3-1-2011 Pictures

at the temple today 

the temple accross the water

tomb raider scene

the temple ruins

restoration -AMAZING difference

last dinner night in siem reap!

our buddy mark that we bought desert for (:

3-1-2011 Monday

Today we had a little later start compared to yesterday, and we were at the temples by 8:00 a.m.  The first temple we saw was a 50 minute drive in to the jungle.  It was a smaller temple, but it was very intricately built and carved.  This temple was very unique because it was built with a pink/rose tinted sandstone.  Afterwards we drove to another temple where a scene in Tomb Raider was filmed!  It was very cool because they left the temple as they found it, intertwined with nature.  There were giant ancient trees growing on top of the temple and poking out from inside.  It was amazing and very surreal.  We headed back to the hotel where we sat by the pool for a few hours until it was time for our English class.  We went next door to the Journeys Within Our Community center where we helped teach an English class.  We played lots of fun games with the young adults there, and they were very cute about speaking.  We returned to our room after class had ended and read and showered up for the evening.  We took at Tuk Tuk and had dinner again at Madame Butterfly and then came back and shared a chocolate mouse with our new friend at the front desk who we gave the American name Mark.  It was hilarious to hang out with some of the staff and hear their stories!  Not to mention the mouse was delicious =).  We are having a packing party to get ready for our big travel day!

2-27-2011 Pictures

anna in our b&b room

our beautiful poolside at the b&b

delicious dinner at Madam Butterfly

met up with some of the team at angkor wat

angkor wat

playing around in the temple

one of the temples

posing at entrance to temple

being the 4 headed buddha

on a bridge at one of the temples

getting our fish biting massage, haha

2-27-2011 Sunday

This morning we had a 5:00 a.m. wake up call, and as you can imagine we were practically fighting over who was going to be the lucky once that got to get out of bed to answer the phone!!  Our tour guide and driver picked us up and we went to the amazing Angkor Wat temple where we watched the sunrise.  We headed in to the temple and walked through the ruins for four hours learning about the stories behind reliefs on the walls, Buddhism, and the meaning of the lay out and artifacts.  It was massive and very cool to see.  We even got to climb up a giant staircase to the Bakan which is the top most section of the temple that housed the laying Buddha.  We returned to the hotel around 10 and had a delicious late breakfast.  We hung out at the pool reading, swimming, and of course napping!!  After showering up we headed out to Bayon temple which had many interesting faces carved all over the ruins.  We had a funny photo shot with Amanda and our tour guide, and we also got a history lesson on the ruins themselves and Cambodia as a whole.  We jumped back in to our car after a few hours, and headed to pub street which was busy and full of shops, restaurants, and unique people.  We got a fish pedicure, which is were you sit around a giant tank and leave your feet in water for 25 minutes while fish eat off your dead skin!!!!  It was hilarious and took us forever to work up the courage to put our feet in that tank!  It tickled, and was one of those things you just had to try!  After a yummy dinner and brief shopping after running in to some of our Chinese medical teammates yet again (they were also at Angkor Wat that morning), we grabbed some ice cream and headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep!

2-25-2011 Friday

Sorry to be out of order!  Friday was our final day of surgery and upon our arrival at the hospital we got our team Cambodia t-shirts and took a group picture.  We only had 15 patients that day so it went quickly.  The youngest patient was 14, so we got to talk and put together puzzles with our older patients.  We also got to pass out the remainder of our toys and after giving our patients in post-op lots of goodies we traveled around the whole Soviet-Friendship Hospital giving toys and toothbrushes to other children and patients in the local hospital.  We had so much fun handing out goodies, and it was so cute to see their faces of amazement when we gave them toys.  After the last patient was off the table we packed up our supplies and left the hospital for the last time.  We had lunch at Ally Cat which was delicious Mexican food, and Carly's burrito was made with white sticky rice which was hilarious!!  Afterwards our whole lunch group went to a heavenly spa and got massages to relax after the completion of our mission!  After a little primping we headed off to the final party where we recognized sponsors, received certificates and scarves, sang a little karaoke, and danced the night away!  It was the perfect way to end an amazing time together with our medical mission teammates!!

-Anna and Carly

2-26-2011

Today was a 7am wake up call, we went out for breakfast at a cute little shop!  It had very delicious food, two stores down was a chocolate bar/ small factory!  We spent some time just checking out all of the chocolates and tasting.  We headed back to the hotel to grab our luggage and we were off to the airport for Siem Reap.  We had a 12:55 flight, and arrived here at 1:40 approximately.  It is much more rural than Phnom Penh, very beautiful.  Our bed and breakfast at Journeys Within is breathtaking! We have the cutest little villa with a walk out patio that leads to the pool.  After arriving here, we decided to take it easy and lay by the pool for a couple hours, so after chatting, catching some rays, and swimming, we headed in to get ready to go out to dinner.  We took a tuk tuk to Madam Butterfly, a French Khmer Cuisine Restaurant.  The dinner was to die for, and we ordered chocolate mousse for dessert.  Great restaurant, and it was a really neat landscape and style.  It sort of looked like a tree house we said!  We came back to the B&B to relax for bed, you can rent complimentary DVD's from the front desk, so we're watching Couples Retreat, and heading to bed now!  Tomorrow we tour some temples, but we're getting up at 5am to go see the sunrise! It should be beautiful!  Until tomorrow, from Cambodia! 

2-26-2011 pictures

cleft lip patient

screening day

the playroom!

nutrition presentation

orphange visit

at the hospital, post op room

out to dinner

the "VIP" group (;

soviet friendship hospital! (our surgery hospital)

typical phnom penh!

 (:

keep smiling!

making alien crowns!

hope this catches you up on pictures!!

2-24-11

Hey Everyone!  Today was surgery day 4!  Long day at the hospital!  Anna and I were seperated most of the day doing various things, so we will each write a blurb tonight about it all!  So, I (Carly) walked into the hospital this morning, put my duffle in the playroom, and immediately darted off to post-op to check on my little girl.  She was crying, and I had brought the teddy bear I wanted to bring her with me, so she was cheered up in no time.  She had her palate done, the day before like I said, so she had a string that went through her tongue (same with all palate kids)  to use in case of emergency if they choke or something.  So, after I got there, they pulled the string and took her off her IV!  So until she was discharged, we colored, took TONS of pictures and videos, tickled, and so many more things.  When the time rolled around to say good-bye to my little girl, I pretty much broke down (:  She was precious, and someone I will never forget, her grandmother gave me her phone number and mailing address to keep in touch, so I'm really excited about that!  Today was a really awesome day, and one I'll never forget, it was one of those days, that hits ya hard and you finally stop and don't worry about what's going on around you, just the people you are with. 


Anna's
This morning I did my "routine" morning round in the pre and post-op room giving out coloring pages and stuffed animals to the kids.  It was also alligator theme day so we passed out tons of these cute foam visors shaped like alligator hats!!  I loved playing with the kids, and their procedures all looked so good after a nights rest.  I painted some little divas' nails before I headed off to lunch.  Afterwards I went in to the OR for most of the afternoon and watched an amazing procedure where our surgeon from Italy performed a skin graph on a severely burned girl's face to give her eye lids so that she could close her eyes for the first time.  Also they performed a skin release.  Afterwards I watched a palate step by step with another surgeon and got to ask tons of questions.  It was very messy but so interesting to learn how they operate on one.  We had a great dance party afterwards back in the playroom where two older patients were jumping around with us.  We got so in to it we even turned off the lights, pulled out some glow sticks, and had a dance rave!!!! It was HILARIOUS and we had to stop because the surgeons could hear us all the way in the OR! Whoops!  It was a fun and full day, and I am excited to finish of the surgery week!

We're off to dinner!

2-23-11

Today was day three of surgery!  We started off the morning visiting the hospital, and checking on our overnight patients, bringing them goodies, and spending time with them!  Around 9:00 we departed in our Mercedes Benz Van, (oh yes) to the orphanage (:  It was an orphanage for Kindergarten all the way to through college, the children spoke Khmer and French, and were learning English!  This was a really cool orphanage because they all were so happy, and treated so well, the board of directors just happened to stop by and check up on them, and they were wonderful people as well.  A really cool thing was one of the office guys at the orphanage actually went to the orphanage, he said he was so thankful for it, and to show his appreciation he wanted to work there for the children as well.  We did a couple presentations to the classes, and passed out lots of beach balls, toothbrushes, and notepads!  After our really cool experience at the orphanage, we stopped out to get some lunch and them desert.  We went to a place called "Tutti Fruitti." Virginia Beachers can compare it very closely to Skinny Dip!!  It was a frozen yogurt place in Cambodia!!  Totally modern, and cool!  We went back to the hospital after that, where Anna played in the playroom with the pre-op kids, and handed out toothbrushes, and stuff of that sort!  It was my first day in the OR, and it was amazing, I took a little girl in, and stayed with her after surgery until we had to leave! Today was definitely an awesome day!  We went to a really YUMMY dinner place after our work day called Malise, it was probably one of the fancier in Phnom Penh.  It was delicious, if you're ever in Phnom Penh, stop at Malise and get the Pork Chops, mmm, mmm, good!  Goodnight everyone!

2-22-11

Sorry for the patchy internet, we couldn't get a connection for the past few days!  On Tuesday poor Carly wasn't feeling too great so she stayed back at the hotel to catch soom Zzzzs with Amanda.  I went off to the hospital where I spent the morning in the OR watching and bouncing between the 5 operating tables asking questions and listening in.  It was a great experience, and it was very exciting to watch.  After lunch I hung out with the kids in the child life playroom and put together tons of puzzles with some new friends in pre-op.  One girl was named Srey ne and she was 17 as well.  When it was her turn to come to the playroom before surgery we connected and she was telling me repeatedly that she was nervous, along with another puzzle friend named Meng Zhung.  Poor Meng Zhung didn't have a parent to be with before her cleft lip surgery, so I told her that I would walk her to the OR.  She grabbed my hand on the way and didn't let go until she was out cold on the operating table.  Her surgery looks amazing.  Srey ne needed some friendship as well, and I met her in the OR in the local anesthesia area where she wouldn't be put fully to sleep but just numbed.  She held my hands with both of hers and I was tearing up during her whole nose revision because of how nervous she was with her movement and noises.  With tears streaking down her face and our hands still intertwined we walked to recovery and then later to post-op where she lai down to sleep.  The next morning when I greeted her she gave me her earrings because she had made fun of me the day before for not wearing any even though I had them pierced.  It was a simple gesture, but it completely filled up my whole heart.  That night Carly was feeling better and we all went out to dinner at a trendy place named the Metro.

2/21

Boy oh boy what a busy first day of surgery!  We got to the hospital at about 7:15 a.m. where we met the patients who had spent the night in pre-op.  Our theme day today was Mardi-gra so we passed out tons of beaded necklaces, masks, and hung tinsel curtains to "celebrate the first day of surgery!"After that we started handing out lots of stickers, coloring sheets, and crayons to the kids.  Since they couldn't eat or drink for hours and hours before their surgery they were very cranky and tired.  We were put to the test trying to get babies to stop crying and make sure everyone was happy.  We set up our playroom, where our child life specialist keeps the mother load of toys, stuffed animals, puzzles, cars, you name it and it was there!  Kids would come in to the playroom right before they were called for surgery so we could do some play therapy with fake stethoscopes, band aids, masks, etc.  With the older kids we played matching games, tick tack to, painted, and made jewelry.  The medical team would then poke their heads in and ask for a certain patient by their number.  As the children were whisked away to the OR we took the parents down to speech therapy, and that walk was full of tears and anxiousness for them.  The pre-op was transformed in to the post-op by attaching bamboo poles to the beads to hold the IV bags for the kids once they were carried back by their family.  They will all spend the night being watched by nurses, and they were still very drugged by the time we left the hospital around 5:00 p.m.    Even though it is hot, people's digestive systems are encountering some issues, and the schedule is packed it is amazing to walk in to the post-op and see the kids that you have just played with have a beautiful new smile.   There was a large line for screening again today, as more people show up once they hear that we are in town.  We taught our dental hygiene, burn care, and nutrition information, and thankfully today we had some very good translators.  Time to get some rest, surgery day number two will surely be busy as well!

Anna and Carly

the cells they were kept in

the only survivor in Phnom Penh

posing with the coconut

at the market

yes, we're this cool (:

Phnom Penh

at the palace

at dinner

our dinner

at the market

2-20-2011

Today was TEAM DAY!
We got to sleep in a little today, until 8:00 and then we headed to breakfast!  Our first stop on our team day, was the Toul Sleng Prison.  It was a very somber place, but it was amazing to learn and be exactly where the huge tragedy of Cambodia took place.  If you don't know much about the Cambodia Genocide, it's definitely worth reading about, it's such a sad event.  We toured the rooms, and saw the methods of torture.  The coolest part was we had just finished the part of the tour where our guide told us there was only ONE survivor left in Phnom Penh, and that survivor himself showed up!  We got to meet him, and he told us personally what it was like, and what a terrible time it was, and he showed us all of the pictures that were in the museum that he was in.  Each prisoner was quarantined to a small, (we would estimate 5x4 ft) cell, and there feet shackled to the ground... no light, baths 2 times a month, and they went to the bathroom in a can.  It's a truly amazing story.  After our tour of the prison, we went to the Russian Market!  What an experience, we all agreed that any other market you get pulled, and persuaded, and some people are crabby!  BUT this market was so cool... everyone was so nice.  Well, EVERYONE in Cambodia is so nice!  They are all so thankful of us being here, and so welcoming.  We ate lunch at a place called FCC, it was on the river, with a really pretty view!  And after we finished up lunch we went to the Royal Palace!  We learned that when the flag is up at the palace, the king is actually there, and the flag was up today... but we didn't get to see or meet him.  The palace was absolutely beautiful.  We've never seen so many gold Bhuddas before, or such an expensive throne.  We finished up around 4:30 and went to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready for our team meeting and dinner.  The team meeting was sweet and short and it was cool to see all of us together in one room.  We ate a very nice restaurant, and it had a really cool atmosphere and super neat seating!  Well, tomorrow is our first surgery day!  So we are super excited, and can't wait to do our presentations again and handout goodies to the kids!  We have around 116 surgeries planned so far, but we also have spots for walk-in patients.  We'll keep you updated on patient stories and pictures as the surgery days go on!  Off to bed, to get a good night sleep for tomorrow! (:

Carly and Anna   

2-19-2011

WHAT A DAY!
Today was our screening day... we screened 199 children and adults!  The majority of the patients were burn care patients.  It was amazing to see the diversity of these burns, some were very severe and some were very minor, and could not be treated, unless with lasers.  We woke up at 6ish after turning our lights out at 3am, stuffing backpacks with toothbrushes, and toys.  We then hopped on the bus and met a line of roughly 70 people waiting to be screened.  Immediately we whipped out beach balls and jump ropes and played with the kids, which was so much fun... the "street kids"or as we called scoochers (they always wiggled their way into things) and were attention hogs.  After coloring and playing outside for a few hours we grabbed our dental hygiene poster and went to work!  We gave about 10 presentations throughout the day, and passed out a couple hundred toothbrushes to eagerly awaiting patients and families.  As the day grew hotter we moved inside and intermixed with screening where we passed out stuffed animals, played with balls, dispersed toothbrushes, and calmed down fussy babies.  We got to listen in on the surgeon's conversations as they talked through each patients' circumstance and ways to approach their injuries.  The atmosphere was hot, tired, and a bit overwhelming by 7 o'clock, when the screening was over.  It was an amazing way to interact with the culture, and we look forward to playing with the patients more throughout the week.  To finish off a long day we took a Tuk Tuk ride to the FCC restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  Time to get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day full of team bonding fun!


Carly and Anna