MY HOME FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS!!!

It’s official! I know my home for the next two years!!!! I’ll be at the Hub until Sunday and then heading to my site for three days to look around and meet my permanent host family. After that, I’m off to Phnom Penh for a dinner at the Ambassador’s house (correction: pool party and bar-b-q) and a weekend of celebration with the rest of the PCTs.

I will be living in the provincial town called Pursat (which is the capital of the province Pursat). This is in the North-West of Cambodia, right in between Battambang, Siam Reip and Phnom Penh … which is excellent because I anticipate spending a lot of vacation time in those cities! Pursat is located on National Highway 5, so you should be able to easily find me on a map.

Here are some fast facts about my town, school and host family:

- Pursat is the stone carving capital of the country
- Right on the Tonle Sap Lake
- 24/7 electricity
- Easy internet access and post office
- There is one other volunteer in my province named Bri, and many nearby in other provinces
- Pursat upper Secondary School has 2,922 students and 119 staff, 10 of which are English teachers
- The average teacher in Pursat works between 19-28 hours per week
- My school was abolished during the Khmer Rouge Regime, but reopened in 1979 and was renovated in 1994
- There is also a Teacher Training Center in my village that I may be able to work with
- Many active NGOs in the area
- I am living with the Yeap family
- My host father is a nurse and my host mother is a homemaker
- My family consists of two daughters (although one just got married and is moving out) and a son
- They have family in the United States so they are excited to have a Westerner live with them
- We are the first Peace Corps volunteers to ever be in this province!

p.s. I just revised the link on my blog so that people can view my photo album! I’ll load a few every time I update, so keep an eye out.