Starting my Princeton in Asia Fellowship 2024-25 in Cambodia: Month 0.5 (August, part 1)
Hi! It has been a while.
My name is Maya, and I am a 2024-25 Princeton in Asia (PiA) Fellow. The last time I wrote here was about 4 years ago, when I mustered the motivation to make no more than two blog posts during my pre-college gap year in France... I am blaming COVID for this sad attempt.
However, I'm back for round 2--this time in Phnom Penh, Cambodia! I aim to record my PiA year with more frequent (bi-monthly, maybe?) posts, for a few reasons:
I wished I recorded and reflected more frequently during my year in France (and other travels). It was very impactful but went by so fast, so keeping a digital journal of my experiences will be nice to look back on.
I am hoping more detailed posts can help prospective applicants and future PiA fellows in Cambodia (especially those working at my post) gain a better sense of what they are getting into lol
I want to keep my family and friends updated on the random stuff I'm up to :)
What I am doing in Cambodia for a year?
Some context: I am living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this year after graduating from the University of Oregon (BFA in Product Design) as part of my Princeton in Asia Fellowship. This fellowship is organized through Princeton University and matches post-undergrad fellows with organizations across Asia based on their skills, academic background and interests. Any graduate from a US university can apply--feel free to email if you are interested in applying and want to learn more, especially if you're like me and had no alumni from your school to ask!
Funnily enough, I learned about this fellowship from a random American guy and former PiA fellow who I happened to sit next to on a bus when I spontaneously hiked Mt. Fuji last summer during my internship in Tokyo, Japan. I wrote the fellowship down in my notes app, and a few months later I applied. After a few placements and an interview, I was finally matched with AUPP Liger Leadership Academy in Phnom Penh to work as a digital and creative arts instructor here! Just shows how one chance encounter with a stranger can potentially change a lot.
Flying to Cambodia - But first, a stop in Geneva, Switzerland.
I'm off to a late start, but here's what I did in the first half of August:
August 1 - After bawling in the PDX airport, saying goodbye to family and friends and profusely sweating under 10 layers of clothing (I'd rather suffer than pay baggage fees), I headed to Geneva, Switzerland to visit the UN Office there on my way to Cambodia. Over the summer, I remotely assisted the United Nations Development Program in HIV, Health and Development as a summer fellow, so I got some funding from my university to visit the office in person in Geneva.
Pic 1: Doing my final undergrad remote classes on the plane.
Pic 2: my lovely airbnb in Geneva (near the train station, great spot & host was such a nice lady).
Pic 3: Morning sunrise view on August 2nd
August 2 & 3 - Visiting around Geneva consisted of :
weekend market, where I bought books in French and then got a sweet pastry & coffee at a nearby cafe (pics 1-4)
walking up a million steps to admire the view from Cathédrale Saint-Pierre Genève (pics 5-9)
seeing a Guillotine in Maison Tavel Museum (pic 10)
Musée de l'Art et d'Histoire (Art and History Museum - pics 11-12)
Walked to Genève-Jardin Anglais to gawk at the Jet d'Eau (literally translates to 'jet of water', it's a huge fountain that is 140 meters high and spits out 500 liters of water per second at 200km/h) (pics 13-14)
napping at Baby-Plage (baby beach) and then attending a nearby public zumba class (pic 15 & 16)
Visiting the United Nations office! (pics 17 & 18)
Overall, Geneva is so cool, clean and safe, and I love practicing French there. It was a sweet little stop before flying to Cambodia.
Arriving and settling in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
August 5th - I landed at Phnom Penh airport, and I, along with my flatmate and co-PiA fellow at Liger named Magda (from Poland) were picked up by our Khmer coworkers (Sakseth and Souyeth) in a van sent by the school. We were welcomed by intense rain showers that flooded the streets (pic 3). It was quite the intro to Cambodia.
August 6 - Magda and I walked around the AUPP Liger Leadership Academy campus (pic 4) and admired the lily pond that is right in front of our apartment (pic 5). The position at Liger is pretty nice, as we can live and eat on campus for free since it is a boarding school while still earning a monthly stipend.
Pic 6 was one of the first meals I had at the cafeteria, and was a typical dish served at school and in Cambodia: the entire fish on a big platter that coworkers all take from, family style. Typically served with a ton of rice - Nham Bai ! (the word/phrase "Eat!" literally translates to "eat rice!" because rice is basically inseparable from Cambodian meals/cuisine).
August 7-15: the first half of the month went by so fast, and consisted of:
Magda and I taking tuktuks (little three-wheel covered taxi that is the main form of transportation other than motorcycle or car) 30 ish minutes into the city center to explore (pics 1-3) and check out food stalls and markets like Russian Market, where you can find a wide variety of cuisines!
We tried fried crickets pretty early on, and they're actually quite good (not squishy--they taste like those fried pea crisps). I was surprised at the variety of fried insects and animals you can find in the markets, but I plan to try them all at some point (pic 4)
We visited various religious buildings called pagodas where monks live and saw Wat Phnom (pic 5 & 8)
We ate out every time we went to the city center because food is SO affordable and good, especially on the street - you can get a standard tasty meal for like $2. (pic 6) People often pay in either cash (4000 riel = $1) or ABA, a payment system commonly used even among street vendors that allows you to pay from your phone using a QR code.
I consumed many Khmer rice desserts. They are a jelly consistency, come with sweet bean paste and coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk (a common sweetener ingredient) and are sold on the street for about $1 (pic 7 & 9)
We went to a lot of coffee shops to work. Coffee culture and cafes are great in Phnom Penh. Fancy coffees are about $1-3, enabling my addiction (pic 10 & 13)
We went to an amusement park :) (pic 12)
I started teaching my creative and digital arts classes! The kids are incredibly sweet and smart at Liger (pic 15)
My first half month in Cambodia was quite eventful, especially while balancing 2 remote classes, finishing up my senior thesis paper in order to officially graduate (whoops) and finishing up the remote summer fellowship with the UNDP. Thanks to the support of my coworkers and the warm environment at Liger, it was a good start.
If you have made it to the end, congrats, and thanks for being a real one. More to come! :)
