How lonely and bored am I actually?

There is this notion of Peace Corps Volunteers, out in the middle of the jungle in a straw hut by themselves. They don’t have much to do, so it’s just them on a hammock with a pile of books. Right now, this is sort of my life, only it’s a big cement house and my books are on a shelf. But even now, during the hottest month leading up to Khmer New Year, my life is interesting. And, I’m certainly never bored.

What I’m talking about here is only my personal experience in Cambodia. I am lucky that I have a few coworkers that are fairly committed to teaching and interested in doing projects to help their community. The truth is, it’s hard to projects here if you don’t have Cambodian people who take ownership of the projects. I know one volunteer who lives in a place where no one ever comes to school. He is in a very rural place and some volunteers live in more urban areas, as well.

The way my district is laid out is also to my advantage. My house, the market, the school and the health center are close together. So, I walk everywhere. I’m fairly outgoing and Cambodian people love talking to foreigners, so I spend a lot of time practicing my Khmer and making connections in my community. I’m always learning something new about Khmer culture and it’s still exciting to meet new people.

Typically, between teaching, networking, practicing Khmer and projects, I’m usually kept pretty busy for most of the day, especially by Peace Corps Cambodia standards. On a typical day, I only get to try to make a dent in my shelf full of books for one or two hours.

What about loneliness? You’d think being around people almost all day and being busy would prevent me from being homesick and lonely. Most of the time, this is the case. Some days, I really do miss people though (and food! It’s just not the same, even in Phnom Penh). It’s not only being homesick, but what I like to call being “culture sick.” Since the language and culture are different here, things don’t function as I perceive to be normal. For example, people talk about different things here and handle social interactions differently. It wearss on me sometimes.

There’s also the issue of being pretty much the only foreigner where I live, and even when I go to Phnom Penh I stand out. In my district, people always want to talk to me, which is usually nice, but can occasionally be bothersome. People also tend to think that I have deep pockets since I’m a foreigner. Now that a lot of people know me in my district, this is less of a problem, but I still occasionally have a seller trying to quadruple the price of something that I bought from the same stand for the real price a few days ago. In Phnom Penh, they can’t believe that I could possibly want to walk somewhere. I must want a moto or a tuk tuk (a cart pulled by a motorcycle), so they constantly ask me if I want a ride.

Overall though, loneliness, homesickness and culture sickness have not been a problem. Perhaps the summer could be troublesome if the projects I want to do don’t get off the ground, but during this vacation I have lots of downtime and it’s been great.

As I’ve mentioned, Cambodia gradually shuts down leading up to Khmer New Year (April 14-16). I have not had school in weeks and other things stop as people spend more time with family and relaxing. This is a chance for me to read a lot more. I also spend time with my Cambodian friends. I am invited to celebrations and festivals that families have to honor their ancestors. I also just walk around and chat with my neighbors.

I never eat my meals alone. I eat my breakfast at a variety of food stall and all the sellers know me and we chat, or I meet new people who are also eating there. Then, I eat lunch and dinner with my host-family. They are a bunch of jokers. After lunch the other day, they were telling me that they want my Peace Corps friend from another district to switch places with me because they want another girl in the family. I knew they were joking, but afterward, one of my host-brothers, who I help with English sometimes, made certain to clarify for me: “They don’t really want you to leave; they just want to make you happy after lunch.”

It’s all about being happy in Cambodia. “How are you?” directly translates to “happy?” Two common questions I’m asked if I’m happy when I come to Cambodia and if I miss home. I answer yes to both.

Note: April is also great because it’s mango season! One mango costs between 200 and 500 riel (4-13 cents). I usually eat between two and six a day.