Fluke

I am currently sitting in my hotel room.  I can't believe that one week has already passed since I arrived here.  The time is just flying by.

Two days ago, I went out to Bakong High School to try to take the inventory of the three science labs there.  I was introduced to Chanda's assistant Kimry ( a lovely and clever young physics teacher ).  We began with Kimry's physics lab and it took a bit longer than the others because Chanda and Kimry kept wanting to ask me questions.  Kimry showed me the physics textbook that use and was hoping that I could explain a couple of lessons that she is not clear on.  I am not a physics teacher but I did recognize a lesson on engines and engine efficiency based on the diagrams.  I could even tell that it wasn't a Carnot engine because the heating and cooling steps were not adiabatic.  Unfortunately I was no help at all for the second lesson.  I could not interpret a single thing from the diagram amid the beautiful scrolling Khmer script.  There were several times when she wanted me to write down the identity of what was inside the baskets and bins so that she could translate them into Khmer.  I disappointed her a bit though when I told her that the things that she thought were lenses were in fact only watch glasses.  That definitely explains why I found 60 watch glasses in each physics classroom.  I moved each one to chemistry and have put lenses on my list of things to try to buy.  One of the classrooms does have a class set of those little plastic magnifying glasses that can be used as lenses.

The biology room contained several skeletons of fish and chickens...and I think that they were real.  Someone painstakingly removed every scrap of tissue.  When I told Diane this over brunch today, her face had this terrific mixture of pride and disgust.  It was great.  Anyway, Kimry told me that she wanted a clear glass cabinet so that the specimens could be displayed and scene by the students instead of being hidden away behind the white board.  Diane and I had a good laugh that CFC had created a monster and that the next thing they would be asking for are Smartboards and iPads class sets.  And really, if they get to the point where they can think of uses for that stuff, why not ask for it.  Amazing.

The chemistry lab is the original lab room that I remember working in last time I was here with Kyle.  Instead of having sinks in the middle of desks, it was two sinks by the wall and one of them is disconnected.  There are no sliding white boards in this room, and it only has a single glass cabinet with sliding doors to store things.  The rest of the equipment is in bins on the floor laid out in a row.  Kimry and I spent some time cleaning the dirt and dust off of some of that equipment as best as we could.  I also threw out a small amount of stuff that I decided was broken or useless.  I hate to see a chemistry lab without enough storage so I am going to order or commission more storage cabinetry for that space.  It's the original.  It deserves some attention.

That night I ate dinner at a local restaurant down the street.  Pretty simple and tasty.  I will try to keep costs down when I find myself alone in the evenings because when there are other people to eat with, it will be easy to spend money.  This way I can enjoy more mango smoothies by the pool.

Yesterday I went off to the final school.  This time I was greeted by Chanda and two of the other teachers.  At first I wasn't sure what to do with them because I needed to take the inventory and all I could ask them to do was to help me remove large bins from high shelves (carrying on my tradition of asking people to do menial tasks for me).  Anyway, I showed them the prepared slides that I had brought (thank you Rocio and Russell!) and they were a huge hit!  The teachers were enthralled because they recognized what they represented but had never seen them before.  I showed them how to carry the microscope properly, and how to focus it, and then I showed them a plant specimen of some kind - they were hooked.

They spent over an hour translating as many of the slides as possible.  I think that they like the human specimen bits the best.  The first slide that they wanted to look at was a cross-section of a liver fluke (gross!).  Unfortunately, that is not the most exciting thing to look at under the microscope.  You can't really see much cool stuff.  The ticks and chloroplasts were much more beautiful.  Lucky for me, this kept them occupied for over an hour while I finished writing down everything that I could find in the lab.   Now that inventory is done I have a wish list from the teachers that I met.  I have to get in touch with the supplier in Phnom Penh and see if they have more beakers, horseshoe magnets, scalpels, pipette bulbs, and other things like that.  I also have to get in touch with Savy because they have hundreds of test tubes but the white plastic racks that they ordered don't fit them!  And Savy has had some custom-made in the past.  I need to see if they can do more things like that.  And then of course there is the cabinetry and with a little luck, the sink fixing.

Today was a pretty quiet day.  I spent a fair bit of it on the computer in lobby area typing up the inventory list.  I then emailed the lab equipment supplier in Phnom Penh with a list of things that I am interested in buying to round out what the Science labs have.  Everything is pretty simple and meant to help the lab equipment that is already there work together more smoothly.  I have asked about pipette bulbs, universal clamps, erlenmeyer flasks, and beakers.  With any luck, they will have some of that stuff in that peculiar enormous warehouse of stuff that seems to be there.  I attempted to go to a local gym with a couple of the female staff members.

I would be lying if I said that it was in good condition with lots of good machines.  None of the cardio machines worked at all, either because they had broken parts or because they needed power to operate.  We stayed for a little under an hour and then I headed to the Frangipani to enjoy the pool   What a lovely hotel that one is.

This evening, I went out to Route 60 with a couple of the staff members.  Route 60 refers to a strip of highway that is overtaken by a sort of local night market / carnival / restaurant alley / shopping mall.  I rode with one of the reception staff who promptly ran completely out of petrol about 400 m away.  I hopped on his friend's bike and we drove around to find a corner vendor who sells that petrol in whisky bottles that you see everywhere.  Turns out that the price of gas here is almost as expensive as it is back home.  Importing into Cambodia is pricey I think.  Anyway, I tried not to laugh too hard when I saw poor Mr. Chai sort of kicking along with one foot as he propelled his motorbike to the corner to join us.  We then drove for about 15 or 20 minutes to get to Route 60.  We sat down at these low tables and sat on the smallest little plastic stools I have ever seen.

We all ate a delicious cold soup with cucumber, banana flower, water lily, and other vegatables, all poured over rice noodles.  I paid for my gracious hosts and their friends and the entire food bill for all of us came to $2.75.  There were little kids walking around with glasses of iced juice or lemonade, or empty baskets asking us if we wanted some sugar cane.

After the sun went down, we went over to the amusement park area.  I wish that we had had more time there because a strong wind storm blew up and everyone shut things down very quickly and we had to head home.  But we threw some darts at balloons, and shot rubber stoppers at little tiny toy bunnies.  Mr. Chai won a bag of candy which is now sitting behind the front desk for the evening and night staff to enjoy.

When that wind storm blew up, the vendors and carnies started to tear everything down with practiced speed.  There were some terrific childrens' rides which consisted of bit wheel -like things and other toy cars suspended in home-made metal baskets, which turned slowly around a central pole, and all brightly lit up with lights.  There other fun rides for kids - and even a small ferris wheel.  Route 60 seems to be the place where friends come to hang out, the place to see people and to be seen, a place to go on a date, and a place for families to come and have a picnic and then play games and go on rides together.

We got caught in a traffic jam of sorts as everyone, leaving at the same time, crowded onto the same exit road.  Some idiot in a car decided to back into the traffic of hundreds of motorbikes without someone outside of the car directing him.  And he was also clearly not using his mirrors properly because he knocked over a moto and a woman's ankle got pinned.  She got out of it and I think she is ok but it could have been much worse.  Mr. Chai told me that ever since a bridge collapsed after a water festival and 300 people died, Cambodians are afraid of situations like that one.

I actually read about that in my guide book.  Poor policing and lax safety standards still cause all kinds of problems in this country.  Anyway, we got out and around the traffic circle safely and then off we went back to the hotel with the wind blowing dust everywhere and then the rain washing it off.  On the road, we ran into 2 different university friends of Mr. Chai's just driving along.  The moto culture in Siem Reap is such that you can sort of chat with a friend on a motorcycle the same way that you can on a bike.

All in all is was great evening.  And am so grateful to the kind staff for indulging me and letting me see this very uniquely Cambodian experience.

Tomorrow evening I have a plan to go to see some traditional Khmer dance tomorrow with a friendly American that I met in the hotel.  I will never get tired of watching that.

As always, thanks for reading!

Leslie