Saturday, June 25, 2011
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!
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