A Typical Day in PST

Hello everyone! 

It’s been about a week since the Peace Corps van dropped me off at my host family’s house and PST (or Pre-Service Training) truly began. So, I wanted to take the time to tell you about what a typical day looks like for me! Here we go...

5:30am: The sun starts to come up around this time, and the main road in front of my house starts to get a little more noisy as motos, cars, and trucks head into Phnom Penh for the day. There are also many roosters who start crowing, some in my backyard and some in the yards of my neighbors.

6am: I usually get out of bed around this time, and my house starts to wake up. Usually my host mom is up first, followed by my host dad, to start the morning chores like feeding the chickens, sweeping the house and the patio, and starting the fire in the kitchen. 

7am: By now, I have washed, changed clothes, and prepped my backpack for school on most days. I eat breakfast outside the house at the market or a nearby restaurant on school days. On a typical day, I bike to the market area and buy these yummy pastries or head to a cafe for coffee. Cambodians normally eat noodles or rice and pork for breakfast, which is a bit different than the eggs, cereal, or toast most Americans are used to eating. We eat rice, vegetables, and chicken or pork for the other two meals though, so I try to switch up my breakfast foods to add a little variety. 

8am-Noon: During PST, all PC Cambodia Trainees have class separated into two sessions (language and technical training), one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Right now, Health and Education volunteers are split into two different areas, and my group, Education, is split into two training villages. So, half the day Education is split into those two groups at two different schools for language lessons. The other half of the day we meet together as Education volunteers at a school about 20 minutes away by bike. When we meet together, we have technical training lessons about how to be a teacher/teacher trainer in the Cambodian context. We learn about everything from how to plan a lesson to how the Cambodian school system functions. 

Noon-1:30pm: Every afternoon we all return home for lunch. Usually my lunch is chicken or pork with rice, sometimes with a mixed vegetable soup; it normally doesn’t take long to eat, so I usually have some time to spare. It is nice to have a break from class and a chance to rest. Most Cambodians shower 2-3 times a day, so I usually do a quick rinse while I am home to wash off the dirt and sweat from riding out on the road. I’m also pretty hot by then, so a cool shower feels great!

1:30-5pm: This is the second of the two class sessions. So, I go to language or to technical training depending on the day. Sometimes, we even have language for 3/4 of the day, and technical training for only a few hours. So, language training can be really long! Luckily, I really enjoy my language learning group and my LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator). My LCF is a wonderful teacher and makes learning fun and interesting; she also puts up with our incessant questions about different words or things we see on the street. 

6pm: Once class is over, we all bike back to our homes. I usually have dinner around 6pm with my host mom and dad. I do have a host sister and three host brothers, but only my sister and one of the brothers live at home. Again, we usually have rice and chicken, fish, or pork with some kind of soup. My host mom also realized I like raw cucumber and carrot, so she normally gives me a plate of those to eat with my meat and rice. 

7pm: I normally shower around 7pm, so the rest of my host family can have time to use the bathroom after. Sometimes, I will stay up and watch TV with my host mom and sister, and other times I go to my room to study, read, or just relax. Either way, I am usually under my mosquito net and in bed by 8:30pm. In the States, I used to go to bed around midnight; here, I can barely make it to 9pm!

So, in a nutshell, that is what a typical day of PST in Cambodia looks like!  I have been adjusting well to the new food and new surroundings thus far, and I am really excited to continue to learn more language and technical skills. I got a taste of teaching in this context today when my two partners and I did our Community Teach. It is basically a free, open English class for the communities we live in that the Education volunteers take turns teaching. Each of us has to teach a lesson in a group or pairs to whomever shows up. In our case, about 130 children packed into our classroom this evening! We were the first group to go, and since our village is a new training site, no one was quite sure who would show up. I couldn’t believe how many children there were! My partners and I did our best to teach them some English greetings, colors, and clothing items, and all in all, it went well. 

Until next time, 

Carissa