So I arrived at the Phnom Penh airport just before midnight on August 30th, after my flight had been delayed for a day due to a typhoon hitting Korea. What should have been a five hour flight turned into about 15 hours of traveling due to layovers and such, and for some reason i'd been extremely nervous about the trip. The idea that I was coming to a third world country without having someone I knew with me was a little intimidating. Erin, the volunteer coordinator for our program, met me at the airport and I was immediately shoved into the fast paced Cambodian culture. We rode in a tuk tuk to the volunteer house, which is a scooter with a wooden cart hooked to the back that you sit in. I've ridden in them in various asian countries and knew to expect them here.
The traffic was unbelievable. There are cars, motos (scooters) and bicycles absolutely everywhere, driving on both sides of the road and in whichever direction they choose. We arrived at the volunteer house and it was nearing one in the morning. Everyone in the house was extremely jet lagged from their travels, so only one other housemate was awake. I was so excited about arriving that we stayed up late in the night talking about the few days she had already been here.
After a night's rest, I met the rest of the housemates. There are fifteen people currently volunteering at our school, but only seven living in the house. The others all have separate accommodations, and preferred not to live with such a large group. We lucked out in this sense, by all getting our own rooms, which are normally shared by two people. In the house, there are six girls and one guy. There is such a range of cultures and backgrounds, which makes the experience even more unique. Our house has a girl and a guy from England, a girl from Australia, one from Canada, one from Italy, one from Denmark, and me. We all bonded really fast and it has made living here even more wonderful.
Our first week was so busy with orientation classes. We were at the school just about all day every day, learning about the Khmer culture (Cambodian), what to expect in the city and safety precautions we should take. We also had classes from past volunteers who taught us about classes and what to expect at the school. We all learned so much but were exhausted by the end of the week and we were all grateful for a day off to explore the city on our own.
As part of the program fees, all of our meals are cooked by a Cambodian girl and served at the house. We knew from the first day that the food would be amazing. Rice is always served with every meal, and the main dishes always include some type of meat (beef, chicken or pork) and veggies. The seasoning is mild but delicious. We also went out for a few meals, which were just as amazing.
I thought I had experienced heat before I came here, but nothing compares to the weather here. We are all sweating 23.5 hours a day, minus the half hour we're in the shower. There is no hot water in our house, but I've quickly become used to cold showers and actually crave the coolness. There is also no air conditioning, so the heat is never ending. Just after stepping out of the shower, you are immediately sweating again. Past volunteers have told us that we will adjust to the heat so I guess we'll wait and see!
We have a trip planned next week with all of the volunteers which sounds amazing, so I will write all about it upon our return!
