Four little words, well technically 6, pretty much
sum up the last month - parasites, cockroaches, mangy dogs, and food poisoning.
Let's take a trip...
It was the beginning of March. Life was happy and joyous, as I had just
started the month off celebrating a beautiful Khmer wedding with my coworkers.
Lots of eating, drinking, dancing, and good ole fun. A couple days later
that’s when days turned dark…instead of enjoying the beautiful sunshine
Cambodia offers every day, I began to soak up more of the artificial light that
illuminates the space we all like to call, the bathroom. For over a week I saw
this glorious space multiple times a day, had a constant, horrible pain in my
stomach, and lost about 9 pounds. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the latter
mentioned symptom, but overall, it was pretty obnoxious. I eventually went to
the doctor, and sadly I couldn’t get the answers I wanted, but similar to the ways
of the States, the doc gave me some pills and sent me home. All in all,
symptoms were eventually relieved, and I was left with the gift of being 9
pounds lighter!
The next week I was in Hanoi for a conference, which was fabulous, and
all was good, until…
I arrived back in Phnom Penh after the conference, and went out to the
video store one night so I could enjoy a quiet evening in. I was innocently
browsing through DVD after DVD deciding what I wanted, when all of a sudden I
felt like I needed to scratch my leg. The feeling didn’t dissipate after giving
a little shake, so I took it to the next level and brushed my leg with my other
foot. Ahh, the feeling was gone. However, the moment of relief was short-lived
and quickly replaced with an intense feeling of disgust as my eyes connected
with the giant, brown cockroach next to my foot that was once crawling up my leg. Chills immediately
ran throughout my body from head to toe, paired with a girlish squeal that instinctively
passed my lips. Once I realized how foolish I looked freaking out over a little
cockroach, which to the Cambodians, is merely another little creature they live
life alongside of, I decided it was best to take my movies and leave. Although
I left the scene of the crime, the feeling of the nasty little thing crawling
up my leg stayed with me for hours. Even to this day I can think back on the
moment and still feel the chilling tickling up my leg as the grotesque critter
decides to use my leg as a tree it wants to climb.
As if the cockroach wasn’t enough adventure for one night, I rode my
moto into my apartment complex only to be met by an overly hormonal dog, which
decides to growl at me and then proceed to bite my foot. Fortunately, she
backed off after one little taste, and I was able to escape to the safety of
the building before any damage was done. This sense of safety was also
short-lived, as the following evening when returning home I was again met with
the moody dog, which clearly hadn’t had enough the night before. As I try
to pull in my moto for the night yet again, the dog goes for the same foot, and
to her satisfaction, succeeds in tearing some flesh. Luckily for me it was just
a small bite, and nothing that a good scrubbing couldn't fix. Sadly for the new
mom to some adorable pups, her uncontrollable hormones and desire to defend her
little guys by attacking me, got her immediately tied up for good. I do feel
slightly guilty for that, but what can you do? I definitely don’t want to get
chewed on every night I come home!
So, I’ve had a few rough weeks with multiple toilet trips, stomach
cramps, unexpected, but welcome, weight loss, cockroaches crawling up my leg,
and dogs attacking my feet. You’d think that would be enough excitement for one
month, but nope, not in Cambodia!!!
A few days later, I went to a western sports bar for some dinner and
drinks with a friend, where I had a delicious salmon salad and enjoyed some
local beer. About an hour later or so I had this very uneasy feeling in my
stomach. I didn’t think much of it, as it’s Cambodia, sometimes you get
unexplainable feelings after eating, but it’s not a big deal. This, however, was
not one of those times. That night turned out to be one of the worst nights
I’ve had thus far in Cambodia. Horrible nausea disturbed my sleep all night,
only to begin the new day with a fever, more nausea that never settles, and absolutely
no energy, keeping me from being able to stand for even 1 minute. I honestly
don’t think I have ever felt so terrible, but all I could do was ride the wave
for the next 24 hours. The next day I felt heaps better, but it took a few days
to get back to 100%.
All in all, it was quite the eventful month, filled with all sorts of
experiences I’d love to forget and leave behind. Let’s hope the remaining 2 ½ months
have a bit more joy to offer!!
