back in the states

Hey ladies! I figured I probably should write, since I am back in the states/to the world where I have regular internet and the like. Jenna, it sounds like what you're doing is perfect for you--I hope it goes well for you! That goes for everyone--I really hope you are finding peace in the work you are doing, and that it makes you happy and is everything you wanted.

I don't even know where to begin to describe Cambodia in a single blog post. I could have a week and probably couldn't come close to describing what it was really like, and what the experience meant. Cambodia was so different from the US--that much struck me as soon as I landed (and immediately became terrified by the insane movement of traffic in Phnom Penh!). For instance, the Khmer eat rice for three meals a day (the word for to eat actually literally translates to to eat rice), they leave bones in their meat (I had a chicken foot in my soup one day...it was actually funny--I looked at my friend Hai and asked him what do I do with this?, which was something I asked him more than once when it came to food), they barter in markets, and those in a village who are well-off may have a tin roof on top of their tiny house. That last thing really struck me, and it was something I learned after I had already been in Cambodia five weeks.

The people are absolutely beautiful. I thought of the ship's crew as nine older brothers and most certainly beautiful spirits. They all have this incredible kindness, such as in Bun Roth's (he is the pharmacist) face when he picks up a child, or in the way the engineer Sam Ath looks at some of the younger members of the crew. Easily the most powerful thing I did was to give out numbers in the morning. It was beautiful, because people would look up at you with this amazing gratitude, but it was also so difficult because we almost never gave numbers to everyone in line--there were simply too many--and people would touch my arm or my sleeve and beg me for a number, so they or their child could see the doctor. When an American team was there for two weeks, we saw 2000 patients, and that was so amazing to be a part of. I especially loved the old women, who had no qualms about touching my barang (foreign) skin or giving me huge smiles, and the children because you don't need language to communicate with kids. Needless to say, I still really miss Cambodia and all the Khmer people. I love them all more than I can say, and I feel strangely like this experience made me into a real adult, if that makes any sense.

Love you all, let me know how you are doing! Nicki