Brothel Dinner?

So you may be surprised by this title. And my former 'Broth biddies' are probably especially amused. But dinner the other night was quite an experience. We came to Takeo for an overnight trip. Takeo is the provincial town in between Tramkok and Traing, the village where I live. We came for a 2 day seminar to discuss more rules, safety tips, gender stuff, etc. It was a great trip that we were all looking forward to because at site, we only see half of the K3's. So after a long, hot and humid day, we were all looking forward to a nice dinner. So we walked across the street from our guesthouse to meet up with the other volunteers who had found a restaurant. As we sat down, I noticed the girls working there were dressed interestingly. One was wearing silk pajamas, and another was wearing REALLY short jean shorts. In the U.S., that would totally fly, but here, that is not ok or normal. Women NEVER show their knees or shoulders. So naturally, I felt a little suspicious.

After talking with some of the other volunteers, we realized we were eating at a brothel- oops! The guys were telling us that the girls working there (who looked about 15) were rubbing their chest and being extra touchy-feely. Once again, women in Cambodia DO NOT do this, so we put two and two together. The whole experience was pretty funny, and sad at the same time. So lesson learned- silk pj's and hoochie shorts means more than food is being sold.

So today was a really fun day! Peace Corps organized 5 different field trips and drew names out of a hat to determine who could sign up for which trip when we were at Takeo during seminar. Luckily, my name got drawn early and I signed up for a boat trip to Phnom Da. I was so excited when a bunch of my favorite girls signed up for Phnom Da as well! So today, we left Traing at about 6:15 am and rode a remort- which is like an agricultural truck- I wish I could post pics, but the Internet is too damn slow here. Think illegal workers on the back of a truck in the U.S. and replace it with Peace Corps volunteers and that is a pretty accurate description of what the spectacle looked like. Once we got to Takeo, I said hi to some of the other volunteers going on other field trips and then walked with my group to the canal where we caught a boat. The group was Kealan, Keiko, JaNice, Jessica, Meagan G. and Meghan O., Cooper, and our 2 LCF's, Linda and Rath. We split into two boats and first traveled about 45 minutes to a museum, which was small, but interesting. The boat ride was beautiful, and their were floating trees and grass-ish plants everywhere. The water was pretty shallow, only about 3 m deep. We then did a mini-language lesson with useful words, like 'waves', bumpy (which proved to be the most used word), and other stuff. Then we went to Phnom Da (Phnom means 'mountain' in Khmai), and this place was a small mountain with a temple at the top. We hiked up, enjoyed the views (We could see Vietnam, about 5 km away) and talked with the adorable Cambodian children in our broken Khmai. It was quite the day!

The boat ride back was the bumpiest ride I've ever experienced! My face was tingling when we got off the hour boat ride, but we had such a fun day! It was so nice to see some of my favs from Tramkok though, and spend more time with my friends from Traing. Now we're at an internet cafe and then we are getting Tuk-a-luk's (my favorite discovery here- a delicious tropical smoothie with the native fruits of Cambodia! All in all, a fabulous day!

The next few weeks are very busy. Actually, all of training is very busy. Next Tuesday, I'll be back in Takeo for the day for a day seminar- more skits, info, copies of papers, etc. Then on Thursday-Saturday is Kampuchea Adventure! I am soooo looking forward to this. I'm not sure how the groups are being picked, but groups of 3-4 people will be sent all over Cambodia to visit various K2 volunteers and see their sites! I hope I get sent to a provincial site since I already have a pretty good idea what some of the rural sites might be like. The next week is practicum, where we will practice co-teaching in a class with Khmai students. I am super nervous and excited to work with a Khmai co-teacher, so the test run should be interesting.

Life is pretty amazing right now. I am surprised at how happy I actually am. We keep talking about culture shock, and some people are having a more difficult time, but I am just enjoying the adventure! Sure, the mosquito bites are never-ending, and the heat/humidity can be overwhelming, but these are small nuisances in the grand scheme of things. I apologize about the lack of personal emails, my internet is limited so this is my main communication. But thanks for all of your emails and comments- it truly makes my day when I read them all! I miss all of you a ton and think of everyone daily! Please keep me updated, and I will do the same.

Off to my tuk-a-luk...yessssssssss.

Peace :)