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.
