Take off that red shirt

First things first: I am safely in Cambodia. It is hot, and I’ve pretty much resigned to permanent stickiness–a combination of humidity, sweat, and insect repellent.

So far we’ve been keeping pretty busy with orientation and training, and it will only continue to get busier, especially after we move into our host families’ homes on Tuesday. We also won’t be getting any internet there, so I’m pretty sure this blog is going to be somewhat neglected until training is over. On the bright side though, we DO get electricity. Isn’t that the greatest piece of news you’ve ever heard?

Today in training we went over some crucial life skills, such as how to wipe the nether regions with one’s hands after relieving oneself in the bathroom. In some places (some lucky places, where there is running water), there is a “butt blaster” (so coined by one of the K2 trainers) that somewhat resembles a kitchen sink sprayer. You aim that guy at your butt, spray, and rid yourself of any residual excrement. Afterward, you try to shake off any excess water but your bum is still going to be a little bit dripping wet–too bad. Wet spots on the seat of the pants are so in right now. If you’re out of running water range, you simply take a small potful of water out of the communal water reservoir and splash at your ass with the water. It will take some getting used to, but I can safely say at this point I have already successfully hand-wiped twice, and have had the ceremonial wet spot to show for it.

Today in training we also discussed dress code. Something you might not know is that we’ve been separated from most of our luggage since we left San Francisco. All we were told was to pack a small bag filled with three or four outfits to last us until we are reunited with luggage and are ready to move in with the training host family. What they didn’t tell us was that we needed three or four DRESS outfits, to wear to work, so ya girl as usual packed three white tshirts and my stretchy pants. I had one dress outfit, though, because I knew that we were supposed to look nice when we stepped off the plane.

And yes, that one dress outfit has lasted me four days, sweat and grime and all. No big deal. I’m pretty sure that is the reason why there is a small radius of empty space around me wherever I sit, but whatever. No big deal.

In addition to having collars and not wearing tshirts and jeans, there are other guidelines too. Nothing see through, make sure the hem of your shirt falls low enough to constantly cover your belly even when your hands are raised, tuck your shirt in, skirt must cover knees, no loud prints, no low-cut shirts, etc.

Also: make sure you don’t wear bright red, because it’s seen as flashy and showy and somewhat suggestive.

What color was my shirt for these past four days? Bright red. Maybe that’s why I was getting all those stares as I walked down the street. Nothing like taking a running start into integrating into my Khmai community!

And as for the title of this post? “Take off that red shirt” is mostly a Cal gameday chant where we show our blue and gold pride by heckling anyone wearing red (and for those who don’t understand why, our biggest rivalries are with Stanfurd and USC, where red is a school color at both). I am a Cal fan for life, and this is not the end of the Cal pride that will be making its way into this blog…so get ready!