for moki

i found your long lost twin

with love

wedding crashers

my third weekend in cambodia i had a crazy journey to battambang.

battambang is cambodia's 2nd largest city with some of the best preserved french architecture. it sits on the stung sangker river. located just over 200 km west of siem reap on what the japanese call dancing road or in other words 4 hours on a dirt road with ditches and potholes! it is untouched by tourism and is a center of learning with universities for pt and nursing.



dissappointed that i was missing my friend's wedding in siem reap, we crashed a wedding on the way to battambang. all you have to know about cambodian weddings is how to smile, cheer with jonny walker and dance.





we eventually made it to battambang...


here i met a vietnamese monk who wants to be a scottish doctor

sam nang or luck

we had a wonderful weekend exploring the city and temples.

it all ended with a flat on the way home!

trying to find time....

s'laap bpree-a

i have finished at the hospital, traveled to lao and about to leave for thailand. there is so much to blog but not now. hopefully i will find time in thailand. i am so busy trying to plan the rest of my stay. as of now i travel on to chang mai then krabbi. then on to Myanmar if all goes well. Cambodia for Khmer New Year.

I really miss Cambodia - i have picked up the language and can't wait to go back and practice. the goal for next year is to be able to read and write. pretty ambitious since khmer has the longest alphabet of all the languages!

troy ortho - we received your postcard - totally awesome - 20 days - not too bad!
now stop reading this and get to work - jk or ni-yee-ay layng!

Mouse loves rice.

cambodians love karaoke
i love karaoke

that equals a fun night out!

thursday nite a bunch of us decide to head out for soup and karaoke, little did I know the nite would end with an hour sleep and a bowl of rice porridge.

we start the night at a local soup restaurant.
i was at the head of a long table that faced a giant stage with a live band and professional singers. my heart started to beat fast – oh man – i have to go on that to sing but soon i found out that this was not the karaoke spot –phew!

our group - cambodian nurses, american resident and two swedes. they asked us what we wanted. the american and i said anything, the swedes said chicken. so the nurses order… first dish was chicken stomach and heart … it was actually quite good. next the soup comes… veggies…. Meat… shark fin..?... ganja..!?!.

pitchers of beer were quickly empty … the swedes leave ... i took the bill …. 87 bucks … super expensive for a local khmer joint.

we move on to karaoke… we arrive at what looks like a hotel and are escorted to a small room that says used.


There 50 english songs - - I barely recognize any of them. they are all slow love songs. i soon realize that is all they sing. the first song chosen was celine dion’s my heart will go on – it was a hit. the videos of the cambodian songs are lonely girls in thatched huts, longing for their men who are working hard in the fields.


the most popular khmer karaoke song is

Where is the hymen

finally my turn to sing. my cambodian friend asks me to sing the extremely popular song …

mouse loves rice!?! Only in cambodia!

since karaoke is a huge deal and they are all professional singers my fellow american and i choose to sing together. we picked guantanamera and sing in spanish - we sucked!!

tt was a long nite of singing and a huge bill!

it was 2 and time to move on to dancing. we head to zone one.
i am on a huge nyc like dance floor - i tower over the teens that flood the dance floor. we dance for an hour more and head outside for rice porridge – so yummy.

i wish i could include all the details of the night but since i do not understand all the culture mores i have to exclude some pertinent details that could be deemed offensive!

the past week...

it has been awhile since i have blogged...
i am so busy volunteering, learning khmer, and having fun i barely have time to breathe.

at the hospital we continue to see rare cases.

in fact we just today saw a case of possible polio - 1 yo girl presents with left hip abduction and a valgus foot with muscle wasting x1 mo s/p high fever. she has been examined by the best khmer & american doctors, residents, and pa-c - and still unsure!

i am still volunteering at the provincial hospital. again, lots of trauma.

at this hospital i do a lot of rounding.
as i round many of the other patients and family members gather around, walk the halls and see the patients with me. each day, i am learning more and more khmer. my patient's faces light up when i ask them questions in khmer that only the day before would have been impossible for me.

i love my patients - although they are lying for weeks on a mat, have the bare minimum for survival and probably less than adequate pain control, they are always smiling and eager to talk.

on monday, one of them was sleeping under the covers and i questioned whether to wake him. i gently tapped his foot, his head popped out from under the covers and he emerged with a giant grin. he couldn't stop laughing and smiling. i am so happy that he is well - he is one of my sickest my patients.

i have a week left and i really do not want to leave - i am happy here!