Bats!

Today I didn't have school so I went to the health center (my usual routine). It was a BUSY place to be- that's for sure. There was an organization there whose focus is on TB education (they are also funded by Angelina Joli interestingly enough). I asked them what they were doing there and they said "talking about TB." However, they were also generously dispensing other health information, too. Like one lady had a sick baby (diarrhea, fever- the normal). The TB lady was asking if she fed him solid food already. Of course the lady said yes- which, of course is the wrong answer because the baby was way too young to be eating solids. Then the lady shared with her about when she started to give her kids food and explained that they are fatter than normal kids their age because breast milk is enough for them to be healthy. Usually, if they are feeding them food, they are feeding them other stuff that uses unclean water or the food is not prepared in a way that is sanitary; which results in sickness. It was good to overhear this much needed advise. Anyway, I've seen the TB people there before, but have never really chatted with them. However, today the waiting area was so busy with patients I decided to kick it with them on the picnic table in the yard until things became a little more calm inside the health center. I also got to learn a lot about TB and TB in my district; which, it turns out there is a lot! I've been wanting to do some work with this organization for a while now, so it was good to make some connections with some of the people doing work in my district.
Also at the health center today, someone I know was going to have her baby. The midwife, who knows I REALLY REALLY REALLY (I tell them all the time:) want to see a birth, invited me to come back at 1:00 because that's when they thought she'd have it. So, I went home, ate, checked my email and then went back to the health center. However, when I returned she had already had her baby! This is the third birth I've missed. So disappointing. However, at least one person has a baby here a week...so me seeing a birth is bound to happen sooner or later. Despite missing it, it was a lot of fun to just chat with my midwives and the mother and her family- and of course to see the new baby boy who was so sweet! I definitely need to get more of my mornings off from school!
Finally, BATS, BATS and more BATS! When I was home I told some of you this story, so you can ignore it if I've told you already. It's just too funny not to share. So, a couple of months ago I was at the health center and when I got there the director was sitting on the bench playing with a sling shot. I thought it strange at first- a grown man fooling with a sling shot- but nothing too out of the ordinary. There was also a fishing net on the bench. This started a conversation about the net (or asking if I knew how to say it in Khmer)which led to the pharmacist acting out a turtle because I didn't know what the heck he was talking about- quite hilarious, really. The director then gets on his moto and returns 2 minutes later with a camo army hat on- so, he went home just for that hat which I thought funny in light of what he was about to do next. Then, he gets one of the other doctors who grabs the net and they leave for the other building. I didn't really think too much of it until I heard loud noises coming from the other building about 5 minutes later. So, I went over there only to see a different doctor on a plank outside the building hanging up the fishing net over a hole between the roof and the building. Now, in my mind I was thinking "what the heck is going on????" Then I hear shouting and a loud bang from the inside. Then out walks one of the doctors with a dead bat in his hand which he then places in a box. It's my guess that half the bats died due to the director's mad sling shot skills and the other half flew into the fishing net where another doctor beat it with a broom (kid you not)! As all this is going on- and more and more bats are being added to the already fallen- one of the sick ladies that lives in one of the buildings at the health center comes over and starts talking with me. She says, "Bats are so delicious." To which I respond, "No way, not delicious!" "Yes, they are so delicious." To which I explain that in my country we don't eat bats- or dogs for that matter. Now at some point during this whole ordeal my health center director is running around the health center building while smoking a cigarette and shooting at bats with his sling shot! It was the funniest thing (seriously, imagine an Asian male, with a camo hat, sling shot in hand, cigarette dangling from the lips, running around a building and stopping only to shoot at a bat with a sling shot- very funny stuff.) Then one of the midwives comes over and the doctor in the rafters tells her to go to her house and get a pan, oil, pepper, salt and MSG. That's when I knew they were going to eat those bats! Which, is also when I decided I needed to get out of there- and sooner rather than later. So, I said, "I've gotta go eat with my family." To which they told me to stay and eat at the health center. I politely refused, got on my bike and went home. The next day when I returned to the health center I asked how many bats they killed. 25-30. I then asked if they ate them. Yes. I asked, why they ate them. "Very delicious" and "important people eat bats." I then asked if they knew bats carried disease. Yes they knew and then listed some of the diseases, but didn't I know that they are delicious?!? Just when I think I've seen all the crazy stuff that is to be seen here.....