Another Way to Count How Long We have Been Here

We mentioned  in one of our other posts that the rainy season is finally starting.  Today was the
rainiest day so far.  It rained a little bit this morning, but it was just fine at lunch when we took a little walk outside.  In fact it was quite interesting that in the parking lot there were spots that were dry and then there were some puddles.  Shortly after lunch it clouded up again and rained a little bit more.  Then about 4:00 p.m. we had the heaviest downpour during the day while we have been here.  As we looked out the window there were still people walking around enjoying the rain.  You can tell that the Cambodians understand how important the rainy season is for them.

We were told that when the rain starts the amount of traffic decreases significantly to about a third of normal.  With the rain this afternoon we are sure that it decreased even more than that.  As we headed home the rain had stopped, and the traffic was significantly busier than normal.

We have the greatest, gentlest and kindest dentist in the world, Dr. Bruce Pyper.  In our final checkup and cleaning before our mission, he told us that since we would probably not see a dentist for two years, he wanted to make sure that we took care of our teeth while we were away.  So he gave us enough toothbrushes and floss to last for two years.   What he did not know was that there would be things we found here that would definitely incentivize us to brush really hard.  The first thing that encouraged us to brush was the little dentist office on the alley to our apartment.  Next was when we saw a commercial for Colgate charcoal toothpaste, it looks like regular toothpaste with a charcoal stripe through the middle of it.  When we mentioned it to one of our Cambodian friends, he said that he brushed his teeth with charcoal when he was young.  The final was a newspaper article that indicated that there are at least 2,000 doctors and 300 dentists practicing here with
out proper licensing.

Now for the other way to count how long we have been here, Dr. Pyper told us to switch toothbrushes every three months.  With the extra incentives it is only taking two months to wear them out, so we have already worn out two toothbrushes, only ten more to go.