guilt we felt settling over us when we visited our home a few weeks back.  But now, we’re reminded that everyone’s situation is different, we appreciate our good fortune, and are looking forward to many visitors, Peace Corps and family alike in our guest room!

*You can read this post, plus another one at my Travel Blog at www.marshmellowtravels.blogspot.com