First Week in Cambodia
What? It's only been one week? Hard to believe, it seems like months ago that we first got together in San Francisco!
The no-staging staging
Thanks to the turmoil of the lack of visas, our official staging, which was supposed to be held in a downtown San Francisco hotel over the course of more than one day, was compressed into a simple meeting at the SFO airport where we were given our official Peace Corps passports (along with a 3-month visa) and some money to spend while waiting in the airport for our flight. We met around 2pm and the plane didn't leave for Singapore until nearly 11pm, so there was plenty of waiting.
We all spent the time mingling, eating a bit and just chilling. We did have time to get to know each other, at least some small subset of the group of 74 on our way to Cambodia.
Flight to Cambodia
Our flight from San Francisco to Singapore was aboard a Boeing 787 "dream liner" which seated 10 people in each row 3-4-3 and was pretty tight for a 15+ hour flight. At least it was mostly dark and we were able to sleep between the various meals and snacks provided along the way.
15+ hours (scheduled for 16+) on one flight is torturous and we gladly stepped off the plane into the Singapore airport. One of the side effects of the non-staging was that all of our flights had to be re-booked quickly on Friday (they had all been cancelled when the training was thought to be postponed). This meant that we were not booked straight through with a connection in Singapore, rather we were just stopping there, picking up our luggage, going through customs and immigration, then standing in line to check into our new flight to Pnomh Penh. I think this process was new for more than a few in our group as there were many puzzled looks when we disembarked that said "what now?"
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| Between flights in Singapore |
After some 6 hours in Singapore between flights, we finally got on our second leg, off to Cambodia. This was a short flight, around 2 hours and we arrived to mid-day sun (and mild heat), shortly to be put on buses and taken to the initial training center.
Initial training at White Elephant
Before we can go out into the countryside and become Peace Corps Volunteers, we need to spend the better part of 9 weeks in pre-service training (PST). During this time, we are expected to gain a working knowledge of the language and culture, along with intense training to help us perform our jobs for the next two years.
We spent the first few days doing some initial training and learning the P.C. "ropes". This was held in a hotel/convention type complex just outside Phnom Penh. Nice rooms, warm shower, good food and a close working environment (plus jet lag) made the days go by quickly.
One of the things we spent a fair bit of time on was learning some very simple Khmer (the name the locals have for their language) phrases. This, along with some other training, was in preparation for moving in with our first host families on the afternoon of day 3 in country.
On-site with Host Families
As much as the training tried to prepare us for this, moving in with a family in a very foreign country, to be accepted like one of their own children, was a shock. Lots of grinning, hand gestures, etc. Few, if any, of us got more than a little real communication done those first few hours, but that's part of the process.
First things first though: Cambodia is a mostly Buddhist country, so our first order of business was to attend a temple for a blessing and the meeting of the host families. Overall, this part went pretty well (I had a bit of trouble sitting on the floor for so long) and we all started to settle in together. The host families (or at least a representative - my host father came, but in my house there are at least 4 adults and in the family compound, maybe 30 adults and children) that came for the blessing then left for their homes, ready to receive us.
Back on the bus and off we went to the host families, one at a time. When we arrived, a Peace Corps representative went in with us and made sure we knew where our bedrooms, the toilet, and anything else relevant were. We also learned what the host family might need or have in store, e.g. dinner shortly thereafter.
Then, all alone; nothing to do but try and interact. In my family, only one younger son speaks any English, so it's either Khmer or hand waving. Lots of the latter, but we did have a nice meal and tried to converse a bit. Very much a work in progress, at the very beginning...
First things first though: Cambodia is a mostly Buddhist country, so our first order of business was to attend a temple for a blessing and the meeting of the host families. Overall, this part went pretty well (I had a bit of trouble sitting on the floor for so long) and we all started to settle in together. The host families (or at least a representative - my host father came, but in my house there are at least 4 adults and in the family compound, maybe 30 adults and children) that came for the blessing then left for their homes, ready to receive us.
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| Inside the temple |
Back on the bus and off we went to the host families, one at a time. When we arrived, a Peace Corps representative went in with us and made sure we knew where our bedrooms, the toilet, and anything else relevant were. We also learned what the host family might need or have in store, e.g. dinner shortly thereafter.
Then, all alone; nothing to do but try and interact. In my family, only one younger son speaks any English, so it's either Khmer or hand waving. Lots of the latter, but we did have a nice meal and tried to converse a bit. Very much a work in progress, at the very beginning...
Gary, after the first week
Note: now that things are settling a bit, look for more pictures and thoughts soon as we journey through our PST.
