I'm leaving tonight on the big jet. Sad to go but it's always nice to be home.
What a great experience this has been. My main reason to come was support for Michael, but getting the chance to insert myself and help out in various spots of the hospital and make some orphan friends has been truly uplifting. My English students all hugged me after class on Friday and said "we love you, teecha"! We worked hard at pronunciation- their tongues have never learned the "th" sound and they cannot say "v" to save their lives. It comes out "wee" every time. They laugh at themselves.
Dr. Michael has 9 more days here. He will be missed- they are begging him to stay. He has learned to speak slowly and clearly using the simplest terms he can to say what he needs to say. The doctors and students are all leaning in to listen when I see him through the glass. After the Khmer Rouge regime, there were only 7 doctors left in the country and very few people who spoke English or French. Therefore, this country has been very slow to get back on its feet in medicine and education. They really appreciate whatever effort is made to help them.
It's been a great experience to be here as a resident instead of a tourist whipping through to see the sights. At first, the life you see on the streets is overwhelming and confusing, but after a while, it all makes sense and seems normal! Every day we face the extremes of rich and poor and it is unsettling. The begging children and hunched over old folks really break your heart. Last night on the big boulevard where the big cars park, we saw a shop window with, among other sparkling things, an $849.00 designer purse. Half a block down from that shop window, a woman was putting her 2 children down to sleep for the night on grass mats on the sidewalk. It’s hard to understand how the folks that participate in the corruption that leads to these extremes sleep with themselves at night!
We watched a very old woman come by our apartment building on night recently carrying a stick with pots attached at either end. On one end was a little clay pot of burning coal embers and a cook pot hanging above it. Hanging on the other end was a plastic bin with ceramic plates, some green herbs, some little sauce bowls for 3 different sauces she had, and little forks. She was a purveyor of fine fertilized boiled duck eggs for the dining pleasure of some people who work next door to us. She scooped delicacy out of the simmering pot and on top of the herbs and served them up with sauces accompanying. She then sat in a tiny stool, maybe 3 inches high (which she also hangs on her stick) and waited for them to enjoy their eggs. When they finished, she washed up their plated in the hot water and was on her way to her next customer. Fertilized duck egg delivery, anyone?
What a great experience this has been. My main reason to come was support for Michael, but getting the chance to insert myself and help out in various spots of the hospital and make some orphan friends has been truly uplifting. My English students all hugged me after class on Friday and said "we love you, teecha"! We worked hard at pronunciation- their tongues have never learned the "th" sound and they cannot say "v" to save their lives. It comes out "wee" every time. They laugh at themselves.
Dr. Michael has 9 more days here. He will be missed- they are begging him to stay. He has learned to speak slowly and clearly using the simplest terms he can to say what he needs to say. The doctors and students are all leaning in to listen when I see him through the glass. After the Khmer Rouge regime, there were only 7 doctors left in the country and very few people who spoke English or French. Therefore, this country has been very slow to get back on its feet in medicine and education. They really appreciate whatever effort is made to help them.
It's been a great experience to be here as a resident instead of a tourist whipping through to see the sights. At first, the life you see on the streets is overwhelming and confusing, but after a while, it all makes sense and seems normal! Every day we face the extremes of rich and poor and it is unsettling. The begging children and hunched over old folks really break your heart. Last night on the big boulevard where the big cars park, we saw a shop window with, among other sparkling things, an $849.00 designer purse. Half a block down from that shop window, a woman was putting her 2 children down to sleep for the night on grass mats on the sidewalk. It’s hard to understand how the folks that participate in the corruption that leads to these extremes sleep with themselves at night!
We watched a very old woman come by our apartment building on night recently carrying a stick with pots attached at either end. On one end was a little clay pot of burning coal embers and a cook pot hanging above it. Hanging on the other end was a plastic bin with ceramic plates, some green herbs, some little sauce bowls for 3 different sauces she had, and little forks. She was a purveyor of fine fertilized boiled duck eggs for the dining pleasure of some people who work next door to us. She scooped delicacy out of the simmering pot and on top of the herbs and served them up with sauces accompanying. She then sat in a tiny stool, maybe 3 inches high (which she also hangs on her stick) and waited for them to enjoy their eggs. When they finished, she washed up their plated in the hot water and was on her way to her next customer. Fertilized duck egg delivery, anyone?
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