Dengue Fever, Finishing Up Teaching, and Mommy in Cambodia

So 2 weeks ago I took a trip out into the provinces (countryside) on a dirt bike for three days to see some rural towns and some floating village on the river. It was an amazing trip, spending 3 days alone, seeing less than 10 foreigners the whole time, and having to speak Khmer the whole time since no one spoke much English. You can see the pictures on my web albums. The highlights were the floating villages and negotiating to drive out on a military airstrip for a dollar. Learning and driving a huge dirt bike with a clutch for hours on end in the dust and heat was also an amazing experience.
After about 5 days back in PP I started to feel sick and assumed I had a bad case of the flu. I had a crazy fever, aches and pains all over, rash on my leg, hot and cold sweats, terrible headaches, pains in my eyes, and the list goes on. After teaching one day and resting the whole weekend and still feeling like crap I went to the doctor. They checked me out and did some blood tests. I was called back a few hours later and told that I had contracted Dengue Fever, a disease transmitted by mosquito. (Only a few days before I saw a free concert in PP of a somewhat popular band from America that is named Dengue Fever, quite a unfortunate coincidence). I was told I would be sick for about 7 days, followed by 7 days of being pretty tired, but I should recover and the disease is gone from your body (although you get the added bonus of being immune from that particular strain of Dengue Fever for about 3 years). I had to go into the doctor every few days to have a blood test to check my blood platelet count, the stuff that clogs your blood in a good way so you dont bleed to death from a small cut. At first my blood count dropped considerably. However, the only treatment is to take Tylenol and rest and that's what I did. My next blood test showed my count going back up and I had started to feel a hundred times better, all symptoms disappearing except for being overly tired. On the nineth day I felt much better and the doctor told me my blood platelet count had returned to normal. So, Im all better now, just taking a week or rest and relaxation.

Because I was sick I had to take a week off from work and decided I would finish teaching a week earlier then planned. So yesterday (Monday 5/31) was my last day of teaching. It was pretty sad as I had come close with most of my students and classes during the short month I had taught them. I cant imagine how hard it is to say goodbye after a full term of 3 months. In one of my classes a student ran out of class upon news that it was my last day. She came back later with postcards that every student wrote in and gave to me. Then a girl and a few students sang me a song. This must be some kind of tradition as Jake told me he received similar treatment when leaving his classes. In another class 2 students ran off at the news, no doubt on a mission to get me something. I got a call during class from the doctor to tell me my blood count was back to normal, and when I tried to go back into the classroom I saw the lights were off and the they wouldn't let me in for a few minutes. When I finally went back in I was presented with a birthday cake with candles and icing that read: Mr. Jonh Lee Smith Good Luck. I think I liked it better that my name was wrong. It was a delicious beautiful cake with all kinds of fruit on top. We spent the rest of the class eating cake and talking and me giving my email and telling my class they could come to my house in NY if they ever came to America. It was bitter sweet to stop working and to leave my students who had surprised me on the last day with how much they liked me and respected me as a teacher, some of the cards they wrote were really touching, although some in bad English and with phrases and sentences that I could understand the main idea but were worded in quite a funny way. One example: "I am so happy that I can study with you. You teach me a lot about writing. I am better than before. Thanks a lot for your good teaching. Hope we will meet you again. Wish you good luck and healthy"
Well, even if her English isn't perfect, "its better than before".

On another note, just as I was feeling better my mom arrived in Cambodia for her 2 weeks stay. Perfect timing really, just as my appetite returned after being sick, she has been taking me out to the nicer restaurants in PP and Im eating well, gaining the few pounds back that I lost while sick. She has done a few things on her own such as seeing the touristy spots of the Royal Palace and the S-21 Prison Museum. Together we took a trip on my moto to Silk Island to see the Heng family and buy some scarves. We also went to the market to see my tailor so mom could get a few dresses and pants duplicated, I decided to have two more dress shirts made. We also stopped at Wat Phnom to see the temple and the multitude of monkeys running around freely. Now mom has gone off to Siem Reap to explore the temples of Angkor Wat for 2 days. Im happy to say she decided to take the $9 bus to Siem Reap rather then the $65 private taxi or the $85 airplane. If you want the true Cambodian traveling experience you take the bus and I'm sure thats what she got. When she returns to PP we will explore more of the city for a few days and then take a trip down to the coast to see the beaches at Sihanoukville and possibly another seaside town if time allows, she heads back to the US on June 9th.
When she leaves I'll be relaxing in PP while all my friends are still working. Maybe Ill take one last trip to one of the amazing spots Cambodia's mainland has to offer. Then by June 24th I should be saying goodbye to Cambodia and the amazing people I have met here and heading back home. I'll be flying through Seoul, South Korea and might stop for a few days to explore and see a friend from UVM who is teaching English there.

I dont know if Ill post anymore on here, but Ill definitely continue to post pictures on Picasa and write captions to give some explanations to the pictures.