Happy Thanksgiving*

HAPPY EARLY THANKSGIVING! 

This weekend I am off to the beach city of Sihanoukville with some friends to swim in the Gulf of Thailand!!!! Not only do I LOVE the beach and LOVE swimming, but I get to be IN THE OCEAN!!! We are taking a bus from our guesthouse after work today which will take about 4 hours for $7 US. It’s a tough life I’m living here :P

Another little lesson I have learned in Phnom Penh…. washrooms are absolutely, positively, ridiculously DISGUSTING! Do not use them – take your chances in a bush... trust me! If you absolutely must use the bathroom, never (and I mean NEVER EVER EVER!) use a bathroom at a market. My friend Catherine and I made this mistake and let’s just say we were squatting over a hole in the ground while sifting through two inches of water. It was a great learning experience for me and now I am sharing this knowledge so you never have to experience this. Always carry toilet paper with you as well. Their toilet paper is so soft and so cheap ($0.80 for 6 rolls) but no public bathrooms have it.

My placement is going great so far. It started off slow with doing a lot of reading but it has picked up and I am now helping out with reports for donors. The people in the office were having trouble saying my name and kept asking if I have a nickname. I finally came up with Giul (or I guess Jewel) and they seem much happier with this. This is now what I’m known as J

I am very thankful for the opportunity to be here in Cambodia safe and sound. I am thankful for my amazing family and friends who I love very much. I am also thankful to have created such a great group of friends after being here for just one week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS! 

I MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCH XOXO

Lost in translation*

I think something was lost in translation here :) 

This was in the menu at a restaurant two blocks away from my workplace. I ordered this dish and it was amazing! There was also no gluten, just rice.. for the record! 

My internship at Comfrel*

Soooo as much as I love exploring the city and eating food.. I am here with a purpose. I am here in Cambodia because I am completing my internship for Humber. I am currently working at the Committee for Fair and Free Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel). Comfrel works to promote human rights and democracy through its mission “to empower local civil actors and observers to respond and react to the governance of elected official and promote citizens insights of the elected official performance throughout the electoral cycle”. They are currently running their projects in three year increments and are predominantly funded by the European Union. Comfrel has also recently formed a gender team to monitor policy implementation and to prepare how gender integration into programme activities can take place. 


Here is a recent article about the Executive Director of Comfrel:


http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/255971/cambodian-winner-of-asia-nobel-pushes-forward-in-fight-for-fair-vote

Upon us all a little rain must fall*

The rain has picked up over the last day which is making our street walking adventures a bit more interesting. When we arent walking, we are riding around in their taxi service called a tuk tuk. You can get anywhere around the city for about $2-$3 US which is amazing... especially when you are splitting the cost. A tuk tuk is basically a motorbike pulling a cart. Same rules (or lack there of) apply to tuk tuk's as they do to motorbikes - U-turns into oncoming busy traffic, in the rain, at nighttime, are a very common occurance haha. 

Kim sitting in the back of a tuk tuk!

Just doing a little street walking... no big deal.  

Last night we went to this amazing Thai/Khmer restaurant that had THE BEST green curry I have ever had in my entire life!!!! We also had some deep fried frogs and they were absolutely delicious. Next on my list of foods to try is snake :)

 Our table of lovely ladies before our food was served!

Deep fried frog... absolutely amazing and definitely recommended!


.

Welcome to the Penh!

So I have officially survived my first few days in Phnom Penh. I landed in the Penh around 11pm on Saturday night and it was 29 degrees out. Im not 100% sure but by the amount I persperated it must have hit over 30 on Sunday! Out of pure coincidence I have two Canadian girls as my roommates! They are social work students at U of Vic who are here working at an orphanage for children with disabilities. The three of us are liked-minded individuals with similar interests.... (all pretty awesome people if you ask me)... and we are in the midst of planning weekend trips around the country :) My room is on the 3rd floor of a guesthouse/hostel with two tempermental outlets that are primarily used for fans because there is no air conditioning (although we have heard rumours some of the other rooms have AC!). There are 66 steps to our floor... yes, we counted!

So some lessons I have learned during my first two days here:


1. How to cross the street

There are motorbikes EVERYWHERE with very few streetlights and crosswalks. It might possibly be the most organized chaos I have ever seen. Traffic actually crosses diagonally across intersections but everybody just putts along on their bikes and goes with it. Its amazing to watch actually! It does make crossing the street quite frightening at first though because you have to walk a few steps but then stop so the motorbikes can go around you. There are also very few sidewalks and when there are they are usually taken up by vendors or randomly parked cars so you have to walk on the side of the road. It's amazing how normal this became after about 20 minutes of walking.

This picture doesnt really do it justice. I will post a better one soon!

2. Stay out of the rain

We are still in the rainy season until the end of the month so it has been overcast and spits quite often. We experienced our first monsoon rainfall though which was slightly terrifying at first. I couldnt believe how violent and aggressive it was. We were inside when it came down and it lasted for just over an hour - I don't think my umbrella would have stood a chance!

3. My math skills suck

Today we went to this huge market they call the Russian Market... not sure why its called that but I dont really ask questions... just go with it! They had anything and everything you could possible need. I bought lunch, a scarf, power adaptor, and sunglasses for under $10 US... I love Cambodia!!!  I also got to test out some Khmer phrases although most people speak English well. My terrible math skills are definitely being put to the test having to calculate the US/Riel conversion rate... and the fact that the locals can calculate it in about 0.5 seconds makes me feel even more stupid.

In the food section of the Russian Market.

4. A smile goes a long way

Overall this has been such a fun experience so far. The people are amazing and all it takes is a smile for someone to help you out :)

Arrived in Phnom Penh!!!!

I have arrived safe and sound in the Penh!!!! Pictures will come soon :)

En route to Phnom Penh!

I survived my 14 hour flight from Toronto to Seoul and now just sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Phnom Penh! I had a window seat and the spot next to me was empty!! And as if that isn't awesome enough already, I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rio (both excellent movies!). After my disastrous food choices on the plane, I have opted to stick with Starbucks at the airport. Sad, I know... but I can only handle a certain amount of change at a time :)

Now in the words of Po from KFP2 (Kung Fu Panda 2): The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now.