thermometer? anyone?

for over a week my husband had a terrible fever. He was sweating so much the bed was soaked, his clothes were soaked. He kept telling me he was fine, but day after day the fever continued. We didn't know how high his temperature was because we failed to pack a thermometer - didn't even cross my mind to bring something like that. No one in our building had a thermometer. Three days in I tried to find him a doctor, everyone from work and church recommended the same person - Dr. Marissa. Well, Dr. Marissa is obviously popular...and booked solid. by the fourth day his symptoms increased and he was getting worse. I had to find a doctor.

I feared the worst - could he have contracted Dengue or Typhoid fever? His symptoms were more like Typhoid, which is contageous, but we'd been vaccinated for that.

I found an International emergency health clinic in town, it is expensive, but the service is quality. Because of his fever we were quarantined in case he has H1N1 (swine flu). I was okay with the quarantine - I don't like being in emergency rooms with sick people, I feel like it is a cess pool of germs. It also got us on the rush list for examination. The doctor diagnosed kenyon with an intestinal bacteria infection. they prescribed a strong antibiotic and something to reduce the fever. By the first evening he was already feeling better.

The whole experience was quite an adventure, but these kinds of adventures I would rather avoid.

By the way, we now own a thermometer. I hunted one down at a local pharmacy.

Interesting International Facts: adoption

Did you know?

That in Australia you cannot adopt if you are overweight. I met someone over lunch recently who is a single woman looking to adopt. she is Australian, but living, working...and adopting locally. She said she was interested in adopting from Australia, but because she was overweight she couldn't. I've never heard of such a rule. I've heard about rules regarding age or marital status, but weight? that's a new one.

What do you think, should someone who is overweight be allowed to adopt a child?

iCooked

After my post yesterday, some people wanted to know what kinds of meals I make. Here is our menu for the last few weeks:

Week One

• Spaghetti with meat sauce, known here as Bolognese, and a modified garlic bread (modified because I had to make due with whatever bread I could find, mince the garlic myself and use a butter substitute)
• stuffed baked potatoes with cheese, beans and homemade salsa (we have no food processor and cannot seem to find one anywhere so I had to cut the tomatoes, chili, garlic and cilantro by hand. I made enough to last a couple of weeks. Kenyon ate it all in less than a week and asked for more).
• tacos (the ingredients aren't always available, they come in waves. But, I was able to find taco seasoning and taco shells at the store so I bought them and enjoyed the tacos even though the shells were stale).
• pizza with garlic, black olives, tomatoes and mozerella, and a modified crust made from Bisquick (the crust was an experiment that worked out alright - 2 cups of Bisquick to half a cup of cold water. Stir and then roll out the dough. Cook about 10 minutes and then add toppings and put back in the oven until the cheese is melted).

The other nights we ate leftovers and went to dinner one night with some friends visiting from the States. Maybe I'll post our dinner menu again next week. I had a terrible time finding things available at the store, stuff that was there last week is gone. When I asked the clerk, the answer was, "there is no more."

S: "When do you expect more to arrive?"

Clerk: "Oh, maybe one to two months."

That is the reality of living overseas in the developing world...and as a result, we just make due with what we have.

Suzy Homemaker

Something unexpected happened when I moved to Cambodia. I have developed some surprising interests...cooking and embroidery. Those of you who know me well, know this is out of character for me.

Since moving to our new apartment I have cooked almost every day with only a few exceptions. On the weekend I plan our meals for the week and go to the grocery store. After work I have found chopping vegetables or mixing dough to be very therapeutic. I leave behind the cares of the day and just live in that moment - maybe because my experience in such things is very low and so it takes all my concentration. Ha! Whatever it is, I am actually enjoying the creation of dinner. At the end, I feel like I accomplished something. By the end of my work day it is hard to say what I've accomplished - had some meetings, sent some emails, signed some documents...those aren't quite so rewarding.

I also picked up an old hobby...cross-stitching. I found a friend here in Cambodia, from Australia, and she likes cross-stitching too. We joke that we are old bitty's sitting on the couch with our embroidery. I had a teacher in grade school who exposed me to this hobby, it's been years since I picked up a needle and thread. I am really enjoying it. I can't remember why I ever stopped. I think life just got too busy with other things.

Have you recently picked up any new hobbies that you find surprisingly enjoyable? One benefit of living overseas where our entertainment options are limited is that I am finding space in my life to develop some hobbies. I like it.

like living in fort knox

When looking for a place to live one of the first things we were told to ask about is security. The place we live has an iron gate out front, with a huge iron padlock. The door to the apartment has another iron gate with another large padlock. Up the stairs to our apartment and there is a third iron gate...you guessed it, with another padlock. then our wooden door with another lock. To get in and out of the building takes at least 10 minutes unlocking and locking at each point. The door to our patio has a lock, plus a padlock.

I have to ask myself, are all of these locks necessary? I don't know if it makes me any more secure. While standing outside fumbling with the locks I feel quite vulnerable to anyone who intends to rob me. I often have to set down my parcels or even my laptop from work on the ground, just laying there unsupervised, so I can open the lock.

One of the locals who is a friend of ours told me we should add another lock to the building entrance because we weren't secure enough. Seriously? At this point I feel like I live in a fire hazard, at least the building is made of concrete so that is less likelyto be an issue.