A side of the house where we had the clinic, showed "The Hope" and slept.
Water buffalo!
Monday, March 16, 2009
In the first village we had a mobile clinic at... Dr. Mary is seeing the first patient, the first man on the left. There's not really any sense of privacy
When it started getting dark like it was going to rain
Some of the women waiting to be seen. Right after I took the picture, the one on the left put her head in between her legs and plugged her ears, because she thought the flash was lightening. (It had been thundering for quite a while already, and she was preparing for a biiig thunderclap).
Sorry this pic is so bad! This is where we slept- the front is open, like a porch. You can see the mosquito nets hanging on the far wall. Ours happened to have a big hole in one side (the one on the far right), but we tied it up with an extra hair rubber band that I had.
I actually had to re-read my last post to see what the last thing I wrote about was. Needless to say, a lot has happened since then.
-Andrew and Hubert weren't able to make it all the way to the village that they initially wanted to go to, because the roads were too bad. They were, however, able to set a date for a mobile clinic in one of the villages along the way. The date was set for March 13th, and on the morning of, Hubert, Mary, Andrew, Lalin and I set off in the car. The trip... well, imagine that you're on a bucking bronco for 3-4 hours- that's how it felt in the car. The road was terrible, but at least it was dry. If it had been slippery and muddy as well, there's no way we would've made it to our destination.
When we got to Araing, the last large village before the one we wanted to go to, we stopped to speak to the village chief who then asked us to come and do a mobile clinic there. We agreed to come the next morning, and then left for the next village after buying some cookies and soft drinks at the store. We got to the village and decided to eat lunch before setting up shop.
About an hour or two after we started the clinic, dark clouds began to roll in. There was absolutely no doubt that it was going to rain soon, and even though none of us said anything about it, we were all worried that we wouldn't be able to make it home on the roads the next day.
Sure enough, a little while before we finished seeing the last patient, it started to rain... When we were done, Mary and I neede to use the bathroom... but there was one problem- every time we asked anybody where a bathroom was, they gave us a blank stare.
Bathroom? What was a bathroom?
Ok, so we tried asking if there was an outhouse...
Outhouse? There's grass over there.... Woods over there..
Allrighty... So there we were, wandering around in the rain, trying to find a place in the woods to "use the bathroom". It really wasn't as bad as it sounds. We had grabbed some ponchos from the car before we went hunting for a good spot, so we didn't get soaked.
More to come...
-Andrew and Hubert weren't able to make it all the way to the village that they initially wanted to go to, because the roads were too bad. They were, however, able to set a date for a mobile clinic in one of the villages along the way. The date was set for March 13th, and on the morning of, Hubert, Mary, Andrew, Lalin and I set off in the car. The trip... well, imagine that you're on a bucking bronco for 3-4 hours- that's how it felt in the car. The road was terrible, but at least it was dry. If it had been slippery and muddy as well, there's no way we would've made it to our destination.
When we got to Araing, the last large village before the one we wanted to go to, we stopped to speak to the village chief who then asked us to come and do a mobile clinic there. We agreed to come the next morning, and then left for the next village after buying some cookies and soft drinks at the store. We got to the village and decided to eat lunch before setting up shop.
About an hour or two after we started the clinic, dark clouds began to roll in. There was absolutely no doubt that it was going to rain soon, and even though none of us said anything about it, we were all worried that we wouldn't be able to make it home on the roads the next day.
Sure enough, a little while before we finished seeing the last patient, it started to rain... When we were done, Mary and I neede to use the bathroom... but there was one problem- every time we asked anybody where a bathroom was, they gave us a blank stare.
Bathroom? What was a bathroom?
Ok, so we tried asking if there was an outhouse...
Outhouse? There's grass over there.... Woods over there..
Allrighty... So there we were, wandering around in the rain, trying to find a place in the woods to "use the bathroom". It really wasn't as bad as it sounds. We had grabbed some ponchos from the car before we went hunting for a good spot, so we didn't get soaked.
More to come...
Friday, March 6, 2009
SO!
We're here in Koh Kong...
My laptop isn't working anymore, so we're using the Broeckert's computer whenever we can to email, update this, etc. In other words, if you don't hear from us for a while, it's not because we're trying to ignore you; it's just because we have limited time online.
So as I was saying
Tomorrow Andrew and Hubert Broeckert will be taking a 6-hour trip on a motorcycle out to a village that's in the middle of nowhere at the end of a dirt road that's in terrible condition. If they find that the road is in good enough condition to take a car on, Mary, Hubert, Andrew and I will head out there next weekend to do a mobile clinic. The main goal is just to make contact with the people out there, and hopefully to set up weekly meetings.
While they're out being rugged and all, I will be going over to Neeta's house. She's a girl that's in one of Hubert's English classes the I go to sometimes to help teach. It'll be interesting, because her English isn't that good and my Khmer is.... eh.... well, I wouldn't want to be stranded alone anywhere. There's another girl in that class that wants to take me to her house. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun, but I have to admit that I feel slightly apprehensive due to the language barrier.
I'll also be taking the stitches out of the elbow of a girl that was in a moto accident last week. We've been doing home visits with her for a full week now, and she's improving really well-- no broken bones or serious injuries, just some superficial wounds that we've been dressing and a few stitches here and there.
The hospital's been interesting- everything from MVAs to children with nephrotic syndrome to TB, AIDS, etc..... There's one doctor in particular that seems to enjoy teaching me about whatever I want to know. I told him earlier this week that I would like to learn more about TB, and yesterday he pulled Andrew and me into his office, got a whiteboard, and did a full hour and a half lecture on TB, showing us old X-rays, stats, etc. It really amazes me just how willing almost all of the staff are to teach me whatever they know.
Some of you have asked about the mosquitoes. I finally decided that the best idea would be to wear full-length pants at all times. It's helped a lot, even though I still get bitten every now and then.
Well, that's all for now! I'll try to get more pictures soon- it just takes a really,really long time to upload them!
We're here in Koh Kong...
My laptop isn't working anymore, so we're using the Broeckert's computer whenever we can to email, update this, etc. In other words, if you don't hear from us for a while, it's not because we're trying to ignore you; it's just because we have limited time online.
So as I was saying
Tomorrow Andrew and Hubert Broeckert will be taking a 6-hour trip on a motorcycle out to a village that's in the middle of nowhere at the end of a dirt road that's in terrible condition. If they find that the road is in good enough condition to take a car on, Mary, Hubert, Andrew and I will head out there next weekend to do a mobile clinic. The main goal is just to make contact with the people out there, and hopefully to set up weekly meetings.
While they're out being rugged and all, I will be going over to Neeta's house. She's a girl that's in one of Hubert's English classes the I go to sometimes to help teach. It'll be interesting, because her English isn't that good and my Khmer is.... eh.... well, I wouldn't want to be stranded alone anywhere. There's another girl in that class that wants to take me to her house. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun, but I have to admit that I feel slightly apprehensive due to the language barrier.
I'll also be taking the stitches out of the elbow of a girl that was in a moto accident last week. We've been doing home visits with her for a full week now, and she's improving really well-- no broken bones or serious injuries, just some superficial wounds that we've been dressing and a few stitches here and there.
The hospital's been interesting- everything from MVAs to children with nephrotic syndrome to TB, AIDS, etc..... There's one doctor in particular that seems to enjoy teaching me about whatever I want to know. I told him earlier this week that I would like to learn more about TB, and yesterday he pulled Andrew and me into his office, got a whiteboard, and did a full hour and a half lecture on TB, showing us old X-rays, stats, etc. It really amazes me just how willing almost all of the staff are to teach me whatever they know.
Some of you have asked about the mosquitoes. I finally decided that the best idea would be to wear full-length pants at all times. It's helped a lot, even though I still get bitten every now and then.
Well, that's all for now! I'll try to get more pictures soon- it just takes a really,really long time to upload them!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Pictures from Phnom Penh
Selling coconuts
Cells in Tuol Sleng
Cells in Tuol Sleng
Group excercize at the Olympic Stadium! It's kind of funny because the exercize leaders are skinny young guys in jeans and a wifebeater(tank top), and they have massive "classes" of women.
Birds-eye view of Phnom Penh
In Phnom Penh
Sorry I haven't written in a while! We came back to Koh Kong from Phnom Penh Last Monday. While in Phnom Penh we taught English at a local private school for two hours each evening, Monday-Saturday. It was quite the experience, because we never knew which classes we'd be sent to teach until we were led to the classroom full of waiting students. Sometimes there would be a teacher there already, sometimes not. The level of English that the students spoke/understood varied from class to class: in some classes you could engage in a conversation about the differences in Cambodian universities and American universities, while in other classes you'd be met with blank stares after asking them to tell you their names... you can imagine how difficult it was to try to prepare for the next day's classes. Either way, almost all of the teachers we worked with were very nice, and the students were excited to learn from us. I think that Andrew took to it more than I did, although he became notorious for being very hard on pronunciation!
In the mornings we would help homeschool the two eldest Freeze children (we stayed with the Freezes, the same family that we initially stayed with right after we arrived in Cambodia). Andrew taught 7-year-old Luke science and history, while I taught 10-yr-old Abby science and sometimes history & reading. I had a lot of fun with that, especially because Abby was just learning how to use a microscope... we would hunt for different things to look at and compare-stuff I could do all day long. We did have a slight disaster when trying to make petri dish base tho.... long story. :-)
Michael Freeze took the time out to teach us his way of remembering and telling Bible stories, which was really fun because it includes making up a lot of hand gestures... He also gave us a "workshop" on their philosophy of how to best work with the Khmer, based on their experiences. It was really interesting because their culture simply isn't what we're used to as Americans--if you want to know more, feel free to ask.
We made a few trips to the Russian Market--> huge tourist attraction. All the souveniers you could ever want are all around you...you just have to make sure to bargain for a good price. Andrew and I were looking at a small wooden boat once, and the seller first told us that it was $10. "Ten dollars, good price just for you!" We honestly weren't interested in buying it, but since we kept looking at it she kept lowering the price.... $8...... $6..... finally we walked away, and she yelled "ok, two dollars!"
The only problem with the market is that after about 10AM the heat becomes unbearable. The aisles are only about two feet wide to begin with, and it's all in one huge low-slung building. The later it gets, the hotter it is outside, and the more people come to shop.
One place we visited was Tuol Sleng, the Genocide museum. It's a school that was turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. I cannot explain what it was like to pass by rows and rows of pictures of children, all which were killed. There were rooms with the torture instruments in them, cells that you could walk through... I felt sick to my stomach after about fifteen minutes, but I felt compelled to continue looking and walking around.
We had plans to visit Angkor Wat, but Andrew got sick and was running a fever the morning we were going to leave. We decided to try visiting a few days before we leave Cambodia instead.
In the mornings we would help homeschool the two eldest Freeze children (we stayed with the Freezes, the same family that we initially stayed with right after we arrived in Cambodia). Andrew taught 7-year-old Luke science and history, while I taught 10-yr-old Abby science and sometimes history & reading. I had a lot of fun with that, especially because Abby was just learning how to use a microscope... we would hunt for different things to look at and compare-stuff I could do all day long. We did have a slight disaster when trying to make petri dish base tho.... long story. :-)
Michael Freeze took the time out to teach us his way of remembering and telling Bible stories, which was really fun because it includes making up a lot of hand gestures... He also gave us a "workshop" on their philosophy of how to best work with the Khmer, based on their experiences. It was really interesting because their culture simply isn't what we're used to as Americans--if you want to know more, feel free to ask.
We made a few trips to the Russian Market--> huge tourist attraction. All the souveniers you could ever want are all around you...you just have to make sure to bargain for a good price. Andrew and I were looking at a small wooden boat once, and the seller first told us that it was $10. "Ten dollars, good price just for you!" We honestly weren't interested in buying it, but since we kept looking at it she kept lowering the price.... $8...... $6..... finally we walked away, and she yelled "ok, two dollars!"
The only problem with the market is that after about 10AM the heat becomes unbearable. The aisles are only about two feet wide to begin with, and it's all in one huge low-slung building. The later it gets, the hotter it is outside, and the more people come to shop.
One place we visited was Tuol Sleng, the Genocide museum. It's a school that was turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. I cannot explain what it was like to pass by rows and rows of pictures of children, all which were killed. There were rooms with the torture instruments in them, cells that you could walk through... I felt sick to my stomach after about fifteen minutes, but I felt compelled to continue looking and walking around.
We had plans to visit Angkor Wat, but Andrew got sick and was running a fever the morning we were going to leave. We decided to try visiting a few days before we leave Cambodia instead.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Various Random Thoughts
A word/rant on mosquitoes
The mosquitoes in Cambodia decided from the minute I got off the plane that I was the best thing since sliced cheese. "Mind over matter," I keep telling myself, "pretend your legs don't itch. The itch is not there... the itch is not there..." And then all of a sudden I can't resist the urge to give the bites on each leg one "last" vicious scratch.
"Not to worry," I told myself the first few days we arrived in Cambodia- the mosquitoes where we are don't carry malaria- but a few days later when we met Dr. Mary, one of the first things she said was, "We dont like mosquitoe bites here! They don't carry malaria, but you can get Dengue Fever!"
Ahhhhh. Then began the days of fearfully watching the blotches on my legs, waiting to get the dreaded Dengue Fever, although I had no clue as to what the Dengue fever entailed (just the name was scary enough...) and spraying my legs with copious amounts of OFF (and nearly choking Andrew to death with the fumes) before stepping foot outside.
I finally got over my irrational fear of thinking that every new bite was going to result in sickness, and even came close to getting over my, erm.... intense dislike of mosquitoes--until this week!
It all started when I forgot to spray my legs with OFF before going to teach English one evening. The school doesn't specialize in doors and windows that stay closed, so needless to say, the mosquitoes saw the opportunity to snack on my legs, and the took full advantage of it.
Then Andrew and I borrowed the Freeze's car to go to the pharmacy this morning, and as soon as the engine turned on, tons of mosquitoes flew through the vents and into the car. It was as if they decided to use the engine as an elite mosquitoe hotel... and it was the only hotel open for miles that night.
Oh well.
A word on open sewers
You cannot understand what the sewers are like until you can smell them. They stretch out over several blocks, sometimes with houses on either side, only feet away from the water. The "water" is really a dark black sludge that stays stagnant and is constantly bubbling at the surface, with plastic bags, bottles, and other types of garbage floating, but not moving, as if they are stuck in place. It goes without saying that all types of flies and mosquitoes make it their home, and those that live along its edges tend to be afflicted with boils and other illnesses.
And yet it's a normal part of life.
We walked to a market that is relatively close to the Freeze's house today. The road seemed to be composed half of plastic bags and half of rocky, dusty dirt. At one point we had to cross a footbridge over a sewer-like swamp. A house was built at its edge, half over the "water" and half over dry land, with stilts holding it up over both the swampy and dry portion. Underneath the house there was collected what had to have been years of garbage, and behind the house it was impossible to see the dirt due to the sheer number of plastic bags that covered the ground. All of a sudden a rooster emerged from a pile of bags, tossing them this way and that to clear a path for himself.
I just wish I could capture the smell for you...
A word on teaching English
...coming soon
The mosquitoes in Cambodia decided from the minute I got off the plane that I was the best thing since sliced cheese. "Mind over matter," I keep telling myself, "pretend your legs don't itch. The itch is not there... the itch is not there..." And then all of a sudden I can't resist the urge to give the bites on each leg one "last" vicious scratch.
"Not to worry," I told myself the first few days we arrived in Cambodia- the mosquitoes where we are don't carry malaria- but a few days later when we met Dr. Mary, one of the first things she said was, "We dont like mosquitoe bites here! They don't carry malaria, but you can get Dengue Fever!"
Ahhhhh. Then began the days of fearfully watching the blotches on my legs, waiting to get the dreaded Dengue Fever, although I had no clue as to what the Dengue fever entailed (just the name was scary enough...) and spraying my legs with copious amounts of OFF (and nearly choking Andrew to death with the fumes) before stepping foot outside.
I finally got over my irrational fear of thinking that every new bite was going to result in sickness, and even came close to getting over my, erm.... intense dislike of mosquitoes--until this week!
It all started when I forgot to spray my legs with OFF before going to teach English one evening. The school doesn't specialize in doors and windows that stay closed, so needless to say, the mosquitoes saw the opportunity to snack on my legs, and the took full advantage of it.
Then Andrew and I borrowed the Freeze's car to go to the pharmacy this morning, and as soon as the engine turned on, tons of mosquitoes flew through the vents and into the car. It was as if they decided to use the engine as an elite mosquitoe hotel... and it was the only hotel open for miles that night.
Oh well.
A word on open sewers
You cannot understand what the sewers are like until you can smell them. They stretch out over several blocks, sometimes with houses on either side, only feet away from the water. The "water" is really a dark black sludge that stays stagnant and is constantly bubbling at the surface, with plastic bags, bottles, and other types of garbage floating, but not moving, as if they are stuck in place. It goes without saying that all types of flies and mosquitoes make it their home, and those that live along its edges tend to be afflicted with boils and other illnesses.
And yet it's a normal part of life.
We walked to a market that is relatively close to the Freeze's house today. The road seemed to be composed half of plastic bags and half of rocky, dusty dirt. At one point we had to cross a footbridge over a sewer-like swamp. A house was built at its edge, half over the "water" and half over dry land, with stilts holding it up over both the swampy and dry portion. Underneath the house there was collected what had to have been years of garbage, and behind the house it was impossible to see the dirt due to the sheer number of plastic bags that covered the ground. All of a sudden a rooster emerged from a pile of bags, tossing them this way and that to clear a path for himself.
I just wish I could capture the smell for you...
A word on teaching English
...coming soon
Pic#1: Empty hospital ward. Most of the people prefer to sleep on the wooden slats, but they do have a mattress or two in reserve, just in case somebody wants one. Either way, the softest bed in Cambodia is probably the hardest bed in the States.
Pic#2: Outside of a market in Phnom Penh...busy, anybody?
Pic#3: On the last day that the Petersons were in Koh Kong, the director of the hospital invited the staff to a restaurant for a goodbye dinner. ...that fish was really good. Us westerners were sitting at one half of the table, sharing a fish, and the Cambodian doctors were sitting at the other half of the table. It wasn't long before one of them asked for the head of our fish, which is considered the best part.
(All of these pics are complements of the Petersons)
Pic#2: Outside of a market in Phnom Penh...busy, anybody?
Pic#3: On the last day that the Petersons were in Koh Kong, the director of the hospital invited the staff to a restaurant for a goodbye dinner. ...that fish was really good. Us westerners were sitting at one half of the table, sharing a fish, and the Cambodian doctors were sitting at the other half of the table. It wasn't long before one of them asked for the head of our fish, which is considered the best part.
(All of these pics are complements of the Petersons)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Week Three!
It’s been a while since the last posting! Time is flying!!!
-I got accepted to Case Western Reserve Med School (!!!!!)… but as of now, and unless Case offers us a huge scholarship, we’ll still be going to Penn State. Anyway, that’s enough of non-Cambodia things J
-Dr. Peterson was able to perform seven surgeries last week, and Andrew and I were allowed to observe all of them. The docs allowed me to scrub up on the last surgery and assist some! It was a great experience and Dr. Peterson even took the time to teach me how to put some sutures in… it felt like I was all thumbs, but it was really exciting. Unfortunately, Andrew left the OR before I started suturing, so he didn’t get a picture of it.
On Thursday night the director took all of us and the hospital staff out to a restaurant for a goodbye dinner for Dr. Peterson. The food was amazing! I really think I could live off of [most of] Cambodian food for the rest of my life… except for Kwat/Quat. One day the girls brought this fruit that they kept calling “Food Fruit,” or Kwat over for me to try. I can’t even begin to explain what it was like… it was round, about the size of an orange, and the outside was scaly like peeling sunburn, with a greyish-green color. The outside, which is inedible, has to be hacked off, leaving only the solid, dry, white inside. It’s a little crunchy, and the taste is somewhat reminiscent of a grapefruit, but what you notice as soon as you put it in your mouth is that it makes all of the moisture in you mouth and throat instantaneously disappear. It took half a glass of water for me to swallow every bite. Even the girls started coughing like they were going to choke after a while, and had to drink a lot of water to recover… but for some reason they still like it. Explanation???
-I didn’t mention about our trip to Thailand in the last post… Hubert was going to put Heather and Tricia on the bus to Bangkok, where they were flying out to the States from. He was then going to go to Chantebury to pick up some stuff for the hamburger shop and purchase a water filter that a friend in Phnom Penh asked for. He asked if Andrew and I wanted to tag along, and we agreed to- the only catch is that we had to be back by 5:30 for the English class that Hubert teaches. We left the house at about 8AM and expected to get through the border quickly to catch the van on the Thai side that leaves for Trat every 40-50 minutes or so, but there was a huge crowd of people at the border waiting to get through. It took us a lot longer than we had expected to finally get into Thailand. Needless to say, we missed the early van to Trat and had to wait for the next one to leave. When we finally got to Trat, Hubert made sure that Heather and Tricia had tickets for the bus going to the airport, and we headed off on a bus to Chantebury… to make a long story short, everything took longer than was expected, so even though we were rushing the whole time, we got back to Koh Kong too late for Hubert to make it to his English class, and we didn’t get to see much in Thailand. We hope to be able to go back for a day or two to visit Eva, my old housemate, who’s studying abroad in Thailand this semester.
- We’re back in Phnom Penh with the Freezes right now. Mary, the Petersons, Andrew and I left Koh Kong yesterday morning (leaving poor Hubert all alone)- Mary’s heading to Thailand for a two-week long medical conference, and the Petersons are heading to Bangladesh for 10 weeks to work in another hospital. Andrew and I will be teaching English at a local private school for the next two weeks. When Mary’s done with her conference, she’ll swing by through here and we’ll all head back to Koh Kong together.
- Life in Koh Kong is somewhat slow for Andrew and me (no complaints there). We wake up at about 6 o’clock, get ready, eat breakfast, and leave for the hospital at 8. At 11 or 12ish, we head back home with Mary for lunch (pretty much all the staff in the hospital leaves for lunch around this time. A lot of the time, the only staff left in the entire hospital from 11 till about 2 is a cleaning lady and one doctor or nurse). We help get lunch ready, eat, and nap during this time. At 2:30 I have a language lesson, and at 3:00 Andrew has his language lesson. After our lessons we usually head back to the hospital ‘till ~5 o’clock, but sometimes I just spend time with the girls (our teachers and some of the other typing students that Hubert has in the afternoon). Everything stops at the hospital between 4 and 5 o’clock, when the staff head off to work in their private clinics. Every other day, Andrew or I go to Hubert’s English class with him, which runs from 5:30-6:30. After that, we eat dinner, and the day winds down from there.
-I got accepted to Case Western Reserve Med School (!!!!!)… but as of now, and unless Case offers us a huge scholarship, we’ll still be going to Penn State. Anyway, that’s enough of non-Cambodia things J
-Dr. Peterson was able to perform seven surgeries last week, and Andrew and I were allowed to observe all of them. The docs allowed me to scrub up on the last surgery and assist some! It was a great experience and Dr. Peterson even took the time to teach me how to put some sutures in… it felt like I was all thumbs, but it was really exciting. Unfortunately, Andrew left the OR before I started suturing, so he didn’t get a picture of it.
On Thursday night the director took all of us and the hospital staff out to a restaurant for a goodbye dinner for Dr. Peterson. The food was amazing! I really think I could live off of [most of] Cambodian food for the rest of my life… except for Kwat/Quat. One day the girls brought this fruit that they kept calling “Food Fruit,” or Kwat over for me to try. I can’t even begin to explain what it was like… it was round, about the size of an orange, and the outside was scaly like peeling sunburn, with a greyish-green color. The outside, which is inedible, has to be hacked off, leaving only the solid, dry, white inside. It’s a little crunchy, and the taste is somewhat reminiscent of a grapefruit, but what you notice as soon as you put it in your mouth is that it makes all of the moisture in you mouth and throat instantaneously disappear. It took half a glass of water for me to swallow every bite. Even the girls started coughing like they were going to choke after a while, and had to drink a lot of water to recover… but for some reason they still like it. Explanation???
-I didn’t mention about our trip to Thailand in the last post… Hubert was going to put Heather and Tricia on the bus to Bangkok, where they were flying out to the States from. He was then going to go to Chantebury to pick up some stuff for the hamburger shop and purchase a water filter that a friend in Phnom Penh asked for. He asked if Andrew and I wanted to tag along, and we agreed to- the only catch is that we had to be back by 5:30 for the English class that Hubert teaches. We left the house at about 8AM and expected to get through the border quickly to catch the van on the Thai side that leaves for Trat every 40-50 minutes or so, but there was a huge crowd of people at the border waiting to get through. It took us a lot longer than we had expected to finally get into Thailand. Needless to say, we missed the early van to Trat and had to wait for the next one to leave. When we finally got to Trat, Hubert made sure that Heather and Tricia had tickets for the bus going to the airport, and we headed off on a bus to Chantebury… to make a long story short, everything took longer than was expected, so even though we were rushing the whole time, we got back to Koh Kong too late for Hubert to make it to his English class, and we didn’t get to see much in Thailand. We hope to be able to go back for a day or two to visit Eva, my old housemate, who’s studying abroad in Thailand this semester.
- We’re back in Phnom Penh with the Freezes right now. Mary, the Petersons, Andrew and I left Koh Kong yesterday morning (leaving poor Hubert all alone)- Mary’s heading to Thailand for a two-week long medical conference, and the Petersons are heading to Bangladesh for 10 weeks to work in another hospital. Andrew and I will be teaching English at a local private school for the next two weeks. When Mary’s done with her conference, she’ll swing by through here and we’ll all head back to Koh Kong together.
- Life in Koh Kong is somewhat slow for Andrew and me (no complaints there). We wake up at about 6 o’clock, get ready, eat breakfast, and leave for the hospital at 8. At 11 or 12ish, we head back home with Mary for lunch (pretty much all the staff in the hospital leaves for lunch around this time. A lot of the time, the only staff left in the entire hospital from 11 till about 2 is a cleaning lady and one doctor or nurse). We help get lunch ready, eat, and nap during this time. At 2:30 I have a language lesson, and at 3:00 Andrew has his language lesson. After our lessons we usually head back to the hospital ‘till ~5 o’clock, but sometimes I just spend time with the girls (our teachers and some of the other typing students that Hubert has in the afternoon). Everything stops at the hospital between 4 and 5 o’clock, when the staff head off to work in their private clinics. Every other day, Andrew or I go to Hubert’s English class with him, which runs from 5:30-6:30. After that, we eat dinner, and the day winds down from there.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
TEAMWORK!
We moved from the hotel to the Broeckert's house on Friday. It's been great not to have to go back and forth to the hotel, but getting used to the water situation here has been a little interesting. There's no water pressure upstairs, where our room & the bathroom we use is, except for between ~10PM and ~5:30AM. Hubert rigged a bucket shower contraption for use during the rest of the day, and it seemed like that would work just fine until the dilemma of washing my hair came up. Most of you know that I have really thick hair, and trust me, it takes a lot of water just to wet it, nevermind wash it. Andrew and I stayed up till after 10PM last night, when there was water pressure, and then I knealt over a basin on the floor while andrew used the spray hose to wet my hair. We kept the water in the basin to use for flushing the toilet... well in the end we managed to wash my hair, but I'm wondering if it might just be easier to cut it all off! :-) Anyways
Tricia and Heather left on Friday to go back home. It's a lot different without them here, taking pictures of absolutely everything and picking on each other. I know we all really miss them, and I still can't imagine what it's going to be like at the hospital on Monday without them!
We will be leaving for Phnom Penh on Friday to spend some time with the Freezes, then we'll come back here until we leave to go back to the States.
Hubert and Andrew are going to be going on a trip out to a pretty remote village (it's 4 hours away via motorcycle on a dirt road) where they've never heard the gospel before, save one time when Hubert stopped there a few years ago. Spirit worship is very very strong there. Hubert and Andrew are going to stay there for a night or two, speak to people, and show some evangelistic movies. They're also going to set up a time for a mobile clinic to come, which will be quite the experience, as they've never had any type of clinic up there. Pray for us!
Hubert's also rustling up an English class of policemen for Andrew to teach when we get back from Phnom Penh. That should be interesting! I went with Hubert to an English class that he teaches at a school that's only a few steps away from where they live. It was a lot fun- despite the visiting mouse and mosquitoes!
We moved from the hotel to the Broeckert's house on Friday. It's been great not to have to go back and forth to the hotel, but getting used to the water situation here has been a little interesting. There's no water pressure upstairs, where our room & the bathroom we use is, except for between ~10PM and ~5:30AM. Hubert rigged a bucket shower contraption for use during the rest of the day, and it seemed like that would work just fine until the dilemma of washing my hair came up. Most of you know that I have really thick hair, and trust me, it takes a lot of water just to wet it, nevermind wash it. Andrew and I stayed up till after 10PM last night, when there was water pressure, and then I knealt over a basin on the floor while andrew used the spray hose to wet my hair. We kept the water in the basin to use for flushing the toilet... well in the end we managed to wash my hair, but I'm wondering if it might just be easier to cut it all off! :-) Anyways
Tricia and Heather left on Friday to go back home. It's a lot different without them here, taking pictures of absolutely everything and picking on each other. I know we all really miss them, and I still can't imagine what it's going to be like at the hospital on Monday without them!
We will be leaving for Phnom Penh on Friday to spend some time with the Freezes, then we'll come back here until we leave to go back to the States.
Hubert and Andrew are going to be going on a trip out to a pretty remote village (it's 4 hours away via motorcycle on a dirt road) where they've never heard the gospel before, save one time when Hubert stopped there a few years ago. Spirit worship is very very strong there. Hubert and Andrew are going to stay there for a night or two, speak to people, and show some evangelistic movies. They're also going to set up a time for a mobile clinic to come, which will be quite the experience, as they've never had any type of clinic up there. Pray for us!
Hubert's also rustling up an English class of policemen for Andrew to teach when we get back from Phnom Penh. That should be interesting! I went with Hubert to an English class that he teaches at a school that's only a few steps away from where they live. It was a lot fun- despite the visiting mouse and mosquitoes!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
1-21 thru 1-26
1-21 through 1-26
Wednesday
Andrew was feeling well enough to go to the hospital on Wednesday, although not completely recovered. We have a theory about what might have made him sick: When we were having lunch at the Broeckerts on Monday, Hubert, who loves spicy food, took a tube of wasabi out of the fridge. Andrew and Hubert started talking about spicy stuff and Hubert kept referring to the wasabi as horseradish. Andrew decided to put some “horseradish” on his sandwich, and used about a heaping tablespoon of wasabi. Needless to say, he was sweating bullets within a few seconds, but insisted on finishing the entire sandwich anyway. Now Hubert loves to tease Andrew about wasabi every time we eat!
Anyway, as I said before, Wednesday was our first day at the hospital. Mary introduced us (Heather & Tricia, the two ultrasound techs, and Andrew and I) to the director, doctors, and nurses there. Apparently the director wants to make a schedule of rotations for me (Hannah), but we’re not sure if that’s actually going to happen.
Mary showed me how to take BP, so if I’m tagging along with her on rounds, I usually take the blood pressure & temp… There are quite a few HIV/AIDS and TB patients, but they’re very good about getting them meds here.
We discovered the day before that the price for our hotel is going up for three days due to Chinese New Year. A lot of people celebrate that here (in fact, a large portion of the hospital staff is taking off for Chinese New Year). We looked around at different hotels to see if perhaps we should switch to save money, but all of the hotels are raising their prices for those three days.
Thursday
Hubert has gotten one of his typing students to agree to teach me Khmer (Cambodian) starting tomorrow! It’ll be interesting to see how that goes. There are so many sounds that have absolutely no equivalent in English… it’s hard to even try phonetically spelling the sounds. Hubert is going to ask Petros, one of his Bible study students to teach Andrew.
Before we went to the hospital today, Dr. Mary found out that Andrew is an EMT, so he is now introduced and known as the EMT at the hospital. She’s hoping to set up a CPR class for Andrew to teach at the hospital, but we’re not sure if that can logistically happen. The director wants all of us (the ultrasound techs & Andrew and I) to come to the morning staff meeting tomorrow so that we can be formally introduced to everybody all at once.
Today I got to watch how they put IVs in and draw blood… everything is done from the veins in the hands or feet instead of in the arm like we’re used to. The goal is for me to be able to do both (draw blood and start an IV) soon. The patients that we saw yesterday are all doing comparably better today with the exception of one or two patients, which is great, but there’s one patient that got admitted today that looks like he might not make it too much longer…
During lunchtime Heather, Tricia and I went down to the market with Hubert, who does almost all of the market shopping. At first the smell from the meat section seemed like it would knock us girls down, but I got used to it after a few minutes. It’s so interesting to see the different variety of fruits and vegetables that I’ve never seen before in my life… not to mention the assortment of pigs’ heads, livers, intestines, etc that are hanging up, along with live chickens with their legs tied, doomed to be somebody’s lunch or dinner. Yum. In the fish section (it’s a huge market) there were buckets of live catfish flopping around, and some buckets of live crabs. One crab managed to escape and scuttled right underneath a woman that was squatting on the ground cleaning fish. We all had to laugh at that… although I wouldn’t want to be that woman!
In the evening we stopped at an orphanage that’s run by some French people. Orphans are almost always taken care of by family in Cambodia, but the few that were at that orphanage seemed to be very happy. They do their best to keep siblings together, teach them English, and take them out on trips all over the place.
We passed a wedding on our way from the hotel to the Broeckerts. It’s such an elaborate affair with beautiful clothes, loud music, a huge meal, etc… When a few of the others went to see it later on, the parents of the bride and groom invited them in to eat. I’ll try to take pictures of a wedding and post them sometime.
Friday
Andrew and I started Cambodian language lessons today! Our poor teachers have such a hard time trying to get us to say things correctly. It’s really hard to hear all of the different intonations in their speech, but it’s so fun to finally be able to speak a few phrases! It makes up for the initial frustration of learning the words.
At the hospital today Andrew, Charia (one o our interpreters) and I helped clean the ICU of the new surgery building. (Each ward is in its own building here.) We’re hoping that Dr. Peterson will be able to do surgeries there by next week. In case I haven’t explained before, Dr. Peterson is an OB/GYN surgeon. He and his wife usually travel to Togo and Bangladesh so that he can work in the hospitals there, but this year they’re also making a two week stop here, in Cambodia. A good deal of the hospital here has been rebuilt recently, and the new surgery ward is still in the process of being set up. It looks really nice so far, but there are a few hurdles in the way of it being completely ready or surgeries: they need a Buddhist monk to come and bless the building before it can be used, a few more things need to be moved into the building, and the anesthesiologist isn’t around. I think he works at the hospital part time (but don’t quote me on that), and I’m not really sure where he is right now.
Teaching ultrasounds to the doctors is going pretty well. Mary is learning a lot and quickly (very characteristic of her), and one of the other doctors has also been actively observing and learning. Every once in a while some of the other nurses and doctors stop in, but not consistently.
We went to the McKong hamburger shop today for dinner. It was started by the Broeckerts so that the Christians could have somewhere to work (for various reasons). Mary taught the cooks there how to make American hamburgers, fried chicken and pizza, and they then altered the recipes a bit to appeal more to the Cambodian palate. One of the results is that the hamburgers have fresh cucumbers instead of pickles on them, and I think they actually taste a lot better that way. Either way, we had a great time there and the food was really good.
Saturday
Saturday was a really full day! In the morning we went to the market with Lalin and Pren (two of the Christians here), who needed to buy a few things because they were going to make us lunch. On the way back we managed to snag a watermelon for all of twenty-five cents. (For those of you that know how much I love watermelon, you can imagine how happy that made me.)
A little while after we got back, we headed out to the market again to pick up a skirt that Tricia was having made for her, buy some shirts for me, and pick up some groceries or the Broeckerts. While we were out we noticed a lot of private clinics all over the place, and Mary explained to us that a lot of the doctors at the hospital had their own private clinics to supplement their income.
It rained for a little while in the afternoon, which was GREAT, because the city is in danger of running out of water. The evening before, there was no water pressure in any of the faucets in the Broeckerts house, and only a few of the faucets at the hospital had any pressure. A lot of people have a big tank of water at their house as a reserve for if/when the city runs out of water.
The Petersons arrived in the early afternoon on the bus from Phnom Penh, and we all had lunch together, after which they headed back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. My language teacher and two of her friends came over to take me out to the mangrove forest. It was absolutely beautiful there, and we had a good discussion about Buddhism and Christianity; why they’re Buddhist, why I’m a Christian, etc. They’re all 16 yrs old, and absolutely do not want to go against their parents…
While I was gone at the mangrove forest, Andrew and Hubert “fixed” the Broeckerts’ ping-pong table. They drilled into one of the metal legs, got shavings all over the place, and it seemed as if Andrew managed to clean up all but one of the metal shavings with his bare feet. The one that didn’t get stuck in his foot was in Hubert’s foot, and I managed to pull it out with some pliers. Mary had to pull the pieces out of Andrew’s foot, because they were embedded in there pretty well.
We were going to go out to eat at a restaurant or dinner, but Mary got called to the hospital for a suspected overdose. Fortunately, it turned out not to really be an overdose as far as we could tell, but unfortunately attempted suicides are not rare.
Sunday
Church services are held at the Broeckerts’ house at 8AM and 5PM. Directly after the morning service every week, Hubert and Lalin head out on a motorcycle to Toma Bang, a village that’s 1.5 hours away from the nearest paved road. Andrew, Heather and I tagged along this time, taking the car. When we got there, Lalin taught a children’s class, singing some songs, going over a Bible story, and teaching memory verses; while Hubert walks around the village trying to talk to the adults. The children are pretty attentive, and most know quite a few verses by memory, but as of yet, nobody in the village has responded. After the lesson, Heather gave out punch-balls… those balloons that you blow up that have a long rubber band attached to one end. The only problem was, more than half of them exploded! Lalin brought one in the car with us on the way back, and it exploded in the car. At first we all thought that somebody had thrown a firecracker at the car, because they had been setting of hundreds o them in the village to celebrate Chinese New Year, and some teenagers were throwing them in the direction of the children’s class.
When we got back, we ate lunch and then Mary headed out to a different village to teach a children’s class. Andrew and I stayed back at the house to recuperate from the last trip.
At 5, the evening service, which is a youth service, started. The three girls that took me out the day before came… right after the preaching was over. Seems they have a habit of doing that. Either way, I played games with them until it was time or dinner, which the youth ate with us.
Wednesday
Andrew was feeling well enough to go to the hospital on Wednesday, although not completely recovered. We have a theory about what might have made him sick: When we were having lunch at the Broeckerts on Monday, Hubert, who loves spicy food, took a tube of wasabi out of the fridge. Andrew and Hubert started talking about spicy stuff and Hubert kept referring to the wasabi as horseradish. Andrew decided to put some “horseradish” on his sandwich, and used about a heaping tablespoon of wasabi. Needless to say, he was sweating bullets within a few seconds, but insisted on finishing the entire sandwich anyway. Now Hubert loves to tease Andrew about wasabi every time we eat!
Anyway, as I said before, Wednesday was our first day at the hospital. Mary introduced us (Heather & Tricia, the two ultrasound techs, and Andrew and I) to the director, doctors, and nurses there. Apparently the director wants to make a schedule of rotations for me (Hannah), but we’re not sure if that’s actually going to happen.
Mary showed me how to take BP, so if I’m tagging along with her on rounds, I usually take the blood pressure & temp… There are quite a few HIV/AIDS and TB patients, but they’re very good about getting them meds here.
We discovered the day before that the price for our hotel is going up for three days due to Chinese New Year. A lot of people celebrate that here (in fact, a large portion of the hospital staff is taking off for Chinese New Year). We looked around at different hotels to see if perhaps we should switch to save money, but all of the hotels are raising their prices for those three days.
Thursday
Hubert has gotten one of his typing students to agree to teach me Khmer (Cambodian) starting tomorrow! It’ll be interesting to see how that goes. There are so many sounds that have absolutely no equivalent in English… it’s hard to even try phonetically spelling the sounds. Hubert is going to ask Petros, one of his Bible study students to teach Andrew.
Before we went to the hospital today, Dr. Mary found out that Andrew is an EMT, so he is now introduced and known as the EMT at the hospital. She’s hoping to set up a CPR class for Andrew to teach at the hospital, but we’re not sure if that can logistically happen. The director wants all of us (the ultrasound techs & Andrew and I) to come to the morning staff meeting tomorrow so that we can be formally introduced to everybody all at once.
Today I got to watch how they put IVs in and draw blood… everything is done from the veins in the hands or feet instead of in the arm like we’re used to. The goal is for me to be able to do both (draw blood and start an IV) soon. The patients that we saw yesterday are all doing comparably better today with the exception of one or two patients, which is great, but there’s one patient that got admitted today that looks like he might not make it too much longer…
During lunchtime Heather, Tricia and I went down to the market with Hubert, who does almost all of the market shopping. At first the smell from the meat section seemed like it would knock us girls down, but I got used to it after a few minutes. It’s so interesting to see the different variety of fruits and vegetables that I’ve never seen before in my life… not to mention the assortment of pigs’ heads, livers, intestines, etc that are hanging up, along with live chickens with their legs tied, doomed to be somebody’s lunch or dinner. Yum. In the fish section (it’s a huge market) there were buckets of live catfish flopping around, and some buckets of live crabs. One crab managed to escape and scuttled right underneath a woman that was squatting on the ground cleaning fish. We all had to laugh at that… although I wouldn’t want to be that woman!
In the evening we stopped at an orphanage that’s run by some French people. Orphans are almost always taken care of by family in Cambodia, but the few that were at that orphanage seemed to be very happy. They do their best to keep siblings together, teach them English, and take them out on trips all over the place.
We passed a wedding on our way from the hotel to the Broeckerts. It’s such an elaborate affair with beautiful clothes, loud music, a huge meal, etc… When a few of the others went to see it later on, the parents of the bride and groom invited them in to eat. I’ll try to take pictures of a wedding and post them sometime.
Friday
Andrew and I started Cambodian language lessons today! Our poor teachers have such a hard time trying to get us to say things correctly. It’s really hard to hear all of the different intonations in their speech, but it’s so fun to finally be able to speak a few phrases! It makes up for the initial frustration of learning the words.
At the hospital today Andrew, Charia (one o our interpreters) and I helped clean the ICU of the new surgery building. (Each ward is in its own building here.) We’re hoping that Dr. Peterson will be able to do surgeries there by next week. In case I haven’t explained before, Dr. Peterson is an OB/GYN surgeon. He and his wife usually travel to Togo and Bangladesh so that he can work in the hospitals there, but this year they’re also making a two week stop here, in Cambodia. A good deal of the hospital here has been rebuilt recently, and the new surgery ward is still in the process of being set up. It looks really nice so far, but there are a few hurdles in the way of it being completely ready or surgeries: they need a Buddhist monk to come and bless the building before it can be used, a few more things need to be moved into the building, and the anesthesiologist isn’t around. I think he works at the hospital part time (but don’t quote me on that), and I’m not really sure where he is right now.
Teaching ultrasounds to the doctors is going pretty well. Mary is learning a lot and quickly (very characteristic of her), and one of the other doctors has also been actively observing and learning. Every once in a while some of the other nurses and doctors stop in, but not consistently.
We went to the McKong hamburger shop today for dinner. It was started by the Broeckerts so that the Christians could have somewhere to work (for various reasons). Mary taught the cooks there how to make American hamburgers, fried chicken and pizza, and they then altered the recipes a bit to appeal more to the Cambodian palate. One of the results is that the hamburgers have fresh cucumbers instead of pickles on them, and I think they actually taste a lot better that way. Either way, we had a great time there and the food was really good.
Saturday
Saturday was a really full day! In the morning we went to the market with Lalin and Pren (two of the Christians here), who needed to buy a few things because they were going to make us lunch. On the way back we managed to snag a watermelon for all of twenty-five cents. (For those of you that know how much I love watermelon, you can imagine how happy that made me.)
A little while after we got back, we headed out to the market again to pick up a skirt that Tricia was having made for her, buy some shirts for me, and pick up some groceries or the Broeckerts. While we were out we noticed a lot of private clinics all over the place, and Mary explained to us that a lot of the doctors at the hospital had their own private clinics to supplement their income.
It rained for a little while in the afternoon, which was GREAT, because the city is in danger of running out of water. The evening before, there was no water pressure in any of the faucets in the Broeckerts house, and only a few of the faucets at the hospital had any pressure. A lot of people have a big tank of water at their house as a reserve for if/when the city runs out of water.
The Petersons arrived in the early afternoon on the bus from Phnom Penh, and we all had lunch together, after which they headed back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. My language teacher and two of her friends came over to take me out to the mangrove forest. It was absolutely beautiful there, and we had a good discussion about Buddhism and Christianity; why they’re Buddhist, why I’m a Christian, etc. They’re all 16 yrs old, and absolutely do not want to go against their parents…
While I was gone at the mangrove forest, Andrew and Hubert “fixed” the Broeckerts’ ping-pong table. They drilled into one of the metal legs, got shavings all over the place, and it seemed as if Andrew managed to clean up all but one of the metal shavings with his bare feet. The one that didn’t get stuck in his foot was in Hubert’s foot, and I managed to pull it out with some pliers. Mary had to pull the pieces out of Andrew’s foot, because they were embedded in there pretty well.
We were going to go out to eat at a restaurant or dinner, but Mary got called to the hospital for a suspected overdose. Fortunately, it turned out not to really be an overdose as far as we could tell, but unfortunately attempted suicides are not rare.
Sunday
Church services are held at the Broeckerts’ house at 8AM and 5PM. Directly after the morning service every week, Hubert and Lalin head out on a motorcycle to Toma Bang, a village that’s 1.5 hours away from the nearest paved road. Andrew, Heather and I tagged along this time, taking the car. When we got there, Lalin taught a children’s class, singing some songs, going over a Bible story, and teaching memory verses; while Hubert walks around the village trying to talk to the adults. The children are pretty attentive, and most know quite a few verses by memory, but as of yet, nobody in the village has responded. After the lesson, Heather gave out punch-balls… those balloons that you blow up that have a long rubber band attached to one end. The only problem was, more than half of them exploded! Lalin brought one in the car with us on the way back, and it exploded in the car. At first we all thought that somebody had thrown a firecracker at the car, because they had been setting of hundreds o them in the village to celebrate Chinese New Year, and some teenagers were throwing them in the direction of the children’s class.
When we got back, we ate lunch and then Mary headed out to a different village to teach a children’s class. Andrew and I stayed back at the house to recuperate from the last trip.
At 5, the evening service, which is a youth service, started. The three girls that took me out the day before came… right after the preaching was over. Seems they have a habit of doing that. Either way, I played games with them until it was time or dinner, which the youth ate with us.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday
Andrew got to share his testimony with a type of children’s church group that the Freezes have on Sunday afternoons. There were about 12 kids from the neighborhood there.
We noticed a few people wearing jackets, sweaters and even winter hats. Apparently it’s been unusually “cold” here, going down to 70 degrees or even a little lower at night, and only up to the high 70s during the day. That’s considered cold enough to wear a jacket.
Monday
We caught the bus to Koh Kong at about 7:45 in the morning. The trip there was shorter than we had expected- roughly 5.5 hours instead of 6.5. It’s such a change of pace being here in Koh Kong versus being in Phnom Penh. It’s a lot smaller, slower, quieter and cooler here (I actually got cold last night). The hotel where we’re staying for the next three weeks is beautiful—and only $14 a night! We feel incredibly spoiled. Mary and Hubert have made us feel so welcome at their house too. They always have Khmer people coming in and out of their house, whether it be to help Hubert translate a lesson, learn how to type, do a one-on-one study… it’s great.
I (Hannah) have tried to learn some Khmer words, but as of right now I’ve been having a hard time remembering what I’ve learned. I’m going to start to write down everything I learn in a notebook phonetically so that I’ll have something to reference. I believe that we will be working with somebody to learn the language while were here anyway… I just can’t wait to be able to communicate! Apparently a few people here think I look Cambodian and start talking away, only to be confused when they realize that I’m actually not Khmer. Who whould’ve ever thought?
Tuesday
This morning, Hubert went to Trat to pick up Heather and Tricia, the two ultrasound techs that will be at the hospital for the next few weeks (yay for learning about ultrasound!).
We were supposed to go to the hospital today with Dr. Mary, but Andrew got really sick last night, and still isn’t doing too well. At first it just seemed like traveler’s diarrhea, but then the vomiting began. We’re at the hotel right now, and Andrew seems to be doing a little better, although his stomach is still in a considerable amount of pain and he hasn’t been able to get much real rest (although he is sleeping right now as I type this). Mary will be coming over in a little while to check up on him.
I’m really sorry that we haven’t posted any pictures yet. I brought the wrong USB cord to connect the camera to the laptop, and my laptop doesn’t have a slot to directly plug the memory card in. My dad should be sending an adapter soon—so pictures will be posted sooner or later.
Later…
Dr. Mary stopped by and brought some lunch too. J Andrew has no fever and seems to be doing better by the hour.
Andrew got to share his testimony with a type of children’s church group that the Freezes have on Sunday afternoons. There were about 12 kids from the neighborhood there.
We noticed a few people wearing jackets, sweaters and even winter hats. Apparently it’s been unusually “cold” here, going down to 70 degrees or even a little lower at night, and only up to the high 70s during the day. That’s considered cold enough to wear a jacket.
Monday
We caught the bus to Koh Kong at about 7:45 in the morning. The trip there was shorter than we had expected- roughly 5.5 hours instead of 6.5. It’s such a change of pace being here in Koh Kong versus being in Phnom Penh. It’s a lot smaller, slower, quieter and cooler here (I actually got cold last night). The hotel where we’re staying for the next three weeks is beautiful—and only $14 a night! We feel incredibly spoiled. Mary and Hubert have made us feel so welcome at their house too. They always have Khmer people coming in and out of their house, whether it be to help Hubert translate a lesson, learn how to type, do a one-on-one study… it’s great.
I (Hannah) have tried to learn some Khmer words, but as of right now I’ve been having a hard time remembering what I’ve learned. I’m going to start to write down everything I learn in a notebook phonetically so that I’ll have something to reference. I believe that we will be working with somebody to learn the language while were here anyway… I just can’t wait to be able to communicate! Apparently a few people here think I look Cambodian and start talking away, only to be confused when they realize that I’m actually not Khmer. Who whould’ve ever thought?
Tuesday
This morning, Hubert went to Trat to pick up Heather and Tricia, the two ultrasound techs that will be at the hospital for the next few weeks (yay for learning about ultrasound!).
We were supposed to go to the hospital today with Dr. Mary, but Andrew got really sick last night, and still isn’t doing too well. At first it just seemed like traveler’s diarrhea, but then the vomiting began. We’re at the hotel right now, and Andrew seems to be doing a little better, although his stomach is still in a considerable amount of pain and he hasn’t been able to get much real rest (although he is sleeping right now as I type this). Mary will be coming over in a little while to check up on him.
I’m really sorry that we haven’t posted any pictures yet. I brought the wrong USB cord to connect the camera to the laptop, and my laptop doesn’t have a slot to directly plug the memory card in. My dad should be sending an adapter soon—so pictures will be posted sooner or later.
Later…
Dr. Mary stopped by and brought some lunch too. J Andrew has no fever and seems to be doing better by the hour.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
As most of those of you who will be reading this already know, we arrived safely in Phnom Penh on Saturday Jan 17. Our flights went well, and we had no problems going through customs.
We spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday at the Freeze's house, which gave us a little time to recover from some of our jet lag before taking the last 5-6 hour bus ride to our final destination, Koh Kong. The Freezes are missionaries in Phnom Penh and have four awesome kids.
On Saturday we visited Wat Phnom, a historic temple in the city. We also "learned" how to ride a moto- that is, Andrew took off with no problems while I took a spill in front of a garbage pile because I didn't break quickly enough.
We crashed at about 7PM due to jet lag...
TBC
We spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday at the Freeze's house, which gave us a little time to recover from some of our jet lag before taking the last 5-6 hour bus ride to our final destination, Koh Kong. The Freezes are missionaries in Phnom Penh and have four awesome kids.
On Saturday we visited Wat Phnom, a historic temple in the city. We also "learned" how to ride a moto- that is, Andrew took off with no problems while I took a spill in front of a garbage pile because I didn't break quickly enough.
We crashed at about 7PM due to jet lag...
TBC
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