Surreal Lunch

Some of you may already know this (and I don’t want to brag to my fellow PCV’s), but my high school is nothing less than beautiful. It was a donation from the princess of Thailand to the Cambodian people and has no physical resemblance to Cambodian high schools. I do however face many of the same challenges as other volunteers despite the new buildings and neatly manicured gardens. Email me about that if you’re curious. Back to the point.

One of the Thai teachers here who serves as the day-to-day contact with the Thai government invited me to lunch with the school’s project manager and all of the other “big wigs” who work for the princess. Of course I accepted! Eating yummy food on dishes encrested in gold with the Thai royal emblem while watching soccer on a massive TV was not what I had envisioned for my Peace Corps experience. But I certainly wasn’t going to complain while sipping down that ice-cold Coca-Cola.

The project manager and I chatted for most of the meal and he told me a lot about the buildings and the obstacles they faced in placing this massive school out in rural Cambodia. They actually helicoptered materials in from Thailand (like computers and tech equipment) because the roads to the site are absolutely horrific. He also invited me to come to Bangkok with the students who receive scholarships to study at universities in Thailand. Sounds great, but I doubt the Peace Corps would okay that trip. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to explore the sandy beaches of Thailand on my own dime over vacation next summer. Enjoy the snow everyone….I’m off to drink a coconut. Life’s rough here :)

Siem Reap synopsis: I bought the town out of peanut butter, drank a latte a day, ate Indian food twice, Mexican once, and maybe had one or two beers. It was a gluttony fest and just what I needed. Halloween was fun. I wore a rice sack and went as “white rice.”