I was busy as usual at breakfast time, giving the various dishes to the people in the group. I take their order the night before so that we don't have to wait a long time in the morning. All but one lady enjoys the breakfasts; for some reason she hasn't eaten anything except the local fried bread. She's happy though and doesn't complain. I've offered her peanut butter but she doesn't want it.
Today we worked at a pagoda where we've gone for many years. It's a lovely working environment and it was a much better place to end the programme rather than ending it at the dusty, dirty school. We work in a space that has a tiled floor and roof but with open walls so it's never too hot. The first year we went there we worked in a meeting hall and Buddha had to be covered up so he couldn't be disturbed by what we were doing. The next time we went they put us in a roof with a strange contraption at one end. I decided to look around the back and saw the oven - we were in the crematorium. I'm glad they built the place we use nowadays.
There are over a hundred monks and nuns in the pagoda so dealing with their teeth gets complicated. When we first went they said the monks couldn't be seen by a lady. We told them that many of the dentists and hygienists were women so they decided it would be all right. Then they said they couldn't have their feet pointing at each other, because we work on tables and they lie down. We said we needed the light so they said it would be all right. Sitting them to wait is hilarious because the monks can't sit next to a woman and the nuns must be kept away from the men. Everyone has a good laugh as we jitterbug around, trying to keep them away from the opposite sex.
We have one lady who insists on packing up at 2.30pm and not seeing anyone else but, at that time we had about 30 people waiting for extractions. There was a group discussion and Linh, who is a dentist, came away from the group and said, "Set me up four tables and I'm going to do them; I'm fed up talking." She went from one table to another, freezing patients, and then back to the beginning to extract. When it came to getting tools she asked Boroith, a local helper, to get her one or two tools. Other dentists stood, looking at the array of around 40 different kinds of instruments, studying and decided what to take - they always took far more than they needed. The lady who wanted to stop working complained we wouldn't get away until 9pm. "We've already done a hundred people", she said, as if that was a cut off rule. Anyway, people ignored her and we carried on until we finished everyone. I hate having to leave people with no treatment as many have travelled a long way to see us.
Because it's the final day, all the instruments have to be cleaned properly and packed to return to Canada. Only 7 of the 15 in the group are returning immediately so they have the job of taking everything back while the rest go off for a holiday. It's not really fair on the ones going back immediately but this year there were enough people returning. One year only one person returned to Canada at the end of the programme so she was responsible for everything.
Our hygiene equipment, which we bought a few weeks ago, broke down. It wasn't the fault of the machine; the hygienists said the stain on the people's teeth was so thick it took ages to get off so the machines never stopped working. We didn't have many children crying, which always helps. I feel sorry for them because most of the time their baby teeth have rotted and it's mostly because of drinking sugary drinks that are sold around the school playground; this year the school principal had a shop inside the school playground.
When we returned to the restaurant in the evening we had a gift giving time for some of the translators who were leaving the group. We gave them a salary and a tip so they were happy. We also gave our bus driver a special tip as he helped us rather than just sitting on his bus. I think it was because he was grateful we'd fixed his teeth problems. Two of the dentists went shopping and bought ice cream and made a "float" drink for us. Usually it's Coca Cola but we only had fruity drinks so we ended up with green, blue and yellow drinks.
We went out in the evening so people could relax and have a drink - it was decided on having just one drink so people could get to bed. Hans, the group leader, said he knew nothing about me so I had to do a bit of explaining. Then someone asked if I had any funny stories to tell. Judy was in the group and her husband led one of the worst groups I've had, but she said I should tell the story. Every group has a story and so they asked about this group. I said it will be the group that lost two people before the programme even started.
Tomorrow we'll have our final breakfast at Thornin and Serey's restaurant and then we are on the bus to Siem Reap for a bit of a holiday. I won't have much to do because friend Syden is their tour guide so he organises everything. I'm hoping to meet Marta, from Poland, who is in Siem Reap for a conference.
