Next Adventure Location is...

Only a month delayed in this announcement...  At the beginning of June, I got the call for which I had been waiting with great anticipation.  "Hello, can I speak with Karen? ... This is the Maryknoll Regional Program Director in Cambodia calling..."  I will be honest.  I have no idea what the title was and began shaking with excitement at the word Cambodia.  Thus, despite my finely honed, intentional listening skills, I remember little of the rest of that conversation.  

Summary: My Maryknoll Lay Missioner placement is in Cambodia.  Upon learning this, I became a Chihuahua - small, blond, shaking thing that people regularly would like to drop kick and likes to hear itself bark but will rarely actually get close enough to bite you. :)  My enthusiastic shaking at knowing where I would be moving in January lasted for about an hour.  My co-workers were all very excited for me - the overwhelming consensus was "Think of all the amazing food."  I then had to go start making some family phone calls, all of whom were probably glad I heard at 10:00 am and not earlier with the three hour time difference.

So, I do not yet know what my work will be when in the country - that is determined post-arrival.  I have independently started attempting to learn as much as I can about the country, culture, people, language, history, etc. so as to prepare for this next adventure. Many of the placements involve youth, as 50% of the population is under the age of 25. The foci of Maryknoll programming there are youth, livelihoods, education, and Vietnamese communities (they are a minority, isolated group in the country). Maryknoll operates a huge school for the deaf in Phnom Penh so there is some possibility I could end up returning to first second-language, and learning some Khmer Sign Language.

What else do I know now?

1) I will be living in Phnom Penh- the capitol city (pronounced Puh-nom Pen)

2) The language there is Khmer (pronounced Kuh-My)

3) I start training in Ossinig, NY on Oct 5 and end training Dec. 15

4) I leave the country for Cambodia sometime after that...

5) I complete my commitment in May, 2017, an aged and wizened 30ish year old.

I will do my best to keep you all apprised of new developments and details as I prepare, and would love to see as many of you as possible pre-departure.  East Coasters - I leave DC Aug.22.  West Coasters - I am in your neck of the woods and free-ish Sept. 8 - Oct. 5-ish.  Let me know if you have questions on my grand adventure, sage words of advice, if you need me to find Cambodia on a map for you, etc.