On Monday morning at ohhh-dark-hundred I caught my plane back to Phnom Penh and back onto the battlefield against streptococcus mutans and his allies; sugar and other fermentable carbohydrates!
I had just returned from the combined South East Asian Dental Education and International Association of Dental Research and a climb up Mt Kinabalu. This little jaunt was the first time I have been out of Cambodia since I arrived and was a great shake-up. I got to enjoy a few of my favourite things.
At the conference it was great to see such an open expression of distinct regions and religions. At the dinner we had women in full headress up dancing like there was no tomorrow, professors and undergrads alike. It's not that in had the opinion that men and women in head dress and from different ethnic back grounds don't have fun it's just that it is a rare opportunity to be able to share that fun with them. It is such a privilige to become part of this South East Asian community of academics; they get it! And when we talk about children with three or five abscesses; they get it. And when we talk about the bombardment of sugar against a back drop of poverty; they get it. I am really looking forward to meeting these people again at upcoming conferences around the region. My favourite thing about them was a beautiful mix of reality and fearless optimism about implementing strategies that might just work.
The mountain was just what I needed. There are no mountains around and Cambodia and this particular mountain had Bell birds and pungas. I have to say it is the first time I have felt homesick since I left. I can't wait to see NZ native bush again! The other old-familiar-feeling was the burn of waking up a hill... It brought back memories of the first time I walked out of the Argo valley (AARC314) and tramping the Tarawera ranges and running up Flagstaff. My favourite things were seeing the little squirrels, the deep colours of the flower and the mindless pursuit of physical boundaries!
My next ticket out will be the Mekong river congress in Bali!
