The difficult bit

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I've now been here for about 2 1/2 months and the excitement of working in a developing country is starting to wear off. It's the loneliness more than anything else. With John gone it feels like a big part of me is missing. I knew that missing the kids, john and my friends would be the hardest thing about this adventure. I have definitely had a lot of time to think about what's important to me as well as what I need to function properly. Sometimes I go for days without speaking to anyone who speaks english. I had no idea that talking to people face to face (and skype is no substitute) was so vital to my mental well being. After being alone for days it feels so good to have a chat to someone and it really doesn't matter what about. I had a lovely girly chat with Lori in the dining hall tonight, just about which massage place gives the best massages and I came out feeling so refreshed, like I'd just had a massage for my brain!
I went to Kratie (pronounced Krachey) the other week. The place is famous for the very endangered irrawaddy dolphins. They think that there s only about 75 individuals left in the Mekong. Although it poured with rain, I saw glimpses of them which was more exciting than I thought it would be. I also went on a tuk tuk tour of some temples which was good although one of them had some very graphic images of what happens if you generate bad karma.
The guesthouse I stayed at was run by a gay New Zealander who reminded me very much of Basil Faulty. His poor waiter would cop criticism every time he tried to do his job "You know your supposed to bring the sugar with you, no, give it to her not to me" "I've told him so many times but he's just hopeless. I'd sack him and hire someone else but I'm unlikely to find anyone who's any better "...You get the picture. I suspect that the waiter, who I thought was lovely, was pretending to be hopeless just to annoy his boss. He would always have a grin on his face even when he was being told off. It was quite funny at first but I found the constant whinge about the khmer people a little wearing after a while. The food was great though. And you can't complain for only $4 a night.

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Comments

[Sue & Tony]

Hi Kirsten, we hope you are hanging in there. The good thing is that there is an end date in sight and the posting is not permanent :-) Hope the field work is going well and that you are getting to prove or disprove some theories. Look after yourself. Love Sue and Tony xx