By Laura Seale, Nursing Team

We have now completed 6 successful clinic days. We’ve sweated a lot and consumed more bottles of water than I ever thought was possible. But none of this compares to the help that we have given Cambodians. It’s been hard work, but extremely rewarding. Today is our first full day in Siem Reap and it has been filled with massages, lounging by the pool, and attempting to (and sometimes successfully) haggle at the market. We have used this restorative day to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others.

We were able to sleep in this morning and enjoy a filling breakfast in the hotel lobby. After breakfast, many people signed up to get a massage. From mango facials, to a traditional Khmer herbal massage, I think we all enjoyed our individual pampering! At noon, our entire group met up and went to lunch at the Red Piano. During lunch, we sat with our inter-professional groups. These groups were assigned on the first day of training back in Nashville and each group has a mixture of professors, pharmacy students , nurse practitioner students, or nurse undergraduates. We discussed how we have grown within the last week and a half, both as a team and personally. We all agreed that our team has grown stronger and closer and have done a great job working inter-professionally. 

After lunch we had some more free time before we head out to the temples. Unfortunately, the clouds prevented us from seeing the sunset, but we still enjoyed the walk up and the views from the Phnom Bakheng temples. After dinner we headed to the Night Market where we did some shopping and had the opportunity to get a foot massage by putting our feet in a tank full of fish. Today was a great day in Siem Reap. Tomorrow we head to the Angkor Wat temples!