A Nasty Turn

I've been crook for the last week with some nasty virus. I'm better now, just in time for our visit to Ho Chi Minh City, but unfortunately I was laid up for the whole weekend of our friend Pia's visit (although I think Pia & Em had a great time judging by their hangovers on Sunday).

So, a funny thing happened when I went to the doctor (sounds like the start of a joke doesn't it ?). It was day three of feeling not so great, I was laid up in bed and suddenly deteriorated into alternate cold sweats and hot feverish periods. As an aside, fevers in the tropics are really tricky. You have to regulate your temperature here at the best of times with ceiling fans and aircon, but when your internal thermostat is loopy it makes it extra hard to work out what to do. Anyway, after some much needed nagging from Em (I get a bit surly when i'm sick) I decided to go to our local health clinic. I remembered just before leaving the house that Cambodian's are big on the hygienic face mask. This is really a very civilised habit which I think we should adopt - if you're sick or have a cold, and you need to go where other people are, you put on one of those surgical face masks to prevent coughing and breathing on people. You see people at the office wearing them all day if they're feeling under the weather.

The health clinic is just a couple of streets away, but I really could hardly walk. With Em's help, I made it into the waiting room. It was pretty quiet, just a receptionist and a few nurses sitting on the chairs - I guess they were waiting for patients. So, I fill in a form and get asked to wait. I turn around. The waiting room has maybe 20 chairs in 2 rows. There are four nurses dotted around in that kind of annoying pattern where you can't sit anywhere that isn't close to someone. So, Em & I sit down next to these two female nurses. They've obviously been eyeing up my half bent over weak demeanour, sweaty face, bloodshot eyes and mask, and decide it's time to go. They both get up straight away, walk over to the other side of the waiting room and sit down again. Then they both look at me and laugh (through their masks). And I laugh back (through my mask). It really cheered me up.

This kind of directness and sense of humour are pretty typical of the Khmer, and it's really refreshing. As it turns out, i've just had some virus which has cleared up apart from a headache (although i'm putting this down to coffee withdrawal symptoms from the treacle we drink here). Apparently I also have an amoeba which I have to take anti-biotics for, but that's pretty common.