The adventures of Jo!

…I am flying to cambodia on this moment! aaaaaaaaaaa

 for the moment everything is mmm okay… I handed in my thesis -finally- and I am happy that i finished that one! whoohoo!

bad news about the thesis is that I have to defend it on another date they gave me and that I have to come back earlier from holidays. So i really hate university for the moment, but anyway, I will never have to go there anymore…

 so monday i am leaving to france! only one week (instead of one week and a half) but it will be nice I hope

hello people!

so, I am still alive and kicking!

just to say the next things happened:

-I passed all my exams!!! WOOHOO! now I only have to write this very lovely thesis (uhuh) and than I am finished with uni! forever!

-I am still reading books about cambodia. I had a nightmare from it. brrr….

-THe sisters in cambodia will arrange my visum, i just had to send them things over. that is great, i don’t have to worry about it…

-they also told me i will be living with an italian girl over there. i hope she is nice but probably she will be, because normally i like the kind of people who are volunteering abroad. and it is good that she is new and “western” too.

-I got all my vaccinations! WOOHOO!

so I guess all things are getting sorted out, with every thing that is ok, it is coming so close… sometimes I am not realising it, that it is so close. but in two months and one week I am gone. YAY! I am really looking forward to it, altough i am realising it is a bit scary or maybe it will be a bit difficult but we will see, I am very curious and excited.

Tonight “my boys” are arriving, Ivo and Pierre (with who I lived in dublin last year), Anne (also a girl who was on erasmus last year) arrived yesterday. it is soooo cool seeing them back and we will have a lot of fun . i watched my pictures of Dublin and Ireland this week. I realised I am so lucky. last year in dublin, next year in cambodia. dublin/ireland got a place in my heart, i sometimes still miss it so, and i miss the people too. maybe that is why i am a bit scared too, i will miss next year (maybe and hopefully) again another country, far away this time, and the people over there. It’s weird to get “homesick” when you are home, but I was this year at some points, and maybe I will be again. but anyway, on the other hand I like it so much, and maybe i even like the “homesickness” a bit . I am glad my boys will be here tonight! yay!

have a good time, with a lot of sun and music and beer !

Jo!

Olé, I am still alive after three hospital visits! joehoeeee!!! only one more… I will be happy if it is finished, to be honest!

 Than I want to tell you about this really good book… “First they killed my father”, by Loung Ung. I read it in two days or something, because I really thought it was interesting. Loung Ung was five years old when the problems in Cambodia started… She lived in Phnom Penh, in a good family: they went to school, had a lot of things,… When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung’s family was forced to flee their home and hide their previous life of privilege. This was because the Khmer Rouge didn’t like people had education or any influence (especially not from the west). They wanted the people to be working hard, sharing everything (communisme..), not wearing things like juwels,….  Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans while her other siblings were sent to labor camps. Only after the Vietnamese destroyed the Khmer Rouge were Loung and her surviving siblings slowly reunited. (i cited a few things from her website: http://www.loungung.com/ung_home.php ) A lot of people died or dissapeared during this period…

Besides a part of the history, you get to know a lot of things about the culture: food, clothes, climate…. it’s really interesting. but also the history… i have to say that aweful things happen and that the book is not always very cheerful. well, the history wasn’t. i didn’t know so many things happened in Cambodia. Well, as I was always bad in geography and history, I don’t know a lot of things anyway… and i don’t like to read history books. but i love to read these kind of storys, i will remember much more about it. Altough the history is not really “nice” I am really interested to learn more… A half year ago I didn’t know anything about Cambodia. Not at all.

A bit of coincidence and some curiosity led me to the decision to go to this country. From zero knowledge, I know now a bit more. and I am really excited about learning more…. ofcourse I am afraid sometimes too: other people make their choice to go to a country they were really interested in advance, where they know the language, where they have a lot of knowledge about,…. It feels like I am jumping into the dark. but i like it. But I will try to make it a bit brighter by reading a few books or talking with some people in advance….

Anyway, this is getting way to long and probably not very useful or interesting to read, so I wish you all a good night!

Jo x

aw my arm hurts but i feel much better than last time, no dizzyness and stuff. the nurses were really nice for me and a bit overprotective this time, but anyway, I feel fine, except my arm. It was japanese encefalitis (is this also english?) and rabies (haha, come on dogs, you can bite me now! or maybe not…) today, have to go back twice for these. hurrah!

 ohohoh MY EXAMS ARE FINISHED! HURRAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! the 5th of july I know the results! hopefully also HURRAH

and I cannot drink alcohol today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow because of the japanese encefalitis in my arm. aw.

anyway, i am going to clean my room now! byebye! x

*silly happy dance*

 I just got an email from university that they will give me moneyyyy!!!!!! explanation: there are special scholarshipsthings for students who want to do development co-operation and if you get it, the university will pay a part of your flight, vaccinations,… which is very cool! and i got it! HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH!

 am really happy with that. you see.

 then, other things. well, i have exams! HURRAH! (oh no, that hurrah is still for the money, not for the exams ) no exams are okay, i  hope… and the sun is shining!

no more cambodia news I guess… i emailed a few times with the sisters by who i am going to stay over there, and they seem to be very nice in the emails, so that is good. it is also nice to see that people are actually already visiting this blog!so i feel that i have to write things even if i have nothing to say :):)

anyway, i am going to study a bit and be happy a bit more!

Jo x

aaaaaaaaargghh, I just wrote some thing and than it was gone. boohoo.

but as I wrote… One of the enjoyable things of going to Cambodia (ironic yes) are the stories about diseases, mosquitos, …. and: vaccinations! brrr! anyway, I went to the hospital for the first time today. listened to advice about mosquitos, other scary things,…. and then got three little injections. hurrah! it didn’t hurt, BUT I got a bit dizzy and pale five minutes later. suddenly two nurses and two doctors were standing around me, worrying about me. anyway, I am fine I am fine! feeling quiet good now. but I have to go back another three times. hurrah.

These moments I am wondering: what am I doing? i really must be crazy! but then I think about my motivation, my dreams, the stories of people,… I read some supportmails from people… And I know that even if I am crazy, I like this kind of crazyness (don’t know if that is a word, but I know you understand anyway). It made me happy to see that a lot of people had already a look on this site and I also like your comments.

Hannah, you are really right in your comment, my mum is fantastic. I know she is finding it a bit hard to let me go, but she is helping me really a lot in arranging practical stuff and she is calling people and so on… so everybody should know that!

tomorrow I have a job interview for a summerjob. and thursday another one… I hope I have one of them, especially the one of tomorrow! If there are a lot of good luck vibes, send them my way!

oh, en even iets in het nederlands: jullie mogen altijd jullie beste engels te voorschijn halen, da’s heel leuk, maar het moet natuurlijk niet! ik kan nog steeds nederlands, dus als jullie in het nederlands willen antwoorden, dan mag dat heus wel! alleen als jullie vinden dat iedereen die hier leest het moet begrijpen, dan wel in het engels..

have a lovely evening!

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