Will they have Matrix Volumizing Mousse in Cambodia?

My staging information arrived this past Friday -- that's pre-training training by the way. My flights are booked. I'm actually going to Cambodia. I leave July 17th to round off my summer of road trips in LA with Lindsey before arriving in San Francisco on the 19th. A few days in a sweeeet hotel - Last Supper style - before heading out on the 21st. San Fran to Tokyo, Tokyo to Bangkok (with a 7 hour layover in case we aren't already miserable enough from jet lag by that point) and Bangkok to Phnom Pehn. Presumably a shuttle, jeep or elephant - one can only hope - to training from there.

While filling out the latest round of paperwork, telling friends when I'm leaving, and realizing I'm only going to be in the United States for another three weeks, I've been thinking about the things I'm going to miss most while abroad. And I do mean things. Not friends or family, that's a given, but STUFF. These are my top six -- in no particular order. I'm curious to see how I feel about this list in a month ... six months ... a year ... two years.

- Movies. The main cities probably have theaters, but I'm guessing I'm going to be a little behind at best. My travel CD case only holds 64 DVDs and I would bet anything I can kiss Gossip Girl and Weeds goodbye for the next two years.

- Matrix volumizing mousse. A really good conditioner. Lush bath bombs. Clarins skin line. Smashbox makeup. Two process hair coloring (hence the recent return to my natural color). One of my most frequent splurges is bath/beauty products. I can't take it all with me and I don't know if I can replace the brands I love there. Then again, since I'm going to be taking bucket showers, I can probably cross the bath bombs off the list all together.

- Peanut butter. This was a problem in France - it will certainly be a problem in Cambodia. Except, there will be peanut sauce ... so that's a relief. Next on the list: popcorn? Kraft Mac and Cheese? Peach gummie candies? If Cambodian food is really a cross between Thai and Vietnamese I will l-o-v-e it ... but I'm still going to miss some of those American staples.

- Online shopping. When I have a bad day, or a particularly good day that deserves celebration for that matter, I like to buy myself little presents -- usually clothing or accessories -- and have them shipped to me. Two of the great loves of my life: new clothing and mail. I can't remember the last time I saw shipping to Cambodia offered on the French Connection website. Maybe next year will be the year. I also heard the postal system isn't totally reliable. Yikes.

- Dancing? Not really a thing exactly ... but it is something I'm going to miss. When I go out, I love to go dancing. The frequency of those types of outings is questionable. Culturally, I don't know where that fits into my new lifestyle or when/where we would really have the opportunity to do that. But I will certainly be participating in traditional Cambodian dancing to tide me over if all else fails ... just wait until I bring that back to a club near you.

- Halloween and the 4th of July. Both are in my top 3 holidays and uniquely American celebrations. Costumes, fireworks, tailgating, candy apples, farmers' markets, grilling, peach cobbler, road trips and pumpkin carving. I've already started planning my unit on Halloween for my students. Just kidding ..... kind of.

Everything else if just a matter of adjusting my perspective. The heat, dressing more conservatively and not having access to facebook 24 hours a day means a shift in habits. And not that making and breaking habits is easy ... but that's what I signed up to do. It's letting go of things that I think I'll have the most trouble with. With that said, it's probably a good thing to learn to let them go.

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Is it July yet?

When I found out I would be serving in Cambodia I was working at the Writing Center. The Peace Corps sent an email notifying me that an invitation had been sent in the mail, but I still didn't know what country I was assigned to. I wasn't tutoring anyone that afternoon, so I was mindlessly surfing my application website looking for any clues as to where I might be going. Then I saw it. In a little tool bar on the side of the page there was a map of Cambodia. I quickly skimmed the text to confirm the site had, indeed, been updated with information about my new home before running out of the conference room into the hall. I made several calls to family and friends repeating myself over and over again: "Cambodia, Cambodia! I'm going to Cambodia! How awesome is that!?"

Cambodia was easily at the top of my "hopefuls" list of locations. Right next door to Vietnam and Thailand. Crystal blue water. Jungles. Sarongs. Sign me up. Of course, there's also the mine fields left over from the Khmer Rouge's reign during the 70s and 80s, the local specialty of fried tarantulas, and the sweltering humidity to deal with ... but what a country to spend two years in. Given these peoples' sad history, this is a wonderful place to make a difference.

I know I will be leaving around July 20th to teach English, but not much else. With my invitation I received piles of paperwork for my visa, new government passport (that's right -- upgrade!), and finances. I also discovered I needed to write the equivalent of a second application to the Cambodian government about my goals and expectations for the next two years. As I started thinking about what I anticipated service would be like, I realized I had absolutely no clue what I was getting into. So I did what anyone would do ... began facebook stalking.

After looking at some current volunteers' photos, reading their posts about what they thought of our packing lists, what we should really expect, and "meeting" some of the people in my group, I began to get more excited. This is actually happening!! Our orientation and training will be in the port town of Kampong Chhnang west of the Sab river and there are about 40 of us slated to arrive in July.



In the meantime, I have been shopping with my parents for some conservative -- but not totally style deficient -- jungle clothes, struggling with the Khmer language (yeah, that's not French) and riding my bike around the neighborhood to prep for my only means of transportation next year. That and catching up with friends and enjoying my favorite American foods, which I'm sure will be next to impossible to find over there. After all, two years is actually a long time to be away from home, so start packing the care packages with peanut butter and mac and cheese now.

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