We do not want you to get sick!

Last week volunteers with whom I went through language training a few months ago were in a refresher course in Phnom Penh, I had opted out of the course, but met up with eight members of the group Monday evening for dinner. They shared stories about their first three months in Cambodia. I only captured the stories of the lady sitting next to me.

The person next to me told how when she was traveling around the country with her Cambodian colleagues they took very good care of her. They would throw the ice out of her glass and would say "don't eat that." They told her "we don't want you to get sick. You would very difficult if you were sick".

The same volunteer described the procedures for requesting travel authorization in the organization where she is working, a set of long and involved steps. Then, as she traveled, every place visited required a piece of paper signed and stamped by the director of the organization.

KAPE, the organization I am volunteering with, has some unusual rules for reporting travel expenses. If I travel to Phnom Penh for medical reasons, I can be reimbursed for the bus from Kampong Cham to Phnom Penh, but not for the moto from home to the bus station. In Phnom Penh, I can be reimbursed for the moto from the guesthouse to the doctor and pharmacy but not for the moto trip from the bus station to the guest house? I don't understand it, but now I know the rules.

When I take a moto in Phnom Penh that costs $0.50 I have to get a receipt from the driver. Do you think he has a receipt book? I have to carry receipts with me, explain that I need him to sign the receipt. The hardest part for me is to remember to do it.