Ever since we moved here about 18 months ago we keep getting surprised when people change plans at the last minute.
Soeun finds out he is preaching tomorrow,
or finds out his course he has been prepping and planning for ages is suddenly having a holiday.
After living in Cambodia's capital city and working in a Bible school we're finding it quite different in a small town church context.
It feels like people are always changing plans at the last minutes and we just have to adjust to it.
The young adults at church often work as babysitters for us, but sometimes don't turn up and then we find they were needed elsewhere.
The other day we noted it doesn't seem to stress out other people, maybe that's just how things work here. Which reminded me of the traffic - it looks really chaotic here but people just go with the flow, go around each other, adjust to whatever is going on around them.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2016
Migraine Awareness Month
So apparently June is Migraine Awareness month, according to My Migraine Brain.
Five years ago Soeun was diagnosed with Vestibular Migraine , he was suffering from 24/7 symptoms for almost a year before we got that diagnoses.
His ear symptoms are the main thing, so we normally tell people he has a chronic ear thing similar to Meniere's Disease because the word "migraine" makes people think of headaches.
I was trying to write something short for our newsletter or this blog for Awareness Month, I'm still working on that, so far in rough draft brainstorming stage on this other blog called Chronic Kronicle.
Five years ago Soeun was diagnosed with Vestibular Migraine , he was suffering from 24/7 symptoms for almost a year before we got that diagnoses.
His ear symptoms are the main thing, so we normally tell people he has a chronic ear thing similar to Meniere's Disease because the word "migraine" makes people think of headaches.
I was trying to write something short for our newsletter or this blog for Awareness Month, I'm still working on that, so far in rough draft brainstorming stage on this other blog called Chronic Kronicle.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
the juggle begins. First 3 months of working since having kids
It had been a hot, humid morning,
the power was off,
the babysitter wasn't sure if she could come as it was raining/stormy,
kids had fevers,
we'd all been sick and hadn't slept much.
Soeun was home, he had been hoping to work at his desk but instead had to spend the afternoon and evening looking after a sick baby and toddler.
It was really hard to leave the house as the kids were waking up from afternoon naps, knowing Soeun would be by himself with sick kids and no fans until bedtime.
At one point Soeun messaged me to say that the feverish baby had come out in a rash and was making strange jerky movements. It had already been really hard to leave the house, and when I heard that I was regretting not calling in sick.
Between classes I talked to my boss, I was feeling like I might need to go home and take the baby to the doctor, but in the end I taught my night class as well.
Having a sick baby felt like a really serious thing to me, I wish I could have been there, (lucky turned out not to be serious) but now I also have a job. From now on its going to be juggling priorities and commitments.
Since we got back to Cambodia and started having kids I've been turning down all English teaching opportunities. Since Soeun developed his chronic sickness he can't do as much as he used to.
He has specific training and experience and there are so more things he could be doing if only he had better health. I figure the more energy I spend outside the family, the more he has to do within, which reduces his energy for ministry even more.
Until now- with the Aus dollar falling, it means our income has gone down. So a few months ago I started working at a school teaching English.
This week has been an example of why I haven't wanted to teach so far- Soeun has been sick, plus the babysitter couldn't work this week (we didn't know ahead of time) AND as well as my normal work hours I had a meeting. So Soeun hasn't had his sermon prep time- between being sick and looking after the kids while I'm at work and meetings. It does feel like as I feared, my work outside the family makes it hard for him.
Unfortunately so far it has NOT been financially beneficial for us, but we are hopeful that it will be in the future. After I started working I was told I need to pay for the work permit. I knew that was coming but I thought it was just 100usd, but turned out they wanted 400usd. Boo. It took me a few month to earn that much, we are only just even so to speak. But actually behind if you take into account the money we've spent on babysitting, paper nappies and other things you spend more on when you have less time.
But in other news, the weather is getting cooler. The toddler and I went for a walk this morning to the market to buy veg, look at the fish, and we ended up having breakfast!
)
the power was off,
the babysitter wasn't sure if she could come as it was raining/stormy,
kids had fevers,
we'd all been sick and hadn't slept much.
Soeun was home, he had been hoping to work at his desk but instead had to spend the afternoon and evening looking after a sick baby and toddler.
It was really hard to leave the house as the kids were waking up from afternoon naps, knowing Soeun would be by himself with sick kids and no fans until bedtime.
At one point Soeun messaged me to say that the feverish baby had come out in a rash and was making strange jerky movements. It had already been really hard to leave the house, and when I heard that I was regretting not calling in sick.
Between classes I talked to my boss, I was feeling like I might need to go home and take the baby to the doctor, but in the end I taught my night class as well.
Having a sick baby felt like a really serious thing to me, I wish I could have been there, (lucky turned out not to be serious) but now I also have a job. From now on its going to be juggling priorities and commitments.
Since we got back to Cambodia and started having kids I've been turning down all English teaching opportunities. Since Soeun developed his chronic sickness he can't do as much as he used to.
He has specific training and experience and there are so more things he could be doing if only he had better health. I figure the more energy I spend outside the family, the more he has to do within, which reduces his energy for ministry even more.
Until now- with the Aus dollar falling, it means our income has gone down. So a few months ago I started working at a school teaching English.
This week has been an example of why I haven't wanted to teach so far- Soeun has been sick, plus the babysitter couldn't work this week (we didn't know ahead of time) AND as well as my normal work hours I had a meeting. So Soeun hasn't had his sermon prep time- between being sick and looking after the kids while I'm at work and meetings. It does feel like as I feared, my work outside the family makes it hard for him.
Unfortunately so far it has NOT been financially beneficial for us, but we are hopeful that it will be in the future. After I started working I was told I need to pay for the work permit. I knew that was coming but I thought it was just 100usd, but turned out they wanted 400usd. Boo. It took me a few month to earn that much, we are only just even so to speak. But actually behind if you take into account the money we've spent on babysitting, paper nappies and other things you spend more on when you have less time.
But in other news, the weather is getting cooler. The toddler and I went for a walk this morning to the market to buy veg, look at the fish, and we ended up having breakfast!
 |
| Fish at the market (to buy and cook at home) |
 |
| Breakfast for 1USD (at other places its only 75c |
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
catching up on news for my non-Facebook friends
you can check here too for photos
the expected 3 am baby diarrhea looks less scary now that ive been able to locate a packet of baby wipes. such a great invention
we've been sick with various things since march.... i'm so tired i seem to be dropping glass jars on the floor everyday, not good when there is a crawler
mummy i love you, and i love this too (toddler clutching plastic hammer)
sometimes its too hot to play outside. sometimes the strong rain prevents us. and sometimes there is too much ash falling
if you are going to go food shopping, with baby& toddler at a terrible time of day but with no money, make sure you go to a supermarket that gives you a pen to write an IOU
mummy! the trees are green like the garbage truck
how funny would it be if you were in a drought and you were trying to stop your house from flooding?
The crawling baby
Water on the tiles
Bleeding and swollen
its all fun and games until someone does a poo in the bath
Since it rained on Tuesday the water out of the tap is COLD!!! So refreshing!
had a long few days with sick toddler while daddy was away. toddler s fever went down, but then the baby s went up. meanwhile the power is going on and off. thankfully we still have water
the expected 3 am baby diarrhea looks less scary now that ive been able to locate a packet of baby wipes. such a great invention
we've been sick with various things since march.... i'm so tired i seem to be dropping glass jars on the floor everyday, not good when there is a crawler
mummy i love you, and i love this too (toddler clutching plastic hammer)
sometimes its too hot to play outside. sometimes the strong rain prevents us. and sometimes there is too much ash falling
if you are going to go food shopping, with baby& toddler at a terrible time of day but with no money, make sure you go to a supermarket that gives you a pen to write an IOU
mummy! the trees are green like the garbage truck
how funny would it be if you were in a drought and you were trying to stop your house from flooding?
The crawling baby
Water on the tiles
Bleeding and swollen
its all fun and games until someone does a poo in the bath
Since it rained on Tuesday the water out of the tap is COLD!!! So refreshing!
had a long few days with sick toddler while daddy was away. toddler s fever went down, but then the baby s went up. meanwhile the power is going on and off. thankfully we still have water
Monday, June 06, 2016
Happily the other day I was told my baby was sick...
Happily the other day I was told my baby was sick. I say happily as we had suspected she was sick for a few weeks, so its great to find out what it is and treat it. Also its great to have a doctor we can trust and afford and get to.
When I first arrived in Cambodia 10.5 years ago I was told by other expats if I got sick to go to SOS clinic. It seemed to be almost the only place people trusted. It was really expensive, to see a doctor cost about the same as my monthly rent. Then if I needed tests or meds it was way way more. And it was in another part of town, and with the terrible roads and traffic (about 5 ppl a day die on the roads, plus the bumpy roads and motos gave me a sore back) it felt really hard to get to.
Now we have a few options. The clinic we went to recently was recommended to me by lots of expats and costs a lot less than a months rent!
When I first arrived in Cambodia 10.5 years ago I was told by other expats if I got sick to go to SOS clinic. It seemed to be almost the only place people trusted. It was really expensive, to see a doctor cost about the same as my monthly rent. Then if I needed tests or meds it was way way more. And it was in another part of town, and with the terrible roads and traffic (about 5 ppl a day die on the roads, plus the bumpy roads and motos gave me a sore back) it felt really hard to get to.
Now we have a few options. The clinic we went to recently was recommended to me by lots of expats and costs a lot less than a months rent!
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