My First Day

Okay, let's see if I can remember everything from the first day before it gets too far away.

Right before getting on the plane from Taipei to Phnom Penh, I met a girl around my age who is a nurse in San Francisco. She is coming over here to visit a friend who is working at a non-profit/NGO for the summer. We switched info, and her friend (who I also met briefly when we landed) is going to try to be in touch with me. That would be nice! Of course, I imagine her friend ss probably busy with work during the day, which is when I have more free time since most of the girls are at school then. I think I should stay around the dorm in the evening since that is when everyone is home and making dinner. As the girls say, the dorm isn't in the greatest of areas, so I probably won't be heading out to "party it up" late :)

So, I landed and got my luggage. Thank goodness it arrived because I had just realized that my name or information is NO WHERE on my bag at all!!! Luckily, I didn't have to worry about it at all, though I definitely am putting some kind of tag on there for the trip home. Once I landed and got through customs (approx 1 minute!), I got a taxi to the dorm. This was a little tricky but not too bad. I didn't have an address or phone number, just some directions (which were wonderfully detailed and provided by a previous leadership resident). The taxi driver thought I was crazy and hilarious because every time we turned I asked him what street we were on and tried to find it on my tiny guidebook map even when he didn't know what it was called in English. Eventually, he dug out an old map of the city or country and gave it to me saying, "free map!" I let him keep the map, though :) We finally made it to what I thought was the dorm, and there I was ringing a doorbell that didn't work and wondering what on earth to do next. Then, I started to wonder why the gate was green when according to my directions it should be cream colored. I looked down the street a little further and, of course, there was the dorm with a sign out front. While all of this is going on, everyone on the street (which is super super tiny) was looking at me like I was a crazy person! But, I eventually made it to the right gate and got in. Even though it was the afternoon, a lot of the girls were around because they have some big exams coming up (finals!!).

A little after getting there, one of the girls (Savada) took me on her moto around town so I could get some shampoo, soap, and contact solution. I have never been on any kind of motorcycle before and the driving here is absolute madness, so I was terrified!! Imagine -- no stop signs, no street lights (okay, there are like 3 but they seem to be only general suggestions), people driving on the sidewalks when the road is too crowded (yes, we totally did that), and people going the wrong way on the street. As I said, madness. Not to mention the deplorable street conditions themselves. But, I managed to hang on. I even carried a bag of groceries home, dangling the bag off of my arm, so I am pretty proud of myself. I am not sure I am ready to rent a moto yet because no one else really seems to hold on to the driver, and I am definitely still holding on! We went to Lucky supermarket, which is the big western grocery store to get shampoo and some food. And then went on a hunt for contact solution and case. There wasn't any at the store or at a pharmacy, but we finally found some at a store that sold glasses. I never would have thought to look there for contact solution!

Now, there are just a few more things I need: try to hunt down a pair of shower shoes for my gi-normous feet, a smaller hand/hair towel, something to put my bar of soap in, and something to put all my shower stuff in.

For the bathroom, I haven't quite figured it all out yet. Am I supposed to wipe everything (you know what I mean) and put that all in the trash (no toilet paper gets flushed)? Or, am I supposed to use this little hose in there to do that?? I need to ask someone, but haven't quite worked up the courage yet! I think it might be the later because there really isn't anything smelly in the bathroom trashcans. Hmmmm.

Food. The girls take turns cooking and cleaning. Each one of them has to get up early two times a week to do that stuff (so around 5am!!). I actually got up before 6am because my alarm was fast, and I thought it was around 7am. There is always rice with the food, and last night we had some spinach-y stuff in broth with pork, egg with pork in it, and a big tray of vegetables. I just had the veggies and greens from the broth with my rice. Then this morning, there was rice and some fish (from a can - kind of like sardines but definitely bigger) in something sort of like teriyaki sauce. Someone told me it was called "trey khor" - it was good.

That is it for now. I am trying to learn everyone's name, and it is hard! I am not that great with names in general, and it is so much harder when the names are so completely different from anything I am used to. I have been asking them to write their names down or spell it for me, and I am putting them together by what floor they live on (3 floors) to help me remember. Yikes! I think I can remember (and put them with the right people) the names of about 10 people right now. Not too great, but I am getting there.

In a little bit, I am leaving with one of the girls (Menghun) who is going to help me figure out how to get to a meeting I have at 10:30. I am meeting with the leadership resident who was here before me, and then we are going up to a bookstore to discuss a lecture series with someone at the store. It is something that the previous two residents have been working on, and I just get to reap the benefits. It sounds like a really great thing, and I can't wait to learn more about it!