Right after the run of my lifetime, I went to teach for one day, just to then turn around and take the bus to Phnom Penh for our mid-service training! Mid-service training is what you would expect it to mean: I am halfway through my service! I swore in to be an official volunteer a year ago (after 3 months of training). It is so strange how it has felt like time has gone slow and fast at the same time. The days that are hot feel like an everlasting summer and the days that are ~cooler~ (although visitors will attest it is still hot) feel too short. Before diving in to the actual training, I am going to take this time to reflect a little on my service so far. I won’t lie: I was scared going to a country I had never been before to be a volunteer, but it was the best decision of my life. Words cannot describe what I have felt and learned over the past year. The blog only gives a small glimpse into my life which consistently feels like a movie. I don’t think I would have been able to adapt to my community so well if it wasn’t for my host family and my students and co-workers at the school. Although they don’t read this blog, I want to give them the biggest shoutout because I have seen so much personal growth in myself and that growth has come from their support over the past year. PC service isn’t for everybody, but it for sure was the right thing for me.
So back to the training. The last time I saw everyone in my cohort, it was last March for our In-Service Training/most of them in June for a staff member’s wedding. It is always nice to meet with my fellow cohort members to meet and share stories from our towns. Also during this time, we come together to take a spoken language test to receive scores on our language proficiency (to which I think I did an ok job, but need to learn more advanced language). Most of our sessions were about reflecting on service and also doing some refreshers on things we have to do for the upcoming year. I even got to do a little presentation for the grants committee and we also had a grants workshop (which was more like a Q&A with our head boss in charge of the grants). Also shoutout to the Sosoro Museum that we went to one day! It was about currency throughout the whole history of Cambodia but also explained Cambodian history. It was long but also cool.
Outside of the sessions, like I said before, it is just nice to see my fellow volunteers, and bond with some of them that I am not as close with. For one night, with the help of his close friends, we planned a surprise birthday party for Reagan (with the idea and support coming from his sister and family back in the US), who was turning the big 3-0. We rented a room at one of the bars they know and set up a powerpoint and everything for his birthday. It was a small party but nonetheless, I hope it was special in Cambodia. Another night, we did karaoke at a bar and I sang with some volunteers I thought I would never bond with before. The moments like that are what made MST special.
Kyle and I at the fancy movie theatre
(The first night I also got to see Wicked at the fancy movie theatre where they give you blankets and popcorn and a welcome drink).
Reagan's Surprise Party
Karaoke with Jelan
On Saturday, PC Bestie Kyle and I stayed to have a “holiday day” (which is what I branded the name of it). We went to brunch and then we decided to go see Moana 2 in the theatre. Moana 2 was at the mall and the mall was decorated for Christmas, so of course I had to take pictures of the Christmas trees because being at the mall with the decorations was making me feel like I was back home. After Moana 2, we also had a pit stop in Starbucks to get a holiday drink (which was super expensive but worth it for a taste of home). We thought about going to swim, but to me, it was too cold. So instead, we went to go roller skating! After that we had a chill night of sushi and then going to a bar before then sleeping and going home the next day.
TACOS (from Bay Area Tacos), but I got a cheese quesadilla
Short post for this one because I won’t bore everyone with the details, but 3-days of seeing fellow volunteers is always nice to bring back memories. This for sure is not what my normal life is like in my town. Every time I go to Phnom Penh, I splurge because it is a treat to get to go to the big city and has also helped with homesickness around the holidays.
Wishing everyone a happy holidays back home! Drink some hot chocolate for me :)
Happy Holidays!
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