3.24 – 3.21

• Food

So, surprisingly, I haven’t had too much seafood yet. I have eaten a lot of Indian food, and one snack I really like is chicken liver curry rolled up in roti, and my favorite food so far is palusami, which is cooked greens mixed with coconut milk, canned beef, and onions, with taro on the side (I loved it in Samoa as well, though there they did not add meat or onion). I am usually too tired after work to go out to restaurants, so I either bring home half my lunch for dinner, or make something. Though I am starting to find a few restaurants which I hope to try soon. For lunch, there is a food court about 10 minutes walk called the Dolphin, where I always go (I walk past the US Embassy). It is an open air food court, with food stalls. The food stalls include:

• Hare Krishna Vegetarian
• Wonder Wok Chinese
• Chez Wendy (I have to remember to get a picture of this!)
• Wishbone – Chicken So Tasty
• Hot and Spicy Kitchen
• No name, but Fijian
• The Roti Shop

So, last Wednesday (3/25) was the second day Suva had water problems, and our office had no water. I had a meeting scheduled, but we moved it to the Dolphin so we could have tea while we met. Anyway, I got there early and was concerned she wouldn’t find me – until I realized I was the only white person there!

• Purses

So, anyone who knows me, knows I love bags – any and all bags (purses, handbags, backpacks, messenger bags, organizers, etc – the more unique and interesting the size, shape, and color, the more interested I am. In fact, while some women might notice another’s clothes, shoes, makeup, etc first, my eyes usually drop to see what accessory she (or he!) is using to schlep things around.

So, why the heck am I talking about purses? I enjoy looking at – and buying when I can – interesting bags during my travels. I noticed today that almost all women’s purses are handbags, those with really short handles. I have not seen any woman with a messenger bag or purse with a cross the body strap. In addition, I have noticed many more backpacks than one-strap messenger bags.

Why would I notice this, and why would it intrigue me? In Samoa, it was considered rude to wear or place things on one shoulder; if you wore a backpack, you should use both straps, not just one; you should hold an umbrella straight up or closed straight down, not walk with it leaning on your shoulder. This, from what I remember according to our language/culture trainers, traced back to the days of village warfare, when warriors would fight against other villages. To claim victory and come home with “proof”, the fighters would return with the heads of the vanquished at the ends of their nifo o’ti (teeth of death) slung over their shoulder (yes, at the same time they practiced cannibalism). (If any RPCVs from Samoa is reading this, if my memory is fuzzy please correct me!) As I started noticing the bags here, I wondered if Fiji had the same rationale; they also have a cannibalistic history, but I don’t know if they trekked back to the villages with the heads. While I have read that to carry bags on one shoulder is also considered rude in Fiji, I do not yet know if the rationale is the same. If I find out, I will let you know!

• Weekend

So this weekend has been really busy, and very social! On Thursday night, I had dinner with the Project Director for FESP, who was here for the week from Australia. Fiona has her own consulting business, and has worked all over the world. We talked about consulting, where to find jobs, distance education opportunities to stay current in the field, and how I should decide on a direction and continue my studies. We also discussed how challenging it is on a marriage when one spouse travels so much and the other does not.

Friday night I got together with another FESP consultant, recently arrived this week – though Barbara has worked in Fiji with FESP before. We went to a happy hour and shared a pitcher of sangria, had dinner, and then enjoyed having coffee as we watched the nightlife out the window start to come out of the woodwork. She also warned me about some areas to stay away from once it gets dark, including some restaurants and clubs which moonlight as brothels.

On Saturday I got together with both Fiona and Barbara for lunch, and then walked around Suva with Barbara. Afterwards, I got together with Fiona for business – she was leaving Saturday for Samoa, and she had feedback to give me on my evaluation plan. Wow, is she tough! One thing that is really hard about short term consulting is, not only do I have to quickly learn about the project I was hired to do, I also have to learn about the organization and their different reporting, etc. Fiona gave me some great feedback, and also taught me some new tools to use, which ultimately makes my life easier. I asked her if, once this project is done, if she would be a mentor to me. As long as I view this as a learning opportunity, I won’t take it personally that she trashed my first report! LOL Apparently, every other staff person had a rough first time with her, but she instills loyalty; and, as Barbara, Helen, and Steve, put it, it would have been more worrisome if she didn’t have anything to say.

Speaking of Helen and Steve, they are also FESP staff from Australia, an older married couple working together. They invited Barbara and me to their flat for dinner, which was great because it was up the hill overlooking Suva, and we could watch the lights go out for Earth Hour. It was lots of fun eating dinner by candlelight!

Sunday, since everything is closed except the movies and one shopping store, is becoming predictable already. Laundry in the morning, a movie (I was joined by Barbara), and then came home and worked on revising the evaluation plan. Sunday night, around 11pm, I heard what I thought was a gunshot and a lot of yelling, but then realized it was fireworks (though I didn’t see any); it seemed like all of Suva erupted in celebration when the Fiji team won a rugby game against Kenya. People came to work today half asleep on their feet!

Speaking of Monday, I finished the evaluation plan but didn’t send it to Fiona until I reviewed it with my counterpart. Now, I get to wait to see if it is approved; I can’t do my field study until it is. Hopefully, we’ll be off to the western division next week!

• Out at 55

So there is a new referendum in Fiji which has everyone talking. When I first arrived (wow, it’s been 3 weeks already!), people were talking about mandatory retirement for civil servants at age 55. Last week it was put on hold until the courts could decide; the ruling came today that people have to go. There is no word yet on how this will work; do people have to leave if they are 55 already? Will they have everyone 55+ leave at the end of the year? Do you have to leave on your birthday? As you can imagine, lots of debates: those for it, say it will create more jobs for a younger generation who have been more recently educated/trained; those against it, say it is forced brain drain, and staff with years of experience and skills will be lost. (How will they ensure transfer of knowledge?) and, of course the cynical side of me wonders if this is just a way for the government to either save money (lower salaries for those with fewer years of work), and/or a way to increase the civil service ranks with political “friends”. I don’t know or understand enough about the political situation, but I can’t help but wonder. I know of at least two people who have shared their ages with me and are concerned.

• Roshni is pregnant

So, I think I have mentioned Roshni already? She is the office assistant, and she is great. She has never left Fiji, but she has a very “Western” sense of humor and outlook; she is hilarious, and I can be sarcastic with her and she gets it. Anyway, she is pregnant and due in a month; I doubt she will last that long. She is HUGE and waddling around, and it is very funny to see. It is her first, and she is very excited.

• Flat Sharing

I am leaving for my field study on Sunday, and since Barbara’s flat isn’t ready yet we are thinking she will move into my flat while I’m gone. It’s win-win; I know that someone is in my place and it won’t be broken into/robbed, and she’ll save money by not having to extend her stay at a hotel (plus, good karma may be returned; I finish work May 11^th, but don’t leave until the 19^th, so she may let me use her flat as a home base, since she’ll be moved in by then).

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 2 weeks already; time is going so fast! Slow down! I have so much to write about, and my mind is a-jumble. I have been keeping a bullet list of things to blog about, so I think the most sane thing for me to do (might not be your cup of tea, but hey I’m the one who’s writing) is to keeps the bullets and just flesh it out. This list is in absolutely no order; just as I wrote things down to remember to add.

 ·         Assignment

 So, I thought I should first explain in a little more detail why I am in Fiji. I am in Fiji as a consultant for Cardno Acil, an international development company based in Australia. Cardno Acil has been working on a variety of projects in Fiji, and is working in partnership with Fiji’s Ministry of Education on FESP, the Fiji Education Sector Program, through funding support by AusAID (Australia’s version of USAID). Acil works closely with a local counterpart at the Ministry level in almost every sector, from early childhood through secondary, curriculum development, teacher training, vocational/technical education, monitoring/evaluation, etc. to support capacity and sustainability.

 I am here to evaluate the impact of their support with the early childhood component. I am evaluating policy, curriculum, teacher training, classrooms, and child outcomes. I’ll be doing mostly document review, interviews/focus groups, and classroom observations. This is very similar to what I did in Pakistan, and it is so nice to be in familiar territory again. Truly, early childhood is my comfort zone!

 I will be in Fiji until mid-May; when I come home, Acil will have a draft of my report. Then I wait for feedback and finalize the report; I’ll be done with this contract end of June. Too bad I can’t stay in Fiji until then!

 ·         My office

 So, my “office” is a desk shared with the 2 FESP program office assistants, where the table and fridge are. It is a really social place, and my office mates – Roshni and Una – are really nice. The main FESP offices are located in the Ministry of Education building with primary and secondary departments, though most staff are located in offices with their local counterparts elsewhere in the Ministry. Also there is Mrs. Fung, the office manager; Greg, the project manager; and Joanne, the assistant project manager (of those I have named so far, Greg and Joanne are the only Aussies; the others are locals).

 Everyone is really nice, and laid back. But, I have been impressed with the [Western-style] professionalism I have seen. 8:00 am on the dot and everyone is at the office. 4:30 pm on the dot, it’s time to leave – no one is late arriving, no one is early leaving (contrary to the assumed “island-time” mentality). We have tea at 10am, and lunch is 1-2pm. Fridays the day ends at 4pm. Unfortunately, I have been so hot and tired I have gone straight home after work, but hopefully soon I will do some exploring after work. The problem is, I don’t want to carry my laptop around with me, and when I go home to drop it off, I am so happy to relax I don’t want to leave again. Yes, my office has air con, but when you leave the room it is like you are walking into a wall of sticky heat. Yuk. I have gotten in the habit of walking to work, and taking a taxi home.

 My counterpart, Meleniani (Mele for short) is very nice, though it was a rough first week. She is very busy and overworked, and it seemed like I could never catch her my first week. I found out from Roshni that an earlier advisor had difficulty with her, and never seemed to catch her. She gave me tips that I should make clear appointments with her. This past Monday and Tuesday was a teacher workshop that I attended to observe (more on that later), and while she attended with me on Monday she didn’t show on Tuesday. We were supposed to meet Wednesday morning, but then I heard from someone else that she had scheduled a different meeting then, so I met with her Tuesday after the workshop. After that meeting, things have gotten better. She is a really nice woman, and I think we get along well; it is just a matter of me trying to be as flexible as possible, and respectful of her work requirements, while still making sure my work needs are addressed so I can do my work. She is a lot of fun, though, and we find lots to laugh about – always a good thing for working relationships (any relationship, for that matter!).

 ·         Hotel/apt

 So the first week I was here, I stayed at the Holiday Inn. It was very nice, but had a business feel. The food was good, but very expensive. The staff were great; very friendly, very personable (everyone knew me); and extremely helpful with locating and coordinating my delayed luggage to be delivered to my room.

My first Friday night, I was moved to Victoria Apartments, where I will be staying the rest of the time I am working on this project. This is a really nice change; before, whenever I did my field studies, I would have to pack everything and drag it along. Now, I can fully unpack and relax, and I have a place to leave my things when I head to the western area. The apartment is a small but very nice building, and the apartment is fully self-contained. There are 8 apartments, so it is a small building. It has a small gym (3 pieces of equipment), though I don’t plan on using it; my foot gets enough of a workout just walking around. There is also a very small pool. My apartment has a bedroom, nice closet, air con and fans in the bedroom and living room/kitchen. The bathroom has a shower/tub, plus a washer/dryer so I can do my own laundry. The rest of the apartment is a kitchen/living room; the kitchen is complete with microwave, oven, stovetop, fridge, and mini-dishwasher, with a small table/2-seat eating set. The living area has a sofa, 2 chairs, and tv. There is a small balcony with table and 2 chairs. Overall, the apartment is extremely comfortable, and those on security are all very nice. In addition to the security, the apartment is also surrounded by a fence with electric gate.

 ·         Friendliness

 Everyone is so friendly! Smiles everywhere, saying hi as you pass on the street. When someone saw me standing there with a map, they stopped, asked where I was trying to go, and pointed me in the right direction.

 ·         Differences with other places gone?

 A friend asked me about differences I have noticed in Fiji with other places I have gone. I think it is too soon to tell, but so far I have been struck with how few personal questions I have gotten. In Samoa I got used to people asking me not only where I am from, but married or not, number of children, what church I belong to (the assumption being I am Christian, which I am not and tried not to take offence over the question). Here, they ask me about where I come from, with the overall assumption being that if I am American I must come from California. They (as with other places I have been) have a hard time comprehending how big USA is, and how far the east coast is from the west. Other than where I come from, though, I have not had too many personal questions, except from those I work with as we have gotten to know each other better.

 ·         Mouse in freezer

 I know, I know, odd bullet; let me explain. I have a wireless computer mouse, and for a few days the stick you put in the laptop so it recognizes the mouse was stuck inside it, so I couldn’t use it. After chatting with Dave, I got the idea it might be stuck because of the humidity, so I put it in the freezer. Ta da! The stick popped right out!

 ·         Random Oddness

 So, there are a few indoor shopping centers (as opposed to the stores along the streets), and the newest one is called MHCC. This is 3 stories tall, and has a nice grocery store on the main floor along with a few shops; the second floor has shops as well, and the third floor is an eatery. Friday night I went grocery shopping, but went to get some food first; as I was sitting eating dinner, the “entertainment” was a Fijian band at the end of the sitting area covering Abba’s “Dancing Queen”.

 ·         Blunt, honest talk

 One thing that I have observed in my travels is how frank and honest people are when talking about sex and HIV/AIDS prevention.  America is so prudish and judgmental when dealing with anything sex-related. Sure, it is important to abstain and stay monogamous, but for those that choose to be active I think it is important to educate them on how to protect themselves (and, for those that do not have option to choose). In Uganda, the newspaper ran colored photos of STD-infected genitals so people could learn what to look for and stay away from, as well as when to see a doctor. In Cambodia, there was a great deal of publicity against child abuse. I have always heard HIV/AIDS and sex-ed use the acronym ABC - Abstinence, Be faithful, Condoms. However, here in Fiji I have seen public health brochures advocating ABCD - Abstinence, Be faithful, Condoms, Do other things “non-penetrative and less risky”. It is actually refreshing to see the “D”, which acknowledges to people that you can have fun, while playing safer. I feel like in America the “D” is ignored as a sex-ed/pregnancy prevention topic. While Americans are so “advanced” in many ways, in others we are so far behind.  

 ·         TV

 I have to talk a minute about my TV, because this is so weird. Let me share with you the channels I get:

0, 3 = Australia network

1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14 = fuzzy (nothing)

2 = Star Movies*

4 = ESPN

8, 11 = Al Jazeera English; Mai TV*

12 = Christian Network

Now, channels 2, 8, and 11 are starred, because to be honest the stations switch. 8 and 11 are Al Jazeera in the morning, but then it changes to Mai TV sometime during the day and plays a random mix of Fijian news, and TV shows from USA, NZ, and Australia (shows from USA include Walker - Texas Ranger, Charmed, CSI and CSI Miami, Amazing Race, and Survivor). Channels 0 and 3 also switch to something else, but I haven’t been able to figure out what other channels they show on this station. Channel 2 is starred because they have often switched this channel to show something else. Twice so far I have been watching a movie, and ½ way through it, they have changed the channel to show wrestling, rugby, or cartoons. You can even see the tuner scanning, going through the channels, as they switch it to something else. Very odd. Watching TV is like Russian Roulette; you never know what you are going to get, or if the channel will even stay the way it is when you start watching something.

 ·         The ECE training workshop I observed

 This past Monday and Tuesday, I observed an early childhood education (ECE) teacher training awareness workshop. I have to say, I was really impressed with their knowledge and ability with training techniques. I was expecting a lot of boring stand-up lecture, much like most of their educational system is still doing, but the trainers used activities to address almost every main point they were sharing. The big question is, are the teachers doing what they have been trained on in the classroom? ;-) That is my field study!

 One interesting note, during the workshop opening speech and prayer, President Obama was quoted as they talked about how they can improve their classrooms - “yes we can”.

 ·         My foot

 I was really worried about my foot when I left to come here. I brought my sneakers with the special insoles the surgeon gave me, and wore those my first week. By Friday night, my foot was swollen and very painful; I ended up spending most of my first weekend in Fiji in my apartment with my foot elevated. Woohoo, what fun. This past week I still wore my sneakers, and by Friday my foot hurt a lot but it wasn’t as swollen. I am hoping to wean myself off my sneakers and into my sandals soon, though; the sneakers are so hot, and I am wondering if that might be contributing to some of the swelling. Though in the sandals I can’t use the insoles. I decided to try wearing my sandals this weekend while walking around, and while my foot hurt it wasn’t as much as I was expecting. I may try to wear my sandals during the week as well. I just hope I’m not damaging it in any way; a screw in a bone can’t shift, can it?

 ·         This past weekend

 Well, this weekend started out with some excitement. Some of you may have heard, but there was a volcanic eruption off of Tonga in the ocean Thursday night, and a subsequent earthquake registering 7.9 in the ocean floor. Tonga is Fiji’s neighbor to the east, and Friday morning there was a tsunami warning. I didn’t know (I don’t listen to the radio), so I went to the office. On the way, I was surprised at the traffic heading out of rather than into Suva; turns out, the government told all civil workers to stay home/go to higher ground. I got to the office and no one was there; I found someone who told me about the warning, and I headed back home. About an hour/ hour-and-a-half later the warning was lifted, but hardly anyone came back to work. It was so quiet!

 Saturday I decided to explore Suva, and started by taking some material to a tailor to have some dresses made which would be appropriate to visit the villages. After that I mostly wandered, but everything closed by 2pm. I was just walking around when I bumped into an old man closing his shop; we started chatting and he started giving me a history tour (all very public places, no worries). Another man caught my eye and shook his head, so I started to make my excuses and leave; the old man then took out a mask and tried to sell it – ah, one of the con men visitors are warned about! They find out your name, quickly carve it on a wooden mask or wooden sword, and then try to sell it. I told him no, and started to walk away. I thanked the second man for warning me, and he fell into step as I was walking, and pretty soon he pulls out a sword and tries to get me to buy it! Unbelievable! I told him if I wasn’t going to buy from the first man, who was actually very nice and telling me about Parliament, I wasn’t going to buy from him! I then jumped in a cab and got away from the second guy. How annoying!

 It turned out MHCC stays open late, so I went there. While there, I used the bathroom, and some guy was in front of the door and tried to charge me. I laughed, said no, and ignored him. When I came out, he was still there and tried to charge me again; just said no and walked away.  Have no idea if they really charge to use the bathroom or not, but there was no sign so I wasn’t going to. I’ll ask about it when I get to work. Otherwise, I just cheated someone out of money! Or, they were trying to cheat me. Who knows.

 Everything is closed on Sunday except MHCC (no reason to go back there) and the movies; so I went to see a movie. Tomorrow, Monday, is a holiday and everything is closed again, so I’m making it a stay-home-and-get-some-work-done day.

 Whew, I just wrote a lot! I hope you had fun reading; don’t forget – any questions or comments, let me know! =)

It turned out that Monday, the day I arrived, was a holiday; not only was there no work (which I knew about), but most shops were closed except the most expensive shopping complex. I was able to find something to wear for Monday, so that was good. I was able to stay awake all day Monday, and ordered room service so I could finally get out of my travel clothes.

I am staying at the Holiday Inn, Suva, but only until Friday; at that time, I am checking out and moving to a short-term apartment rental, called Victoria Apartments, where I’ll be until May 11^th (then from the 11^th to the 19^th I’ll find someplace to stay on my own). This will be nice, because I can settle, and I’ll have a place to leave things while I am doing my field study. Plus, I’ll have more control over what I eat. However, there are negatives – 1: I will do everything in my power to not cook as much as possible (I hate cooking; and why should I eat my food when I should be enjoying Fijian food as much as possible?); 2: in my own apartment I won’t have the socialization I get when in a hotel, ie. the people passing through or also staying there, or the staff.

The hotel is currently a 5 minute walk to the office; I am housed in the government education building that contains the Primary, Secondary, and Asset Building Unit offices, where most Cardno Acil employees are located (since they are working with the education ministry) as they work with local staff. I walk past the American Embassy to get there, though I have not gone in. I have no idea where the apartment is located yet, or distance/what the walk will be like. There are taxis available everywhere (taxis are standard cars here; no interesting transportation that I have seen yet). Speaking of taxis, from previous experience I am so used to getting ripped off (or the attempt is made) when I go places. I have to say, the drivers here are the most honest I have met! They are nice; when I ask the cost, they tell me straight (and quote the cost I was told to pay), and there are meters in the cabs so you can see you are being charged correctly (though I have been told that some drivers don’t want to use it, so just tell them to turn it on and they do). I am assuming I will be cheated at least once, but it is so nice to have my first few taxi experiences be so positive.

Everyone is so nice. The major languages are Fijian and Hindi, due to the large Indo-Fijian population. English is the 3^rd language, and I have heard that they are pushing to teach all 3 in the schools. Right now, you have the 2 ethnic groups who speak their own language, and then English to communicate with each other. I am excited to learn more.

My sleep has not evened out yet; Monday night I slept from 9pm-6am, but last night I couldn’t fall asleep until 10pm, I woke up a few times, and then I woke up at 4am and couldn’t fall back asleep. I hope in another day or so my sleep will get back to normal; I keep hearing that the number of hours changed, that’s the number of days it takes to really reset your body clock. Great; 15 days? I can’t wait that long. More coffee please!

The weather is hot, sticky, sweaty; the humidity is disgusting. I wake up sweaty, and after I shower I am still sweating. I am glad the office I work in has air conditioning. I am amazed at how gross I can feel after a measly 5 minute walk to and from work. And so far, while it is the rainy season, I haven’t seen any rain yet. I am hoping; it is a good way to break the humidity, at least for a little while.

Ok, it is 2:15am home time as I write this, and 6:15pm my time now – and I’m hungry! I’m off to find food, and once I get online I will post this. I hope everyone is doing well!

Oh, forgot to say – I got my luggage Tuesday! Woohoo!!!!!

Ok, just back from dinner and my shower, and it is pouring sheets!

(WARNING! The below is written very stream-of-consciousness, and somewhat pessimistic sounding).

My flight from DC to LA was 30 minutes late; then I had to change airlines. My luggage never made it to Fiji; when I got to Nadi, I spent an hour waiting for luggage that never arrived, then filling out paperwork. By the time I got to my hotel, I was tired, hot, sweaty, and flustered. I was hoping to spend today relaxing and resting for my first day tomorrow; now I have to go out and try to buy some clothes.  They have internet at my hotel, but it is expensive! On the flights I saw “When the Earth Stood Still”, “Sixty Six”, “Twighlight”, and “Slumdog Millionaire”. I managed to sleep 4 hours on the flight between LA and Nadi. It is 8:00pm Sunday night home time but 12:00 noon Monday at the time of this writing. I am so tired and hungry; I just took a shower to freshen up and try to wake up. I should get dressed and go get food and clothes, but the thought of putting my travel clothes back on disgusts me. I can’t even wash them, because I have nothing else to wear yet. I pray my luggage gets here tomorrow. My foot hurts from running around 4 airports.

(ok, just reread this on 3.11; wow! I was so out of it exhausted when I wrote the above…. Ah, a good example of what sleep deprivation can do to you! LOL)

Well, I am back from Siem Riep, and it was amazing! It took 6 hours by bus to drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Riep on Monday, but the bus was not very full and the seat next to me was empty – so I got to stretch my leg across the seat and prop my foot up. I settled in the guesthouse, which was just outside of town, then made my way to the tourist center and booked a guide and tuktuk to the temples. Monday night I ate in Siem Riep town, and had some time to walk around. I like Siem Riep much better than Phnom Penh; it is cleaner, geographically smaller, so easier to get around and find things, and I like the atmosphere. There is a pub street with restaurants and shops, that they close off to traffic every night; there is a river with very clean riverfront area with benches; there is a garden area… I really like Siem Riep.

Tuesday I went with my guide to the temple area. It is amazing how Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and practices have meshed together in Cambodia. The first view I saw was Angkor Wat as we drove by it to Angkor Thom; stunning. However, Angkor Wat was scheduled for the afternoon, so we continued on. We reached Angkor Thom, which turned out to be a huge complex of buildings – Angkor Thom was actually an ancient walled/moated royal city. We walked through the South Gate (main gate), where I saw elephants which tourists can ride up to the gate on. I did not have an elephant ride, which I now somewhat regret, but walking slowly let us see different things. What we saw at Angkor Thom:

·         Inside the complex, we climbed around Bayon, which is a temple with 37 towers, each of which have 4 carved faces that are facing north, south, east, and west. There is debate over who the faces represent; the king at the time, or Buddha. There are carvings and bas-reliefs all over the walls, depicting historical battles, everyday life, and traditional carvings. The detail of the faces and carvings were amazing. The guide helped me with the climbing, but I did not climb to the highest tower – the stairs were too steep, no handrail, and my foot does not feel well on stairs. It is in the Buddhist style, though in later years some of the Buddhist carvings were desecrated and carved over with Hindu gods. I have a few pictures where you can see the outline of a Buddha with a Hindu god carved over it. I loved Bayon, the temples, and seeing not only the statues of different Buddhas in different hallways and nooks and crannies, but also watching people actively praying.

·         Baphoun – this is a big Hindu temple-mountain; mostly collapsed and under renovation, though we climbed what we could. Carvings all around.

·         Phimeanakas – this was a Hindu-style king’s temple; I saw it from the ground but did not climb up it.

·         Terrace of the Elephants – this is Buddhist-style, and a huge terrace that includes very impressive carvings of elephants (hence the name?), garudas (the lions that guard the temples), warriors, and dancers.

·         Terrace of the Leper King – this terrace is next to the other one, and has bas-reliefs of demons, nagas (magical snakes), and other mythological beings. I had climbed down the Elephant Terrace to see those carvings and then saw the Terrace of the Leper King carvings, but I did not have the energy to climb that one to see the statue of the Leper King; after seeing 5 sites, I needed to rest my foot!

We stopped for lunch, and my foot needed it – it hurt climbing, and walking across all those uneven surfaces. Plus, the weather – hot, sweaty, sticky…. It was gross. After lunch, on to Angkor Wat!

·         Angkor Wat was amazing. Surrounded by walls and moat, it is a 3-tiered pyramid, topped with 5 towers. It is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishu; it faces west, so is assumed to be a temple of the dead. All the walls are covered with carvings and bas-reliefs of apsara (traditional carvings of female dancers, also considered angels), Hindu mythology, and historical wars. The size and architecture is stunning, and I was very glad to have a guide. All day long, he pointed out great picture shots, told me what all the bas-reliefs meant, and helped me up and down the climb. In fact, he was very tricky at Angkor Wat; he went slowly, helped me at each climb, told me it was only a few steps, talked all the way, and next thing I knew – I was at the highest tier, though we couldn’t go higher into the towers. However, my foot was really hurting when we got to the top, so by the time we got back to the bottom I had to call it a day and did not see the last 2 walls of the bas-reliefs. I asked if it was like the other 2 walls (battles and Hindu mythology) and the guide told me yes; frankly, I feel I didn’t need to see them and stand there as he told me the stories. 2 walls were enough for me!

By the time we made it back to Siem Riep, I was exhausted, barely had energy for dinner and then had to rest my foot. I had bought a 3-day temple pass, but I was worried my foot wouldn’t let me enjoy Wednesday.

On Wednesday, I kept my tuktuk from the day before but not a guide – the tuktuk driver knew where to take me, and he drove me and dropped me off, waited for me, then drove me to the next site... and so on. I saw 4 sites on Wednesday. With no guide, I know there were a lot of things I missed, and meanings I did not catch, but it was nice going at my own pace, stopping and looking at things in silence, and just enjoying the peacefulness of the sites.

·         Banteay Srey – It took over an hour drive to get to this temple, into the countryside. It is a Hindu temple to Shiva, with very delicate carvings. It poured sheets of rain while  there, and most tourists left; I had hat, umbrella, and plastic rain poncho, so my bags and camera stayed protected; it was quite beautiful in the rain, and I got some nice shots. Got completely soaked, but who cares. The temple is relatively small, but the carvings are beautiful, and made of pink sandstone.

·         Pre Rup – another Hindu temple to Shiva; a temple-mountain with 3 tiers and towers at the top. I ran into 2 children around a bend and gave them some crackers; then they followed me and asked for money (I never give money to children, or buy things from them. Crackers/cookies only, and I usually have a few packs on me every day). And I am an idiot; even though the stairs were steep stones with no handrails, I stupidly started climbing and reached the 2^nd tier, and realized, A) there is no way I can climb to the 3^rd tier, and B) how the hell do I climb down myself? I ended up climbing down while facing outward, so I could scoot down on my bottom as needed. The views of the countryside, the rice patties and fields were beautiful.

·         Ta Prohm – a Buddhist temple, and was my favorite. There is jungle growth everywhere, with many buildings with trees growing through/around them. There are tons of corridors and open plazas, as well as areas that have collapsed; I got lost and twisted around a few times. This complex was dedicated to the mother of the king who built it. I belive this was also where “Toom Raider” was filmed, though I still have not seen that movie yet (I overheard other guides telling people, “… and this is where Angelina Jolie…”). This was my favorite temple, and I wish I spent even more time there, though my foot was really hurting by now.

·         Banteay Kdei – the last temple I saw, in Buddhist style, and I have to say I walked through it pretty fast – I had hit my temple limit. Also, at every temple there are vendors/hawkers at every entrance, which got very annoying very quickly. The vendors at this temple were very aggressive, they almost didn’t let me out of the tuktuk to go to the temple, they swarmed me trying to get my to buy – I thought they were even going to follow me into the temple itself  but I pushed past them and they backed off. This also affected my ability to enjoy this temple. By the time I finished this one, I was ready to go back! Dinner in Siem Riep, then back to the guesthouse.

One point about the vendors here, not just at the temples, but all over – someone really needs to train vendors how to attract customers. They truly do not understand that getting in tourists’ faces, grabbing their arms, yelling at them to buy my… and then at each “no thank you” shoving a different item in the face, by my…., and each time you say “no” something else is in your face, and this continues until you are able to walk away – this is not the way to attract customers. I make a point to buy from vendors that are polite, that don’t yell at me, that don’t keep trying to show me every single item in their stall….. There really needs to be training for vendors on how to effectively attract customers and close the sale.

On Thursday I just could not see any more temples, so did not use the last day on my pass. I stayed in town, which turned out to be a good idea; it rained all day long. It also gave me the chance to rest my foot more often. I spent the morning at the markets, had a nice slow lunch, and then in the afternoon went to the Angkor National Museum. The museum was ok, but somewhat disappointing; it was a huge, new building, with huge rooms with lots of writing on the walls and short videos throughout that gave some history, but the items themselves were very limited – there would be this huge room and only 6 statues in it. There was a lot of dead space. There was 1 room that billed itself as having 1000 Buddhas in one room, but most of them were very small in holes in the wall, so hard to see the ones higher up. It was a nice place to stay out of the rain, though. I had hoped to take pictures of Siem Riep today, but the rain made it impossible – the shots I wanted would not have worked. Oh well.

Friday I took the bus back to Phnom Penh, and I am now in my last week in Cambodia! I cannot believe it. The time now feels like it has gone so fast, and I will miss Cambodia, but I am very ready to come home. This last week I will be working some but playing as much as possible, seeing what’s left that I want to see. This morning (Saturday) I went to the market with Vered, and then took it easy in my room in the afternoon. I have to think about what I want to do the rest of the week!

Hope everyone is doing well!

First, to everyone who has wished me Happy Birthday, Thanks! (This is not a lame request to have others wish me a happy birthday, but an acknowledgement to those who did)

I decided I needed, and deserved, some pampering today. I slept late (8am – woohoo!), chatted with Dave online (always a treat!), and went to one of the markets. I bought a few clothes, but I am waiting to get most of my souvenirs after Siem Riep (I don’t want to schlep my purchases ½ way across the country). I was there for 1.5 hours, and my foot was really hurting – note to self, take it easy in Siem Riep. Yesterday (Friday), Randi, one of the expats who works at UNICEF, was supposed to meet with me but had to reschedule. She suggested lunch on Saturday, and I said ok; when Randi came she showed up with Natalia (another expat in UNICEF, who I am sure I have mentioned before; come to think of it, I may have mentioned Randi before as well).  They were so sweet, they gave me a small purse for my birthday! (To those who know me, the truly perfect gift for a bag lady such as myself). Needless to say, we never did talk about work…

After lunch was my true birthday gift to myself - a spa afternoon! Scrub, aromatherapy bath, massage, and facial…. 3 hours of bliss, with everyone being very careful not to touch my foot. Everything was so gentle and nice, until the very end – when the woman doing the facial gave me a mini massage, but it was Khmer style and not the relaxing, aromatherapy style – which means she was digging into me with her thumbs, and then used her elbows to dig into my shoulders… not my cup of tea, but the rest of the spa was so nice, nothing could ruin it. And for $95, I think I just may have to see if I can do this again before I go!

After the spa I went out to dinner with a book, a very friendly companion….. and ended my day with a chocolate martini, something I have never had before but was sinfully delicious.

Yes, I know, a total splurge the entire day…. Ahhhhhhh….. Now if only Dave was with me, the day would be complete…..

So, I know it has been a while since I blogged, and that is mostly because nothing much has happened. The interviews I was hoping to reschedule as phone interviews didn’t happen, so I had to postpone them to the first week of Oct. I was able to go to them, because when I went back to the clinic on Sept 26^th, I was given a full cast and walking boot. Now, this was not your typical cast that I would imagine, some fancy colorful thing that you see nowadays. No, they decided to play paper mache with my foot; they used so many strips and so much water, that they soaked the bed I was on - not to mention the pants I was wearing. It’s a good thing I went on a weekday in the morning, because I spent all day lying on my stomach with my foot in the air hoping it would dry. They finally sent me home and told me to keep it up until it was dry, then I could use the walking boot and walk on it. Well, as those of you who have followed my saga on Facebook know, 11pm and my cast still wasn’t finished drying; it was a little pasty to the touch. I wrapped the whole thing with ace bandages, and went to bed; I ended up keeping the bandages over the cast for the rest of the time. A week later I was able to do the interviews, but wouldn’t you know it – one interviews was up 2 flights stairs, and the other interview was up a freakin’ 3 flight curving staircase! Very hard to climb up a curved staircase, when the foot with the cast and boot is on the part of the stair that curves. I got a lot of sympathy stares, though!

At Rosh Hashanah I met an Israeli who is here volunteering with a health program (the second Israeli I’ve met). Vered was nice, and she invited me to join her when she went to the Museum on Saturday. I went there before, but I was getting stir crazy in the hotel, so I went. This time we got a guide, and it was great. Plus, Vered is an older woman and she was like a little Jewish grandmother; we would walk to a bench, and she would make me sit with my leg up while the guide told us about what was in the hallway. Then we’d walk a little more, and she’d tell me to sit… walk and sit, walk and sit… It was fun; painful, but fun.

Vered found out from her coworkers about a theater festival going on, and invited me to join her on Sunday. They were really nice, they saw my cast and let us go inside without having to wait in line. We went one night, and there were lots of families and kids. There were 2 shows; the first one was a comedy pantomime about a well-known fable of a poor fisherman, a robber, and a rich man. The fisherman was doing his thing when the robber ran by, and talked the fisherman into helping him hide from the rich man he stole from in return for some of the stolen stash. In the end, The rich man caught them, they returned the money, and he gave them each some back and told them to use it to go to school. Pretty good for all pantomime! The show was hilarious, and the audience was cracking up. I used my camera to take a bunch of short video clips, and I’ll try to post them on Facebook once I have a strong/fast enough connection that lets me download stuff again. Unfortunately, the second show, while good, was an awful pairing with the family-focused comedy. It was a drama from Thailand, and it was about the tsunami and survival in its aftermath…. Death, fishing bodies out of the waters, refugee camps, rape, suicides…. Not something for children! The audience had a hard time with it, and many people walked out. It was a very powerful play, but it was not a good pairing for the audience. At one point, an actor screamed, a child from the audience screamed back, and the audience burst into laughter at the child, completely breaking the mood.  After the theater, I joined Vered and her coworkers, plus a Swedish photographer who joined us, to go for dinner. It was a long night and my foot hurt, but mainly it was hobble to the tuktuk, sit, hobble into a building, sit, etc. Mostly, my problem with my cast has been due to the heat and my foot swelling, so wherever I am I have been trying to elevate my leg.

I was hoping to go to the theater again to see Burmese marionettes on Monday night, but I woke up and my foot hurt so much; I obviously overdid it with the museum and theater. Bummer! I still worked from home, so I got to keep my leg up all day Monday and Tuesday; Tuesday night I went back to the theater; a man recognized my cast, said he saw me Sunday night but not Monday…. I told him I had wanted to come but my foot hurt too much. Well, turns out he was one of the Burmese puppet masters, and he gave me a DVD of his show! Very cool. The first night’s show was a puppet show about warring gods; the second show was a comedy about 2 couples, one rich and one poor; they wife swap, and the rich-man poor-wife become poor, and the rich-wife and poor-man become rich. The narrators were especially funny; again, I took some video clips and will try to post them.

For Kol Nidre (the beginning of Yom Kippur) I went back to where I went for Rosh Hashanah. This is where I was a VERY BAD Jew this year; for the first time ever, I did not fast; not only that, but after “services” Vered and I went out to dinner (ok, I did feel a little less guilty by going with the Israeli). We found a restaurant in a local mall, and on the door it said it closes at 9. So we are eating, and around 8 I noticed outside the restaurant in the mall area lights are going off. We finish and go to leave at 9… and the entire mall has closed! Luckily the stairways still had the lights on, but everything else was dark; a security guard tried to tell us we had to walk down a delivery ramp to get out of the building, but I was not about to risk tripping on a ramp so told him to unlock the doors so we could get out. And there, on the door – close at 9!!!!! 9:00pm people!

I spent the rest of the week in my hotel, and on Saturday the 11^th went back to the doctors for a second x-ray. They took the cast off and did the x-ray; to me, I didn’t see a difference between the x-rays from 9/20 to 10//11. The doctor said that is because I am forming cartilage, which does not show up on x-rays. They wrapped my foot in ace bandages, and told me to be careful. That’s it. Wait a minute, so it’s ok for me to be walking around with my foot still broken with only ace bandages around it? This is my first broken bone, but I don’t think that seems completely kosher…. Well, what am I gonna do? I go back on the 30^th for a last visit, and I’ll get all my dr. notes and x-rays and bring them home with me so I can follow up with my own doctor. Until then, without the cast on, my foot isn’t swelling as much, so at least the pain associated with that is decreased. I can’t wear my sneakers though; I thought they would give some extra stability, but they are too tight with the ace bandages. So, again, I stayed in my hotel until the 15^th working and taking it easy on my foot. On the 15^th I presented my preliminary findings; it went ok, but are still some things I haven’t analyzed yet, and they were asking questions I couldn’t answer (hello, “preliminary”! Means it’s not final, I’m still working on it!).

So now, today is the 17^th. It was my last “official” day at the UNICEF office; from this point on I’ll continue working on the project on my own (kind of like what I’ve been doing these past few weeks in the hotel). But, I am taking a week off; tomorrow, the 18^th is my birthday and I am treating myself! I am going to treat myself to a spa and dinner out. Then, on Monday, I am leaving for Siem Riep! I am going to go see Angkor Wat temples; I know I won’t be able to climb up the steps to go into the temples, and there may be some I can’t get to, but I am going to try and see what I can. I can’t wait, I am so excited. I leave Monday and come back to Phnom Penh on Friday… which will then leave me with 1 week left before I come home! When I come back I am moving to the hotel Vered is staying in; much cheaper, and easier to walk places (much closer to things). I will work some more, but also try to enjoy Phnom Penh with the time I have left (especially since I feel all I’ve done these past 4 weeks was stay at the hotel); I’ll be finishing my final report when I get home.

I have to say, this project has been 10 times more challenging than my contract in Pakistan, for so many different reasons. I love Cambodia, and now that I am getting close to the end of my stay, I am sad about leaving, but this has been tough. I hope sometime in the future I can come back and enjoy it more.

Ok, I usually don’t watch reality shows, but there is one show here that I really enjoy – Amazing Race Asia. I know there is an Amazing Race, but I have never watched it before. I have been hooked on this show, and then they started showing the original Amazing Race…. Amazing Race Asia is so much better! The Americans are loud, backstabbing, annoying, and it is really hard to watch them. I don’t care if any of them wins. Amazing Race Asia, people are strategic but not hateful/hurtful; it is more about competing for the sake of doing your best and having fun vs. the win; and while there are a few standouts that you like a lot, and that you want to get kicked off, in general they are people you can really root for. I see the comparison as a very interesting cultural study.

So, I figured I wasn’t going to do anything for Rosh Hashanah. Well, Sunday I was lucky enough to see an ad in the paper for Rosh Hashanah dinner! I called for more information, and it was dinner at a restaurant. I went there tonight, and it was about 30 people, including kids. All ex-pats. A rabbi and her husband came in to visit until after Yom Kippur, and she brought prayer books and a shofar, plus some plastic shofars for the kids. It was a short "service", a few prayers and some stories and anecdotes. Some chatting, and then dinner. Almost everyone there worked in the development field (2 were Fulbright journalism scholars). It was fun; I also met an Israeli who is here for 2 months volunteering in the health sector; we exchanged numbers, perhaps we'll get together Saturday or Sunday - I told her to give me a call if she wants to do something.

I have to say, after staying in my hotel for the past week and a half (working from my room), being out for 4 hours I can feel that my foot swelled up, and it hurts. Tonight showed me I have to keep taking it easy; this is so annoying, but I really want my foot to heal by Oct 18^th (first, because that’s my birthday, and secondly, I really really really want to go to Siem Riep and see Ankor Wat!! I have been told that my foot should really heal before I make that trip).

I am so thankful that I am at the stage of my work that I can do it in my hotel (aside from 2 last interviews that I have to schedule).

I plan on going to Yom Kippur Services as well.

My Field Study – 2 weeks: September 7-19; broken foot; hotel I stayed in Islamabad, Pakistan bombed

9/21: OK, I have a LOT of catch-up to do. Bear with me; this is being written very stream-of-consciousness, based on notes I took over the past 2 weeks; I had very little internet connectivity while away, and my first week I did not have the correct adaptor plug with me to use my computer at all….

So I left for Kampong Thom, a province about 4 hours north of Phnom Penh, on Sunday the 7^th. While we drove, I was noticing in the rural areas all these huge compact piles of hay and dirt, much like the shape of the memorial stupas I saw at wats in the city. So, I thought they were memorials in some way, and asked…. D’oh, turns out they were huge haystacks for the cows that they were drying for the upcoming dry season. Assumptions can be so stupid; I am glad I asked.

The hotel booked for me was nice, 1 year old, and had air/con and TV, but there was no restaurant… not only was there no food, but the hotel was 15-20 minute walk outside of town, on unlit roads, which I would have to walk back and forth every day for food. So, Monday morning, I moved hotels to a larger hotel in the middle of town, which had the major restaurant. I was told I was not originally booked there because it was noisy; but overall, with the noise of the air/con, it wasn’t so bad… and I had to wake up early for the interviews anyway (I start work around 7:30 am here).

So, my first day (Sept 8^th) – breakfast was chicken and rice (which would be my breakfast for the rest of the week). My morning interviews went well, though my first went ½ hour over, which affected the others. We returned to town for lunch; we had 2 hours, which was a good thing because the restaurant was filled and I had to wait for a seat, then it took a while to get my order taken and my food. The strange thing –from my seat I could see a tv on the wall, and it was tuned to Cartoon Network –Tom and Jerry. Weird. My afternoon interview was like pulling teeth; he would reply to my question with the “catch phrase” reply, but was unable to give me any examples to support his replies, to demonstrate that he could actually apply what he learned (or at least demonstrate that he understood what he learned). He admitted he inflated the number of monitoring visits he was supposed to do, because there was no money for the moto fee and he wouldn’t pay for it out of his own pocket (he needed to save the $ for food for his family and pay for petrol). He also confirmed that the wrong people go to trainings from his district, mainly to collect the per diem. I have to say that this field study is during school holiday, so I didn’t get to see any classrooms in action. Oh well.

(Note: I am mentioning this now because I saw one in the restaurant, but there are so many Mormon missionaries here! There was even an article in the paper, exploring Christian missionaries and whether they are a “rice religion” – promising food – hence the rice - and money in exchange for conversions. I can’t help but compare them to Samoa, where the Mormon Church was almost all local-led, as opposed to all these white-shirt foreigners.)

So the 9^th we travelled to Sandan district in Kampong Thom province, which was about 2 hours away on awful roads. My translator got carsick by the time we arrived. I took some pics and video during the drive, and hope to post them on Facebook, but I haven’t been able to access Facebook all weekend. I learned that in the rice patties, freshwater fish also live there, which they eat as well. I never got to see the rice patties close up, but when farming rice, they pull up the stalks, open the “flowers”, and inside are seeds that are the rice. On the way back to town, we stopped at Prasat Tao – the Lion Temple; the largest of a collection of structures in Sambor Prei Kuk, which was the capital of then-Chenla during the reign of an early 7^th-century king. The structures here are the oldest in Cambodia, and it was great to see; they are in the middle of the forest. I have pics and will try to get them on Facebook. Someone came by on a bike and introduced herself to me; turns out it was a new Peace Corps volunteer ( I should have none by the bicycle and helmet) who was having her home stay that week, and was excited at the thought I might live close by. Dinner was with UNICEF staff, in huts over rice patties. I wish I could have gotten some pics of this, but it was too dark out, and I was too tired from a full day of interviews and 4 hours total of driving.

The 10^th – unbelievable rains, all day. I had one focus group that was a no-show, and one focus group where only one person showed up. Because of the group no-show, we had nothing to do from 10-1, and we were too far away from town to make it worth going back. Plus, with the rains, we had nowhere to go… so we ended up eating lunch at 10:30am, but didn’t stay at the restaurant because it started flooding; they had just cemented in front of their restaurant for parking, but that meant there was nowhere for the rain to run off to except inside. Oops. We went back to the district education office where we had our morning interviews, but staff were leaving for lunch so we ended up sitting there in an empty office for 2 hours. Very boring, and tiring in its boring-ness. My interviews went well for the rest of the week.

The 12^th – We drove through a rubber plantation to get to Kratie province. I was told they collect the sap of the tree, which is the main ingredient for rubber, but they have no processing plant here –so they export the raw sap (they tap the trees like they do for molasses), and import the final product. We also saw 6 mosques in a 20-minute span. It was so nice to spend the weekend in Kratie, without working!

My Kratie weekend, 12^th-14^th: we (me, my driver Sam, and Nith, my translator) left at 9am to drive 45 min to where the Irrawaddy dolphin, an endangered freshwater dolphin which lives in Southeast Asia in the Mekong River. Nith and I took a 90-minute boat ride on the river to where they tend to hang out; it was so peaceful out there. I saw quite a few of them, but they are fast… by the time I heard them and turned around, they were already on their way back in the water – I mostly saw their backs and fins, and didn’t get a close look at their faces. That was disappointing, but it was amazing to see them at all. I took some video, and will try to post them on Facebook when I can. The rest of the day, I spent walking around town, found an internet café, and rested in my room. I found a cool restaurant & bar which had a book share, which was run by an American who’s lived in Cambodia since for 7 years.

When we left Kratie, it took 2 hours to drive to Stung Treng, a province north of Kratie, bordering Laos. The road was unbelievably muddy, and we almost got stuck, even with 4-wheel drive; a van in front of us did get stuck and we had to turn around. The below, in italics, is what I had written that night but never got to post …

As I write this, it is Sunday the 14^th, 5pm, and I am falling asleep from exhaustion. This past week has been non-stop, and even though I had the weekend to take it slow (reading fun mindless book, internet cafes, wandering the streets, etc), I am still tired. The heat has been unbearable, and the rains have been daily, almost nonstop. It has rained so much; I have not been able to do any laundry (it wouldn’t dry). I am tired of always feeling damp, and even though I am staying in rooms where I have paid extra for air/con (and tv as well), I still feel clammy (no, I am not sick). In addition, I have not been sleeping well at all; waking up 4am, 5am every morning because of the morning noises (roosters, dogs, motos, dishes clanging, and other morning assorted noises). I have tried to go to bed earlier, but I never seem to fall asleep before 11:30pm. This wouldn’t be so bad, except the accumulative affect, combined with the heat and rains have made me feel sleepy beyond belief. After 5 interviews a day for the past week, I still have 4 more days of 5 interviews/ day (and then an 8-hour drive back to Phnom Penh on Friday the 19th). I can’t wait for this week to be finished so I can go “home”, back to Phnom Penh, to my quiet, comfortable room which is – now- comparatively quiet (I won’t think complaints over noise any more).

9/14: EEEEEWWWWWWW moment….. I just showered in my new hotel in Stung Treng, and there was a frog! I tried to get it to move to the other side of the bathroom by spraying water on it, but it wouldn’t move; all I could do was get it to move behind the toilet. I’m keeping the bathroom door closed so it doesn’t come into the room, but… ewwww, it’s still there when I go to brush my teeth tonight, and tomorrow morning…. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I am happy to say, I was able to communicate with the hotel staff and pointed out the frog, which I had caught by turning my trash can upside down over it. The 15^th was spent doing interviews in Stung Treng, but 2 afternoon interviews were postponed because the people were still in Phnom Penh from a meeting the week before. This meant I had to fit in their interviews later in the week, after whole days of other interviews… very tiring.

The 16^th – we drove to Sesan district, in Strung Treng, ½ hour drive from the town center. They have no town in Sesan, it is a very poor village bordering the river with the jungle behind them; it is just a cluster of homes and a school without electricity. The buildings are mostly wood (the school is wood with a cement base and lower ½-wall), and most homes are made from wood with woven palm tree branches for roofs. We had to drive back and forth between Stung Treng town for lunch. We sat on the school porch for the interviews, with cow dung all around us… very interesting experience.

The 17^th – we were going to Thala Borivath, which meant we had to take a boat to get there, since they were across the Tonle San River. The “town” was 1 block, with 4-5 buildings either side. We walked to the District Education office, and then had to walk through brush, mud, cows, and a field to get to the school for our other interviews… the school was closed so we sat on the porch (no cow dung this time, luckily). We found out our afternoon interview people were still in Stung Treng, so we skipped lunch and hopped the boat back there to interview them, saving them a trip. I also added the 2 interviews from Monday that had been postponed, so we started the day at 7pm, ate lunch at 2pm, and ended the day at 6pm, after doing 7 interviews. Oy!

The 18^th - Only in a small word – in Stung Treng town, on a 3-shelf bookshelf of books for backpackers to borrow and leave, I found a Lonely Planet© travel book for New Zealand in Hebrew. More interviews. I did notice that I felt cooler in Stung Treng compared to Kampong Thom.

The 19^th – woohoo, return-to-Phnom Penh day! It was a 6 ½ hour drive from Stung Treng to Phnom Penh. I liked that the driver (and something I have noticed about most drivers) honked as he drove, well in advance of any animals he saw in the road – cows, dogs, even chickens – to give them warning so they moved before he hit them. So far, in other countries I have been in… an animal in the road is a speed bump to go over; this has been a nice change. I drove back with 2 Cambodian staff, and we talked about everything; they really asked a lot of questions about religion, politics, and social issues in America. I always find it weird, as someone who’s Jewish, when I have to try to explain what’s the difference between all the Christian churches when I am unclear about some of them myself. One of the staff, Reth, said this quote to sum up everything: “where there is a human, there is a problem” as a way to explain fate, and to a certain extent, there is no need to fight against anything. We stopped for lunch at this stall with tables in the back; there were 8 open kettles, and you just pointed to what you wanted to eat. Amazingly, the food was really good, and I didn’t get sick from it later!

So, it was so nice to check back into Imperial Gardens Villa and Hotel, and this time I am in the main building. It is so nice to finally unpack! BUT… as I was unpacking, I had dirty laundry on the floor to sort, and tripped…. There is a ledge up leading to a step down into the bathroom, and I landed on my bare foot on the ledge on the outer side of my left foot. I thought I had sprained it, but when I put an ace bandage on it, it hurt, so I took it off. I took it slow the rest of the day, and figured I’d see how my foot felt Saturday morning. Well, when I woke up, I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t put pressure on my foot. I skipped breakfast and went back to the International SOS clinic (where I got my vaccines), and an x-ray confirmed, I broke my foot!!! Thankfully, it is the bone along the side edge of the foot, I can still move all toes and ankles, nothing wrong with ligaments, no need for surgery (thank G-d!!!). But, as of now I have a back cast on, which runs along the bottom and sides of my foot, ankle, and up the back of my leg to behind the knee, to keep my foot stable; I keep it on with ace bandages. And, I am on crutches. I go back to the clinic in 1 week to see how it is healing and if I need a full cast. It may take 4-6 weeks to heal, which is the rest of my time here! I am so angry at myself and disappointed; this is seriously going to hamper my ability to sightsee, get around town, and shop, which is something I was putting off until after my field study.

And, to top it all off, I came home after 3 hours at the clinic to find out that the Marriott Islamabad, where I stayed most of my time in Pakistan, was hit my suicide bombers and destroyed! I was watching the news and could see the room where I stayed in flames…. I was, and still am, in shock. The security there, as I described in earlier blogs while in Pakistan, was amazing, and it was the only hotel in the capital given security clearance, which many governments used for consultants and contractors, the media stayed there, and more well-to-do Pakistani nationals came to the restaurants, stayed there when they came to the capital, and celebrated many events (weddings, etc) in the banquet halls. I can’t believe it. This is huge for Pakistan.

Sunday the 21^st – I spent it writing this, watching the news about Pakistan, and resting my foot. I should be doing work, but the pain meds they gave me – Tylenol with Codeine – makes me sleepy and it is hard to concentrate. My foot has been swelling today, pressing against the cast, which does not have my feeling confident about tomorrow; I have been in my air/con room, but tomorrow when I go to work, I’ll be in the full heat trying to maneuver around on crutches… I do not recommend anyone trying to learn how to use crutches for the first time here. At least I am getting better on stairs, since I am on the second floor (no elevator).

I have to admit, I am a little nervous going to work tomorrow, trying to maneuver with crutches. If it gets to be too hard trying to use the tuktuks (getting in and out of them) and maneuvering around the office, I’ll just tell them I want to work a few days from my hotel, there should be no problem. I fully expect that, after a few days, I will get acclimated to the cast and crutches and things will get easier. Now if my foot would stop swelling and itching…..

22^nd – so I went to work today, and I will not lie, it was very hard. Transportation is my biggest barrier; it is really hard to climb up into and out of the tuk tuks with a broken foot. It also hurt to sit at my desk, since I couldn’t prop my foot high enough. I am just so glad my field study is already done. They are really understanding, and I plan to work from my hotel room the rest of the week. I have 3 interviews left to do on Thursday and Friday, but hopefully I can either have them meet me at the hotel, at the UNICEF office, or do phone interviews. We’ll see.