Work week and new year holidays
A full week at work and now holidays until Thursday for Khmer New Year - having just started work, it doesn’t feel like we need it but it’s definitely welcome.
There’s a lot to be done at work - mostly so far I have been planning and assessing. I’m impatient to start doing something concrete to help like training and solving problems but there is a bit of ground work to be done first.
It has become apparent that a virus protection and backup strategy is desperately needed. There are several factors which make putting these in place very difficult. Started researching options yesterday and it didn’t feel so daunting after that. I will report back to the managers after the break about what I’ve found during my assessments and offer recommendations for improving their systems. Will spend some time tomorrow working on this.
On Friday at work, it was like the end of the year in Australia before the Christmas break. Everyone was putting up decorations, eating snacks (green mango with chilli and soy sauce, fruit juice) and chatting. Not much work.
Had planned to go out Friday night but the mobile phone network was down - no cals or messages going in or out. There must have been an overload of calls because of the new year break. So didn’t end up doing much - went up the road to our corner restaurant for dinner.
Last night, went out with Sonia and two of her friends, Kimsour and David. We went for dinner by the river and finished with a fruit shake (yum). I don’t think I had drunk enough water though because I felt pretty dizzy at the end. Came home and had a gastrolyte. It is so easy to become dehydrated here.
I’ve been to see Wat Phnom this morning. It is the main PP Wat (temple) built on a small hill. It is believed that a woman called Penh founded the city at the site of the wat and so the city was named after her. It’s a nice location - leafy and green. There’s a big elephant there which takes people for rides and lots of street vendors and people visiting the temple.
Just about to have another massage at Seeing Hands massage - the masseurs are all blind people. Only $3 (US).
Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia
