Unpacking, and thinking of 2011

I landed around 10:30 last night, and Yvette was nice enough to pick me up from the airport so I wouldn't have to take the shuttle home. All of our driving in Cambodia is around town, and even then they go a lot slower than we do. It's kind of a thrill ride when you start going 50 or 60 miles an hour. Not that it takes long to adjust, but for a moment you realize that it's pretty darn fast.

This morning I started the unpacking process. It actually takes a fair amount of time to sort of this stuff, from the gifts to the clothes to the items I take every year (like the foreign power adapter).

I thought I had a handle on what I wanted to do next year, but the experience at the clinics and hospital threw me a curve. I'll have to discuss this with Deanna when I see her in Wisconsin. After all, one of my suitcases is full of her stuff. It's a lot cheaper and safer for me to bring items back than to ship them.

Probably fewer posts from here on out. Remember, I would be happy to assist anyone interested in making the trip. I'm 100% certain we can find a way to put your talents to good use. I promise it's an entertaining, positive life experience.

One more flight to go

Undoubtedly the best phrase I heard this whole trip was from Pat. While discussing the differences between US-based airline companies and pretty much the rest of the world, she said “Stewardesses on the US planes are like truck stop waitresses.” Of course this isn’t true 100% of the time… but I’ve had more than my share of Truck Stop Waitresses as cabin crew.

It might be a bit hard to see in the iPhone picture, but the Asiana crew all wear impeccable uniforms, are genuinely helpful, and keep things moving at a rapid pace. I don’t expect the same thing on my last flight on United. In fact, it’s already been delayed by a half hour. At least I got an exit row seat.

2,175 Miles down…

And 5,639 to go, at least on the next leg. Then I have about another 1,500 between San Francisco and Austin. I just had a nice rest at the Transit Hotel. It’s a small but well-appointed and very comfortable room for people with a long layover. The ~6 hours of sleep I got is going to have to hold me until just before Midnight on Sunday.

Once unexpected perk happened upon check-in at the Siem Reap airport. The staff gave me an upgrade to “Business Class,” which his First Class by American standards. They said it was due to the “long journey I had booked,” but I think is was more that my bags were under the weight limit, I waited patiently for the Korean tourist flood (they come in very large groups), and my Khmer language pronunciation was surprisingly good. I noticed that this year I know enough words to be able to follow their conversations with some degree of accuracy. I might only be able to figure out the topic, but that’s a lot more than most foreigners.

I’ve already had my obligatory Whopper here at the airport Burger King in Seoul (it’s kind of a tradition for me now), and I picked up an iced coffee at Starbucks. You’d think I was already in the US… but we don’t vigorously advertise vitamins as “V-food” right next to odd displays of prepackaged dried fish, Coach handbags, Rolex watches, and some sort of miracle ointment. It’s like the 5^th avenue version of an Asian market. Much more polished and refined, just as Oriental. Love it!

Expect the Unexpected

I thought the last day here would be busy, but I never expected anything quite like this. I shouldn’t be surprised. Every year I have some new experience that just can’t be predicted.

The morning was moving along nicely, with a light breakfast and prep for my last class at 10:30am at Khnar Tmei. The students there wanted one more day of review and training on how to program in Alice. I can’t blame them, since learning how to program is a lot more than just figuring out code. It’s a way of approaching and solving problems.

One of the students, Toni, was late to arrive. He has had trouble being able to make it to class since he has both a full time job and school at the University. He’s a sharp student, and I could see that he was a bit sad to miss class.

As I’m wrapping up the lesson, he got a call on his cell phone. Someone at his house just got electrocuted and they wanted him to come back to help. He ran out of the building to head home. I said my farewells to the other students, got a picture with them in front of the PC, and packed up. I said to Prem (my driver), “We should go over there and see if we can help.”

The house is only about 50 yards away, and we could see the commotion from the school. As we got closer, it was apparent that there were power lines down. They must have been trying to fix something or move the lines. Many of them are held up by trees or thin sticks, so it’s not totally unusual to see one sagging a bit. Toni was busy putting a patch over one of the lines with tape as a way to prevent future shocks. I asked who got hurt, and they said it was Toni’s 60 something father, who was lying on a covered wooden bench area.

His breathing was steady and I could see his heartbeat was also steady. I’m not a doctor, but I was the closest thing they had at the moment. Since he was just unconscious, but burned pretty well on his hand and breathing ok, I asked a few questions. “Was he on the ground or on a ladder?” “Did he touch with both hands or one?” “Has he said anything since he got hurt?”

The answers told me that he was knocked out pretty well, but at least didn’t fall and break something. He also never stopped breathing, and hasn’t said much.

I told them we needed to get him to a hospital to make sure he was ok. This isn’t the kind of problem that you just recover from without help, and you want to make sure it doesn’t get worse. They agreed, so I said that we should use Prem’s car to transport him. They were quite thankful since the only option they had was motorbike. It would have been a driver, Toni’s father in the middle, and someone on the back to hold him up. Not a good situation.

Now from here you might think that the story is routine. “You just drove to the hospital, right?” Nope. We first drove to a pharmacy. Yes, a pharmacy. Apparently this is a place that Toni’s mother goes to on a regular basis and they have a doctor there. However, they didn’t have the means to treat electrocution and also didn’t want to take a patient that might not have a good outcome. Yes, they were worried about their reputation before the health of the patient.

I was not happy.

Next, we drove to a local, private clinic for Cambodian people. Instead of getting Toni’s father out and back in the car again (like we did at the pharmacy), they checked to see if they would take him. Same story. No treatment for electrocution and fear that someone might die in their clinic, harming their reputation.

I was REALLY not happy.

Before this, the car ride had been quiet. I wasn’t going to have it anymore. “Prem, where are we going next? We are NOT going to another clinic or pharmacy. I know of at least 3 real hospitals around here.”

Prem wasn’t happy either. “No problem, we are going to the provincial hospital, by the old market. I know they can treat him there.”

As we pulled in, he started to vomit a bit. I guess he had asked quietly for a small sip of water and they obliged. Not sure if that was the cause or not, but at least we were 10 feet from the emergency entrance when he did. I got out of the car and said “Please!” in the Cambodian language to get their attention, and before I knew it they had him in a room and on a bed.

The doctor quickly evaluated him, hooked him to oxygen and IV fluids, and I gave the little bit of detail that I knew about the incident. He was quite fluent in English and happy to have the bits of info I got when we first arrived. He also started to get a bit chatty and asked about how I was and what I did in Cambodia, but his focus was on the patient. About damn time.

The doctor said the prognosis is good, but with electrocution you really have to watch the patient for a few hours to make sure nothing major has happened. If he recovered well he could even be out by the afternoon. Before I left Toni’s father was already responding quietly to a few questions. Toni himself was rather shaken up, and was thoughtful enough to ask if I might miss my flight. I told him that was the least of his concerns, and No, it wasn’t for a long time. I would have said that even if it was in an hour.

The rest of the day would be considered more typical I guess. We had amazing food, packed bags, and looked around a bit. I can’t quite shake the feeling that I might need to focus on a few different things next year, like working with the government to put some big blue H signs around the outskirts of town, and seeing about healthcare education for people. After all, during a major health problem, you don’t have time to figure this kind of thing out. “What’s bad enough to necessitate going to the Hospital versus going to a clinic?” is something you learn before a problem happens, not by driving around town.

I’m also rather pissed at the clinics. I need to stew on that one a bit more.

UPDATE: I called Toni this afternoon and found out his father is doing fine and already home.

I'm still pissed at the clinics.

Last Day, Hectic Schedule

Typically on my last day the schedule of events is rather hectic. Last minute shopping, packing, a final class or two, and double checking a lot of things will fill the day. I thought I would write a quick summary of some of the highlights from 2010:

· Hot. It barely rained, and even the locals were complaining about it.

· The Kesararam Primary School PC was a huge success from last year, and they quickly picked up on using Publisher to make certificates and signs.

· Khnar Tmei had a smaller class this year because of schedules. Many of my regular students now have jobs or are going to the University. Next year I might need to go back to “Computer 101” and start teaching a younger set of kids.

· The food here somehow is getting even better. The variety is increasing and the focus on quality remains a top priority.

· Basic infrastructure continues to improve. I took the new Toll Road that goes around the town to divert large trucks and busses. The Internet is blazing fast if you know where to go, and it’s adequate pretty much everywhere else.

· Significant social and economic problems still remain. Many beggars, orphans, and people struggling to keep up. I heard more than a few stories of people having to borrow large sums of money for healthcare costs, repairs, and other basic needs.

My next post will likely be from Korea. Should you find yourself with the travel bug to go somewhere exotic, I can make sure you have a memorable time in Cambodia. The people are friendly, the area is safe, the food is magnificent, and you just might consider it your second home after one visit (like I do).

Wait a minute, when do I leave?

During lunch today I came to the stark realization that I’m leaving tomorrow night. I haven’t done a single bit of personal shopping, just work related purchases. We also haven’t seen any of the sights (we try to do at least one “fun day” per trip). I’m going to try to have to mash it all in tonight and tomorrow.

I must say that the accommodations this trip have been the biggest surprise. I had no idea that we would be in a totally new hotel building but still have all of the same management and staff. The location is actually better for us, the rooms are huge, and the food is amazing (of course). I’m definitely going to miss the panoramic view from my room and the end of the hall (pictured). See more at their website: http://www.riversideroom.com/

IT’S RAINING!

It took long enough. The rains finally came today. We had a short, light rain around lunchtime. When it stopped, everyone was rather upset. I think all of Cambodia is ready to have unyielding, constant rain. They know it’s going to drive them crazy in a couple months’ time, but this extreme heat is not fun. They’re also concerned about the farmers in the area not getting enough rain for their fields, the lake not rising on time, and wells drying up.

Speaking to Deanna today about the wells project, it sounds like the increase in development has brought a new problem: a lower water table. The big hotels have very deep wells that suck up a lot of water, which is then returned to the sewer. Water treatment is not exactly a refined industry here, so most of the dirty water will get only basic treatment (that means filtering out the big stuff) and then returned to the rivers. It takes a while for that to return to under the ground. As a result, there are more and more wells drying up in the late summer season. Thankfully, the wells that our program digs are deep enough to keep flowing, for now.

Class and a Show

Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time. After my class, we noticed that the Korean volunteer team had setup a Taekwondo show for the kids. I got my camera out and snapped a couple videos of it.

Keep in mind, today is another one of those scorching hot days, and these people are out here doing vigorous physical activity. Heck, I couldn’t even sit out of the shade.

Not all Pastries and Shopping

This might come as a surprise based on my common postings, but I actually do spend the bulk of my day teaching. Here’s my daily routine:

• Breakfast and coordination with others – 7:30 to 8:30
• Morning Class – 8:30 to 9:30
• Work (my real job) and errands around town – 9:30 to noon
• Lunch – noon to 1:30
• Break – 1:30 to 2:30
• Afternoon Class – 2:30 to 3:30
• Break, prep for hard class – 3:30 to 5:00
• Evening Class – 5:00 to 6:00
• Dinner – 6:00 to 7:30
• More Work – 7:30 to 9:00
• End of Day at 9ish

It varies somewhat based on the weather, class schedules, errands, and whatnot. Lately the breaks have been spent trying to cool off from the searing heat. It’s one thing to teach, it’s another to constantly fight the sweat pouring off your body at the same time. When the locals are complaining about the heat, you know it’s bad.

At least today we had clouds. No rain yet, but the clouds made a big impact on the temperature. I only had to replenish all the fluid in my body once, not twice.

You may have noticed the blurb about my evening class being the hard one. I’m teaching programming to the students at Khnar Tmei. This is a really hard set of concepts. Almost all of it is totally foreign to them. However, we have the benefit of a really large monitor. One of the students bought it from a friend for a good price. Now that World Cup is over, it’s been sitting unused. We’re taking advantage of it to make sure everyone can clearly see the menus and re-explain the basics of programming.

Dodged a Bullet

Today my cohorts needed to buy some supplies for their sewing class. Specifically, they needed these large fabric shears that are hard to find in an average shop. Deanna knew just the place in the old market.

Ah, the Old Market. If you have any aversions to unusual smells or tight spaces, then this is not the place for you. You enter this maze from one of seemingly a thousand points of entry. There is a certain order to the chaos, where types of shops tend to cluster. Clothing on one place, tourist items on the outside, toiletries in another, and so on. The aisles have barely enough room for one person to walk without your elbows rubbing against the merchandise of the two shops on either side.

The Old Market isn’t just for dry goods. It’s also the best place for locals to go grocery shopping. You can emerge from one of these tight spaces and find yourself with a lady cutting the heads off a chicken at your feet. The aromas are quite distinct, and shockingly different from one part of the market to another.

So here we are trudging along under the mosaic of tin roof shacks to find shears. I get a little behind because it is after all quite busy. After turning a corner I hear the unmistakable, language independent sound of someone dry-heaving. You know the sound. Like when you have the flu, or perhaps just read about the chicken on the floor. A lady in one of the shops was covering her mouth and making this sound when she was walking out to the aisle… right in front of me. I quickly took a step back (which can be dangerous, you never know if someone is walking behind you with a big pot of something) and she stopped as well, obviously struggling. She walked in front of me to the shop across the hall (all 2 feet away) and threw up on the floor as I darted ahead.

The Old Market and I have a rocky relationship. I prefer to go to Central Market, where the aisles are huge and it’s a nice, big open space. Dodging a lady who was about to throw up on me has pretty much cemented my opinion about the place. I’ll wait in the car next time.

5 Star Meal – Fast Food Price

One of our drivers, Ko Sol, went to culinary school over the past 9 months. Most of his training was done in the 5 Star hotels in the area, so he now has firsthand experience cooking Cambodian, Italian, and French cuisine. He formally receives his certificate next week, so I won’t be here to attend the ceremony, but Deanna and Pat will be there as his family. Even though he doesn’t have the paper yet, he’s already been hired by the guesthouse that he’s been working with as a driver. It’s amazing how the sense of family and togetherness in this culture is an extremely strong bond.

Last night he cooked an incredible meal. We had grilled red fish, amok (fish, coconut milk, and spices all steamed in a banana leaf cup), beef kabobs, and an authentic Waldorf salad. The flavors were incredible and everything cooked to perfection.

This morning we had some of the leftovers for breakfast. There’s a sizable group of French college-age tourists staying in the hotel, and when they came down for the standard breakfast fare they were rather amazed to see what we were eating. One girl stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the Waldorf salad for a good 5 seconds. It was quite different from the standard toast and jam, omelet, or French toast that is on the menu.

Today was the start of class. It’s blazing hot here, so that makes speaking in front of a group a challenge. I have to keep wiping away the sweat so I don’t have any land on the PC. The electricity is already bad enough. I imagine one droplet of liquid would put on a real show.

Multi-tasking

Today was a busy day. It all started at the church in Khnar Tmei with attending service, figuring out classes and schedules, talking to the people, and generally get the next couple weeks organized. I snapped a picture of one of the local kids doing his laundry at the well. He was taking a break to check his cell phone. It’s incredible how much better the service is here than in the US. I guess it helps that the tower is across the street.

Next we headed over to the Lucky Mall. This is a surreal experience that can’t be missed. All of the shops are owned by the same company, so you have wonderful selections like “Lucky Department Store”, “LuckCafe”, and my favorite “Lucky Burger”. One of members of our group hadn’t been to it before, so we thought we should indoctrinate her. The real reason for going was the oppressive heat. The rains haven’t been coming in the afternoon like they usually do this time of year, so it’s still incredibly hot. We decided we needed air conditioning and ice cream, and Lucky Mall has both.

After eating way too much at Lucky Burger, I got the traditional water blessing from one of the nearby temples. They always look surprised to see a foreigner, and especially perplexed when I know pretty much what the process entails. I told my driver that I if we could find a Muslim Temple, I would round out the big three religions all in one day. He had a good laugh at that.

In my next post I’ll write about the 5-star gourmet meal I had at my guesthouse. I’m a bit too busy multitasking and preparing for bed early. I need to wake up around 1:30am local time to watch the world cup. After all, that’s what everyone else is doing around here!

Purchase Power

Yesterday we determined that the Kessararam primary school was a fantastic success with the installation of their first PC ever last year. They’ve been using it so much that there was little time to teach the other instructors since they were too busy making forms and tracking records!

So today I went back to ABC computer, the shop where I go every year to buy supplies. Bunly (the owner) was there so we caught up a bit. He’s done a PC refresh since last year with newer IBMs now lining the shop. He also mentioned that the Internet access in Siem Reap has gotten a lot better. For $30 a month you can get “very stable” DSL at a whopping 128k download and upload! I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I pay about $50 a month for 22,000k download.

We picked up a Dell PC, flatscreen monitor, two battery backup units (one is a replacement), and a laser printer for a total of just under $400. Good luck finding a deal like that in the US.

I laud praise on the Cambodian food every year. This trip has been no exception. For just $3, I got the meal pictured in this post. It’s Chicken Fried Rice served in a hollowed-out pineapple. The flavor was amazing, everything was fresh, and I plan on stuffing as much of this unequaled cuisine into my face as possible!

More changes some years than others

This happens to be one of those years with more. After meeting with Deanna, Pat, and our driver Mony at the airport, we headed into town. “The Hotel moved” was the first tidbit of the evening. What that actually ended up meaning was that the owner of the land and building wanted to do something other than run a guesthouse, so the family that ran it picked up everything and moved it into a new location. It must have already been built beforehand since it’s easily 2-3 times larger than the old place. The rooms are more than double the size, the bathroom has a real tub and shower fixtures, there’s a pool outside, and I’m using the free wireless internet available in the room. It’s not extremely fast, but it’s good enough to get the job done!

Today brought some other surprises. Both PCs were working fine at Khnar Tmei. That might be the first time in 6 years they’ve make it without repairs. They also had a nice flat screen TV setup with the World Cup schedule posted on the wall next to it. Apparently they didn’t use it much except for the event.

The Kessararam School has been heavily using their PC since I installed it last year. They need a new battery backup, but that’s the only repair. I’ll be buying them a second unit tomorrow since they don’t have any spare time between making forms and managing records! A fantastic result.

Last, there’s been a popular addition to the tourist fare. Apparently you can pay $3 per hour (including a free beer) to have fish “give you a massage.” My driver Prem says he tried it once and that “it kind of tickles.” I think I’ll pass.

Starting your day

When I woke up just shy of 2am this morning, I knew I was going to be in for a long day. It's not a daily occurrence for me, but I'm sure if I was required to be up at that time I might get used to it.

I mention this because I don't think the staff at United Airlines are morning people. They were helpful and attentive, but they were overwhelmed. I think I know why: They start about 45 minutes later than all the other airlines, yet they have 6am flights just like everyone else. This means they have to scramble the moment they turn on the machines (which looked like they were time locked to 4:45, no exceptions) to get everyone checked in. Since it's a Wednesday (cheap travel day) there were a lot of casual fliers and just as many going international.

I start to wonder if these poor folks are paid hourly wages. Is this a scheme by United to shave a few bucks off their payroll by starting their people later in the morning? If so, it's not exactly resulting in a great experience for anyone.

After I boarded my Asiana flight (where all of the staff are amazingly friendly and nice, a top notch airline), I realized that something was missing from the plane: First Class. They had Business and Travel class, that's it. I guess I always pictured 13 hour flights having that option for the super-frequent flier.

I'm in Korea now, looking at my last flight of the journey. Perhaps I'll sleep a bit this time if I'm lucky.

And so it begins again

Just arrived in San Francisco. The van that picked up me bright and early at 3 am got me there a good hour before the people at the United ticket counter had even rolled in. Next time I'm going to lie on the form and say my flight is Domestic.

It's been a while since I've flown United. They have a ton of strange options and features to pay extra for. I was particularly amazed at how their staff starts later than any of the other airlines. I'm guessing it costs them less per hour, but as a result they have people hustling to get all of us with a 6am flight checked in. Not a great result.

Less than 12 hours

It's a little disturbing when you get the automated phone call that your shuttle will be by to pick you up in 12 hours... and the time is 3pm. Yes, I need to be standing in my driveway soon. Looks like sleep will be a premium from here on out.

Lets hope that North Korea can tone down the saber rattling, and that Thailand doesn't descend into chaos for just a couple more weeks.

Bag packed?

The first year I prepared for Cambodia it took at least one solid day of packing. I mean an 8 hour day. I had a basic checklist of what I needed, but since I hadn't done it before I was doing a lot of double checking and adding to my list.

This afternoon I did just about everything in 1 hour. I'm to the point now where I'm concerned that I'll forget basic items. It's the same level of comfort now as when I travel domestically. Rather frightening!