Friday, July 31, 2009 – Day 7

**NOTE: NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED**

I get an email saying that my documents to an organization were not received. I mailed the documents a month ago via snail mail. Funny how a system that has a good operating mail system loses mail so often (2^nd time for me in the past 5 years).

I have a new task. Compile a table about each surveillance system, their case definition, data collected, etc. Harder than it sounds when there is missing info and info placed in many different areas and people and agencies.

10 AM – Dr. Funny asks me if I want coffee downstairs. I say no, thank you.

10:45 AM – Marlin comes in and says every Friday, there is a coffee break for all the staff downstairs in the meeting room. Coral (secretary) comes in with a plate of candy for Dory and me.

11 AM – Dory & I head downstairs and the secretaries and staff are putting away plates but bring them back out when we come in. There are huge trays of French croissants and another of Asian sticky rice, glutinous rice stuff wrapped in pretty bamboo leaves.

They bring out plates for us. Another staff person comes in who sat directly across from me at the staff meeting. He is Afghan, went to med school in the Philippines, and didn’t go to residency – but did go to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I know 4 people who have gone to this school and debated about applying but their academic year is very different and would offset my current projected schedule. I talk to this doctor and say I’m reading the “Kite Runner” and it’s about a change in a boy’s life in Afghanistan after Russia invaded. The doc says that he is related to this author, Khaled Hosseini. Small world. He tells me that the story tells Afghani life quite realistically.

I meet with Nemo to go over a rough draft of the report and we make more changes. We go to lunch at a Khmer restaurant, where we take off our shoes and sit on cushions. I finally try the much-raved fish amok. It tastes like Thai food because of the spices and curry but it is so good. It is like having a present b/c there are 9 or so lids to lift up and just when I thought I ate it all, I lifted up the center lid and there was another piece of fish. I also drink coconut milk out of a large coconut!!

Nemo and I talk about a lot of things, but mostly I ask questions about WHO organizational structure, hiring/intern process (he says I’m lucky b/c I’m working 4 weeks when minimum is 6 weeks), etc. I find out he’s married and he and his wife spent 2 years doing a long-distance marriage. We then talk about my bf and what our goals are and he said based on that, it will be difficult to be in the same place for the both of us – doable but difficult. He says that based on bf’s goals, the most he will move is 2-3 times. Me, probably a lot more. So much unknowns in life.

After lunch, we have a meeting at the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Nemo, Dory, and I are driven there by a WHO driver and on the way, I take pics.

We arrive and there are some familiar faces.

I am introduced by Nemo. There is a guy there representing the US CDC who is frustrated that things are not being implemented in a timely fashion, especially since the CDC is funding a lot of these surveillance systems. The deputy director, who I met earlier this week, assures him things will happen. Afterwards, I set up a meeting for Monday to go over data with Glenn. I then meet an American physician (pediatrician) who is going to be here in Cambodia working for a non-profit hospital providing free services to the poor. I ask if it’s possible to take a tour of the facilities and get his business card. We are stuck in traffic on the way back to the office.

I have at least 3 meetings next week to talk with people in charge of their respective surveillance systems. I leave at 6 and go home to run on the treadmill.

Buddha’s brother-in-law, his cousin, and sister-in-law are visiting and I meet them. The brother-in-law is from Korea and I say “ahn-oh-hah-say-oh” (how are you) and he says “we will speak in Korean!” I say that’s all I know in Korean, plus “gam-sah-mi-dah” for thank you. Buddha invites me to join them for dinner.

I go back inside and run on the treadmill for a few minutes with Chris Brown’s music video on TV. I almost fall because the treadmill jerks backwards every few seconds. I try holding onto the side bars and jogging. No luck. I decide to run outside. Buddha’s nephew joins me for a jog around the block and he asks what I study, about life in America, and if I will come back to Cambodia (probably not for a long time). He goes back in while I continue. I run past the Independence Monument and fight traffic crossing roads (no walk signals) and everywhere people are looking at me like why/how is she running outside/at night/alone etc? I come back in, shower, and see they finished dinner but saved a small bowl for me. Ms. Ray made beef that tastes a bit like Thai food and white rice.

Buddha also shows me his wine. He mixes Chinese ginseng wine with Angkor beer and ice.

He gives me a little and he pours some for himself and the other 2 guys (his nephew doesn’t drink) and we say cheers. We clink every time he pours a shot quantity into his glass. I take an hour to finish my little amount after 10 “cheers!” I chat with them about many things. Buddha tells me he has 5 siblings, how he learned to swim (he was pushed into the deep water to catch his buffalo from swimming away when the river flooded the paddy fields), religion in Cambodia, reading materials, etc. The nephew and his brother-in-law also ask questions. Highlight was my age question – they think I am 26, which is the first time someone has said a number higher than how old I actually am. I also find out that the nephew is 22, when I thought he was 18. It’s funny – because of mal/overnutrition, children/people look younger/older, respectively in developing and developed worlds.

The women are sitting off to the side watching TV, old Chinese martial arts drama shows. The sister-in-law’s 2-year old boy is so cute. He comes up to me and pokes me and runs away every few minutes. The dog Pushy keeps wanting attention. The women go to bed and mosquitoes are biting me despite the fact that I put 30% DEET on me an hour prior.

The following day, Buddha and his family are showing me the park and they are excited to show me, so I am happy that they don’t find my company boring.