Getting Stuff Done Feels Great, and So Does Dry Ginger Ale

This past weekend, I was in Phnom Penh with a couple of key people working on the health manual. It's amazing how much work we really got done in light of feeling like we weren't really doing much of anything. As we sat in the Peace Corps office, sending documents back and forth to each other's edits, amendment, additions, and deletions, we really just felt like we were hanging out, but before we knew it (on Friday), it was already verging on 4:00p or 5:00p. We had started at around 9:30a. The next morning, we met around 8:00a, and by the time we called it a weekend. We had edited most of the document and made the changes we were able to accomplish in the time we allotted ourselves. By around 12:00p or 1:00p on Sunday, the footers and page numbers were added as well as plenty of additional material. A lot of the volunteers are putting in plenty of hard work on this resource, and I think it will pay off in the end. I guess, the true test will be to see how the K5s see in its usefulness within 6 months of them being at site. At that point we can really begin to forge it into a more final resource. The rough draft is complete minus some missing materials and it will go to the printers at the beginning of May just in time for Mid-Service Training (MST) at middle-end of the same month.

While in Phnom Penh, I went to Lucky (a supermarket that has everything (most everything) you could ever ask for while in Cambodia (at least most everything you could ever ask for while in Cambodia for 8 months). So, I found what I can't find here and brought it back to my site to keep me happy. That sacred item: Schweppes Dry Ginger Ale. It is probably the greatest gift to mankind, at least, it is to me at the time being. To add to the happiness and excitement, when I got back home from the weekend, I walked into my bathroom and the cistern not only was completely full, but had been completely drained and swept beforehand. I had been asking my family to clean it for months, telling them how much cleaner they will feel without dirt in their water. I think it paid off. At least, I feel cleaner. One more person feeling cleaner is better than none.

Hope all is well, and
Talk to you soon,
Garrett

p.s. Go Cats! Bear Down and Beat the Duke University Blue Devils!