Phnom Penh Dayz

Apologies to all those that actually pay an interest in my blog. I have been a tad lazy and not written an entré for a while. I blame it all on Phnom Penh Lifestyle. Would you believe I have increased my nights out from a kratie Friday night once a week to actually making myself stay in once a week!

So I now am on count down for the homeward bound mission – 1 and a half months to go. Basically I got the final motivation I needed to think about life after Cambodia, this was the realization my Visa expires on the 15^th of October, this has some feeling of finality about it – no more extensions with VSO,  they have no further use for me.

So the grand plan is to be New Zealand bound – just need to finalize details, post NZ there’ll be a little side trip to Bangkok and then will be England bound by December. Oh my gosh I’ve got a plan – life does continue post VSO!

So my routine day in the big city PP – wake up to the sound of the man next door doing the most amazing throat clearing you’ve ever heard. It’s a 20 minute exersize and that is not an exaggeration…the first time I heard it as well as the thought “you’ve got to be kidding” there was the clear feeling of  “I’m going to vomit”. Yip 5.30 am most mornings.

If I am motivated I put on my jogging gear and join the throngs of K’mai who get up for their morning exercise on the boulevard close to my house – in the shadows of the independence monument – very cool area! There are aerobics classes, dance classes, karate kids , exercise with swords ( real gracious movements ), about a hundred walkers and a few joggers.

After a quick jog around the boulevards and the royal palace I’m ready for my steng treng coffee. Thanks to  Dalis I have not had to miss a beat of my routine gorgeous morning coffee, she manages to get me a kilo to PP from Steung Treng on a regular basis. Our next mission, which is serious indeed, is getting the coffee from Steung Treng to London – plan in the making, coffee isn’t a drug is it – Coffee Lord ( future title)?!

I then get on my bike and as there is no internet at work I check my emails at the local email café which is kind of like my second home, the old guy gets worried if I’ve not showed up for a while and I think there was a funny moment when he introduced me to his son and make some remark about him being single…..

It’s a entertaining bike ride to the Ministry of Health with a healthy bit of traffic dodging and if your clever you can go the whole way with out stopping even at lights – this is quite a technique and involves some slow  and then increasing speeds and the help of moto’s and cars not stopping at lights either. The best is the fact in a traffic jam, which is common with the strange local ( not official but commonly used) road rules,  you can glide through on a bike rather easy. I’d like to do a race with one of those big fat lexus’s from my house to work. I think the bicycle would win every time – unless they were one of those important guys who get police escorts!

My buddy at work is Pros – he works for UNFPA ( the United Nations Population Fund)  and is supporting the Midwifery Council. Its usually just us in the office in the morning – which contains a moment of at least one ice coffee that we have the local canteen trained to make to our specifications – strong with minmal ice and sweet milk. He has a good sense of humour and one of his classic lines was when we had finally prepared the office and the computers were plugged in but covered with cloths to keep the dust off, he turned around and out of the blue said “right time to get your clothes off!”, I was a little takin back and said he was being quite forward, we got the giggles because we both realized he meant take your cloths of the computer!

In the afternoon my midwives come in – they are the Midwifery Association and if they are free one midwife comes in on her day once a week and we are slowly moving forward on our plans to rule the world!!!! Sometimes I feel very ambitious  and excited about where CMA can get to but then I have to remember the midwives all have a main job and this is voluntary for them – Slowly slowly!

Then if I’ve not got much on it’s a quiet night after work or I’ll find some one to meet at one of a thousand options for beer or a cheap feed. I have the best dollar khmer restaurant within a 2min walk from me so I find it very easy to not cook! The best lok lak in town for $1.50 and it’s the size you’d serve your brother to eat – those that know my brothers will understand the size is quite generous!

I have one more trip to Kratie before I leave – I  went back just recently for work with VSO because the British Ambassidor and Dfid were visiting there and we needed to discuss the work we were doing. It was like I never left, coffee with Villa and Nareth @ cafe mum’s, discussing some issues with the ever helpful Sammy of the delivery ward and fighting with the corrupt doctors and lab staff to get blood for free from a well stocked blood bank for a hemorrhaging patient.

Have I mentioned I hate corruption – I think that will be my next blog, the many faces of it in Cambodia!

Final goss for those who need it – had holiday in Koh Chang that was one of the best ever! Cousin Dave and Mel here at the moment and we’ve had a great time. Did the boat from PP to Siem reap – yes if it was hot season and not much water I imagine the experience not being so pleasant  – however this time of the year when you can set up on top of the sardine tin andare prepared with your own food and water it was nice, especially for Dave and Mel who have not got much time to see rural cambodia.