Saturday, June 12
I've been with the new trainees for this past week and it's nice to have this chance to get to know them. There are 58 of them spread out over 7 villages, mostly sorted according to the work they will be doing here. While I met with all of them on Wednesday for one session, I met with 4 of the villages on Thursday, two at a time. It's a bit different being the trainer rather than the trainee and I'm pleased with how much input into their training we've actually been allowed to give. But, as my program manager said, we're the ones in the field and we know what the new people really need to learn. I can really identify with them during this stage of their training: trying to acclimate to a new culture, living with a new family, learning a new language and learning about how to do their job in a different culture. But, as I keep telling them, it's worth all the hard work and frustrations.
The Peace Corps rents out a few apartments in Charentsavan, the main town which the villages surround. I stayed in one of them this past week, which was nice and I had the place to myself. The other volunteers working this week were all young men, who stayed at one of the other places. On Thursday night, instead of going out to eat, we met at their place and Bryan cooked for us. It was fun just sitting around and sharing some of our experiences during this past year and playing some games.
Tomorrow I'm off to Turkey, which I'm really excited about and looking forward to. We've been planning this for a few months, but typical Peace Corps style, our travel plans are still a bit up in the air with some gaps in getting from one place to another. I know it'll all work out and I'm really not worried about it. There are 4 of us going, 3 of us older and one of the tweeners, a 30+ volunteer. It should be fun. It seems odd to me that here I am in the Peace Corps and yet I get to travel to some amazing places.