Yesterday I’ve seen a real scorpio infront of Helens house. It was as big as my hand and black. We were just returning from the weekly “Banchow” place, which is next to Helens house. Banchow is a dish, it is a giant thin omlette filled with soja beans and some minced meat. You eat it rolled into different leaves with your hands after dipping it into a tasty sauce.
Scott had the honor to kill the scorpio because Helen was worried it might do harm to children running around her house. So he stood on it with his foot and then it was dead.

Talking about animals. Last night a noise kept me awake. Something scratchy next to me. When I had the guts to look what it was with my torch, I saw a giant cocroch at my window. Eventually, I overcame my disgust and pushed it out. I then went into the kitchen, that was all around midnight, and there it was. A giant rat sitting on the sink, jumping off when I came. I couldn’t see where it went.
In the morning, on the way to the bathroom, I had another heart attack. Suddently something jumped at me out of nowhere, and tried to escape through the gaps at the front door. It was a cat! No idear where it came from, but I hope, it ate the rat over night (Sorry Carmen).
I also have a lot of gekkos in the house on the wall and they make funny noises.

Gekko

my visitor in the evening

Otherwise my day at work was good. Had a meeting with the 2 English teachers who teach the students twice a week basic English. VSO supports them and I can sit and observe one of them tomorrow morning and give them feedback.
Then I discussed with them my idear, starting a choire. I wrote the word choire down, because they didn’t know what it was. So I explained it and they were really positiv about it. At the end of the meeting( which took 2 and a half hours), one of them pointed at the word choire like they never heard about it and asked me, what it means. At the end we decided it is like a band. Well, lets hope it will work out.

In the evening Delia and Scott came around and they put on my new hamock and it’s so cool. Lying in there and letting the time pass. It’s very comfi.

Tuesday

My day started by spending 2 hours in a class of more or less 30 student nurses, year 2. They were very shy and they were encouraged to ask me some questions.
It was strange to stand infront such a big class and shouting at them, that everybody can understand me. But it also felt natural and more and more I have the feeling, that I am getting used to it. So I told them something about me and then they asked me about nursing in Europe and so on. Some of them really try to speak well, some can’t speak anything, unfortunately. Then I sat at the back and joined the lesson of Mr. Voeun. He speaks funny broken English but it is ok. I feel like being the English expert here, having reports to correct and also they expect me to teach some English language to the clinical Instructors from the RTC. But I explained to everyone that it is only my second language and I’m not perfect in it. But so far to be honest, I feel confident with it.
In the English class we had some group discussion about what pets they used to have when they were younger. They were just in the process of learning when to use “use to”. So it was funny to hear, their pets were pigs and waterbuffalos.
All together it was great, apparently it is very rare that a foreigner speaks to them.

I will give Mr.Voeun some feedback on Friday. He had to go, doing more teaching somewhere else. I think he was good, tried to involve all of them and he also used different participatory approaches. It was just so noisy from outside and not all students pay attention at all times for 2 hours. So some disappear for a while in the middle of the discussion, some don’t have books and can’t follow, some do something else, like homework I thought.

In the afternoon, I prepared a little teaching session about ‘how do we learn and different learning styles’. I was asked to do teaching sessions for the clinical instructors and I think to start from the beginning it is important to understand about the learning process. Then they want me to show them some practical skills with equipment at some point.

On my way back from work I stopped at Helens because she wanted to give me something, Evic had left for me. It was a big Teddy bear. She had it in her house and thought, it can give my company in my house. The thought is very sweet.

In the evening it was raining heavily. After my portion of instant noodles, I went to bed early and closed the door to my bedroom. That night it was much better. I slept through and couldn’t hear any rat noise. There are defenitely still some buggers around, who nibble on my soap frequently.

Wednesday

In the morning we met at a Vietnamiese noodle place for breakfast. Delia was sad because she had to say goodbye to her sweetheart. It made me sad too. But she will see him again in a few months, so it is not too bad. Those noodles soups are so tasty.
Afterwards to work.
In the afternoon I’m going to the Wat because Helen will do a speech there. It is a HIV/ AIDS awareness, “candlelight” meeting , and they wear caps and t-shirts with the logo:
‘O.K. Condoms’ on it. Hilarious.

It was a great afternoon.

Louisa, Delia, me and Helen

students listen of course

Sambath, me, Louisa and Wuddy

at the meeting

Louisa, Delia, Wuddy and Helen

Delia is holding her "candle light"

inside the pagoda

Afterwards, Helen, Delia and me had “Banchow” and then a big thunderstorm

the thunderstorm is arriving...

Thursday

The Kadoorie project has been extended. That is good news. Daniel from the Programme office wanted to come to ST to talk about new activities and achievments, but the director can’t make that date. So, we will go to PP next week on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to that. Also it feels amazing to be actively there in decision making about a big project with lots of money involved. It is different from working on a ward directly or being somewhere in the field. This is more about developing the actual action plan. And it feels important and exciting to be part of it.
All day at work we did brainstroming about that meeting and we have now a good list of ideas to discuss in that meeting.
When I think about it, travelling for 9 hours to PP on Wednesday for a meeting on Thursday morning and then going back for 9 hours on Friday. But PP, the world of supermarkets and Internet- acess and post-offices!
In the evening, I killed 3 big coqurotches. I sprayed them with anti ants spray to death. I didn’t want to, but I am also afraid of them. It took me a time to push them onto a piece of paper and then throw them out of the window.

Friday

Well, I agreed on having a cleaner once during the week. Malynn is her name and she came for the first time this morning. I asked Channa to translate some instructions for me, because we can’t communicate yet. So when she arrived I gave her some pieces of paper where Channna wrote down in Khmei what I wanted to do with her. First of all I wanted to go to the bank with her to get some money. Then I wanted her to choose what she needs for cleaning at the market and I would pay for it.
Because I live around 1 km away from the market, I took her on my bike, she sitting on the end, as Cambodian people do it. It is so funny to try to speak to somebody who doesn’t understand a word and the other way around. But smiling helps and nodding. So somehow we got a good mousetrap, one where the mouse or rat goes in but stayes alive so that I can put it outside.

the mouse trap

enjoying the lazy hanging around

evening mood at over the mekong

Also the trip to PP had to be rescheduled because the director had problems with the appointed date. So now we now go to PP on Thursday next week, have the meeting on Friday morning and then we decided to stay until Sunday. Hor can visit his family and I can do shopping, shopping, shopping. Also my mobile phone is slowly dying, I think I need a new one.
On the following Monday, we will then travel together with Setill, the Regional Chief Nurse, to Ratanakiri province for a supervision visit of a Preceptor. I am so exited about that one, because Ratanakiri is supposed to be beautiful. Ethnic minorities, elephants, waterfalls and jungle combine to make this one of the most popular provinces in the northeast, my guidebook sais. It also served as a base for the Khmer Rouge leadership during much of the 1960’s. Pol Pot fled there in 1963 and established headquarters in the north of the province.
Gem mining and tourism form the lifeblood of the province. I really want to go for a swim in Boeng Ueak Lom, the vulcanic lake. Delia was there already and somehow I said something like- and then I can try out my new swimming costume- and then she looked at me and said, that nobody goes for a swim in that. They wear normal clothes, like T-shirt and trouswers. Well, I’ll find out. Also there is the Virachay National Park, which is popular.
I will stay in Ratanakiri until the end of the weekend, so alltogether for a week. And I had to take only one Annual leave for that.

Tomorrow evening I told everyone to come because I’m having my housewarming party. Don’t know how to manage yet, with only 2 forks, 2 spoons, 4 plates, 1 wok
and 4 glasses. I hope Helen can bring her rice cooker and then I make the only thing I can cook well and have the ingridenens for, my Thai curry. Will go to the market in the morning. Maybe I will be able to buy some meat. So far, I just couldn’t. The smell and the look of dead animals is nearly unbearable. The same with fish.

my new dress, like?

Saturday

This morning, there was a mouse in the mousetrap!

I've got one!

Cambodian wild flowers

Then I started to prepare. This might be boring for guys now, talking about food preparation… First the fruit salad. I bought lovely apples from New Zealand and a fresh pineapple and lytchie fruit. That all together and a little bit of palmsugar and lemon juice and then into the fridge.
Next the curry. You might all know how it tastes, having eaten it before in our house. But the challenge with this one is, that there is no coconut milk to find. Only fresh coconut stuff shredded off the coconut itself. So I bought some of that and then soaked it in water for a while. Then I put it through a fine siv and there was my coconut milk. Also I used first time baby- aubergines with it and it really works. Instead of lime leaves I had lemon grass and lots of fresh basil. Because I didn’t have much money left at the end of my shopping trip, I could only afford to buy a very small piece of beef meat and put that in. The left over dry coconut stuff I used to sprinkle onto the fruitsalad. Isn’t that very interesting to put into the travel blog? : )
Then I made a green salad out of cucumbers and salad leaves, an onion and lemonjuice. I couldn’t find red tomatoes yet. They sell them green.

At 5 pm Kahn came and we chatted a bit. He visited Helen at lunchtime and then he had school. Helen suggested to him that instead of becoming a doctor, he could start his career by becoming a nurse first. So he asked me if I could find out for him about that. He said that Helen is his mother and I have become his bigger sister. Isn’t that nice? I feel still a little suspicious but I think, he means good.

At 7 people startet to arrive and we ate and chatted on the veranda. Helen made also some pizza bread! How, I don’t know, because neither of us has an oven. It was amazing and with real cheese! I need to get some in PP.

Jo, say cheese!

my party guests

Hor and his wife

Hor and his wife, Evica and me

After I cleaned up I had another mouse in the trap and reliesed it at the river. Then I killed another 2 coquratches in the bathroom. They actually really disgust me. I flushed them down the toilet because last time I threw them out of the window and they had still this poisening spray on them. And there are lots of animals here I don’t want to poison too.

living room, tidy

my bathroom

written by  katja-horsch on June 7, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: 1.6.- 7.6.09
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