Another New CIty!

So I've been in Siem Reap for just over a week, and here's a little catch up on what I've been up to!

Our first night in town, Tim and I went out for dinner and met a group of Peace Corps workers who are stationed in numerous rural villages around Siem Reap. We had a few drinks with them and they took us out dancing to a few different clubs. On Sunday afternoon, we met up with two of them (Kara and Meghan) at a pool called The Golden Banana. They were so friendly in including us with their group -- it was so nice to make some friends early on! They are coming back into town this weekend for the annual Angkor Wat 5k and have invited us to their celebration party after the race! Should be a great time!

We are living in a great hotel called The Mandalay Inn. The staff are super-friendly and they take FANTASTIC care of us. It's a very comfortable spot to live, and we're in perfect walking distance to everything we need! We take classes with our professor, Dr. Ishwar Harris, in our hotel -- they have a small study room just off the lobby and have given us full access to it! Class has been sort of rough; we're studying ancient Khmer and Hindu culture, and I'm reading a lot of critical Hindu texts like The Ramayana and the Bhagavat Gita (the 'bibles' of Hinduism). I am a little burnt out, especially trying to fit all of the studying into the last three weeks. We're all sort of running out of energy this point, but I'm trying to push through and stay motivated for the last few weeks!


We've been going on fieldtrips with Ishwar to a bunch of different temples pre-Angkor Wat; Dr. Harris wants us to see all the temples in their historical contexts...which means we have to see everything in order of when it was built here! It's actually pretty cool because there's been a lot of build up to see Angkor Wat (which is TOMORROW! So excited!). We've been moving pretty quickly, but I'm trying to keep up. The temples here are amazing and I am so happy to have come here before I go home!

The rest of last week was really just an adjustment period -- we've done lots of reading and work and exploring of the new town. There are a ton of markets (I need to stop spending money...), but I did buy a new pair of sunglasses and a few scarves for just a couple bucks. Even though this is a relatively expensive city for Cambodian standards (because of all the tourism), markets are still pretty cheap!

This weekend was quiet; we spent Saturday in the temple park (blog post coming soon!) and then had Sunday to do homework and relax a bit. I've started working on a paper and a midterm, which are both this week! A midterm after 1 week of class...strange and stressful!

We've started to find all the good places to eat, but food is much more expensive up here. We have breakfast covered by the program -- they pay for us to eat at out hotel, which is convenient and delicious. Tim and I found a great dumpling place, and today we learned the Khmer word for "dumpling" ('mii geeyou') so now we can order completely in Khmer!

I find that my language is getting pretty competent here. Most Cambodians are very surprised that we can speak the language. Tonight we went out for dinner with our Phnom Penh friend Seiha. He came up to visit us for a few days and he has some work to do for his job on the Tonle Sap lake. He brought one of his best friends who lives in Siem Reap. I greeted her and introduced myself in Khmer and she was completely shocked that we could speak her language! I asked her why and she said that "not many people here take the time to learn our language, so we are very appreciative when people speak to us in Khmer." It made me feel really happy and proud, but also very aware of how much of a privilege it is to speak English.


One of the best parts about Siem Reap so far is our involvement with a FANTASTIC organization called PEPY -- Protect the Earth, Protect Yourself. Its founder, Daniella, took us out for dinner last week and she's one sharp woman. She was living in Japan after graduation from Notre Dame and she and some friends decided to do a bike ride across Cambodia to raise money to build a school. They aimed to raise $40,000 and ended up blowing that figure out of the water with $100,000 raised by the end. The money built a beautiful school outside Siem Reap, and Daniella went to visit the school to see how the money was being spent. She had an epiphany when she realized that the building was beautiful, but there was nothing inside the school that marked educational reform or growth or change. There weren't any dedicated teachers, no resources. She decided that schools don't teach children, people do -- so she began PEPY as an organization that aims to work with Cambodian teachers, school administrators, villagers, and parents in communities to build up education in remote areas. PEPY employs primarily Cambodian staff and works hand in hand with 3 schools in rural areas outside Siem Reap. They have critical thinking workshops and round-tables with students and parents and teachers. It's really a revolutionary way to look at education reform in this country, considering most NGO's come in and build schools and then leave. PEPY stays with a school for 3-4 years to make sure Cambodians are making the changes they want in their communities. Pretty cool stuff. Here's the website -- I highly recommend checking out their "Power of 10" campaign that finishes running in a few days.

It's time for bed! I have to wake up bright and early to see ANGKOR WAT (one of the most famous and incredible temples in the world!)

Next posts: recaps of fieldtrips to Sombor Prei Kuk, Mt. Kulen / Bakong, and Angkor Wat!!

Love and Peace to everyone!!