In exactly 1 month from today, I will be boarding a plane in Buffalo, NY at 6am, heading for LA (with a stop in Chicago). In LA I will stay for a day-long orientation from the Peace Corps, along with the 49 other volunteers from around the country who will also be serving in Cambodia. The next morning we will all be driven back to the airport, where we will take a 19 hour and 55 minute flight to Tokyo (nothing like 20 hours stuck in a plane together for getting to know your fellow volunteers). From Tokyo we take a relatively shorter flight to Bangkok, and from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, where we will stay for approximately 8 weeks for training. During these 8 weeks, we will each live with a host family, in order to better integrate into the culture and language of Cambodia. After 8 weeks, each volunteer will be assessed, and placed into an appropriate position based on the success of their training. Generally, the health volunteers are placed in more rural areas, in the outskirts of Cambodia, and the education volunteers work in more populated regions.
So far I have gone on several shopping trips, yet still somehow am not finished. Sometime this week (as soon as I get hold of a suitcase) I will begin to pack, and then see how much (if any) room I have left. Despite the fact that I have been told several times that most necessities are available in Cambodia, and for a good price, I'm still having some difficulty trying to figure out how to pack for the next 2 years and 3 months.
I cannot believe that only a month remains until all of this becomes a reality. There is so much yet that I must do, people to see, rooms to clean, Khmer to learn. But, it is at times like this when procrastinators like me pull off their best work, so it is with a full mixture of excitement and anxiety, with a pinch of surreality, that I prepare for 27 months in Cambodia, while enjoying every minute of my last month in America.
And now, for your pleasure, here's a picture of my dog, Athena.
