And.. We're back

Sooo sorry that I have been out of the loop for the past few days but I have had an incredible time. A brief continuation from my last blog, I was sitting at the bar in my hostel all alone as Brent and Lori had abandoned me for greener pastures when who of all people should walk in but the girl (Chan pronounced 'Jan') I met on the bus up to Chiang Mai! She was excited to run into me when I got back and wanted to know if I wanted to go dancing with her and some of her friends. I had nothing better to do so I got dressed and went. It was a blast! Her friends were other foreigners from NGOs French, English, Australian, and of course Cambodians. We all partied and danced and swapped traveling/working stories and I didn't get home till 4am. I was up and running for surgery 4 hours later. I knew that it was going to be a slow day because we had 4 WWAMI students, 5 Hong Kong students, 2 UK students, and now 6 French surgeons. While everyone sat in frustration in the OR fighting for space I went out and visited with my "patients". My Kamer has really gotten impressive and I can hold and very brief conversation and tell a joke or two. The mood has completely changed for me with regards to the clinic. Dr. Jim is back and he alone has transformed the clinic into a dreadful experience. He barks at everyone, pushes people around, and is a general **shole. Plus there is no way to get near the table with all of these people here and the Cambodian docters/nurses feel bad because I have really built great relationships with all of them and there is nothing any of us can do. So I have cut my days in half and spent the afternoons and nights with Chan. She and I drive around on her scooter (I suck at it) and visit all of Phnom Phen as she introduces me to everyone. We eat at GREAT places, drink the best coffee, and our nights are filled with dancing and more people. She seems to know everyone in this city. She helps me with my Kamer and we discuss Cambodian culture as we sample "Apeen" or fried tarantula. She works for the a national magazine and through her connections with various businesses we continue to eat and drink some of the best Cambodia has to offer. Everyone at the clinic was very sad to see me go on my last day and I hope to come back for a 4th rotation here because this experience has been so incredible.

Saturday Chan and one of her close friends took me out to a rural village were some of her friend's relatives lived. It was Peace Corps all over again. They lived in an extremely poor area but were still SUPER kind and I had an opportunity to sit and chat with two very nice translators. We all laughed and I sampled every home-made...thing that was offered to me. I even got to use the first-aid kit in the car to clean some wounds from a worker who had cut himself out in the field. We all laughed at my attempts to speak Kamer and they all wished me safe travels when I left. I really like the two handed bow here. It is a simple gesture that provokes deep respect. The whole experience was surreal. Tonight was my last night, Chan took me out to get Kabobs and take care of some last minute shopping. We managed to get me to the airport with ALL of my luggage on her scooter which I have to say, she is a CRAZY driver and I am thanking my lucky stars that I will leave Cambodia in tacked. There was a tearful good-bye and I know Chan will be a friend of mine for years to come. So here I sit in the Cambodian International Airport waiting to take my 48 hour trip back to the US. What a BLAST! I have to keep asking myself; can life get any better? I can't wait to see you all and share more of my experiences with you. See you soon!

Return to Phnom Phen

Well I can say beyond a doubt that our trip back, via plane, was much less eventful/stressful. The total time it took us to get back was less than one of our delays via train/bus. Brent and Lori were happy. I must say that I miss my travel buddies, Ben and Matt because they would find the joy and adventure in the process rather than the inconvenience. But we weren't totally without incident. On our way back we arrived in PP and took a tuk tuk to the hostel. It was rush hour and never in my life have I witnessed such chaos. Stop lights here are merely suggestions and right of way in an estranged concept. Anyways, we were going up this hill and our tuk tuk didn't look like it was going to make it. We were laughing about our weight when the torque of the motor scooter acted against it and flipped the driver up into the roof of the front of the tuk tuk and we started a free fall backwards down the hill into on coming traffic. Lori and Brent jumped out and tried to slow the run-away tuk tuk while the driver and I were stuck inside. Luckily we careened into a wall and no one was hurt but we could not stop laughing. This and while we were watching a movie in Chiang Mai the projector wasn't switched over in the middle so the screen went black and we could here the tap-tap-tap of the film in free spin for 5 minutes. It were at those moments when we were reminded to that this is no-where close to the US. Now I am all alone at the hostel. Brent and Lori can afford to stay somewhere nice and so we said good bye and here I am... Stay tuned!

Night Bazaars Jungle Canopies

Last night I went out and came across a HUGE market. Supposedly it was the famous Chiang Mai Weekend night bazaar, there were at least two miles of booths/stands selling all sorts of unique items. There was a stand for eatable bugs, paintings, nicknack's, and much more. I am REALLY low on funds so I only bought one thing all night; it was a hand drawn self portrait. I liked it quiet a bit and it was ridiculously cheap. I had so much fun weaving in and around hordes of people haggling loudly in the street. The air seemed electric with excitement over all of the new and wondrous things from all over the country. I walked for 5 hours and still did not see all of the bazaar.

This morning was a rough wake up. My legs ached a bit from walking all night. We were picked up at our place and driven to the Flight of the Jungle site. It was a very long, and very windy road which had we gone much further I would have lost my breakfast. The canopy course was incredible. I hope the videos come out. The course had 34 platforms 22 ziplines, and 4 drops. The longest zip was 300m and nearly 150m high. It was a thrill. They scariest part was the 40m straight down drop they let us free fall for most of it. It was awesome. Great day!

Elephants and Whitewater rafting

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Well, today was just another amazing day. I awoke from my food coma as the result of last night's amazing feast that we prepared. I made red curry with curry paste that I crushed myself, coconut soup, chicken Pad Thai, and fried banana spring rolls dipped in sweetened condensed milk. It was a blast cooking. Our teacher had the most hilarious laugh. He sounded like and evil cartoon character. Thanks to my mom's cooking genes I did very well and was especially proud of the rose that I made from a tomato as a garnish.

Anyways back to today, I woke up and went to my favorite little spot near our hostel for some Thai tea and more Pad Thai (I am either addicted to it or they spike it with MSG). I love the mornings here because they are quiet and provide excellent time to ponder life and its wonders. Again, I find myself smiling as I reflect back on my life, which has been (so far) and incredible adventure. I had We had to split up today because Lori didn't want to go rafting being pregnant and all, which is understandable so she left to train elephants. Brent and I, on the other hand, REALLY wanted to go rafting. The tour picked us up and two hours later we were riding elephants through the jungle towards our rafts. I was taught how to operate an elephant and led our little train through the jungle. Before, I thought that riding a horse was an ultimate power trip but a 1.5 ton elephant trumps that any day. I sat on his neck and controlled him using my feet on his ears. So cool! Next we reached our rafts and went through the brief instructions. Our boat was the "American" boat with Brent, Brian (a lawyer from Philly), myself, and the guide. We ripped through rapids, careened over waterfalls, dove in and swam through some of the rapids and down the river; all the while splashing and dunking the other boats' patrons. By the end of the trip we were soaked, muddy, exhausted, and grinning ear to ear. Life. Is. Good.

And a very special shout out to my dad! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Thank you for always pushing me to be/do my best. Thank you for all of those wet and freezing nights cheering me on along the sidelines of my soccer games, thanks for sitting through the sweltering heat timing at my swim meets, thanks for all those late nights helping me with my homework and most of all thanks for always being there. I love you very much and hope you have a great Father's Day!

Tigers and Thai Cooking [Take 2]

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What a day! This is hard not to repeat the same stories that I had from last time I went on this adventure but it was a blast. We got a Tuk tuk to the Tiger Kingdom. It was an incredibly funny feeling as I faced the prices $80 to see all of the cats again because I found myself saying. "Well, I will never get another chance to... wait.. this is the second time I will get to do this. It was in that moment that I again found myself in deep appreciation of my family. My mom and dad for giving me all the opportunities in the world. This may sound simple but after living in El Salvador for 3 years I have found the only thing that separates me from any of my poorer farming friends were the opportunities provided to me. Mom, Dad if you are reading this I owe you everything and I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also wouldn't have a clue which direction to go without my trail-blazing sister. Rach you are so amazing and inspiring. Thanks for all of your current and continuing support. And where would I be without my moral compass? Ben I hope to grow someday into the man you currently are. I am truly blessed with the life and family I have.

Anyways back to the Tiger Kingdom. We got tickets to see all of the tigers including the newly born <1 month olds. They were all great! The babies were so cute they were the size of full grown house cats at 1 month and medium dogs at 2-3 months. We saw tigers from babies to small, medium, large, and HUGE. I rubbed their bellies, and laid on top of them. It was a rush. Then we went to a snake farm which was less than fun. They had a snake show which was very impressive and terrifying. They would hurl the snakes out of their boxes and then snag them inches from striking audience members. I had an 80 lbs boa wrapped around my shoulders.

After we got back from Tiger Kingdom we went straight to our Thai cooking class. This one was very nicely set up. I made spicy red curry, coconut soup, pad thai, and banana spring rolls. I am a master Thai chef, even my garnishing flowers came out beautiful! I have loads of pictures and I wish I could write more but I am exhausted and we have elephant riding and whitewater rafting tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Trains, busses, and Shrapnel

Sorry I haven't been writing but we have been traveling for what seems like days. But before we left we had one more day at the clinic. I had already promised the Chinese students that I would give them the OR for the day so I stayed out and helped diagnose patients. Again, I am torn between medicine and surgery. We saw all sorts of illnesses and conditions; cleft palates, broken bones, skin conditions, and more. The most memorable for me was this gentleman who came in asking if we could take out a piece of shrapnel from his tricep. I asked him were he got it and he explained that it came from one of the US bombs dropped in 1973. He preceded to explain what had happened and how he'd lost several close friends in the explosion. He was not angry towards me, which surprised me. He explained that they were political bombs and also that he had witnessed the US apologize for “acting foolishly”. We continued with the examination and once we scheduled him for surgery he started asking if we could remove all of the other shrapnel too. He had 15 pieces in total throughout his body! I felt embarrassed and angry towards my country's foreign policies which were compounded by by some of the books I have picked up recently. Don't get me wrong, I understand why we do/did what we do/did but it still sucks. The worst part of this current line of thinking is that there are few if any solutions... I need to get new material to read.

So we began our trek towards Ching Mai via bus. Last night we drove to Siem Reap, it was a long 6 hours on a very bumpy road but we made it and stayed at Siem Reap Guesthouse which is one of our favorites. Though I met a very cute Cambodian girl on the bus and we chatted most of the way and she promised to show me around Phnom Phen when I get back. She emailed me today and asked if I wanted to be her date to a traditional Cambodian wedding too! I am excited to see Cambodia through a local's eyes. This morning we got up early to be picked up to be brought to the bus. We waited 1.5 hours for the bus (#1 stop/wait), then 1 hour later we stopped at restaurant (#2), then we hit the border were it was hot, humid, and filled with confusingly long lines. We made it through reasonably unscathed and waited on the other side to be picked up 2 hours (#3). Finally, they came to pick us up but it was a sh***y van to take us to the “bus”. But instead it took us to another restaurant for an hour (#4). We had now officially been waiting longer than traveling on a bus. Ugh..

On our last bus I met a gorgeous Brazilian woman traveling with her husband and we chatted most of the way to Bangkok, they gave me some great places to visit when I go to Brazil. I think I may try to get down there for the World Cup or Olympics!

As we passed through the streets of Bangkok I was in awe by how much the city has grown in one year. There are skyscrapers popping up all over like flowers during springtime. The infrastructure here is starkly different from that of Cambodia, the streets are cleaner, the prices are higher, and things are organized. We finally exited that cursed “bus” and took an overpriced taxi to the train station. It was busy and we purchased 1^st class tickets on the next overnight train to Ching Mia (on which I am writing to you now). The 1^st class train is nice, we may even get some sleep tonight. I can't wait to be petting tigers, whitewater rafting, and riding elephants again.

Well, our train was 4 hours late arriving into Ching Mai but that was fine because our beds were very comfortable. It wasn't too hot either so we just relaxed and planned our next week! Pictures soon!

Humbled..

Today was a fantastic day in the clinic. we got there early and I made the rounds saying "good morning" and "how are you" to all of my patients and the staff. Everyone is really warming up to me. We only had 5 surgeries scheduled but I ended up working on the two longest and most challenging. But before that I started with my favorite anesthesiologist I had been 3 for 3 on IVs and today my batting average was shot to hell. I must admit I was feeling cocky and asked to put an IV in a 1.5-year-old. Don't worry! They were asleep when I tried. I missed and but got it on the second try, then I attempted to place another in a man with "shifty" veins. I would insert the needle directly over the vein and then it would roll off to the side. I poked him 4 times before someone else tried. Then, I told the doctor that I wanted to intubate again, he brought me over to a 3-year-old and I could not for the life of me find her vocal cords (its that damn tongue that I can't seem to get out of my way). After an unsuccessful attempt he let me try on an adult. I could not get the tube in and felt terrible until he himself couldn't. All of the morning surgeries went off without a hitch and I was scheduled to scrub in with the chief of surgery in the afternoon.

Over lunch one of the Chinese medical students asked if I wanted to help her teach some of the kids, in the pediatric ward, origami. I leaped at the chance and we strode in and had a blast with the kids. The one in this picture still has my first sutures! We gave him a neck and it looks great! Soon the all of the other family members were standing around and laughing with all of the kids as they threw their new paper airplanes (the only origami I know) at me in a collaborative attack.

This afternoon was one of the scariest I can remember. We started with a humorus repair that got ugly because this patient had had 3 surgeries in the same location prior. Though the chief was always in good spirits and kept asking us (the Chinese medical student and I) if we agreed with what he was doing. The surgery was fascinating and time flew by (2 hours). Once the pins were set he began suturing the muscle and asking us if we knew how to suture. I said that I have done the skin quite a bit and the other med student hadn't done any so far. Once he finished the muscle and started the subcutaneous layer he asked if I had seen that type of suture before, which I had. "Ok! You finish now. One here, here, and here (indicating only 5 more until i could close the skin)". Then he stood up took of his gloves and gown and left! Only the nurse, an anesthesiologist, a young Chinese med student, and I were left in the OR. Of course as soon as he left I drew a blank as to how to do a continuous subcutaneous suture, so suture a layer of simple broken ones. But I didn't draw the skin close enough so I added another line of subcutaneous stitches, still no success. By this time the anesthesiologist told me I had 20 mins before the patient would wake up and all of the other Chinese medical students had wondered into the OR and were all watching me like sports announcers. On the third try I stitched more superficially and FINALLY the top layer came roughly together. Because the base stitches were terrible the skin was not perfectly lined up like I was used to so this made my "easy" skin sutures tumultuous. They looked God awful and I was in shaky panic mode the whole time but I finished. Sure it was 4 minutes before the patient woke up, 3 minutes before the chief walked back in wondering where I was, two minutes before the nurse was about to take over, and minute before I passed out from panic. As the title suggested, I was/am humbled. But what a day!

Singing in the rain

Today was a bit lacking in luster. There was major traffic getting to the clinic because a body had washed up under th bridge we took. We only had 4 surgeries on the board and I opted out of them because again we were crowded (new med student from UK). I observed the consultation doctors for a while and saw some tragic cases come in. One case was this little 5 kg (~10lbs) girl with a bilateral cleft lip/palate. She was so tiny and cute but after looking at her chart I noted something strange. She was 2 years old!! Even by Cambodian standards that is way too small. In fact, the doctor asked the mother several times if she was actually that age. Another gentleman came in that had be burned severely by acid, his chin had melted to his chest, his teeth were severely miss aligned, he had no ears or eye lids. His eyes bugged out from his skull and looked sickly dry. He had been burned in 1994. I almost could not bare to look at him... I can't imagine anything more tragic than his situation. After sending him to a special consultation the doctors took me to lunch. Later, after waiting around for several hours I gave my presentation to the entire staff on Spondylolisthesis. It sound horrifically boring (I know). Most of the other presentations have been huge failures in attempting to hold the attention of the Cambodian medical staff here. It is something I am very acquainted with; while in the Peace Corps, Spanish speaking presenters were nearly impossible to follow let alone they weren't using large medical terminology. But, I had a secret weapon (other than my passion to teach) I opened with a game of siamon-says and offered chocolate (the expensive kind) as prizes. I had the whole staff stand up, doctors and secretaries, and tested their English listening skills. It was a HUGE success. Dr. Lang won the first round and his eyes lit up at the sight of his chocolate prize. Everyone was laughing and energized for my presentation which followed. Again I find my self with a unique ability to captivate any audience but severely lacking in sufficient intellect to pass on valid information. I would make a great career in politics. Two of the Chinese students followed me to the grumblings of a tired staff. What their presentations lacked in vigor it certainly made up for in purposeful content. One presentation was on Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms and the other was on a new-ish surgical technique used to approach the nasopharynx to remove cancer the "maxillary swing". It had started raining during our presentations and flooded the area around the clinic (see video). Sorry about no photos of the presentation but I was using Brent as an example so he forgot to take pictures :(

Dancing and Kickboxing

Sorry again, the weekends here are quite slow. Though this weekend had some highlights. My goal was to get as much sleep as possible so both days I didn't leave my bed till at least 8am. Saturday was a bit boring as we spent most of the time at our hostel reading and lounging around the pool. I had new roommates that all seemed very fun and I invited them to go watch kickboxing with Brent and I. Unfortunately, we were given the wrong time and we showed up 5mins before the end of the last fight. Bummed about missing the fight we returned to the hostel and they invited me to go out dancing with them. So we drank and got to know each other at the hostel then ventured out and bar hopped all night. I had a blast and gained some great intel on where/where not to go in SE Asia. Finishing the night at 3am everyone slept in the next morning until nearly noon. My only plan for the day was to go watch kickboxing. Brent and Lori rented a scooter and tried to find the zoo but returned bloody and scraped up from a moto accident near a construction site. Don worry, Lori (and baby) are ok, apparently she landed/surfed on Brent and sustained minor scrapes. After laughing with them about it Brent and I took off for kickboxing. There were a ton of people and everyone was shouting bets in a pure chaotic manner. I liked the opening ceremonies for each match. The boxers would go through a preyer routine and then thank the crowd, ref, and each other before going at it. There was much more grappling than I originally thought but it was amateur night. It was quite fun and being a whole head taller than everyone here helped us get a great view.
We only have a few more days left at the clinic and then we head off to Thailand. I can't wait! I don't know why the comments section is not working for some of you.. I tried it and it worked just fine. Stay tuned!

Surgeries

Well today was another fun day at the office. Most of the surgeons are really opening up to me and I am learning a ton! I am terrified of needles and yet the Anesthesiologist is having me start every IV, Dr. Vutah and Dr. Money the orthopedic/general surgeons are asking me if I would like to scrub in on most of their interesting cases. I think the Chinese students are growing envious because they keep asking me when I will be leaving. The patients here also are getting a kick out of me trying my Kamer and giving everyone I see the thumbs up. I can now introduce myself and ask for their names. I have also be having some repeat customers, the Buddhist monk who I put a traction pin through his leg was back on my table again to see if we could fix his broken hip. Unfortunately we weren't able to slip the prosthetic femoral head back into his acetabulum so we re-sutured him and ordered more traction. I also assisted in repairing someone's broken tibia, now they will be able to walk! In total I was in surgery for 6 hours today (4 surgeries)! I am loving this, although when I am not at the clinic there is NOTHING to do. Brent and Lori are nice but not the going out type so we are a bit limited as to what we can do. Hope you all are enjoying this blog!

My first intubations!!!

What a day! We had 13 surgeries today and everyone was moving. I decided to give the Chinese students some space and surgeries so I followed the supervising anesthesiologist. He has a sort of scowl on his face so I thought the day would be dull but I was dead wrong. He turned out to be a great teacher! First he explained the finner points of intubation and told me that I would get to try one soon, then he let me push medication into an infant's IV to reverse the paralyzing effects of a minor over dose of anesthesia medication. The baby started to breath better right away, it felt like I saved his life. Then we went back into the OR and he started explaining how the very young and the elderly are the most challenging to intubate and as he did this he had me holding a mask over an 11-year-old boy's mouth slowly putting him to sleep. Next thing I new he handed me the laryngescope and told me to go for it. Of course everyone (the med students) heard him say this and came over to watch me. I fumbled a bit and he helped me find the right position to hold the mouth open and then I saw what looked like vocal cords and I inserted the tube. Then I listened for breath sounds... I didn't hit the stomach! After that I assisted in removing the boy's extra thumbs and got to close on one of his hands all by myself! Next I was asked to intubate an adult. He was a large man and I could see all the way to the bottom of his lungs so getting the tube in was a little easier this time. He was an ORIF (Open Reduction Internal Fracture) case. We tore into his forearm like a bull in a china shop with blood squirting left and right, his hand twitching with ever little tug and cauterizing shock, we crushed, cut, and manipulated bones, the we hammered and drilled in pins and screws...OH! It was so fun. I am now leaning towards orthopedics! I think the docs like working with me because I keep getting picked to assist in the elaborate cases. I will try to post pics soon!

Ups and Downs

This trip feels a bit like a roller-coaster ride; first, this morning my iTouch was destroyed. It fell out of my pocket while we were tuk tuking to work. That really sucked. I nearly fainted in surgery today too. I don't know why, but I think if may have something to do with my rough night of mal de caca. I was helping hold a factured patella together when I became suddenly flushed and dizzy. I have only ever fainted once before so now I recognize the warning signs. I sat down at first and when that didn't help I scrubbed out and re-hydrated. It was embarrassing but not nearly as bad as if I actually fainted. We are having a blast with the local staff here. All of us are joking and teasing one another. It feels great! I also got to drill through another man's knee today and I am still pursuing how to intubate. We got home at the height of the day's heat so I took a siesta in my A/Ced room. When I awoke I went for dinner at the diner adjacent to our hostel and there was a crowd of Cambodians there all shouting at two small TVs showing some Thai kick-boxing. One of the guys at my table was our tuk tuk driver and he filled me in on the fight and the ever changing bet/gambling odds that were being shouted back and forth across the diner. It was fun and I bet $1 a blue fighter and lost; immediately after, many of the "guys" came over to enlighten me as to the finer points of picking the better fighter. I bought them some beers and called it a night. We are pulling our plans together for Thailand and I can't wait!

Frolicking in Wat?

We slept in today which will never get old. It was about midday before we headed out which was our first mistake. Siem Reap in the middle of the day is ridiculously hot. We ended up wasting time till the afternoon when our favorite tuk tuk guy came to pick us up for our final venture into the park. Today we started in the afternoon because we wanted it to gradually cool off rather than heat up. We returned to Angkor Wat and this time we were able to go all the way up to the top! According to the books the top level of Angkor Wat is heaven, which means I went to heaven and back! It was beautiful. Next we went off to Ta Pron temple (otherwise known as the Tomb Raider temple) close to closing so we were the last to get in and had the WHOLE temple to ourselves. It was amazing! We went picture crazy and climbed all over everything ran from collapsing walls (see photos), and just had the time of our lives. I am definitely putting this place in my top 10 most beautiful places I have ever seen. Tonight we had designated for souvenir shopping so we when to the night market and bought art. I'll admit, I bought too much but the prices were so cheap! I bought seven paintings for $70. I hope everyone likes them and I hope to put them up in my house or sell them when I get back. Tomorrow we go back to Phnom Phen and though I am excited for the clinic I dread returning to the Phen.

Angkor What?

So last night was fun we ended up walking through the mini-night market and getting a fish massage. That is when you put your bare feet into a giant fish tank and have all the fish eat the dead skin off of your feet. It is impossible to imagine how bad it tickles the first few minutes that your feet are in the water. But after a while things settle down. Today we went back to the park and viewed the rest of the temples. They are simply mind-blowing (enough so, as to keep us out in sweltering weather). We returned for a quick siesta then out to the real night market where we had some blind Cambodians give us massages, super cheap! All in all it was a great day.

Angkor Wat

This has been an interesting day; Lori wanted to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat so we started out at 5am. There were few tuk tuks around and the one we found was interesting. At first I could barely understand his English but we communicated that we needed to go to the ticket booth. He first struggled to get the bike started then whipped a quick 180 degrees and slammed into the back of the only other vehicle on the road... He was drunk. Luckily we only had a little ways to go and tuk tuks don't go very fast but it was a thrill none the less. Angkor Wat is impressive, though because we are here in the off season there is a lot of reconstruction happening and many of the areas are closed off. Since we left so early we forgot to get a tuk tuk to take us around the park (not hiring Mr. Drunky McDrunk). So we started to walk but the park is 70 km. Though in the morning there was such an elegant mist hanging over the moat and temples. There were only a few other tourists out and no one wanted to disturb the peaceful serenity of the park so it was dead quiet except for the sounds of the surrounding jungle. After seeing a few temples and filming some monkeys we started to walk down the next road and after about 3 km we found ourselves in the middle of no where with a miles of empty road ahead. Luckily we managed to flag down a tuk tuk. He was super nice and offered his services all day for $5 a person. We took the deal. You'll have to see all the pictures or go yourself to get a good idea of what this place is like. Majestic. Lunch was a touch expensive but their handmade yellow curry was great! We attempted to walk around after lunch with it being 100 degrees and didn't last too long so we returned to the hostel for an afternoon siesta. When we awoke we returned to the park to watch the sunset from the highest temple.. it was great! I'm off the night market now to have a fish massage, and try some local foods...

See it, do it, teach it... or something like that

We are reaching our limit of Phnom Phen. The clinic is super exciting but the city's glory has come and gone. Luckily tomorrow we are off to Ankgor Wat. I hope to take tons of pictures. Today in the clinic we were the old dogs. The Hong Kong students are feeling out the surgery schedule and we are helping them as much as we can but there are so many that now its a bit of a competition to get surgeries. Today after having less than two weeks of suturing under my belt I was teaching some of the new med students how to suture. It was fun. I participated in only 5 surgeries today but the bid one came at the end. We were going to reset and implant a prosthetic left hip. The surgery was bloody and wild and it turned out that there was too much tension on his leg to finish so he needed traction. The doctor asked me "You do traction before?" to which I replied "nope". While starting to take off his sterile gown, "Very easy, I talk you through." And at that moment the scrub nurse handed me a power drill. Unfortunately neither Brent nor Lori were in the OR to photo this because it was AWESOME. Dr. Nuuve? explained where to find the drill site (we needed to drill a pin through his leg just below his knee). "Drill!" and so I drove a 12" long pin through a man's leg! I was stoked and told Dr. Nuuve if he ever needed a handyman again to call me. Afterwards I chatted up and got a few laughs from the nursing staff and the patient in the recovery ward. I figured out why I love medicine here so much; its because physician's are appreciated. From the children, to the staff, everyone is just happy to receive care. I already feel like medicine back in the states is going to be hard for me. See you in Angkor Wat! Ps - found the last Glee.....