Almost Taken.....

I went to see the movie Taken last night with a good friend. It was intense, probably the most intense movie I have seen in quite sometime. It is about a 17 year old who goes to Paris for a summer trip with a friend and is kidnapped & sold into the sex slavery ring. This movie hit a particular nerve with me because when I was 17, I put myself at risk for the same situation. I graduated highschool at 16 years old and started at Belmont University's School of Nursing, a 4 yr bachelor's program. I was the youngest in my college class, except for a British exchange student who was 1 month younger than I (Britain has less than 12 grades for schooling). I loved college. I wanted to be as involved as I could be and get the most out of it. If you aren't familiar with a 4 year nursing program the first year is all basics, A&P I-II, ecology, psychology, sociology...all the -ologies. Also included is the most basic introductions to nursing - a seminar class (where you write papers on how your nursing career will change the world, ect. ) & an assessment class (how to exam the body and know normal from abnormal findings). Your second year you learn more basics...Medical Surgical...your first clinical experience in the hospital, as well as pharmacolocy (memorizes drugs, how they work, why they work, what they are for, side effects, etc.).

So here I am my second year of school, green as a gourd, studying my ass off, memorizing those drugs for pharm, doing hours of worthless care plans on my clinical patients....I'm ready for some real excitement. Walking to class I see a poster that reads "Study Abroad in Cambodia for Nursing Students". I am already counting my money, calling my step dad, and packing my bags before I get back to my dorm. I am so excited I can't stand it. I see my boyfriend (now husband) after my class, "Craig, I've ALWAYS wanted to go to Africa!!! I have to go on this trip." His response is a big laugh ,"well than you should go to Africa....but Cambodia, isn't in Africa." But going to Africa wasn't the point, I just wanted to get out of town & see the world. So on the phone with my stepdad I begged, "Okay, so first off, don't tell mom until I have my plane ticket. I hear it's safe, we will be staying in a nice hotel, we will all stay together as group at all times... So can I go? Oh yeah & I need to borrow $500 bucks for the deposit".

I did, in fact, go to Cambodia, but thinking back now none of my excuses were true...it wasn't really safe, there was a terrorist attack in Phnom Phen 2 days after I left for The States, also I got a parasite & had a fever so high I had visual and auditory hallucinations. Our hotel...well it had running water, a hose in the bathroom to wash off with, no air conditioning, and I had dreams of a monkey getting into my room through the window that we kept open for a draft. Oh yeah, and the "group stays together" thing....thats where I almost got myself into a little trouble....

So over the month that I was in Cambodia we worked in a variety of settings. We traveled by foot, by "ciclo", by Pajero, & even in a 12 seater crop duster. I worked in the largest most advanced hospital in Cambodia...which didnt have TB masks & universal precautions was a foreign idea. You see Cambodia is as third world as it gets...the effects of the genocide from Pol Pot are still weighing down the people like a sack of bricks. It's a desperation unlike any I've ever
seen. The pain I saw in people's eyes was rooted so deep that I would never be able to fully understand it. Pol Pot brainwashed a nation, gave children guns and instructed them to kill their parents in front of their family, schooled Cambodia's youth into thinking that violence was good, and destroyed all the farmers, dentists, doctors, teachers, storeowners, etc. by chaining them in cells, beating them & then letting them die of starvation. The Khmer Rouge destroyed every ounce of intellegence they could get their hands on. If you are unfamilar with the Khmer Rouge I encourage you to see the movie "The Killing Fields"....a remarkable film on the genocide and how the US turned their attention else where. (We are talking 1968-1975 approx)

So back to how I almost got into trouble....So during the week we worked shifts at the main hospital and at the AIDs hospice, and on the weekends we traveled, saw the actual killing fields, took in the culture, visited the Royal Palace, hiked Angkor Wat, and even got 25 cent pedicures.
So on this particular day a couple of the gals I was traveling with decided it was time for a pedicure (we walked ALOT on or trip & mostly wore sandals because it was 120 degrees F there on a good day). During my pedicure I scanned the salon, noticing how tiny all of the Cambodian girls were that were working. They all had their jet black hair pulled back into a low pony tail, they were all wearing fitted red jackets with black pencil skirts, they were all very pretty, and they were "all done up". In Cambodia you rarely saw anyone who was "all done up" or wearing anything other than ragged clothing. They were different than the others. I kept looking at the red jackets and thinking "I would love a jacket like that". I tried to speak english to the tech who was doing my pedicure but she spoke no english. So I tried a little "charades" and somehow acted out that I would like to buy a jacket like hers. She pointed to the front door and motioned left, so I thought, "Okay, its sold in a shop down the street". She said "You go?" and stood up motioning me to follow her. "Great! I thought, she is nice enough to take me there". Walking outside I had a quick thought of , "Hmm...should I go somewhere by myself?..Well its just next door." The Cambodian girl quickly jump on a motorcycle that was parked in front of the salon and patted the back of the seat. It was akward and it happened so quickly that I didnt really know what was going on. If you know me, you know I don't do motorcycles...period. Typically, I dont do motorcycles in foriegn third-world countries with strangers, in a country thats know for kidnappings and sex slavery rings...but for some particular reason I had a lapse of good judgment. I dont know if I was too afraid of offending the girl by saying NO when she was just doing me a favor...right? We sped off on the mo-ped...we went straigth for 3 blocks, then she took a left down a side road, when we went south on the side road for about half a mile I started freaking out. "This is it", I thought...."Im a f****** idiot. There is no shop next door. She is taking me to Vietnam or China or somewhere far far away." The mo-ped kept on trucking and I had my arms so tightly around this stranger not only because of my fear of motorcycles but because I thought she might be the last person I would ever see. "This cant be happening". She took a right on a small alley way and traveled about another half mile. In my head I was trying the memorize each turn so that if in fact I did get loose and had the chance to run I could find my way back to the area I was staying and maybe even a familar face. It all happened so fast, my head was spinning with horrible thoughts...the first being "I can't believe I am this stupid". From the alley she slammed on the brakes and turned in the back of a warehouse. She jumped off the moped and motioned me to follow. Scared shitless I did as I was told. I walking through a dark hall and then through a door that opened into a huge open room with 20 ft ceilings. In the room there was about 60 Cambodian women lined up at 60 sewing machines working at Olympic speeds sewing garments. It was hot as hell in this room....the women ranged from 12-60 and had beads of sweat pouring from their brows as they slaved away. The girl who "kidnapped" me yelled some foreign words loudly and out from a back room can a big fat Cambodian man who was balding... (big in Cambodia is 5'6", fat being 175lbs...people seem miniature there). The napper kept jabbering at a rate like Lucille Ball and then the man ran back into the room. "This is it, he's going to get the duct tape and the bag to put on my head". He comes out with a measuring tape and begins to roughly measure my waist, bust, hips, shoulders, & biceps. (24" 38" 24"....haha) No English had been spoken yet. I was probably hyperventilating at this time. The man walks again back in the room and returns with wall calender, like the one's you get from Moody's tire shop, except it wasnt in English. He points to a date on the Calender with his fat finger and says "You" and then quickly points to the kidnapper's red jacket. "Ohh...." A sigh of relief comes over me, maybe it was the grace of God coming over me. My respirations slowed and I began to see a light at the end of the tunnel, and this time I didnt feel like the light was train. I follow the girl back out of the sweat shop (no, its not a term to use loosely now that ive been to one) and we hop back on the bike and ride back to the salon. I feel like I've been given a new chance at life...its a miracle. I made it to the salon where my co-travelors were begining to wonder if I would ever come back. That day created some new life rules that I will abide to for the rest of my life.....A) Dont be afraid to offend people B)Be thankful for second chances and last but certainly not least....C)Think before getting onto motorcycles with strangers.
God bless you all & may you make better decisions than I have. Will post a few Cambodian pics soon.